YackInc: The Internet Program Guide | Syndicated products for broadband providers, ISPs, technology providers, portals, more

The Yack Team

Dr. Steven Fredericks - President & CEO
As president and chief executive officer, Dr. Fredericks brings a wide variety of experience to Yack, Inc. and is responsible for the overall direction and vision of the company. Prior to joining Yack, Dr. Fredericks served as CFO/COO for Digital Domain, where he engineered a strategic investment from Cox Enterprises, structured and implemented an Employee Stock Plan, developed a financial analysis department and guided the company through its first detailed operating plan cycle. During his tenure with the company, Digital Domain grew to over 1300 employees, making it the fastest growing company in Southern California. Dr. Fredericks was also responsible for the company's joint venture with Mattel, which produced the most successful girls' CD-ROM product in history, Barbie Fashion Designer. He also architected a joint venture in Oberhausen, Germany for the creation of Europe's most advanced digital studio, with partners from Israel, UK and USA. Before joining Digital Domain, Dr. Fredericks spent 15 years at IBM in numerous financial management positions, including a tenure at IBM headquarters in Paris, where he was head of Financial Planning and Analysis for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to his many career accomplishments, Dr. Steven Fredericks has built an impressive list of educational credentials. In addition to a doctorate in Education from Indiana University, he earned an MBA in Finance, with distinction, from NYU's Graduate School of Business Administration, and a Masters in Political Science, with honors, from the New School for Social Research.

He is currently a Consultative Professor at Shanghai University and Beijing Normal University, and a member of the Board of Advisors for the City University of Hong Kong. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Doug Wintz - Vice President and General Manager
Doug Wintz joined Yack Media Services in August 2001. He brings over a decade of experience in interactive sales, marketing and product development. His online experience was initiated at Prodigy during its launch in 1988. During that time, he helped pioneer the development and introduction of various business models including online grocery, brokerage and advertising. As VP of Network Development at Softbank Interactive Marketing, Wintz established one of the first ad networks in 1997. He has held senior management positions in both old and new economy companies, ranging from Condenet and AT&T, to Uproar.

Prior to joining Yack, Wintz was Vice President Sales and Marketing at Interactive Marketing Inc, where he focused on the development of multimedia and mobile business models.

Jasbir Singh - Chief Technologist
Jasbir Singh was responsible for building the back-end development of the Yack.com website, including the Event Server Technology and the end-to-end Event Server Solution. Prior to joining Yack, Singh worked for Silicon Graphics in its web Data Mining project and was a lead consultant for the Jaguar project and Sybase Inc. Previously, he owned and operated one of the largest Data Processing companies in India.

Ammar Afif - Vice President of Finance
Ammar Afif manages the finance and accounting functions at Yack, Inc. Prior to this, Afif was an engagement manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, gaining in-depth experience in financial and SEC reporting, audit, accounting processes and controls, enhancements to corporate systems and management reporting, corporate taxes, legal reviews and other corporate development transactions, such as acquisitions and IPOs. As a key member of the Assurance and Business Advisory Services Department, he was responsible for all aspects of client engagement, relations and independent reporting for large corporations or their subsidiaries. His clients included Esprit Ltd., Seagram Co. Ltd., Nike Inc., and St. Laurent Paperboard Inc., amongst others.

Afif holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from McGill University, with Joint Honors in Economics and Accounting; a Graduate Diploma in Accounting from McGill University; and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Press questions should be directed to Afif, by e-mail or at 212.584.9013.

Joe Gagliardi - Vice President and Executive Producer
Joe Gagliardi oversees all production and editorial development for the Yack, Inc. Network. Gagliardi joined Yack in April 1999, bringing with him a broad range of expertise in the areas of marketing, business development and advertising. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Operations for Entertainment Drive LLC (eDrive). During his tenure at eDrive, Gagliardi's duties ranged from establishing key business relationships to overseeing and implementing the design of the award-winning Entertainment Drive site, as well as several official celebrity sites for William Morris Agency clients such as Cindy Crawford.

Gagliardi spent five years at leading advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Direct, where he spearheaded several high-profile campaigns including IBM PC Direct and American Express. He won the prestigious Stanley Winston Award for Direct Campaign Ad of the Year for his work on the AT&T USA Direct International campaign.

Aaron Laiserin - Director of Production
Laiserin oversees the production of Yack's content syndication. Prior to joining Yack, Laiserin was the Director of Product Development at Entertainment Drive, overseeing the development and maintenance of all Entertainment Drive and Starclubs properties, including: CindyCrawford.com, DaisyFuentes.com, BritneySpears.com and eDrive.com. Laiserin also brings several years of experience as a consultant, providing Internet strategy & Web design consulting for small to mid-sized businesses, Internet start-ups and professional organizations.

Duane Miller - Creative Director
In his position as Creative Director, Duane Miller oversees Yack's overall look and feel, as well as the functionality of its interface design. Formerly Creative Director at Entertainment Drive, Miller oversaw the production team that developed and maintained numerous sites, including CindyCrawford.com, BritneySpears.com, eDrive.com and Tapehead.com. He also managed Entertainment Drive's relationships with Yahoo! Broadcast, Styleclick and Xoom's Mighty Mail to develop new revenue-generating products.