CEO, SocialFlow
HOST

Jim Anderson, CEO of SocialFlow, has a distinguished track record in technology with over 20 years of experience spanning the development, productization, and sale of technology solutions in both B2B and B2C environments. He has spent the past 10 years on the cutting edge of social media, helping brands and marketers effectively use technology such as artificial intelligence, and more recently blockchain, to power their social media efforts.

Prior to SocialFlow, Jim was Chief Operating Officer of Vitrue, where he was instrumental in building the team, the products, and the customer relationships that ultimately led to the company’s acquisition by Oracle for over $300M.

Prior to Vitrue, Jim spent nearly a decade at EarthLink/MindSpring, the consumer Internet Service Provider where he helped create consumer adoption of the Internet starting in the mid-1990s. He led the development and launch of MindSpring’s first high-speed DSL offering, a business that grew to millions of users.

Jim is a recognized thought leader in the social marketing space and frequent guest on CNN, Fox, Bloomberg, MSNBC and others. He holds Bachelors and Master’s degrees in engineering from Georgia Tech.

Executive Producer, FRONTLINE
HOST

Raney Aronson-Rath is the Executive Producer of FRONTLINE, PBS’ flagship investigative journalism series, and is a leading voice on the future of journalism. She has been internationally recognized for her work to expand FRONTLINE’s reporting capacity and reimagine the documentary form across multiple platforms. From the emergence of ISIS in Syria  to the hidden history of the NFL and concussions to the secret reality of rape on the job for immigrant women, Aronson-Rath oversees FRONTLINE’s acclaimed reporting and directs the series’ evolution and editorial vision. She has developed and managed nearly 30 in-depth, cross-platform journalism partnerships with outlets including ProPublica, The New York Times and Univision. Under her leadership, FRONTLINE has won every major award in broadcast journalism and dramatically expanded its digital footprint. Prior to FRONTLINE, Aronson-Rath worked at ABC News and The Wall Street Journal. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and her master’s from Columbia Journalism School.
 

President, Bauer Xcel Media
HOST

Christian Baesler is the President of Bauer Xcel Media, the global digital division of the Bauer Media Group. With more than 1,000 products in 20 countries and an annual turnover of 2.5 billion dollars, the Bauer Media Group is one of the world’s largest media companies. Christian Baesler started his career as a freelance writer, photographer and web developer. After subsequently spending 4 years at Bauer Media Group’s headquarter in Hamburg, Germany he got relocated to New York in 2012 to jump-start Bauer Media’s digital business in the U.S. There he built a digital department from scratch, turning a solo operation into a team of currently more than 50 across editorial, technology, marketing and product management. In August 2014 what had been a “New Media” department of a print publisher was spun off into its own separate division called “Bauer Xcel Media”, focusing solely on digital, with Baesler running the operation as President. Under his leadership, all of Bauer Media’s U.S. brands experienced extraordinary digital growth: Among other achievements, Life&Style became the fastest growing magazine brand in the digital space, while J-14 became the largest editorial teen brand on Facebook. In February 2015, Bauer Media Group expanded Bauer Xcel Media’s operations internationally, to become Bauer’s global digital division. With offices in New York, London, Sydney, Melbourne, Hamburg and Warsaw, Bauer Xcel Media’s digital products currently reach 150 million monthly unique users worldwide.

President, Co-Founder, Keep
HOST

“In e-commerce, it's actually not so difficult to stay ahead of the game. The game has just begun, the rules aren't yet written, the layers are just getting onto the field.” — As told to Sydney Brodie, “Meet MaryAnn Bekkedahl,” Career Contessa, October 2013

Keep is revolutionizing the way stylish women discover and shop for trending products across the entire web.

As president and co-founder, MaryAnn oversees Keep’s brand strategy, customer acquisition, branding and business development initiatives. 

She is an accomplished media executive with 18 years experience in consumer magazine and website publishing.  Prior to joining Keep, she was EVP, Group Publisher at Rodale, a global content company in health and wellness, and the publisher of Men’s Health, Women’s Health, and Runner’s World properties, amongst others.

MaryAnn is a recognized media industry leader, with accolades including:

   • Publishing Executive of the Year, 2009, Adweek Media 
   • Most Intriguing People, 2004, min magazine
   • 40 Under 40, 2003, Gotham 
   • Woman to Watch, 2003, Advertising Age 

Distinguished Scholar in Residence, NYU School of Law

Preet Bharara is an American lawyer who served for seven and a half years as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. As U.S. Attorney, Bharara oversaw the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases brought on behalf of the United States in the Southern District of New York. He supervised an office of more than 200 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who handled a high volume of cases involving terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, financial and healthcare fraud, cybercrime, public corruption, gang violence, organized crime, and civil rights violations. 

In 2012, Bharara was featured on the cover of TIME magazine and its list, “100 Most Influential People in the World.” From 2012 to 2016, Bharara was also included in Vanity Fair’s “New Establishment lists,” Worth magazine’s “The Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Finance,” included in Bloomberg Markets “50 Most Influential” list in 2014. The New York Times dubbed Bharara as one of “the nation’s most aggressive and outspoken prosecutors. Bharara has used his voice to advocate for justice, against corruption and in support of public service. He has penned opinion pieces for the New York Times and Washington Post and is a sought-after speaker on a range of issues.

