Tuesday, October 21st

12:30 PM - 1:45 PM

Track V: The Ballroom Terrace - Live Webcast from this Room

Women - Building the Brand - Understanding Lifestyle, Authenticity, Purpose & Resolve

Michele Turner, CEO, Dictionary.com

Nina Simosko, former, Strategy, Planning & Operations, Nike

Mia Goldwyn, Chief Content Officer, StyleHaul

Devery Holmes, President & CEO, Spark Marketing (Managing Brands, American Airlines, IHOP, Samsung, BMW, Heineken

Jennifer Romolini, editor-in-chief and VP of Content, HelloGiggles

Karla Ballard, SVP, TAG division, Participant Media

Sue Cross, founder and principal, Cross Media, former SVP, The Associated Press, Moderator

Platform. Additionally she served as Vice President of Product Marketing and Design at Netflix, and Senior Vice President of Product Marketing at AOL, where she helped drive product strategy, definition and delivery of AOL's Advanced Communications, Personalization, Mobile and Netscape product lines. She was also Senior Vice President of Product at Excite@Home and held management positions at Silicon Graphics. Michele holds an M.B.A in Marketing and Finance from Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business.

 

Nina Simosko, formerly Strategy, Planning & Operations, Nike, Inc.: Nina Simosko worked for Nike, Inc. in Beaverton, Oregon and was responsible for leading the creation and execution of Nike Technology strategy and operations world-wide. Nina currently serves on the Advisory Boards Appcelerator and Reflektion. Previously, she worked at SAP where she last served as the Senior Vice President in charge of SAP’s Global Premier Customer Network (PCN). She led both the PCN Center of Excellence and SAP’s Global Executive Advisory Board. During her tenure, she was also part of SAP’s Global Ecosystem & Partner Group which was charged with continuing to build and enable an open ecosystem of software, service and technology partners together with SAP’s communities of innovation. Finally, she served as the Global Chief Operating Officer for the worldwide Customer Education organization. Responsible for driving more than half a billion euros in global software and services revenue, SAP’s Customer Education team was named the leading IT Education and Training organization in the world according to IDC’s Competitive Analysis Report, Worldwide IT Education and Training 2008 Vendor Analysis. Nina has more than twenty years of sales and operations management experience with a deep understanding of the global high-tech industry having held various senior management positions at Oracle Corporation, Siebel Systems and Tandem (a Compaq company).

 

Mia Goldwyn is the Chief Content Officer of StyleHaul, the largest fashion and beauty multi-channel network on YouTube and the go-to content marketing solution for global brands of scale. Goldwyn joined StyleHaul from her role as Vice President of Business Development, Digital and Insurge at Paramount Pictures. During her 13-year tenure with the studio, Goldwyn worked across multiple business groups, including digital, business development and strategy, licensing, and home media both in the U.S. and abroad. Goldwyn most recently helped re-launch Paramount Digital Entertainment, the studio behind the Emmy®-Nominated hit digital series, Burning Love, produced by Red Hour's Ben Stiller, as well as led third party distribution and brand sponsorship deals. Goldwyn oversees StyleHaul's original content programming strategy including, production and expansion into new digital mediums. Goldwyn also leads StyleHaul's partnership with FremantleMedia in the development of 10 original content programs over the next two years.

 

Devery Holmes, President & Chief Executive Office, Spark Alliance Marketing: Devery Holmes is a recognized leader in brand and entertainment marketing. Spark Alliance Marketing originated under Devery Holmes during her tenure as President and CMO of NMA Entertainment & Marketing. In 2009, Holmes took SparkAM as a stand-alone, independent firm, headquartered in Calabasas, CA. Under her leadership, services expanded to include full service marketing solutions for consumer brands as well as content providers. Spark now focuses on developing the strategy to drive brand results through retail partnerships, innovative ad programs and integrated marketing solutions. On the forefront of emerging technologies such as online gaming, social media, 3D and digital connectivity, Spark is focused on increasing consumer engagement to drive brand affinity and sales results. During her career, Holmes has developed and managed the entertainment strategy for brands such as American Airlines, IHOP, Samsung, BMW, Heineken, Baskin-Robbins, Nestle, Philips Electronics, Boston Beer, Microsoft Xbox, Sears Holdings and USA Today. In addition, Holmes has managed the partnership marketing strategy for 20th Century Fox Films, Warner Bros. Domestic Syndication, Gazillion Entertainment and American Greetings. Holmes' involvement in award winning campaigns include Wonder Bread/Talladega Nights “Ready, Set, Talladega,” Sears/Chicken Little “Wish Big” campaign, Baskin-Robbins “Shrek's Hot Sludge Sundae is Back” campaign, Philips/Austin Powers “Let's Make Things Better, Baby!” and Heineken/Austin Powers “It's All About the Beer, Baby!” campaigns, the Super Reggie Award for both the BMW/James Bond/GoldenEye “BMW Z3 Roadster,” and the Samsung global campaigns for The Matrix Reloaded. Holmes is on the board of the PMA: The Promotional Marketing Association and chairs the Entertainment Center of Excellence Committee. She also sits on the Women's Entertainment and Technology Board of Digital Hollywood. A southern California Native, Holmes began her career at ABC Television and TimeLife and has her M.B.A. in marketing and management from Loyola Marymount University.

