Sam Balsara Chairman and MD, Madison Advertising

Mr Balsara has over 25 years experience in managerial positions in marketing with Sarabhai' s and Cadbury's and in Advertising with Contract, Mudra and Madison. He joined Mudra in 1984 and contributed to its meteoric rise over the next four years. He founded Madison Advertising in 1988 with 3 Blue chip accounts Godrej, Tata (Nelco) and Mafatlal.The agency has steadily gained in stature and billings and today its clients include Procter & Gamble, BPL, and Coke.

As a prominent member of the Indian Marketing and Advertising profession, Mr Balsara has been President of The Advertising Club, Mumbai for almost 3 terms and has been the Chairman of Advertising Standards Council of India.

A Management Graduate from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute, Bombay, Mr Balsara was directly responsible for organizing the Reliance Cup in India (Cricket World Cup) and marketing the cup in India and abroad.

Nikhil Mirchandani MD, National Geographic Channel (NGC Ltd)

Mr Nikhil Mirchandani, is currently the MD of the NGC Network. He comes to NGC with more than nine years of experience in the broadcasting industry where his focus has been on ad sales and strategic marketing. During his stint at Turner, he was responsible for the marketing of Cartoon Network and POGO. Prior to that, he had held dual positions: as Director of advertising sales for north and east regions handling CNN, Cartoon Network and HBO, as well as being the advertising sales channel manager for Cartoon Network.

Prior to joining Turner, Mr Mirchandani had worked with Sony Entertainment Television India Ltd. (SET) in Mumbai and later in New Delhi for three years, as the zonal advertising sales manager. He has worked expansively on all SET channels, including Sony, Max, AXN and CNBC. During his tenure at SET, he was responsible for managing key accounts as well as initiating major CPRP (cost per rating point) deals for large advertisers. He was also involved in training and recruiting teams.

Rahul Nanda Vice-President, Webchutney Studio Pvt. Ltd

Rahul Nanda is currently Vice President at Webchutney, a leading Interactive Consultancy in India. He rates this as the most interesting role of his career and the madness it brings along keeps him clued to the dynamic world of new media.

He started his career with the National Informatics Centre during the early Internet days in India. He then joined Avaya GlobalConnect as Head of eBusiness and looked after the India, APAC & Australia operations. He has eleven years of experience in the digital domain in sectors as varied as mobile communications, IPTV and ISP.

After holding fort at Avaya as a client for five years, he decided to break on to the other side and joined the agency business. Over the years, he has seen the Internet gain immense significance as a marketing platform, especially in India. The web continues to hold his keen interest and his present role at Webchutney keeps this passion alive.

An Economics Graduate armed with a Masters in Business Administration, he remains a techie at heart.

In his role as Risk Advisory Services industry leader for the Media & Entertainment (M&E) sector, Mr. Parekh has stewarded E&Y in developing competencies that address the unique risks faced by the M&E industry. He has over 18 years of professional experience during which he has conceptualized, designed and implemented a host of solution sets for India’s largest media houses- Star India Ltd., Discovery Channel, Zee Telefilms, Radio Mirchi, DNA, Sahara One and the WPP Group, amongst others. Mr. Parekh’s areas of expertise include business advisory, process design and risk consulting, operational performance reviews, risk-based internal audits, investigation and fraud reviews. Leveraging the skills he acquired as Commercial Director of Fulcrum- India’s largest media buying agency, he now also audits the media spends of most of the country’s largest advertisers. A qualified Chartered Accountant, he has reviewed processes for some of the most popular TV game shows and events such as Kaun Banega Crorepati, Kam Ya Zyada, Femina Miss India, Filmfare Awards and Wisden International Cricket Awards.

Since co-founding the company in the UK Raj has worked extensively with clients on the design and implementation of strategies to maximise returns using the mobile channel. Now leading ActiveMedia Technology’s India operation he has built deep relationships and advised many of the country’s leading mobile carriers, media and brands. He was instrumental in the 2006 launch of the ground breaking Hutch Tuesdays mobile loyalty promotion.

Raj is a recognised thought leader in India’s mobile content and marketing industry having spoken at industry forum’s across the UK, Singapore and India. He has authored articles and been quoted in press including Outlook, Business Today, Economic Times, Zee News, Exchange4Media, Business Standard and Business World.

Prior to co-founding ActiveMedia Technology he was a Senior Consultant at The Capital Markets Company (a European consultancy with 1000 employees) where he was responsible for business development and client engagement. Raj has also worked in highly leveraged finance and operations roles at blue chip organizations including Credit Suisse First Boston, British Airways and Shell International.

Raj is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and graduated with a Masters in Engineering, Economics and Management from The University of Oxford in 1994.

ActiveMedia Technology is actively engaged in setting the agenda for the industry as a board member of the UK’s Mobile Marketing Association.

Brimming with energy, Manish is one of the youngest dot com entrepreneurs with India’s first auction web site. Prior to starting Quasar Media he worked with India’s largest portal, Rediff.com, for over 5 years. He has been recognized as one of the strongest online media professionals in the country. He carries strong relationships and under his guidance Quasar Media has become one of the most respected and fastest growing Interactive Media services company in India. His enthusiasm in the business is only superseded by his performance. A strong teambuilder and teamplayer, his spirit of creativeness pervades throughout the organization. When not working, he is likely to be caught amidst an interesting conversation with family and friends.

Mr. Prem Panicker is currently the Editor at rediff.com, one of the earliest and most popular homegrown internet portals. He joined Rediff in November 1995 as part of its start-up team. Since then he has had a 5 year stint in the U.S as Editor for India Abroad, a weekly newspaper part of the Rediff portfolio and based out of New York. Prior to joining Rediff, Mr. Panicker had an extremely rich experience of 7 years in newspapers ranging from Indian Post, through Mid-Day, to the Sunday Observer.