Bill Patrizio
Bill Patrizio (Via Silverwood Partners)

— RealNetworks has hired Bill Patrizio, a media industry veteran, to be president of its consumer media business, the company announced Monday.

Patrizio will be responsible for strategy and management of Real’s PC RealPlayer group and its IP licensing business, according to a news release. He will also handle the global rollout and marketing of Real’s new RealMedia HD codec technology.

Based in Seattle, Patrizio will report to CEO Rob Glaser.

“I’m delighted that Bill is joining Real to lead our Consumer Media group,” Glaser, founder of the 22-year-old company said. “Bill’s extensive background at the intersection of media and technology, his track record for creating value, and his personal passion for digital media all make Bill a great addition to our senior leadership team.”

Patrizio spent nearly four years at Opaka Partners, a consulting firm that he founded in 2013. Prior to that, he was CEO of Red Bee Media, a digital media software and services company based in the U.K. He has also been president of the broadcast services division of Technicolor SA and served as an executive at other media and consumer products companies including Disney, Universal Studios, Seagram, and Kellogg.

“I’ve been watching RealNetworks since my days at Disney back in the late 90’s and have always been impressed with the company’s vision and pioneering spirit. I look forward to bringing my years of industry experience to this role to help the company continue to deliver compelling products that push boundaries and excite consumers,” Patrizio said in a news release.

Erik Selberg
Erik Selberg.

Amperity, the Seattle-based marketing enterprise software startup, has added Erik Selberg as vice president of machine learning.

In 1995, Selberg created MetaCrawler, the web’s first parallel search engine, while completing his PhD in computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. He also worked on relevance and personalization for the first version of Microsoft’s Bing before heading up Amazon’s retail enterprise data warehouse and product matching and search aggregation teams.

“It’s clear we live in a world where enterprises have massive amounts of data; the problems are now implementing smart systems to make good, scalable use of that data,” Kabir Shahani, CEO of Amperity, said in a news release. “Erik brings a rare combination of both large-scale data and deep machine learning experience. These are fundamental concepts to the Amperity platform and I could not be more thrilled to have his expertise and leadership around the table as we continue to develop our product.”

Michelle Huff
Michelle Huff. (Via LinkedIn)

Act-On Software, the Portland-based marketing automation company, has added Michelle Huff as chief marketing officer.

Huff brings more than 17 years of experience to Act-On, with previous experience helping companies such as Salesforce and Oracle connect customers with technology solutions to grow their business. Most recently, she was GM of Salesforce’s Data.com division after having served as the VP of marketing for the group.

Prior to her Salesforce, Huff was a senior director at Oracle and a senior product marketing manager at Stellent (acquired by Oracle).

“We are seeing a trend occur today as businesses refocus their efforts on the total lifetime value of their customers — companies are finally realizing that marketing does not stop at the point of sale,” Huff said in a news release. “The technology solutions that we need to build brand awareness, drive demand, and expand customer relationships are becoming smarter, more connected, and holistic, and Act-On is uniquely positioned to address these broader needs for marketing today, and in the future.”

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