Bob Smith

Bob is Chairman of iBelong and has over 20 years of experience creating and managing interactive community-based businesses. He started his first directory publishing company in 1984. He became a member of the AOL management team in 1992 where his first assignment was helping large media companies such as the New York Times, Tribune Client and Hachette Filipacchi Magazines create their first online publishing ventures. He went on to serve as General Manager of all of AOL’s community programming operations. He was founder of AOL’s DigitalCity, the first nation-wide city guide service.

After leaving AOL, Bob started one of the first business incubators for Internet businesses in the nation, Vector Development, LLC. He has spent the last few years working directly with Internet-based startup companies as both a strategic advisor and investor. He helped found and guide companies in e-government (ezgov—US operations sold 2004), e-commerce (OneMade, where he served as Chairman—sold to AOL in 2003), identity monitoring/management (PromiseMark and Privista—sold to ConsumerInfo and Equifax respectively) and community-based mapping (The Map Network, where he served as Chairman—recently closed $3.5 million financing with Gannett).

In addition to his experience in the Internet, Bob also has extensive experience in print media encompassing directory, newsletter, magazine and wire syndication publishing, including over six years as a senior executive of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.

Bob has an MBA in Marketing from George Washington University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Southern California. Bob also served for six years as an officer in the US Navy.

Trish Barber

Trish Barber is Vice President and Community Officer at iBelong and brings 20 years of experience in general managing new business initiatives, forging business partnerships, architecting and managing online communities and editorial operations, and spearheading new revenue generating programs.

She held several positions at AOL between 1995 and 2005, including Executive Director of America Online Community, where she managed the strategies, programs and resources that supported the thousands of communities on the AOL service. She was responsible for Business Development at AOL’s Digital City, Inc., where she was responsible for centralizing the disparate business relationships initiated by the fledgling organization within AOL and worked with media organizations around the country. As General Manager of AOL’s Digital City Boston, Trish focused on delivering local information, news, and events to AOL members and Web users, while breaking ground to generate new advertising revenue out of the Boston market.

Prior to AOL, her role as VP of Account Services with Redgate Communications tasked her with introducing cutting edge organizations to new media marketing solutions that brought them online for the first time. Trish's clients included Prodigy, Fidelity Investments, NYNEX, The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and America Online. Redgate was seen as an industry leader in online media and was bought by AOL in 1995.

Early in her career,Trish was involved in setting up operations with Cablevision Industries, and later, with Continental Cablevision. During this time when CATV franchises were actively being awarded and established, Trish was responsible for setting up office operations in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York. Additionally, she was charged with developing practical programs and strategies that slowed the decline of pay television revenues.