Wednesday, April 24, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
Free for WMG members; $15 for non-members (Zoom)
The Generative AI hype may have quieted since peak ChatGPT, but rest assured that AI tools continue to proliferate. What does this mean for content creators, publishers, and marketers? Join us for a lively lunchtime discussion with media leaders who are actively incorporating AI into their daily practice– and building businesses that harness the power of AI to empower others.
Speaker bios:
Kristen Cook is an Enterprise Customer Success Manager at Jasper, where she plays a pivotal role in empowering Global Marketing organizations to harness the power of generative AI across their teams. With a decade of experience in the SaaS and startup sectors, Kristen brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role in helping to shape the future of AI innovation in marketing. At Jasper, an AI copilot for enterprise marketing teams, Kristen's work involves close collaboration with some of the world's top publishers, guiding them through the seamless integration of genAI into their operational workflows. Kristen is deeply passionate about helping teams solve real problems and building impactful solutions with genAI.
Caitlin Kelly is founder and co-CEO of EZ Newswire. She has 15 years of marketing and communications experience across technology, media, and finance. Previously, Caitlin held a senior role at MediaLink, advising Fortune 100 companies on growth, marketing, and communications strategy, and she oversaw communications at PubMatic, leading them through funding rounds before IPO. Caitlin earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Charleston, where she attended on scholarship.
Founder of Kathleen Schmidt Public Relations, Kathleen Schmidt is a strategist who applies her in-depth experience in all aspects of the industry, including as a publicist, literary agent, acquisitions editor, and ghostwriter, to every project she takes on. Her career encompasses 30 years of creating and directing impactful and strategic global media, marketing, and branding campaigns for politicians, A-List celebrities, athletes, and high-profile personalities. To date, she has worked on 50 New York Times bestsellers, and her clients have continuously appeared in top-tier national print, broadcast, and radio outlets such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, Vogue, Elle, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Sirius XM.
Moderator Charlie Schroder is President Emerita of Women’s Media Group and currently heads Original Content Development & Publishing at Scribd, the company behind premium reading content subscription service Everand (as well as Scribd and Slideshare). With a career at the intersection of content, technology, creators and audiences, Ms. Schroder most recently spearheaded Scribd’s first GenAI experiments and successfully initiated the company’s AI Ethics Committee.
All proceeds from this event support the Women's Media Group Educational Foundation.
Refunds available up to 24 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 24 hours of the event.
Monday, April 29, 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to serve on a paid company board? Do you want to ascend to the next level of corporate leadership in the Boardroom? The dynamic duo of Daphne E. Jones and Nichelle Maynard-Elliott are leaders at The Board Curators, an organization that strives to expand boardroom diversity and enable company marketplace success. This informational session, moderated by Jodi Brockington, will answer questions such as, What is being a board member like? What skills are critical for board service? What are the expectations and obligations? What are boards focusing on in 2024?
Join us for an insightful session, where we'll:
Daphne E. Jones is the Founder and CEO of The Board Curators. She is a highly accomplished Fortune 500 CIO, digital leader, and board member with over 30 years of experience in general management and executive level roles at leading companies such as IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and General Electric. She is an active member of several boards of directors, including AMN Healthcare, Inc., Barnes Group Inc., and Masonite International Corp. Her many achievements have been recognized with numerous domestic and international awards. Daphne is also an acclaimed author of Win When They Say You Won't: Break Through Barriers and Keep Leveling Up Your Success, which draws from her own personal story of rising from humble beginnings to achieve great success. Daphne earned her MBA and BS from Illinois State University.
Nichelle Maynard-Elliott is an accomplished dealmaker and advisor to boards and senior management with over 25 years of extensive financial and legal experience in mergers and acquisitions, business development, and strategic alliances. She has led the charge in influencing and developing diversity and inclusion cultures in traditionally white male-dominated environments. Since 2018, Nichelle has served as an independent director of Element Solutions Inc., a global specialty chemicals company. She is also a trustee of The Advisors’ Inner Circle Fund III, on the board of Lucid Group, Inc., and was named one of 2021’s Most Influential Black Directors by Savoy and a 2023 Director to Watch by Directors & Boards. She also serves on numerous not-for-profit boards. Nichelle received a Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law and a BA in Economics from Brown University.
Moderator:
Jodi Brockington is The Co-President of Women’s Media Group is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant for NIARA Consulting, where she coaches and advises thousands of entrepreneurs and professionals by helping them launch, manage and develop their businesses. Jodi's newest passion is BLENDiD, a lifestyle community and platform that enables people with biracial and multiracial backgrounds to connect through personalized content and network. Recently, Jodi was awarded the "Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity" by Diversity Plus Magazine.
Wednesday, May 1, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET
We'll be joined by executive communications coach Donna Rustigian Mac, President of iVoice Communication, originator of the Six Pillars of Mindful Communication, veteran radio host now hosting the Inspiring Voice podcast and author of the new book, Know and Own Your Worth, To Be a Leader.
During this session you’ll learn:
This is a ✏️ WMG Lunch & Learn ✏️ event! WMG Lunch & Learns are part of a series of midday events designed to help you learn, grow, and connect in only 60 minutes. This presentation is fully interactive to give participants opportunities to share their voices.
