Thursday, November 14th, 2019

10:45 AM - 11:45 AM - Herscher Hall, Guerin A, Webcast Live

Entrepreneurs: Start-Up Tips Including Branding and Influencer Marketing

Leah Caplanis, founder and CEO, Social Sparkling Sake @SocialSparkling

Erin Kapczynski, SVP Marketing, Kontrol Media, @ErinK217

Ronjini Joshua, CEO, The Silver Telegram, a media-focused PR Agency @RonjiniM

DMA, President, Planet DMA @planetdma

Linda Sherman, Managing Editor, Boomer Tech Talk, @LindaSherman, Moderator

Erin Kapczynski has built her career as a marketing executive in media, technology and advertising. Currently serving as consultant and advisor to leading Silicon Beach startups and mid-stage businesses in adtech, Erin is helping to grow the next wave of unicorns. She has helped the likes of Demand Media (now LeafGroup), MomentFeed, and OpenMail (now System1) with her innovative marketing strategies. Erin’s passion for marketing centers on looking at how a business can transform and grow, leveraging data and user experience, while building customer trust. Erin helps clients plan and execute

customer acquisition, content creation, and branding—often tying these pieces together to generate growth.  Coming into the role via acquisition, Erin was formerly VP of Marketing for the media and technology platform Purch, where she oversaw all global consumer and corporate marketing that grew audiences and accelerated ad sales and lead-gen deals for partners to well over $100M in annual revenue.  Prior to Purch, Erin served as VP of Marketing at Panache, an early mover and market-leading digital video adtech business that was acquired by WPP.  She also held senior level marketing positions at Herbalife's HQ and Move.

Leah Caplanis is the founder and CEO of SOCIAL Sparkling Wine, a company she launched in 2014 after successfully battling and beating cancer.  During her recovery, she realized that there were no clean alcohol options on the market. With the help of expert brew master Ray Klimovitz, she developed a truly clean alcohol beverage, an organic, low-calorie, gluten and sulfite free sparkling sake wine, and so, SOCIAL Sparking Wine was born. Prior to this, Caplanis worked in sales and marketing for Nestle USA. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University. Caplanis has been featured on CNBC’s Billion Dollar Buyer, profiled in numerous news publications and broadcasts, and is a sought after speaker.

DMA, President, Planet DMA: A veteran entertainment industry showrunner and executive and twice-patented tech entrepreneur, DMA (Donna Michelle Anderson) designs and executes transformative gameplans for companies in media, tech, government, education and more. Over the past 20 years, she has helmed top-rated programming for CBS, Bravo, BET, A&E, TLC and more, authored two entertainment books that are taught in media programs nationwide, and championed inclusion across multiple industries. She is a graduate, with distinction, of Stanford University and is an active member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Producers Guild of America and American Mensa. You can connect with DMA online on all platforms as @planetdma.

Ronjini Joshua is the founder and CEO of The Silver Telegram, A PR Agency for brands looking for media attention. Over the past 18 years, Ronjini has worked with global brands like BMW, Red Vines and Tmobile all the way to highly tech-focused consumer brands that include companies like HyreCar, RadPad, and SOUNDBOKS. Ronjini has also helped numerous companies launch their brands through crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, working on lifestyle brands that range from kids products to beauty brands. She has helped these brands develop communications and messaging strategies and secured media placements in national media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel, USA Today and much more. She launched her guide on PR, The PR Playbook in 2018. She is a California Native and almna of the California State University of Long Beach, graduating with a degree in Journalism, with an emphasis in public relations. You can connect with Ronjini (@Ronjini) and The Silver Telegram (@TheSilverTele) on Linkedin and Twitter.

Linda Sherman, Managing Editor, Boomer Tech Talk: An international, multi-cultural marketing pro, Linda brings a distinguished background of international subsidiary CEO/CMO to her Social Marketing expertise. These included CEO Club Med Japan, CEO Barilla Japan and CMO Wal-Mart Japan. She devised and implemented an innovative guerrilla marketing plan for ZIMA in Japan that produced a lasting, profitable success. Linda is Managing Editor of BoomerTechTalk.com and an advocate for both boomers and the older adults they support in the fields of entertainment, lifestyle and technology. She has been featured and quoted in Forbes, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and other leading publications. Linda Sherman shares her recommendations for streaming film & series, and TV on her StreamingTVRecommendations.com website. Linda has an influential on-line presence. You can find her extensive social profiles at BoomerTechTalk.com including @LindaSherman and @BoomerTechTalk on Twitter. Her deep understanding of social marketing includes experience with WordPress website production and search engine optimization. Her company, The Courage Group, provides services in personal and company branding, social marketing strategy and training. Linda’s passion is healthy longevity.