On April 1, 2017, Bharara joined the NYU School of Law faculty as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He is also the Executive Vice President of Some Spider Studios where he hosts a CAFE podcast focusing on issues of justice and fairness

Dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University
HOST

David Boardman is Dean of the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia. He has academic and financial responsibility for one of the largest and most comprehensive programs of its kind, with more than 3,000 students and 250 faculty members.

Previously, Boardman was Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of The Seattle Times, the largest news organization in the Pacific Northwest. Under his leadership, The Times won four Pulitzer Prizes and produced 10 Pulitzer finalists. Boardman personally has been the recipient of numerous other major national awards, including the National Ethics Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Goldsmith Prize in Investigative Reporting from Harvard University, the Worth Bingham Prize in Investigative Reporting, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and the Associated Press Managing Editors Public Service Award.

He is chair of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Solutions Journalism Network. He is also president of the American Society of News Editors Foundation and serves on the boards of the Fund for Investigative Journalism and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. He also sits on the advisory boards of ProPublica, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting and Investigative Reporting Denmark. Boardman serves on the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and is its immediate past president.

Boardman also is a past president and board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors and of the American Society of News Editors, and served as chairman of the National Advisory Board of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. He is a Poynter Ethics Fellow. He is a former member of the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation Board and has served four times as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes.

Boardman has conducted seminars for journalists in Denmark, Bosnia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Ukraine, Turkey, Hong Kong and South Africa. He is a member of the Temple University Press Board of Review.

Before joining The Times in 1983, Boardman was a reporter and editor at several papers in the Northwest, and worked on a construction project in Liberia, West Africa. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and has a graduate degree from the University of Washington. He is an inductee of both the Medill Alumni Hall of Achievement and the University of Washington Communications Hall of Fame.

He has volunteered as a youth basketball coach and has served on advisory boards supporting music and journalism programs in public schools.

He is married to Barbara Winslow Boardman, a writer and editor. They have two daughters. He enjoys kayaking, hiking, yoga, reading, cooking, wine, travel, music, and cheering on the Temple Owls and the Northwestern Wildcats.

Chief Media & eCommerce Officer, Mondelez International
HOST

Bonin Bough is one of the foremost-awarded marketing executives in his field and one of the youngest C-suite executives in a Fortune 50 company. Currently serving as the Chief Media & eCommerce Officer at Mondelēz International (formerly Kraft Foods), Bough has spear-headed some of the industry’s largest global marketing campaigns across digital, mobile, television, print, and experiential, including the premier of the first ever 3D printed food product, the customizable, real-time 3D printed Oreo at South by Southwest. He has created some of the first marketing programs across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Paramount Films, ABC, NBC, Fox, to name a few, and takes precedence in fostering partnerships with startups including Instagram, Foursquare, and Buzzfeed. Before working at Mondelez Bough lead digital marketing globally for PepsiCo. Bough is seen as one of the top mobile marketers in the world, being named as Mobile Marketer of the Year by MMA. His prominence as a transformative activator has helped reinvigorate traditional marketing by combining innovative tech through breakthrough brand campaigns including Oreo, Honey Maid, Pepsi, Gatorade, and countless other billion dollar brands.

President, Mic
HOST

Jonathan Carson is the President of Mic where he is responsible for management and growth of all facets of the business including sales, marketing, business development, branded content, finance and operations. Jonathan brings 20 years of experience in digital media, with successes as an entrepreneur and executive in large companies. Most recently, Carson was the Chief Revenue Officer of Vevo, one of the world's largest music properties and YouTube’s largest content partner. In this role he oversaw Vevo’s global sales and marketing functions during a period of large scale growth. Prior to that, Carson spent six years with The Nielsen Company where he helped spearhead the company’s digital transformation as Global CEO, Digital. He joined Nielsen in 2007 when they acquired his company BuzzMetrics, the first major player in the field of social media analytics, where he was co-founder and CEO.

Founder, 2929 Entertainment
HOST

“Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good, Right? Paralysis via analysis.” —As told to Richard Feloni, “The ‘Shark Tank’ Entrepreneurs Who Lost Out on $250,000 Prove Why ‘Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good,’” Business Insider, 2014

Professor of Communication and the Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the Annenberg School of Communication, the University of Pennsylvania
HOST

“Michael Delli Carpini has helped to advance and re-orient the study of public opinion and democracy. As a respected and prolific authority on the changing media landscape, he continues to have a profound impact on political communication research.” — the American Political Science Association.

Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in July of 2003, Dean Delli Carpini was Director of the Public Policy program of the Pew Charitable Trusts (1999-2003), and member of the Political Science Department at Barnard College and graduate faculty of Columbia University (1987-2002), serving as chair of the Barnard department from 1995 to 1999. Delli Carpini began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Rutgers University (1980-1987). His research explores the role of the citizen in American politics, with particular emphasis on the impact of the mass media on public opinion, political knowledge, and political participation.

Head of Business Development, ZelnickMedia
HOST

Sheila Dharmarajan joined ZelnickMedia in 2014. Ms. Dharmarajan is Head of Business Development at ZelnickMedia and is responsible for originating investment opportunities and outreach.

