Robert J. Dowling - During his 15-year tenure as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of The Hollywood Reporter, the entertainment industry's premier daily trade publication, Robert J. Dowling emerged as one of the leading authorities and spokesmen on entertainment issues and trends worldwide, including the 2001 terrorist attacks and their effects on the industry.

Mr. Dowling created and executed a successful business plan to position The Hollywood Reporter as the definitive authority on the fast-changing entertainment industry landscape of the 21st century. He proved adept at identifying emerging growth areas early, guiding the paper to unparalleled coverage of labor, convergence, new media, international and Hollywood-Washington political issues in addition to its core reporting on the movie, television, cable and video businesses.

He launched The Hollywood Reporter's Web site in 1996, the industry's first real-time, online delivery of entertainment news, pioneered the first regular entertainment coverage devoted to the convergence of traditional entertainment and new media, and started THR-East, an electronically distributed daily edition designed to bring East Coast readers breaking news stories hours before the competition.

Mr. Dowling is Chairman of the Digital Coast Roundtable and sits on the boards of the Hollywood Radio & Television Society (HRTS) and Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission. He is a frequent guest speaker at universities on the major trends in the markets he covers. In 2000 Mr. Dowling was invited to Washington D.C. to brief members of the White House Cabinet on the entertainment industry for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He has taught a course at UCLA and lectured at USC and Loyola Marymount.

Kenneth (Ken) Lombard became the president of Starbucks Entertainment in 2004 and took on the role of leading the vision and strategy for Starbucks extension into music and entertainment.

Lombard's contributions have included overseeing the national launch of the Starbucks Hear Music™ Coffeehouses, which feature the Hear Music™ media bars, Starbucks new service which allows customers to easily sample and custom-burn songs to a CD; as well as the Starbucks Hear Music™ Channel 75 on XM Satellite Radio. Lombard's achievements have significantly contributed to Starbucks success, with Starbucks unit CD sales in Company-operated retail stores increasing by 307% from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2005. Starbucks sold nearly 3.5 million CDs in 2005 alone. Other noteworthy contributions to date include the team's phenomenal success with the Starbucks Hear Music/Concord Records co-marketed and co-released CD, Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company, winner of eight GRAMMY® Awards, including "Record of the Year" and "Album of the Year"; the first-ever simultaneous global release of the Starbucks Hear Music/Hancock Music/Vector Recordings co-marketed and co-released CD, Herbie Hancock’s Possibilities, recently nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards; and most recently, the announcement of Starbucks partnership with Lionsgate to market and distribute the film, Akeelah and the Bee.

The legacy of Lombard's partnership with Earvin "Magic" Johnson has made a revolutionary contribution and improvement within minority communities nationwide. Lombard served as President of Johnson Development Corporation (JDC) since its inception in 1992 until 2004. He was instrumental in fulfilling the company's mission to become one of the nation's foremost urban development companies. Lombard is credited with negotiating numerous partnerships between JDC and Starbucks, Loews Cineplex Entertainment (Magic Johnson Theatres), T.G.I. Friday's (Magic Johnson's T.G.I. Friday's), Washington Mutual Bank; and also establishing the real estate partnerships with Canyon Johnson Urban Fund and Johnson MacFarlane Urban Partners, which invested in real estate assets valued in excess of one billion dollars. The above mentioned joint ventures brought entertainment complexes, coffee houses, restaurants, and retail centers to minority communities, establishing a presence in over 65 cities and 17 states.

Lombard and Earvin "Magic" Johnson have been frequently recognized for their success in combining fiscally responsive business strategies with socially responsible goals and objectives. Lombard has been featured in numerous business articles including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, Black Enterprise and Savoy. He's received numerous honors and awards for his professional contributions including the City of Angels Corporate Award and the Los Angeles Business Journal Corporate Leadership Award.

Lombard holds a bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Washington, and sits on the Board of Directors for Timberland.

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