Matthew Melucci's Page

Company:

Turner Broadcasting Systems

Company Website:

http://turner.com

Media Type:

Publishing, eMedia, TV

Media Realm:

Consumer Media

Home Region:

New England

Past Companies & Brands

Beliefnet.com
HouseParty.com
Katrillion.com
Sonicnet.com
San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco Magazine

I'm Looking For:

Networking, Inspiration

Professional Background: (Resume)

Matthew P. Melucci • 128 Perry Ave. • Norwalk, CT 06850
mmelucci@beliefnetstaff.com • mattylu@sbcglobal.net
(203) 845-0312 • (718) 290-4299

Objective: To lead media organization to develop innovative and scalable online presence with products that thrive as consumer/client applications, internal resources and lucrative revenue streams.

Work Experience:

Turner Broadcasting Systems (Time Warner Inc.) • N.Y, N.Y.
Senior Product Manager/New Products Group, Septembe 2007 to present
(Think-tank for new product initiatives for TBS)
Top international cable network and mult-media conglomerate best known for CNN but also Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TNT, TCM and others.
• Conceived, developed and lead build on Newsipedia, an online product designed to leverage CNN’s 25 years of video and text archives to monetize old news with a new innovative product.
• Conceived, developed and lead build on CNN’s web community inititiative.
• Developed concept for a super-blog site devoted to tapping the intersection of crime drama and true crime.
• Served as community strategist for new product called The Frisky, bringing innovative Web 2.0 ideas to start-up publication.

Beliefnet.com (Fox Digital Media/News Corp.) • N.Y, N.Y.
Director of Web 2.0 Strategy/User-Generated Content, March, 2006 to March 2008
(Circulation: 4 million uniques/9 million subscribers a month)
Top-rated website focused on connecting users for the purpose of spirituality and life enrichment, offering news features/analysis, interactive content, newsletters and guided journals.
• Instrument in company’s years of revenue and traffic growth and build out to social networking and key partnerships that lead to purchase by News Corporation’s Digital Media unit.
• Lead the integration, development and marketing strategy behind social networking, contributing to increase in traffic from 2.6 million to 4.1 million uniques and more than 100 million page views per month as of February 2007.
• Traffic growth and additional sponsorship opportunities resulted in increased CPMs and jump in advertising net revenue from $8 million to $12 million annually.
• Developed spiritual networking concept, group emphasis and overall user experience as well as established partnerships for creation of user-generated video and photo galleries, aimed at build to a community-based site.
• Created new revenue streams through user-driven sponsorships, video/imbedded ads, premium membership fees and powerful new partnerships initiatives designed to build traffic and sell ads.

New Media Consultant
New Products/Web 2.0 Initiatives, January 2004 to present
Brought in to define the Web 2.0 business strategy, business model, platform approach and design and budget for companies including Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc, Doubledown Media, American Media, MTV Networks, CafeMom.com and more.
• Conceived, developed and managing creation of social media sharing platforms around news, lifestyles and entertainment.
• Vision for innovative design concept and revolutionary approach to web-based video interaction among users across platforms.
• Vetted and evolved product concept and proposal in company-wide effort to transform monthly magazine and website into a multi-million dollar community.
• Strategized and developed concepts and budgets in effort to raise $10 million capital investment against the Web 2.0 business model.
• Put together team of architects, designers and developers currently building iTV/online video-based website with a scheduled Beta launch of August, 2008.

HouseParty.com (Partner of Nickelodeon Networks, NBC/Universal Inc.) • N.Y., N.Y.
Co-owner/Vice President/Director of Partner Programs, April 2004 to August 2006
Pioneering new media company producing branded entertainment merging online networking, media sharing, programming, buzz marketing to produce innovative event/product promotions.
• Developed House Party concept and website platform, as well as user experience while helping drive company from negative earnings in 2002-2003 to $2.3 million net profit in little more than a year.
• Grew traffic to House Party website from several hundred HP applicants to several thousand, leading to membership drive as part of social networking platform that boast 1 million monthly uniques.
• Lead staff in strategy for promotional programming and word-of-mouth buzz marketing around brands such as NBC’s The Biggest Loser and Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Fear Factor Factory: The Game.
• Both Avatar and The Biggest Loser earned top ratings for their demographic following the House Party Inc. (HPi) promotion; Avatar became runaway hit and continues to be a top-rated show on Nickelodeon.
• Helped conceive HPi business model and marketing strategy, leading email campaigns, formulating mission statement, communications plan and staffing structure in pre-You Tube and MySpace days of Web 2.0.
• Play lead role in negotiations with networks and other entertainment brands as well as on ongoing dialogue with senior marketing teams at NBC and Nickelodeon.