Prior to joining ZelnickMedia, Ms. Dharmarajan was an on-air television reporter for CNBC and Bloomberg Television, where she regularly reported on a wide range of business news and breaking stories. She has also served as the host of “The Future Is Now”, a Yahoo! web series focused on innovation and cutting edge technologies.

Before her foray into television, Ms. Dharmarajan was an investment professional at both Permira and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, where she focused on analyzing and executing private equity investments across a range of industries including healthcare, consumer / retail and information services. Ms. Dharmarajan began her career as an investment-banking analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and was an associate director in the mergers & acquisitions group at IAC/InterActiveCorp.

Ms. Dharmarajan graduated from the Wharton School at the University Of Pennsylvania, earning a BS in Finance and Management.  Ms. Dharmarajan also earned her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

COO, Gawker Media
HOST

President, KCRW
HOST

As President of KCRW, Jennifer Ferro has worked to transform the institution from Southern California's flagship public radio station to a worldwide digital content distributor that seeks to build community through the discovery of music, news and culture both in person, online and on the air.

Under her leadership, in addition to creating 100 hours of original programming a week, KCRW will finish a $48 million capital campaign and move into its first ever, stand alone, state-of-the-art facility in 2017. This new home will allow KCRW to become a true community institution.

KCRW's presence includes podcasts, original content features, live event streams, a vibrant social networking community and successful mobile apps including the latest a virtual reality app that gives a 360° look at KCRW’s legendary music programming. KCRW’s live events programming has grown to over 80 produced events throughout Los Angeles and Santa Barbara reaching over 250,000 people each year.

Ms. Ferro joined KCRW in 1994. She has held varied roles during her tenure including Executive Producer of Good Food and Consulting Producer of DnA : Design and Architecture.

Ms. Ferro serves on the boards of NPR Berlin, Zocalo Public Square, an ideas exchange that creates live events and original humanities journalism, and is Vice Chair of the AIR Board, an organization dedicated to supporting and promoting independent producers in public media. In 2011, she was chosen as one of Los Angeles’ Game Changing Women Leaders Who Make an Impact in LA by Los Angeles Magazine.

Ms. Ferro earned her Bachelor's degree from UCLA. She is a former youth soccer coach and cofounder of the Women’s Coach Initiative to get more women youth soccer coaches on the field.

Partner, First Round Capital
HOST

Chris has focused on a number of First Round Capital's investments in areas such as Advertising Technology including Invite Media (acquired by Google) and Demdex (acquired by Adobe), Social Media including CoTweet (acquired by ExactTarget) and myYearbook (acquired by QuePasa), eCommerce, Gaming, and more.

Chris has over 25 years of technology industry experience, including significant Internet sales and business development roles since 1996. He was Vice President of Business Development at Nextron, Director of Business Development at America Online, and an Account Manager at Oracle focused on their early Internet offerings for some of their largest accounts such as AOL and Time Warner. Earlier in his career, he held senior sales and management roles in the computer reseller and consulting services industry for companies including The Computer Factory, BusinessLand, and ComputerLand/Vanstar where he was responsible for over $100 million in hardware, services, and consulting sales.

Chris is a board member of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management). He has attended and been involved with the TED Conference since 1994 and helped launch TEDTalks, which have been viewed over a billion times. Chris is a co-inventor of two US Patents for listing goods for sale.

FOUNDING DIRECTOR

Bob is a columnist, critic, broadcaster, author and lecturer who has devoted his career to the media and marketing landscape.  For the past 17 years has been co-host of public radio's “On The Media.” A recipient of many journalism awards, including the Peabody, he is the author of five books and has lectured in 37 countries on six continents. A visiting lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, he is also a senior fellow at the Wharton School's SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management. His seminal 2007 book, The Chaos Scenario, presciently described the apocalyptic disruptions of the media economy in the digital age.

PHOTO: Michael Albans

President & CEO, National Public Media (NPM)
HOST

Gina Garrubbo is President and CEO of National Public Media, a subsidiary of NPR that is owned in partnership with PBS and WGBH and is responsible for corporate sponsorship sales. As head of NPM, Garrubbo is committed to ensuring the continued growth public media via funding from Corporate Sponsors. Garrubbo has spent more than 20 years growing marketing and sales teams, launching brands, building companies, with extensive experience in traditional and digital media. She was one of the builders of women.com, one of the first websites for women and BlogHer which brought independent voices to millions of readers. Prior to that Garrubbo build advertising sales teams for Discovery Communications and in syndicated Television. She sits on the boards of Tappp an OTT video service and Glen Highland Farm.

Innovator in Residence, Knight Center & School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Independent Consultant & Advisor, Focused on Revenue and Audience Growth, Product Development, Consumer User Experience and Digital Strategy
HOST

Tim Griggs is the Innovator in Residence at the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and University of Texas School of Journalism. He’s also an independent advisor to media organizations, digital startups and foundations, focused on entrepreneurship, revenue growth, sustainability, product development, consumer user experience and digital strategy.

Griggs was previously Publisher and Chief Operating Officer of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers state politics and public policy. In two years at the helm, The Tribune grew revenue by more than 30 percent and audience by 45 percent, and built the largest statehouse press corps of any news organization – for profit or nonprofit, digital or legacy – in the United States.

