CC - SMS Messaging Summit 2018 - Frankfurt 18^th & 19^th April 2018

Based at Lago di Como in Italy, VSC provides strategic advisory services in M&A, Business Development & Media for the telecommunication industry. Over the last 25 years, Erik developed extensive expertise and deep domain knowledge working at major telecom companies. His international career includes senior & executive level positions. Over the years, Erik has been a regular speaker & moderator at major international telecom conferences.

Andreas is the Commercial Director of Yuboto, a leading acclaimed and 7 times awarded Mobile Marketing Company in Greece.

He joined Yuboto in 2012 and holds almost two decades of experience in telecommunications industry. He holds great motivation abilities and inspires teamwork. He is a sales oriented person and passionate for high value customer service performance. Andreas will present the 2^nd Generation Mobile Marketing Tools, that give access to unlimited and personalized mobile marketing campaigns via a simple SMS landed on a smart phone, and all 2nd Generation tools available at Yuboto's mobile marketing platform: "Yuniverse". Andreas is a qualified Professional Business Trainer of National Organization for the Certification of Qualifications & Vocational Guidance and author of numerous best-seller Sales books and manuals.

An expert in wholesale voice and SMS messaging with over 20 years’ experience in the telecom industry as former VP of Sales & Carrier Relations at tyntec, one of the largest A2P SMS service providers globally and as Regional Manager at Verizon where he headed up a team responsible for international voice services in Europe. José also previously managed operator relations in Central and Southern Europe for Netsize, a Gemalto company. José holds a degree in business administration from the Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt a. M.

Specialties:
Launch SMS services / Shift from Voice to Messaging / A2P SMS Monetization / MNO revenue assurance / SMS platforms / P2P SMS Cost optimization / Training Sales and Carrier Relations / Wholesale Voice / VoIP / Integration of Operators, Carriers, Aggregators into value chain of OTT services / Off-net connectivity for OTT services.

Dr René Arnold is Head of Department Markets and Perspectives at WIK – a leading German think tank focusing on ICT Policy. He holds a PhD in Marketing / Consumer Behavior from the University of Edinburgh. His research revolves around the socio-economic impact of OTT applications as well as digitization across various verticals. Recently, he has published various studies on mobile messaging applications. Prior to joining WIK, René was a research analyst with the consulting subsidiary of the Cologne Institute for Economic Research. Next to his professional career, he has engaged as a guest lecturer at various universities across Europe.

Giovanni currently serves as Senior Director of Product Management for OpenMarket’s Global SMS services. He is responsible for product strategy and business planning for the company’s global mobile messaging solution.

Prior to joining OpenMarket, Giovanni held a variety of Product Management and Business Development positions in the space of SMS, Voice and Unified Communication at different companies in Europe and USA.

Giovanni graduated from Bayreuth and Manchester University with a Masters in Physics.

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Nick is Chief Insight Analyst and Founder at Mobilesquared, and specialises in all aspects of the mobile and telecommunications industries, including; messaging and OTT, unified communications, mpayments, the enterprise, mobile marketing and advertising, premium rate services, automated platforms, mobile internet and social media, apps and content, as well as networks and technology.
Nick oversees all aspects of client projects; research, analysis, data modellling, and creative output, to drive awareness of clients' brands through white papers or reports, or provide our clients with market positioning and competitor analysis to support company expansion and product launches, as well as Mobilesquared’s own reports, including Global A2P SMS forecasts, 2015-2020.
Nick speaks at conferences around the world, and is a judge for the Global Mobile Awards, the MEFFYS and the EMMAs.
In his time as an analyst, Nick has written strategic industry reports on all of the subjects listed above.

For more than 25 years, Lee has been pioneering product innovation, bringing ideas to life and addressing market needs as a software engineer, project manager, product manager, and sales & marketing leader.  He is a veteran of the telecommunications industry and is passionate about digital products and willing to challenge anyone that doesn't believe telecommunications is super exciting.  Lee has worked as a consultant helping mobile operators launch new mobile services, with SaaS providers on new services, and has spent over 10 years working with the A2P marketplace.  Over the last 3-4 years he has focused on privacy technology and as well as running market development he also leads the GDPR preparedness program @ Xconnect.

Dr. Marco Lafrentz is responsible for tyntec’s person-to-person and cloud services business. As an expert in platform technology and enterprise solutions, Lafrentz leads tyntec’s CPaaS development. He is also frequently called on to provide expert commentary on topical issues relating to enterprise mobile communications.

Prior to his current position, Lafrentz was a Senior Product Manager and Product Manager at tyntec. He also served as an Academic at TU Dortmund University. Lafrentz holds a Doctorate in Physics from TU Dortmund University, Germany.

James Williams is MrConnectivity. He has over 25 years’ experience in the field of Telecommunications, the last 15+ years immersed in the world of Customer Engagement. He lives and breathes Mobile Messaging, Omnichannel, Customer Journey Orchestration, Mobile Subscriber Intelligence and Monetisation.

A particular area of expertise is Mobile Messaging, the key pillar of which today is Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS. He has helped Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Aggregators and Enterprises with all aspects of A2P SMS, the market for which is worth over $50 billion per year: Strategy, Training (Sales/Support/Carrier Relations), Vendor/Partner Selection, Marketing (including providing complete Website solutions), Service Launch, Business Development, Process Development, Monetisation and Revenue Assurance.

James speaks globally on Customer Engagement and works with both novice and seasoned entrepreneurs on scaling from an idea to a successful business. Leveraging his global network of industry contacts, James is also able to recruit personnel for clients rapidly and effectively.

Think Customer Engagement. Think MrConnectivity.

Based in Paris, France, Florence is an experienced New Business Development Professional and Relationship Broker with deep expertise in the telecommunication industry. After a Master in International Trade (Paris II), she joined Telecom Italia during 10 years. She founded FSE Consulting 8 years ago to help companies to build market positions by locating, developing, defining, negotiating, and closing impactful business relationships.
Identify and interpret market trends, as well as track individual contributors and their accomplishments to seek business deals. Contact potential partners, discover and explore opportunities to help companies to close new business. Develop negotiating strategies and positions by studying integration of new venture with company strategies and operations, examining risks and opportunities, and estimating partners' needs and goals.

“15 years of experience in International Wholesale Industry with main focus on Voice Trading, Messaging and New Business Development”

Senior general management executive with a passion for developing high-growth applications and services - particularly those related to the intersection of enterprise and end-user, mobility, communications, and productivity. 
Specialties: product management, strategic planning, business development, product marketing, acquisition planning and integration.