Jeff Zabin

Founder and CEO

Jeff Zabin oversees Starfleet Media’s strategic direction and growth. He also serves as research director at Starfleet Research, our IT market research arm, and as managing editor of our industry-leading publications Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News. A widely-recognized speaker and writer on business technology, his bestselling books — The Seven Steps to Nirvana (McGraw-Hill), Precision Marketing (Wiley) — have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His professional experience includes serving as vice president and research fellow at Aberdeen Group Strategy & Research, heading up product marketing at FICO (a billion-dollar big data analytics software company) and building potable water systems as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Bolivia. He began his career in electronic book production (on an Apple Macintosh 128K) at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He has launched, or helped launch, several other successful companies, including Timely & Timeless Clocks Emporium, and has also served on the advisory boards of nonprofits that include the Taproot Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation’s New Options Initiative. A long-time champion of plant-based living, he has also advocated for several farmed animal protection organizations. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Paulina Hubli

COO

Paulina Hubli has co-piloted Starfleet Media since its launch in 2013. She was also a seed investor in the company. She has a long track record of success in ad agency and marketing services as well as in managing business operations and launching new companies, including Qwirly Enterprises and Timely & Timeless Clocks Emporium, an authorized dealer of high-end German clocks. Her other entrepreneurial ventures include a leading online hotel booking company, later acquired by Hotels.com, and a foreign passports and visas processing company that was the leading player in its space for more than 15 years. Her previous experience includes serving as director of marketing at Polygram Records and as an account executive at the global advertising agency BBDO and, later, at Euro RSCG Tatham Chicago. As a senior executive at Viacom, she spearheaded the launch of MTV in Russia. She earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (now part of Arizona State University).

Marianna Rosen

Director, Content Development

Marianna Rosen heads up cross-vertical industry publications at Starfleet Media, directing research analysts, overseeing project management and guiding the company’s market research activities, with a particular focus on Starfleet Research Benchmark Reports. She also leads our participation at industry trade shows and other events. She comes to Starfleet Media with extensive experience as a senior research analyst, with subject matter expertise across multiple industries, including supply chain and financial services. She previously served as a senior investment banking research analyst at Citigroup’s Corporate Bond Research Division, with over 100 published research reports and notes, including company initiations, industry pieces, and earnings recaps. As a labor of love, Marianna is pursuing a Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate Center and also serves as co-founder and editor-in-chief of Fine Art Globe. Her writing has appeared in Elle, The New York Observer, Moscow Times and Fine Art Globe. She also wrote for a prime-time weekly political commentary talk show, “What’s Happening?”. She holds a BA in Philology from Moscow State University and an MIA from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Marv Allen

Director, Business Development

Marv Allen leads Starfleet Media’s business development and sales activities, responsible for the company’s team of business development and account managers. A senior sales executive with more than 30 years of experience, he previously managed teams at major corporations like GE Healthcare and Allstate Insurance as well as B2B technology companies in the hospitality and financial services sectors. He is responsible for achieving sales and revenue goals for Starfleet Media’s hospitality and healthcare IT practice areas while working to ensure continued client success (e.g., securing 80% sponsorship renewals of Smart Decision Guide titles over the past 8 years). He also supports business development for Starfleet Media’s industry-leading publications Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News, with more than 250 advertisers and client partner accounts, and Preopening Restaurants Resource, which offers access to the restaurant industry’s most comprehensive and up-to-date database of restaurant owners and operators in the United States. In a previous life, he co-owned a pistachio nut farming operation.

Debbie Gelner

Director, Industry Publications

Debbie Gelner leads the charge on Starfleet Media’s hospitality industry trade publications Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News, working with a client partner roster of more than 250 technology solution providers, PR agencies and others. Her responsibilities include content development and editorial oversight of staff, freelance writers and other contributors as well as overseeing production details and distribution of email newsletters to 20K-plus opt-in subscribers, with syndication through our publication partner network. Debbie came to Starfleet Media from FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) Global, which is owned by Interpublic Group and ranks as one of the world’s largest advertising agency networks where she managed editorial, media production and other projects in the company’s broadcast, print, and digital departments. She began her career in the hospitality sector, as a corporate travel consultant at Hillgate Travel and other global agencies.

Adam Mogelonsky

Research Fellow, Hospitality Technology

Adam Mogelonsky serves as resident guru for our hospitality technology practice. His experience encompasses properties around the world, both branded and independent, and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. He is also a partner at Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice focused on helping hotels solve critical issues, where he specializes in hotel technology and marketing, working closely with property owners, operators and industry suppliers. He is coauthor, with Larry Mogelonsky, of seven books: In Vino Veritas: A Guide for Hoteliers and Restaurateurs to Sell More Wine (2022), More Hotel Mogel (2020), The Hotel Mogel (2018), The Llama is Inn (2017), Hotel Llama (2015), Llamas Rule (2013) and Are You an Ostrich or a Llama? (2012). Adam is a regular contributor to Starfleet Media’s industry publications Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News. He attained an undergraduate degree in pre-medicine and worked as physiotherapist before becoming an account director for hotel clients at a previous consultancy and, over time, a leading expert on hospitality technology.

Daniel Hyam

Director, Demand Generation

Daniel Hyam is a Google Ads (formerly, AdWords)-certified search engine marketing expert who specializes in generating marketing-qualified leads on the Google Search Network and Google Display Network as well as on LinkedIn via sponsored content, document ads, message ads, dynamic ads, and text ads. He also specializes in landing page optimization and other inbound marketing and multiple other demand generation tactics utilized for Starfleet Media content assets, including Smart Decision Guides, cobranded eBooks and Benchmark Reports. He previously worked as an account manager for Google, helping numerous clients meet their online advertising campaign goals. He has extensive experience in keyword generation, quality score optimization, bid management and paid search budget management. His responsibilities include creating and managing paid search campaigns using analytics tools to track and measure performance and ensuring that the required volumes of high-quality leads are generated in a cost-effective manner. Hyam studied business and economics at Sonoma State University and Pierce College in California.

Alisha Goldberg

Director, Marketing Campaigns

Alisha Goldberg manages operations for demand generation, leads verification and client leads distribution. Her many other responsibilities include launching new marketing campaigns and tracking performance, providing market analysis, collaborating with our IT department to manage and automate leads distribution and business process improvements, coordinating with the content development and production teams, managing our opt-in database and affiliate partner networks, and preparing financial reports. She also serves as assistant editor for Starfleet Media’s industry trade publications Hotel Technology News and Restaurant Technology News. Her background includes marketing, content development, and data operations management in the hospitality sector (Hilton Hotels) as well as in financial services  (Citibank, the consumer division of Citigroup). She is a graduate of the University of Illinois.