Prior to joining the Tribune, Griggs worked for The New York Times Company for 15 years, where he held several posts. He was the executive editor of the Star-News in Wilmington, N.C., a NYT regional newspaper, where he led an early transition from print to digital. In 2008, Griggs joined The New York Times as Director of Strategic Planning, where he led projects such as its partnership with nonprofit news organizations across the country. In 2011, he was named Director of Paid Products, where he grew The Times’s user base to more than 850,000 paid digital-only subscribers. And he was Executive Director of Cross-Platform Monetization, where he was responsible for revenue-generating products across The Times’s digital platforms (web, tablet, smartphone, email, games and video) and led teams responsible for the company’s digital subscription business, as well as email, e-commerce and digital advertising products. 

Griggs is a graduate of Virginia Tech and holds an executive MBA from UNC-Wilmington. He is a board member of the Institute for Nonprofit News, a 2014 Reynolds Journalism Institute fellow (studying the application of growth hacking for digital news audience growth), a 2013 Knight Foundation-funded fellow (investigating business models for non-profit news organizations), and a 2010 Fellow at the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University. In 2003, he was named one of Presstime Magazine’s “20 Under 40” industry achievers. Griggs is also a sleep-deprived new father and a competitive Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner.

Executive Director, Wharton Future of Advertising Program
HOST

Catharine is the founding Director of the Future of Advertising Program at the Wharton School. The program’s mission is to bridge academic rigor and real world relevance as a catalyst for deeper insights, bolder innovation and broader positive impact of advertising.  Her professional passion lies in the emerging potential, if not imperative, for positive social impact of advertising in the digital age of empowered consumers.

Previously, Catharine held numerous pioneering positions during a 15-year career in B2B marketing and sales at AT&T.  She earned an MBA in marketing from the Wharton School, as a Lauder Institute Fellow, an MA in International Studies, University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Foreign Service, Georgetown University and an AA, Franklin College, Lugano, Switzerland.

Founder and CEO, Pixability
HOST

Bettina Hein is Founder and CEO of Pixability, a video advertising technology company that helps media professionals deliver outstanding campaign performance across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. A serial entrepreneur, Bettina has built successful technology companies in the United States and in Europe. Prior to Pixability, she co-founded the Swiss-based speech software specialist SVOX AG, which was sold to Nuance Communications (NUAN) for $125 million. Bettina has been honored with Advertising Women of New York’s Changing the Game Awards; Cynopsis Media’s Top Women in Digital Award; and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

VP of Publishing Partnerships, Kargo
HOST

Lauren O'Keefe Hendricks has led Kargo’s Publishing Partnership team as Vice President since 2015. She and her team provide white-glove client service to an invitation-only advertising inventory across mobile web, app and other content distribution platforms. 

Lauren has worked for 13 years in advertising. She began her career at Meredith Corporation, followed by senior level posts at Condé Nast and Time Inc. During this time, she created and sold successful multi-media marketing campaigns to top brand advertisers including but not limited to L'Oreal USA, Neiman Marcus, Johnson and Johnson, and P&G. She collaborated with many business groups in order to create solutions-oriented marketing for her clients. During her tenure as Advertising Director at InStyle (Time Inc.), she was awarded the MIN Sales Team Leader award in recognition of her ability to drive a team toward success.

Among Lauren's talents is her ability to galvanize team members to contribute at their highest levels. Lauren's management philosophy focuses on recognizing talent for their efforts and driving people forward through development exercises designed to diversify skill sets and increase bottom line benefit to the business at large.

Lauren is a graduate of Marist College and lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband, daughter and goldendoodle.

CEO & Chief Curator, REDEF
HOST

Mr. Hirschhorn is CEO & Chief Curator of REDEF, a digital content curation company. Previously, Mr. Hirschhorn served as Co-President of Myspace Inc., an affiliate of News Corp. and as President of Sling Media, Inc. He has also served as Chief Digital Officer of MTV Networks. Mr. Hirschhorn currently is on the board of directors of MGM and CFY. Mr. Hirschhorn holds a B.S. in International Business and Marketing from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Vice President for Content & Chief Journalist, SmartNews
HOST

Rich Jaroslovsky is Vice President for Content & Chief Journalist at SmartNews. He was the first Managing Editor of the Wall Street Journal Online, and founded and was the first president of the Online News Association. Prior to that, he was the White House correspondent and National Political Editor of the Wall Street Journal. After leaving the Journal, he was Executive Editor and a technology columnist for Bloomberg News.

CEO, Piano
HOST

Trevor is the CEO of Piano, which provides a suite of SaaS content monetization tools to digital publishers, including analytics, subscription commerce, and experience management. Piano serves thousands of sites, including many of the world’s top media businesses such as The Economist, Condé Nast, Gannett, Bonnier, and NBC Universal. Piano was formed in 2015 as the result of a merger between Tinypass, where Trevor had been CEO, and Piano Media, a larger European competitor.

Trevor came to Tinypass in 2012 after serving as CEO of Possible, a 1,300 person global digital network he created within WPP, with clients including P&G, Google, Target, Starwood, and Bank of America. Possible resulted from the merger of several WPP agencies, including Schematic, a digital agency that Trevor founded in 1999 and sold to WPP in 2007.   

