We are a great group of insider-outsiders, totally committed to re-imagining how our digital lives and the world around us can engage together in more meaningful and genuine ways.

We are also driven by the idea of new kinds of family glue around the digital lives of family members.

About

More about us

We are a tech company in media/entertainment. Our deep roots are in healthcare, AI, and hospitality. What a mix!

Our focus is the fusion of consuming and engaging with content.

One of our core advantages is applying ideas and techniques from different industries (some of us started in healthcare and AI and engagement) without constraints of how-things-should-be.

Our Team

Rhonda Persidis

Rhonda co-founded GNB and brings over 15 years of experience in DTC engagement, sales & marketing. Rhonda initially worked in travel and hospitality, marketing events for the award-winning Keswick Hall of Monticello and DTC work for Peace Frogs Travel in Charlottesville, VA. In addition, she consulted JAMCO/Boeing, Jazzercise, and Tomra North America. Rhonda's volunteer experience includes fundraising for Children's Hospital of Virginia and media relations for the Denver Summit of the Eight.

Tom Deisboeck

Tom is our Chief Creative Officer. His background is in science and technology, innovation strategy and venture creation. Tom is also a published cartoon artist and children’s book illustrator, and he serves as cartoon editor for ‘The Satirist’. He holds an MD from the Technical University Medical School in Munich and an MBA from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan Business School. He lives with his wife, son and super dog in Massachusetts.

Kathy Artus

Kathy brings over 20 years of strategic partner engagement, corporate relations and account management experience. Kathy has held positions in corporate relations, sales and event management, including Director of Events and Hospitality at James & Dolley Madison’s Montpelier, Director of Sales and Marketing for Blenheim Vineyards, and Event Manager at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. Kathy spent over seven years at Carlson Companies of Minneapolis as an Account Executive with increasing responsibility in Loyalty & Retention Marketing. Kathy received her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. She’s a cheesehead from Wisconsin and a diehard Packers fan.

Aris Persidis

Aris chairs our Board and is an entrepreneur and innovator in Big Data gamification and AI applications with a 20-year track record. He started in healthcare, having worked on the establishment and growth of companies with significant exits: Cellzome (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Anadys (acquired by Roche), RheoGene (acquired by Inrtrexon), Upstate (acquired by Serologicals), and Serologicals (acquired by Millipore). Aris is also Co-founder and president of Bio.vista, in the healthcare AI space. Aris has been honored with the Honeywell Futurist Award, has authored about 100 papers, reviews and book chapters, and has held an academic appointment at the Wharton School. His latest book chapter is in "After Shock: The World's foremost futurists reflect on 50 years of Future Shock". His doctorate is in biochemistry from Cambridge University, but don't hold that against him.

Our Board and Advisors

GNB is guided by an excellent group of directors and advisors of current or former CEOs, Presidents and Vice Presidents of top retailers, media and entertainment companies, and major foundations. They include: Jeff Brainard, ex. SVP Brita/Clorox; Mary Daily, ex. Co-President, International Marketing, Paramount Pictures; Joe Franco, ex. SVP ESPN; Laura Maness, President and CEO, Grey; Paul Levine, ex. NatGeo, AOL; John Reddington, ex-President and CEO, Morris Animal Foundation; Wendy Starland, President, MusicSoul, CEO Give Back Entertainment, discovered Lady Gaga; Steve Ste. Marie, ex. CMO DirectTV.

What we are building is unique. The expertise required is a fusion of many different things, not only tech, AI, social media, broadcasting, or operating national brands. All of it together in a super-creative mash is what we have and what we strive for.

Our customers and audiences we serve deserve nothing less.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does GNB make and sell?

We are a technology company. We license access to our e3.0 technology. We also license our Ready2Engage format for specific shows and programmers that want to have a premium option. Finally, we build custom engagement platforms for programmers or brands.
Do we consume content today differently than, say, 10 or 20 years ago? "

We most certainly do. Check out the piece on 1st and 2nd screens.
Is insta-face-twee-snap-graming the best we can do now for engagement?

No, it's not. Posting on social media is seen only by your direct links, and if they happen to be watching their feed the same time your post appears. Your real friends can, of course, check out your past posts. Beyond that, you are digitally alone.
Is there anything exciting and new for brands and their ad spend ROIs?

Brands are trying everything they can to connect with consumers. We see a totally different version of engagement to what is now available.
Can we do better with At-Home family audience engagement?

Yes. At GNB, we are re-imagining and re-inventing this amazingly important touch point. We see our Ready2Engage format as being a new kind of family digital glue.
Have we seen work like this in the past?

Yes. And No. The difference between GNB and past efforts is like that between iPhone 11 and iPhone 1. Years ago, second-screen push marketing was tried. It didn't work. The idea was excellent, the execution not so much. Times have changed. A lot. Tech, demographics and behaviors are very different now.
What's the monetization model for the GNB content format?

Every engagement touchpoint is a new sponsorable piece of inventory. It can be used as-is or as make-good inventory.