About M2 Media Group

Management Team

Advisory Board

About M2 Media Group

M2 Media Group, LLC is one of the leading subscription agencies in the magazine publishing industry. The Stamford, Conn.-based company designs and operates innovative magazine marketing and loyalty programs in partnership with top consumer brands and the world´s largest magazine publishers.

Michael Frank
President
Michael is the co-founder of M2 Media Group and has an extensive background in partnership development. Prior to M2, Michael was an Executive Director at Synapse, a division of Time, Inc., where he headed sales and business development for its interactive group. He oversaw one of Synapse’s largest partnerships, with Amazon.com, managing operations for 1,000+ consumer magazine titles. Formerly, he was VP of Business Development at Vcommerce Corporation where he helped grow the venture-backed start-up into a leading provider of outsourced e-commerce services. He has also held business development positions at America Online and Cendant Corporation. Earlier in his career Michael was president and founder of TCL Sports, the largest network of corporate sports leagues in Boston. A former business lawyer, Michael holds a BA from Boston College, a JD from Suffolk University, and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Dave Rock
Vice President, Publisher Relations
Dave is a former senior circulation veteran in the magazine publishing industry. Prior to M2, Dave was a Vice President, Circulation at Ziff Davis Media, where he presided over Electronic Gaming Monthly, Computer Gaming World and Official PlayStation Magazine. Dave was also a member of the Magazine Directors Advisory Committee (MDAC) and ran for a Magazine Director seat in 2005. Folio Magazine named Dave to its "Top 40 most Influential People in the Industry" in April 2006. Before joining Ziff Davis, Dave was a National Sales Director at Zinio Systems, a leader in digital magazine and marketing services. He was also Director of Publisher Relations at Synapse, a division of Time, Inc., where he co-founded freebizmag.com, a leading distributor of business and trade publications. David has more than 16 years of circulation, publishing and marketing experience. Dave holds a BA from Jacksonville University.

Erik W. Holt
Vice President, B2B Network & Services
Erik serves as Vice President of B2B Network and Services and oversees the Mercury Magazines business unit. He brings ten years of experience from a variety of roles spanning corporate strategy, business development, ad sales, and online marketing within multiple business-to-business enterprise service companies. Most recently, Erik led the corporate development and key account sales groups at Toolbox.com, a network of online communities for professionals. Erik received his MBA from Villanova University and his BA from The Pennsylvania State University.

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Advisory Board

James M. Borth
Publishing Consultant, Palm Coast Data
Jim has more than 30 years experience in publishing and circulation. Prior to joining Palm Coast Data, Jim was General Manager of Sporting News Magazine. Previously, Jim was a founding executive of Dennis Publishing, publisher of Maxim, Stuff, Blender and The Week. During his tenure, Maxim became an explosive brand with more than 12mm readers and circulation of 2.5mm; Stuff quickly followed with an audience of over 5mm and circulation of 1.3mm. Prior to joining Dennis Publishing, Jim was the Group Circulation Director for Cahners Publishing Co., a business unit of Reed-Elsevier. He was responsible for the development of circulation for 22 publications. From 1985 to 1991, Jim was VP of Client Relations at Curtis Circulation Co., the largest national distributor of periodicals in the U.S. Prior to that, he held circulation positions at U.S. News & World Report and CBS Magazines, the prior owner of the titles now held by Hachette-Filipacchi.

Tolman Geffs
Managing Director, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.
Tolman has 20 years of experience operating and advising media companies. He is currently a Managing Director with The Jordan, Edmiston Group (JEGI), a boutique investment bank founded in 1987 and focused on the media and information industries. Tolman serves online media, services and technology companies, as well as broader media firms seeking to integrate interactive content and capabilities into "traditional" media models. Prior to joining JEGI, Tolman was CEO of Internet Broadcasting Systems, a national network of 70 local television Web sites operated in partnership with NBC, Hearst, The Washington Post Company and other major broadcasters. Previously, Tolman held a series of senior executive positions in magazine publishing. He began his career at Lehman Brothers and McKinsey & Company, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in English and a BS in Engineering Physics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Peter Longo
Chief Executive Officer, IDG Tech Network
Peter has more than 25 years experience in digital media, consumer, technology and travel publishing and a customer-focused philosophy of making the needs of customers, readers and advertisers a top priority. Prior to IDG, Longo was chief sales officer at Inform Technologies, a company that provides capabilities to automatically search, organize, and link content to attract and retain readers for media brands. Previously, Longo was President of Publishing at Zinio, the leading digital magazine provider with more than 250 magazines and millions of users worldwide. Earlier in his career, Longo spent 12 years at Ziff Davis Media Group, most recently as Executive Vice President and Publishing Director. Overseeing Ziff titles like PC Magazine, eWEEK, Ziff Davis Smart Business, The Net Economy and Ziff Davis Internet, among others, he directed all sales for both the internet and print properties as well as marketing, editorial, long-term business planning. Longo was also Sr Vice President and Publisher of PC Magazine, and held senior positions with PC Week, and Computer Shopper. Previously Longo has held positions at CMP Media and Sport Magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from College of the Holy Cross

Scot W. Melland
President and Chief Executive Officer, Dice Inc.
Scot Melland is an experienced e-Business chief executive. He is currently President and CEO of Dice Inc., the leading online recruiting company for technology and engineering professionals, serving more than 8,000 customers and 1.5 million technology professionals each month. Prior to Dice, Mr. Melland was President and CEO of Vcommerce, an e-commerce software and fulfillment services company. From 1996-1999, Mr. Melland served as Senior Vice President, Interactive Services, at Cendant Corporation, where he ran a portfolio of profitable online businesses, including the award-winning sites Match.com (now part of IAC) and Rent.net (now part of HomeStore), and the leading membership club sites NetMarket.com and TravelersAdvantage.com. From 1993-1996, Mr. Melland served as Vice President, Investments & Alliances for Ameritech (now SBC Communications), where he led the company’s investments in the media, cable and information industries. Mr. Melland began his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company and is a frequent speaker at media and human capital management conferences. He holds a BS in Economics with high honors from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Rob Solomon
Venture Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures
Rob was formerly President and Chief Executive Officer of SideStep, Inc., the market leader in the travel search industry. Previously he was Vice President and General Manager of the Yahoo! Shopping Group, where he was instrumental in building one of the largest commerce destinations on the Internet, including one of the premiere vertical search sites, Yahoo! Shopping, and Yahoo!’s travel business. Under Rob’s tenure, the company won several major accolades, including Shopping Search Engine of the Year (Search Engine Watch) and top ratings in key Comparison Shopping Reports (Consumer Reports and Forbes). Prior to joining Yahoo!, Rob served as General Manager of Electronic Commerce at the Kleiner Perkins-funded FireDrop, Inc. Prior to that, he served as Cendant Corporation’s Vice President of Internet Marketing and New Product Development. Rob has also held various marketing, product and brand management roles at Electronic Arts, Creative Wonders, a Disney/Electronic Arts joint venture, and GolfWeb. In these roles he launched more than 25 consumer-focused Internet and CD-ROM products. Rob is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.

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