CONNECTIONS Welcomes Another Keynote Speaker, Amy Banse with Comcast

Right off the press! Amy Banse of Comcast accepts keynote invitation at CONNECTIONS 2008.

Amy Banse serves as President of Comcast Interactive Media, a division that is responsible for the development and growth of the company’s Internet businesses, including the Comcast.net. In 2003, Banse was named by Multichannel News as one of the “Wonder Women” of the cable industry, and to Broadcasting and Cable magazine’s “Next Wave” of industry leaders.

Amy Banse with be presenting the keynote presentation on Wednesday, June 25th at 12:15 PM.

New TM Forum Device Management Summit to be held at CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase

TM Forum, the world’s leading trade association focused on management of information, communications, and entertainment services, is hosting a pre-show device-management Summit on June 24 in conjunction with CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase. The TM Forum Device Management Summit on “Low-Cost Device Deployment and User Support” addresses the growing management requirements generated by intelligent interconnected devices in the home, including mobile handsets, set-top boxes, and gateways. With one trillion devices expected in the next 15-20 years, service providers must solve device-based management issues, leading to reduced support costs, improved customer experience, and potentially add additional service revenues.

CONNECTIONS™, produced by Parks Associates in partnership with CEA®, is the largest executive conference and showcase focused on the market developments and growth factors for advanced digital lifestyle solutions. The 12th annual conference will be held June 24-26 at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

For more information, check out the full press release or visit the Parks Associates blog.

CONNECTIONS Keynote Speaker List Now Includes Rebecca Jacoby, Cisco

Rebecca Jacoby joins prestigious list of keynote speakers at this year's CONNECTIONS event.

Currently, she is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Cisco Systems, Inc. At this time, Rebecca is scheduled to present the opening keynote presentation on Wednesday, June 25th.

Paul Liao Accepts Keynote Invitation from CONNECTIONS 2008

Parks Associates and CEA welcome Mr. Paul Liao as a keynote speaker at the June 24th-26th CONNECTIONS event.

Mr. Liao represents Panasonic North America as the Chief Technology Officer. He will address the entire conference on Wednesday, June 25th as the closing keynote speaker.

CONNECTIONS Announces Keynote, Phil McKinney with HP

Parks Associates and CEA are pleased to announce Phil McKinney as a CONNECTIONS 2008 keynote speaker.

Currently, Mr. McKinney is the Vice President & Chief Technology Officer with the Personal Systems Group at Hewlett-Packard. CONNECTIONS, along with Parks Associates and CEA, look forward to having Phil McKinney as a participant.

Parks Associates' Webcast: North American Broadband Update

North American broadband service providers face increasing in-kind and over-the-top competition. As a result, their focus is shifting from selling bandwidth and competing on price to competing on applications, services, and consumer experiences.

Michael Cai, Director of Broadband & Gaming at Parks Associates, presented insights on the following topics during a webcast this week:
- Changing competitive dynamics in the NA BSP market
- Trends and outlook for the deployment of a variety of access technologies (DSL, cable modem, FTTx, broadband wireless, BPL)
- The impact of 700MHz
- Carrier deployment of value added services
- Strategies for broadband service providers to fend off competition from over-the-top service providers
- Market forecasts

Here's a look at some of the numbers and forecasts included:

- 80% of Internet households connect through broadband, and four service providers split 70% of the market
- WiMAX particularly interesting with FMS potential but Sprint's financial woes might slow the process
- Telcos will focus on multi-play bundles and VAS services that incorporate their wireless assets - Investments in new technologies like IMS, Femtocell, DOCSIS 3.0
- Service provides will face competition from not just in-kind competitors, but also emerging over-the-top providers
- Loyalty programs and other customer retention tactics will soon be deployed
- 75%+ of Internet Households connect through Broadband and four SPs split 73% of the market

Don't forget to checkout future webcasts!

CONNECTIONS Advisory Board Members are Confirmed

All advisory board members have been confirmed for CONNECTIONS 2008. Parks Associates and CEA welcome the following participants:

• Chris Ballard, Head of the Device Sector, TMForum
• Kevin Custis, Consumer Electronics Leader, IBM Global Business Services
• John Fisher, Chief Operating Office & Chief Software Architect, PEAK 8 Solutions
• Rob Gelphman, Chair, Marketing Work Group, MoCA
• Paolo Pastorino, Chief Technology Officer, Home Gateway Initiative (HGI)
• Parag Sheth, Vice President of Marketing, Hillcrest Labs
• Bernadette Vernon, Senior Director Marketing Communications, Motorola

Parks Associates representatives also serving on the Advisory Board include: Tricia Parks, CEO; Stuart Sikes, President; Steve Harvey, Director - Global Events; Kurt Scherf, Vice President & Principal Analyst; Elizabeth Parks, Vice President - Marketing; Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein, Marketing Manager.