Prior to Possible, he served as co-president of Kaufman Patricof Enterprises (KPE) a pioneering digital agency co-founded in 1996 as a subsidiary of Grey Advertising. Trevor’s reputation is as an innovative and creative leader, and the teams he has brought together have won countless awards for their ground-breaking media and technology work, including Webbys, Emmys, and Cannes Lions, as well as top lists in OMMA, AdWeek, Newsweek, and other publications.

CEO, Digital Content Next
HOST

Jason Kint is CEO of Digital Content Next, the only trade association to exclusively serve the unique and diverse needs of high-quality digital content companies that manage trusted, direct relationships with consumers and marketers. Jason is focused on guiding the organizations’ diverse and powerful group of members — from established media brands such as The New York Times, NBC, Conde Nast and ESPN, to digital natives, such as Vox, Slate and Business Insider — into the future and on setting the agenda for discussions on issues ranging from net neutrality to revenue innovation to privacy. 

A 20-year veteran of the digital media industry, Jason led the evolution of CBS Sports into a multi-platform brand offering premier broadcast, online and mobile sports content as SVP and General Manager of CBS Interactive’s Sports Division and served in various executive roles launching and leading the websites for Sporting News and all of Times Mirror Magazines’ flagship websites under the ownership of Times Mirror, Paul Allen and later Condé Nast. Jason has a deep passion for journalism and evolving venerable brands into their multi-platform digital future.

Founder, The Wirecutter
HOST

“Focus on the big picture and focus hard on each step, because it's too easy to get lost in a bunch of little meaningless tasks.” — As told to Tessa Miller, “I'm Brian Lam, and This Is How I Work,” Lifehacker

CO-CEO & PUBLISHER, QUARTZ
HOST

Jay Lauf is Co-CEO and Publisher of Quartz. In his role, he oversees Quartz's business operations.

Lauf assumed the role at Quartz when the digital, global, business news publication launched in September 2012. Under Lauf, Quartz's innovative advertising has garnered awards and honors from Digiday, AdWeek, the Headliner awards, Deadline Club and more.

Prior to his role at Quartz, Lauf led The Atlantic’s revitalization as its Publisher. Under his direction, the publication attained its first profit in decades and transitioned The Atlantic to a "digital-first" brand earning the label from Ad Age: "an ultra-modern, multi-platform juggernaut".

Jay came to the company from Wired, where he served progressively since 2001 as Advertising Director, Associate Publisher, and Publisher. During his tenure with Wired, Jay was instrumental in the title’s reinvigoration following 2001’s dot-com collapse. A graduate of Connecticut College, Jay also studied English Literature and Law at Durham University in the United Kingdom.

Founder/Partner, Revolution Growth
Founder/Chairman/CEO, Monumental Sports & Entertainment
HOST

Ted Leonsis is founder, chairman, majority owner and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates the Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics and Verizon Center. Leonsis serves on the board of governors for the NBA and NHL. He is a cofounder and partner in the “speed-up capital” Revolution Growth Fund II, which currently has made investments in 10 companies. Leonsis also is an investor and former co-CEO of Groupon, where he currently is chairman of the board of directors. He also serves on the board of directors at American Express. He has created and produced award-winning films and earned Peabody and Emmy awards. Leonsis is the founder and chairman of SnagFilms, a content and technology company with a full-service video streaming platform. He is an active philanthropist through the Leonsis Foundation and the Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation and is chairman of the board of directors at DC-CAP (District of Columbia College Access Program). He previously spent nearly 14 years at AOL where he served in a variety of capacities, including president of America Online Services Company. He has authored several books, including his most recent, "The Business of Happiness." He blogs daily at TedsTake.com.

Co-Founder, Square
HOST

Jim McKelvey is an entrepreneur, businessperson and philanthropist who is involved in more than a dozen companies, most notably as the co-founder of Square. McKelvey designed the hardware used by Square in 2009 and served as the company’s chairman until 2010. In 2011, McKelvey's iconic card reader design was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art. Today, McKelvey sits on the Board of Directors at Square.

In September 2013, McKelvey conceived of and co-founded LaunchCode, a non-profit organization that aims to grow new talent and create pathways to on-the-job training and employment. LaunchCode partners with companies to set up paid apprenticeships in technology for talented people who lack the traditional credentials to land a quality, high-paying job. In 2014, LaunchCode was named "The Best Thing to Happen to St. Louis" by the St. Louis Riverfront Times.

In May 2016, McKelvey joined the Board of Directors of Calpian, Inc., which offers mobile money solutions through its Indian subsidiary MoneyOnMobile. This venture enables people in India to pay for goods and services and transfer money to other persons via their mobile phones.

Jim was appointed as an Independent Director of the St. Louis Federal Reserve in January 2017.

