I agree. You got handed a pretty sweet opportunity to learn and to shine. The CIO had a goal: he wanted to impress the other executives with an iPhone application. You even had a hint: he liked a news carousel. IMO choosing to build a mobile website instead was a mistake. I would have chosen a "RAD"-style app builder and produced a first version with visual appeal. You'd make him look good, achieve a first win, and become known as "the mobile guy", on the route to become Mobile Development Technical Lead.