Katrillion.com (Partner with America Online) • Fort Lee, N.J.
Vice President/Chief Editor/Producer, March 2001-July 2002
(Circulation: 1.2 million unique visitors a month)
Award-winning teen info-tainment portal producing news and educational content, database resources, as well as innovative online social networking and media sharing.
• Developed site’s voice and redesign, including look, feel, tools and interactive/networking platform among teen members and users.
• Established and maintained multi-million-dollar partnership deal with AOL, involving a daily content feed and AOL lead page features.
• Worked closely on the building out of applications, including innovative VideoCards, celebrity database and personalized web pages for Katrillion members.
• Won Yahoo! Internet Life Award, Best Teen Portal (2001)

Sonicnet.com (part of MTVi/MTV Networks) • San Francisco, CA/New York, N.Y.
Vice President/Managing Editor/Producer, May, 1996 to Oct. 2000
(Circulation: 30 million worldwide)
Top music website merging news/ features, net radio, live chat, streamed video/concerts, networking, databases, e-commerce and digital downloads into seamless user experience.
• Managed and lead organization through $70 million buyout/merger with TCI Communications and $125 million purchase by MTV Networks.
• Initiated co-branding, revenue sharing deals for news, reviews and features with CNN and Reuters which contributed to company’s profits for 2000 totaling $13 million.
• Planned and produced award-winning content and built a production staff of more than 50 employees, as part of the Internet's most-trafficked music website.
• Instrumental in designing site’s look and feel, as well as content offerings from news, to reviews to broadband reports with cable affiliates.
• Worked with top-rated Radio Sonicnet team on integrating user experience and cross-marketing of editorial with streaming music and video, creating a paid revenue model and adding new advertising and sponsorship channels to website.
• Won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award for multi-media series on riots at Woodstock ’99 – conceived of, produced, promoted and marketed.
• Twice won the Webby Award for Best Music Site (1997 and 1999)

New Media/Communications Professorships • New York, New Jersey, Westchester
New School University, Rutgers University, Mercy College, Brooklyn College, St. Francis College, Marymount College
Visiting and adjunct professor, communications/media/writing, Sept. 2000 - present
• Professional focus teaching Media Management & Leadership in graduate Media Studies, as well as journalism and writing courses in online media, media convergence, magazine and news writing.
• Advisor to the Mercy College student magazine, Impact.
• Earned recognition across five campuses for reviving and recreating student publication, Impact, and gaining student interest across educational disciplines.

Senior Editor/Producer/Reporter
New York, N.Y.
Staff reporter/editor and freelance contractor, 1985 to present
• Edit and write in-depth news and features for magazines such as Maxim, The Writer, SF Weekly, SF Focus Magazine, Bay Guardian, The Week Magazine. Fit Pregnancy.
• Staff reporter/editor as well as freelancer for publications including San Francisco Examiner/Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Syracuse’s Post Standard

Education:
• Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, creative writing, Wesleyan University
• Bachelor of Arts, magazine journalism, Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University
• Bachelor of Sciences in psychology, College of Arts & Sciences, Syracuse University,

Honors/affiliations:
- National Magazine Award for Online Publications, Beliefnet (2007)
- Scripps-Howard National Journalism Award, Investigative Reporting, Sonicnet (2000)
- ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award, Excellence in Journalism, Sonicnet (2000)
- Webby Award, Best Music Site , SonicNet.com, (1997, 1999)
- Yahoo! Internet Life Award, Best Teen Portal, Katrillion, (2001)
- Yahoo! Internet Life Award, Best Music Portal. Sonicnet, (1998, 1999, 2000)
- Wammy Award, Best Music Portal, (2000)
- Panelist speaker at First International Media Online Conference, Brazil (2007)
- Panelist speaker at Interactive Media Conference in Miami, Fla. (2007)
- Member iBreakfast Web 2.0 organization of new media professionals (2007)
- Best Headline, first place, Hearst Publications Inc., (1996)
- Breaking news, first place, Conn. Society of Professional Journalists, (1993)
- Breaking news coverage, CSPJ , (1992, 1993)
- Literary award, finalist, William Faulkner Short Story Competition, (1994)
- ASCAP member, (since 1987)
- SCBWI member, (since 2000)

Personal Interests

Reading
Writing
Photography
Music (Guitar, Piano, Voice)
Technology

Education:

• Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, creative writing, Wesleyan University

Relationship Status:

Married