President and COO, MediaLink
HOST

Founder and CEO, Simulmedia
HOST

“There is an inevitable massive disruption coming ... one of the problems that television has is that in spite of growing viewership or solid viewership, the efficiency with which it sells it to ads is declining.” — As told to Betty Liu, Bloomberg TV, 2014

CEO, PodcastOne; Founder, Westwood One
HOST

Inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and a recipient of the Giants of Broadcasting Award from the Library of American Broadcasting, Norman is considered the founding father of modern radio syndication with over 40 years of experience. Mr. Pattiz is the Founder of Westwood One which, under his leadership, became America's largest provider of news, sports, entertainment, talk and traffic programming to the Broadcast Industry. Westwood One owned, managed or distributed NBC radio networks, CBS News,CNN radio, the Mutual Broadcasting System, NFL Football, NCAA Basketball, March Madness, The Super Bowl, both the Winter andSummer Olympic Games and a wide variety of syndicated music and talk shows.

In 2010, Pattiz founded and launched Courtside Entertainment Group to produce and distribute quality programming.  Recognizingthe untapped opportunities in the audio on-demand industry, Pattiz launched PodcastOne at the end of 2012. The company quicklybecame the leading producer/ distributer in audio on-demand programming.  Today, PodcastOne’s popular line-up of personalitiesand brands include Adam Carolla, Shaquille O’Neal, Steve Austin, Dan Patrick, Heather Dubrow, Larry King, Chris Jericho, Penn Jillette, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Laura Ingraham, Dr. Drew and TheCHIVE, plus WNYC’s Radiolab, Freakonomics and over 200 more of today’smost popular podcasts.

In 2000, Pattiz was appointed by President Clinton and reappointed in 2002 by President Bush to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors of the United States of America. The Board oversees all U.S. nonmilitary broadcasting services, including The Voice ofAmerica, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Middle East Broadcasting and others. He was responsible for conceiving and launchingAmerica’s Arabic language radio and television services to all 22 countries of the Middle East, plus Farsi language broadcasting to Iranreaching a weekly audience of more than 40 million listeners.

Norm serves as the Chairman of the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National Security Laboratories. He is a Regent of the University of California and a member in the Council of Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Relations.

CEO and Chairman, Rodale Inc.
HOST

Maria Rodale is CEO and Chairman of Rodale Inc., an independent healthy, happy living company whose mission is to inspire health, healing, happiness and love in the world, starting with you. Dividing her time between Rodale Inc.’s Emmaus, Pennsylvania headquarters and Manhattan offices, Maria oversees a global business with partners around the world in 70 countries. Rodale is the publisher of New York Times bestselling books such as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, Jessica Alba’s The Honest Life, Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis, and Thug Kitchen by Matt Holloway and Michelle Davis; brands that include Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Bicycling, Prevention magazine and Rodale’s Organic Life; and creator of the e-commerce brand Rodale’s. Maria has authored numerous books, including 2010’s Organic Manifesto: How Organic Farming Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe. She just released her first cookbook, Scratch: Home Cooking for Everyone Made Simple, Fun and Totally Delicious (October 2016). She is also the co-chair of the Rodale Institute.

Photo: Cedric Angeles

President & CEO, Periscope
HOST

Liz is a dynamic leader accustomed to navigating today’s complex marketing world. In her 20 years of experience, she has held leadership positions at some of the world’s most forward-thinking and fastest-growing agencies, including Global CMO at IPG Mediabrands, Chief Growth Officer at Publicis Groupe’s Digitas, U.S. President at Tribal DDB, and roles in business development at Modem Media and J. Walter Thompson. Along the way, she has pioneered brand-consumer relationships for clients including General Motors, Delta, HP, General Electric, Michelin, Citibank, IBM, Clorox, Hillshire Brands, Visa and Pepsi-Cola.

Liz has been inducted into the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement, named a “Woman to Watch” by Advertising Age and declared a Top 10 Mobile Marketer by the Mobile Media Association. She has also served as a Cannes juror. She loves challenging the norm and inspiring marketers to look into the future and become early adopters of innovative ideas and technology.

Media Consultant; Former NYT, NPR, NBC, Twitter
HOST

“There is a massive change on the horizon ... if you don't aggressively reach out to new audiences on new platforms, someone else will.” —As told to Eileen Mullan, “The Secrets of Public Media,” EContent, 2011

Vivian Schiller is a longtime executive at the intersection of journalism, media and technology. Most recently, Schiller served as the Global Chair of News at Twitter. In this role, she led the company’s strategy for news and partnership with journalism organizations and the news publishing ecosytem.

Just prior to joining Twitter, Schiller served as Senior VP & Chief Digital Officer for NBC News where she had strategic and operational oversight of the networks‘ presence on the web, mobile, devices, and social media. Properties in her portfolio included NBCNews.com, TODAY.com, MSNBC.com, iVillage.com, and BreakingNews.

Prior to NBC, Schiller served as President and CEO of NPR, leading all of NPR's worldwide media operations,. She was Senior Vice President and General Manager of NYTimes.com and Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Discovery Times Channel, a joint venture of The New York Times and Discovery Communications. Earlier in her career, Schiller was the head of CNN Productions, where she led CNN's long-form programming efforts. Documentaries and series produced under her auspices earned multiple honors, including three Peabody Awards, four Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, and dozens of Emmys.

President, Inc.
HOST

“Never before could you have had a billion customers like Facebook does ... and to have a small slice of that ... that is an incredible amount of customers to reach ... You can go viral in a way that just wasn't possible before the Internet became the major communications medium.” —“On the Red Couch with Inc Editor Eric Schurenberg,” Inside Flipboard, 2012

Eric Schurenberg is the president and editor-in-chief of Inc. Before joining Inc, Eric was the editor of CBS MoneyWatch.com  and BNET.com and managing editor of Money Magazine. As a writer, he is a winner of a Loeb and a National Magazine Award.