Windows Media Center becomes Gold Sponsor at Connections 2008

Windows Media Center is announced as a Gold level sponsor for CONNECTIONS™ 2008.

The new Windows Media Center in Windows Vista™ delivers high-fidelity visuals and surround-sound for the most advanced home-entertainment. New Online Media services will change the way you watch TV, like the SportsLounge featuring FOXSports.com, and more premium TV and movie download and streaming services. Plus, easily turn your house into a “Digital Home” by wirelessly streaming these services, live and recorded digital HDTV, and music and photo collections through Xbox 360 and future Media Center Extender-compatible CE devices.

For twelve years, Parks Associates, together with CEA®, has brought together the industry leaders in digital home and consumer technologies at CONNECTIONS™, the foremost event in digital living. The 2008 event will be held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.

Macrovision announced as Gold Sponsor

Parks Associates and CEO are excited to have Macrovision as a Gold Sponsor at this year's CONNECTIONS™ event.

Macrovision provides distribution, commerce and consumption solutions for software, entertainment and information content to the home video, PC games, music, cable/satellite, consumer software, enterprise software and information publishing industries as well as middleware solutions to enable the development of connected devices.

Macrovision holds approximately 240 issued or pending United States patents and more than 1,200 issued or pending international patents, and continues to increase its patent portfolio with new and innovative technologies in related fields. Macrovision is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, U.S.A. with other offices across the United States and around the world. More information about Macrovision can be found at http://www.macrovision.com/.

CONNECTIONS™, produced by Parks Associates in partnership with CEA, provides unbeatable value and exposure for sponsoring companies. Sponsoring CONNECTIONS™ positions your company among industry leaders and provides outstanding marketing opportunities throughout the year, including at International CES events.

Peak8 Solutions Announced as CONNECTIONS™ Diamond Sponsor

Parks Associates and CEO welcome Peak8 Solutions as a Diamond Sponsor for CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase.

Peak8 Partners, LLC, doing business as Peak8 Solutions is a software and services company that supports the digital lifestyle. Peak8 offers a comprehensive solution suite designed to improve the productivity and effectiveness of technical support call centers. Peak8 also offers consumer friendly software that improves the stability and performance of digital lifestyle products while empowering users with an intelligent self-service capability.

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase will be held June 24th - 26th in Santa Clara, CA. This premier executive event focuses on market developments and growth factors for advanced digital lifestyle solutions.

CONNECTIONS™ Announces Motorola as Diamond Sponsor

Parks Associates and Consumer Electronics Association are pleased to announce Motorola as a Diamond sponsor for CONNECTIONS™ 2008.

Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications. The company develops technologies, products and services that make mobile experiences possible. Our portfolio includes communications infrastructure, enterprise mobility solutions, digital set-tops, cable modems, mobile devices and Bluetooth accessories. Motorola is committed to delivering next generation communication solutions to people, businesses and governments. A Fortune 100 company with global presence and impact, Motorola had sales of US $36.6 billion in 2007.

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase will be held June 24-26 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. CONNECTIONS™ session topics include IPTV and "TV 2.0," bundled services, consumer storage, mobile applications and content, social and digital media, and home and lifestyle management.

MoCA™ announced as Diamond Sponsor for CONNECTIONS™

Parks Associates and CEA are pleased to announce MOCA™ as a Diamond Sponsor of CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase.

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA™) is an open, industry driven initiative promoting distribution of digital video and entertainment through existing coaxial cable in the home. MoCA™ technology provides the backbone for whole home entertainment networks of multiple wired and wireless products.

• No new wires
• No installation or truck roll
• No interference with existing networks
• If you have coax, it works
• Compliments any wireless network

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase will be held June 24-26 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. CONNECTIONS™ sessions provide high-level research, knowledge, and analysis to over 1,000 executives from the converging industries developing consumer products and services.

IBM sponsors CONNECTIONS (TM)

Parks Associates and CEA are pleased to welcome IBM as a Diamond Sponsor of CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase.

For more information about IBM, please visit their website at http://www.ibm.com/.

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase will be held Tuesday, June 24th through Thursday, June 26th at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. This premier executive event focuses on market developments and growth factors for advanced digital lifestyle solutions.

CONNECTIONS(tm) Announces Hillcrest Labs as Diamond Sponsor

Parks Associates and CEA are pleased to announce Hillcrest Labs as a Diamond Sponsor of CONNECTIONS: The Digital Living Conference & Showcase.

Hillcrest Labs enables CE and peripheral manufacturers, service providers, and internet content companies to deliver the most visually engaging and intuitive way to access, discover, and interact with digital media throughout the home.

CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase will be held June 24-26 at the Santa Clara Convention Center and will focus on the new business models in broadband sharing, remote management, and other advanced services afforded by these technological advances.

CONNECTIONS Advisory Board

Our first correspondence is being sent out to recruit our CONNECTIONS (TM) Advisory Board. We are excited about the upcoming year and receiving input from our key sponsorships and top level executives.