 

Jennifer Romolini is the editor-in-chief and VP of content at HelloGiggles, Inc. Hello Giggles is a contributor-powered multimedia

entertainment brand for young women, reaching over 12M users a month. Jennifer was previously the editor-in-chief of Yahoo Shine and oversaw  all editorial operations for Yahoo Lifestyles, including Yahoo Health and Yahoo Food. A founding Shine editor under Brandon Holley, she took over the helm of the women's lifestyle, healthy living and fashion website in November 2010. Before this, she was the deputy editor of Lucky Magazine under then editor-in-chief Kim France. Jennifer Romolini has written and edited for various publications,

including The New York Times, Glamour, Better Homes & Gardens, The New York Post, Time Out New York and more. She began her career with editorial positions at Inside.com and Talk Magazine.

 

Karla Ballard is SVP of Participant Media’s TAG division, a social-action agency working with brands, foundations and the public sector to ignite compelling campaigns that will drive social impact Ballard oversees the client portfolio and strategic development opportunities for the agency. Prior to joining Participant Media she was with Ogilvy & Mather as the account lead for the Affordable Care Act content engagement, Tell a Friend Get Covered, supported by Covered California in partnership with the White House, Makers Studio and Funny or Die. In addition, she served as the global account lead for Sony Pictures Entertainment on rebranding and strategy engagements for Latin America. Previously Karla worked at One Economy Corporation where she managed corporate relationships with partners such as Comcast/NBC, T-Mobile, Participant Media, Sprint, City Year and others. Karla is an appointee to the United States Federal Communication Committee on Diversity in a Digital Age and managed the national Broadband Opportunity Coalition. She is a current board member of Alliance for Women in Media the Marcus Graham Project. She has been a visiting speaker at Harvard and a former board member of the nation’s second largest Community College, Northern Virginia Community College. Karla is also the co-founder of the first Urban League in the state of Delaware, The Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, and served as the first female national president of the National Urban League Young Professionals. In 2012 Karla was awarded in NYC the Keeper’s of the Dream award from the National Action Network.

 

Sue Cross is founder and principal of Cross Media, a leader in creating high-value content products and the business models and partnerships that generate growth around them. Current projects include developing virtual reality and mobile media apps, as well as content and communications strategies for social enterprise ventures.  Cross formed her Los Angeles-based advisory in 2014 after 15+ years developing digital products and new content markets for the Associated Press, the global agency whose content reaches half the world’s population.  As SVP for business development and partnerships in the Americas, Cross focused on emerging media markets and led expansion of content products and partnerships for Latin America, U.S. broadcast, digital and mobile markets.  She led numerous initiatives expanding news industry use of online video.  Cross serves as an advisor on several startup and nonprofit boards and founded The Aro Network, a startup advancing social mobility by helping first generation college graduates cultivate their careers.

Day Two - SuperSession Day

Michele Turner, CEO, Dictionary.com: Michele has over 20 years of experience in high-tech product marketing, product development and business management, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to Dictionary.com, Michele was Chief Product Officer at mBlox, the leading brand-to-consumer mobile engagement platform. She spent several years as EVP of Products at Cooliris, a Kleiner Perkins portfolio company known for their stunning photo management applications. She joined Adobe in 2006 as Vice President of the Platform Business Unit, where she was responsible for product management, product marketing and developer relations for the Adobe Flash