President, Global Brand Consulting, OgilvyRED
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Joanna is a principal in Ogilvy’s strategy consulting business, OgilvyRED and leads the global brand consulting practice for Ogilvy. She specializes in helping clients maximize the financial potential of their brand and marketing strategies. She is recognized as a global expert on brand creation, brand and marketing investment and growth strategies, brand architecture, and brand valuation. 

She has more than 20 years of experience in providing strategic recommendations with measurable financial impact to leading clients worldwide.

Joanna was previously the founder and CEO of Millward Brown’s global brand consulting practice. In her role at Millward Brown, Joanna was responsible for the development of fresh approaches to brand and marketing strategy. This included creation and implementation of the BrandZ Top 100 ranking of the world’s most valuable brands, published annually in the Financial Times.

Prior to joining Millward Brown, Joanna was a founding partner and Executive Vice President for Worldwide Strategy at FutureBrand, pioneering the integration of brand strategy and brand identity. Joanna also led a cross agency group within IPG dedicated to creating best practices in marketing accountability.

Joanna has worked with the world's leading companies to design, develop and implement programs to optimize the value created by brand and marketing. Engagements span a wide range of categories — from Procter & Gamble and Unilever, to American Express and Barclays, BP, DuPont, UPS and Coca-Cola. Much of her recent work has focused on brand and marketing strategy in the context of major M&A deals.

Joanna also helped to lead the successful turnaround and sale of a division of McKesson Corporation, a global leader in supply chain management.

Joanna holds a Doctorate from Oxford University and is well known as a speaker and writer on brand strategy, brand valuation and marketing ROI issues. Her most publications include, The Brand in the Boardroom, awarded the 2014 WPP Atticus Grand Prix.

In a volunteer capacity, Joanna has been responsible for reinventing the Marketing Hall of Fame and is President of the New York AMA.

CEO, North America, Guardian News & Media
HOST

Eamonn joined the Guardian in 2014 on the same day as incoming US editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, and together they shape the vision and direction of the next stage of development of the US operation, building on the success enjoyed since launch in 2011.

As CEO, Eamonn is in charge of the overall business and commercial offerings for the Guardian's US operations and drives digital innovation across all platforms. 

His previous position was President, Agency Development, of media agency MEC. He brings over 25 years of agency-side experience, accumulated on both sides of the Atlantic, and plays a key role strengthening the Guardian’s ever-growing US business.

Author, Director Emeritus, UCS Annenberg Innovation Lab
HOST

Jonathan Taplin is an author and Director Emeritus of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab. Taplin’s book “Move Fast and Break Things: How Google, Facebook and Amazon Have Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy.” Taplin began his entertainment career in 1969 as Tour Manager for Bob Dylan and The Band. In 1973 he produced Martin Scorsese's first feature film, Mean Streets that was selected for the Cannes Film Festival. Between 1974 and 1996, Taplin produced 26 hours of television documentaries (including The Prize and Cadillac Desert for PBS) and 12 feature films including The Last Waltz, Until The End of the World, Under Fire and To Die For. 

Mr. Taplin graduated from Princeton University. He was a Professor at the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism from 2003-2016. He is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He currently sits on the boards of The Authors Guild, Americana Music Association and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Council on Technology and Innovation. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, Time.com, The Huffington Post, Medium and Talking Points Memo.

CEO, Brian Communications
HOST

Brian Tierney, CEO of Brian Communications, has a distinguished record of building brands for leading companies in the U.S., including the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, PokerStars, Independence Blue Cross, Exelon and Verizon. He has launched several successful communications agencies, including T2 Group and Tierney Communications, which he grew to $275 million in billings and sold to the Interpublic Group of Companies.

Brian previously served as owner and publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com, as well as CEO of parent company Philadelphia Media Holdings. Under his leadership, the papers won Pulitzer Prizes, circulation and ad revenue rose, and Philly.com became the fastest-growing digital news site in the country. Today, he serves as Chair of the Board for the Poynter Institute, which provides leading journalism training to more than 100,000 reporters from 120 countries each year. Brian is also a board member of The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, a first-of-its-kind organization with a mission of developing and supporting sustainable business models for local journalism.

Brian has served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has presented at the Milked Institute Global Conference and appeared on the BBC, CNBC, CBS, ABC and FOX.

Strategy & Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe
HOST

Rishad Tobaccowala is the Strategy and Growth officer and member of the Directoire+ of Publicis Groupe, the world’s third largest communications group (80,000 employees and 10 billion dollars of revenue) where he works closely with its leadership on helping Publicis and its Clients re-invent themselves for a transformational era.

He was most recently the Chief Strategist of the Publicis Groupe and prior to that the Chairman of DigitasLBi and of Razorfish, two global firms owned by Publicis Groupe focused on marketing and business transformation.  

He has 35 years of experience in marketing and has worked, helped grow, founded/co-founded or incubated for a variety of companies including Leo Burnett, Starcom, SMG Next, Starcom IP, Giant Step, Play, and Denuo.

