Gabe Battista, chairman and CEO of Talk America Holdings, Inc. and Chris Cantarella, leader of the Venture Capital Advisory Group, Ernst & Young LLP, will be the keynote speakers at the Telecommunications Industry Association's venture capital forum.
The forum, TIA Ventures 2002: The Return of Telecom, will be held July 10-11 in McLean, Va.
Battista will be the featured keynote speaker on July 11 and will talk about the competitive landscape in the telecom market today. Battista joined Talk America as its chairman and CEO in January 1999, and brings previous executive experience as the former CEO of Network Solutions, Inc. and Cable & Wireless North America, Inc.
Talk America is an integrated communications provider offering local, long-distance and dial-up Internet telecommunications services to residential and small business customers across the United States.
On the first day of the two-day forum, Cantarella will talk about the present state of the telecommunications market and the communications industry in his luncheon session, "Trends and Undercurrents Affecting Capital Acquisition in Today's Market." Cantarella joined Ernst & Young's Venture Capital Advisory Group in October 2002. With four teams in the United States, the Mid-Atlantic Venture Capital Advisory Group monitors the venture capital industry while providing feedback and advice to early-stage companies and venture capitalists.
Additional guest speakers at the TIA's forum include Joseph Hoffman, partner, Kelley Drye & Warren LLP; Boris Fridman, chairman and founder, Broadbeam Corp.; and Michael MacNeilly, project manager, Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
The TIA is the leading trade association serving the communications and information technology industry. For more information contact Andy Dryden at (703) 907-7633 or visit www.tiaonline.org.