Rishad also serves on the Board of Directors/Advisors on companies for which Publicis is an investor, including Matomy and Jana Mobile. Rishad is also Chairman of The Tobaccowala Foundation, which helps 10,000 people in India access better education and healthcare.

Rishad was named by BusinessWeek as one of the top business leaders for his pioneering innovation and TIME magazine dubbed him one of five “Marketing Innovators”.

Rishad has earned a BS in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Bombay and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago.

Robertson Professor of Media Studies and Director of the Center for Media and Citizenship, University of Virginia
HOST

Siva Vaidhyanathan is the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy (2018), Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction (2017), The Googlization of Everything — and Why We Should Worry (2011), Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity ( 2001), and The Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the Real World and Crashing the System (2004). He also co-edited (with Carolyn Thomas) the collection, Rewiring the Nation: The Place of Technology in American Studies (2007). Vaidhyanathan has written for many periodicals, including The New York Times, Bloomberg View, American Scholar, Dissent, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times Magazine, Slate.com, BookForum, Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Post, The Guardian, Esquire.com, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The New York Times Book Review, and The Nation. He is a frequent contributor to public radio programs. And he has appeared on news programs on BBC, CNN, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, ABC, and on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. In 2015 he was portrayed on stage at the Public Theater in a play called Privacy. After five years as a professional journalist, he earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Vaidhyanathan has also taught at Wesleyan University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Columbia University, New York University, McMaster University, and the University of Amsterdam. He is a fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities and a Faculty Associate of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He was born and raised in Buffalo, New York and resides in Charlottesville, Virginia.

CEO, The New Republic
HOST

“The most exciting part of ... successes has been that they've been achieved through an array of different strategies — all of which use technology in the service of journalism — leading to more distribution and creative ways of telling stories made possible only through digital means.” — As told to Chris Lehmann, “Purple Reign – The Unmaking of Yahoo,” The Baffler, 2015

Prior to his role at The New Republic, Guy was the general manager of Yahoo News. During his tenure, Guy helped hire Katie Couric and revamp the Yahoo News video team. He launched Yahoo’s Tech Magazine with David Pogue as Editor-in-Chief, and developed the Yahoo News Digest, winner of the Apple Design Award.

Prior to joining Yahoo News, Guy held leadership roles at Perfect Market, The Washington Post, 2ergo Americas Inc., and Oddcast Inc.  

Guy Vidra received a MA from The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and a BA from The University of Michigan. He lives in New York City with his two boys Alex and Zach.

President and CEO, New York Public Radio

Laura R. Walker is President and CEO of New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit media organization dedicated to producing award-winning enterprise journalism and cultural content. NYPR owns and operates eight public radio stations, including WNYC and WQXR, the most-listened-to public radio station and one of the most-listened-to classical stations in America, respectively.

Under Ms. Walker’s leadership, NYPR’s audience has grown from 1 million to 16 million, more than $100 million in funding has been raised for long-term investment, and as NeimanLab’s Ken Doctor describes it, WNYC is on “innovation overdrive.” Under her leadership, NYPR has been honored with nine George Foster Peabody Awards in the last eleven years and produces some of public radio’s most popular programming including Radiolab, The Takeaway, Freakonomics Radio, On the Media and Death, Sex + Money.

Ms. Walker was honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and was named one of New York City’s Most Powerful Women by Crain’s New York Business.  She is also the recipient of Public Radio International’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a Distinguished Alumna Award from Wesleyan University. In addition to the NYPR Board of Trustees, Ms. Walker sits on the boards of The Tribune Media Company, Saint Ann’s School, Yale Center for Customer Insights, The Eagle Picher Trust and is a member of The Women's Forum. She is also the Chair of the Station Resource Group. Ms. Walker holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA in History, magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University where she was an Olin Scholar.

CEO, International News Media Association
HOST

“The game is not about building a bigger magnet anymore, and pulling advertisers in. We've got to go and get them.” — As told to Mark Fitzgerald, “Start Me Up,” Editor & Publisher

Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing, The Wharton School
HOST

Jerry Wind is the Lauder Professor and Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School and the founding Director of the Wharton SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management, the Wharton Fellows program (whartonfellows.com) and the Wharton Future of Advertising Program (wfoa.wharton.upenn.edu). He joined Wharton in 1967 with a doctorate from Stanford. From 1995 to 1997, he led the development of the Wharton globalization strategy. Dr. Wind led the reinvention of the Wharton MBA curriculum (1991-93) and the creation of the Wharton Executive MBA Program (1974). He was founding director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute, the Wharton International Forum, and was the founding editor of the Wharton School Publishing. He has edited top marketing journals, published over 250 articles and 20 books, and received the four major marketing awards: Buck Weaver, Charles Parlin, Converse, and AMA/Irwin Distinguished Educator Award. He was one of the original Legends in Marketing, with an 8-volume anthology published by Sage in 2014. He has consulted with over 100 companies and testifies in intellectual property and antitrust cases. He sits on various advisory boards, is Trustee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Chair of its Marketing Committee. In 2015, he will be inducted into the inaugural cohort of the AMA Fellows Program. His current research focuses on marketing-driven business strategy, the Network Challenge; the future of advertising and marketing; creativity and innovation; and challenging one’s mental models.