About the speaker:
Donna Rustigian Mac is the President of iVoice Communication, a company dedicated to creating confident speakers, successful interpersonal communicators, and healthy human-business connections through updated, 21st century communication skills. Donna works with individuals and companies who understand the power of their employees. Donna’s distinguished career includes more 30 years in communications -- in broadcasting and media (she served on stations for both Greater media, Boston and Clear Channel Communications, Providence), as an executive communication coach, motivational speaker and workforce trainer. Donna is also a certified mindfulness teacher and a qualified MBHC (Mindfulness-based Habit Change) change facilitator. Donna hosts the Inspiring Voice podcast, originated the Six Pillars of Mindful Communications, and is the author of Know and OWN Your Worth, To Be a Leader.
Wednesday, May 8, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. ET
$20 for WMG members, $30 for non-members
Location: Penguin Random House, 1745 Broadway (between 55th & 56th Streets)
If you’re an entrepreneur, freelancer, consultant, or independent contractor, don’t miss this career-changing evening with five of the country’s top experts on entrepreneurship and small businesses. This is a unique opportunity to meet other entrepreneurs and learn how to help your business grow. At this event, you’ll get advice about:
marketing
sales
cash flow
staff hiring and management
building referrals
developing an advisory board
and much more
You’ll have an opportunity to sit down with each expert in a small group to ask questions and join the conversation. The evening will end with a wine-and-cheese reception and networking.
This is one of ⭐️WMG’s 50th Anniversary marquee events. ⭐️Over the past five decades, our New York-based nonprofit has brought together women in media to collaborate with, learn from, inform, and mentor one another. Our 50th Anniversary marquee events embrace WMG’s core mission of women’s empowerment.
Panelists
Deb Boulanger is a business growth strategist and the driving force behind The Launch Lab, a powerhouse program dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs. She specializes in guiding former corporate leaders in how to make more money, meaning, and impact as entrepreneurs. Drawing from her extensive 27 years in sales, marketing, and product development, Deb has engineered a foolproof, predictable business development process. She combines the time-tested principles used by multi-billion-dollar corporations with modern strategies in online marketing and sales to guide her clients to monetize their hard-won expertise profitably. Deb believes entrepreneurship is the new feminist movement and is fiercely committed to closing the revenue gap for women entrepreneurs. Her website is www.thegreatdoover.com
Melinda Emerson, “SmallBizLady,” is an expert and keynote speaker on small business development, online selling, and marketing strategy. She is CEO of Quintessence Group, a marketing consulting firm that serves Fortune 500 brands that target small businesses. She has an online school and hosts a podcast for small business owners. In addition to being a former New York Times columnist, Melinda has published over 5000 articles on her blog, SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com. Her advice is widely read, reaching one million entrepreneurs weekly online. She is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months and Fix Your Business. Her website is: www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
Julia Pimsleur is a scaling coach, sales trainer, speaker, bestselling author and the Founder of Million Dollar Women, a New York City-based social venture, which has helped thousands of women entrepreneurs scale up their businesses. Julia’s passion for working with women entrepreneurs grew out of her own experiences of feeling isolated building her first business, Little Pim. She ultimately joined communities, hired mentors, and grew Little Pim from a $30,000 investment into a multimillion-dollar VC-backed company, which she sold. Her website is www.millionwomen.com.
Elaine Pofeldt is an independent journalist and speaker who specializes in entrepreneurship and careers. She is the author of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business and Tiny Business, Big Money. As a senior editor at Fortune Small Business magazine, she was twice nominated for the National Magazine Award for her feature stories. Her work has appeared in Fortune, Money, CNBC, Inc., Forbes, Crain’s New York Business and many other business publications and she is a contributor to the Economist Intelligence Unit. Elaine founded and ran Fortune Small Business's national Business Plan Competition for five years. She has also been a judge in the Crain's New York Business Perfect Pitch Competition and Rutger's University's business plan competition. Her website is www.elainepofeldt.com.
Sandi Webster is an accomplished entrepreneur, educator, author, and advocate for women in business. With a doctorate in business administration and a background in marketing and analytics, she built and sold her first company and then formed Sandi Webster LLC. Today, she focuses on empowering business owners through workshops, retreats, and intensives. Her expertise lies in forming advisory boards and helping leaders gain external viewpoints to drive success. Sandi co-authored two books, Black and White Strike Gold: Practical Nuggets to Grow Your Business and Immigrant Hustle: How 50 Entrepreneurs Came to America and Built Something Out of Nothing. Her website is www.sandiwebster.com.
Moderator
Jane Wesman, who serves as WMG’s Programming Committee Chair, is president of Jane Wesman Public Relations, Inc. an agency that provides book marketing and publicity services. She is also the author of Dive Right In — The Sharks Won’t Bite: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Guide to Success and has spent many years mentoring women business owners. Her articles on women and entrepreneurship have been published in a wide range of media outlets including Entrepreneur and Inc. Her website is www.wesmanpr.com.
Refunds available up to 48 hours before the event. No refunds for cancellations made within 48 hours of the event.
Wednesday, May 15, 6:00-7:00 p.m. ET
Are you a writer, publicist, or marketer eager to crack the code of booking a TEDx Talk? Join us on May 15 for an enlightening session with TEDx veterans Karen Eber, Terri Trespicio, and Nekasha Pratt in conversation with Bridget Marmion. Here's what we'll cover:
Don't miss this opportunity to unlock the secrets of TEDx Talks! Reserve your spot today.
Karen Eber is an author, leadership consultant, and keynote speaker. Her book, The Perfect Story: How to Tell Stories that Inform, Influence, and Inspire, and her TED Talk continue to inspire millions. As the CEO and Chief Storyteller of Eber Leadership Group, Karen helps Fortune 500 companies build leaders, teams, and culture, one story at a time. She is a former Head of Culture, Learning, and Leadership Development at GE and Deloitte.
Nekasha Pratt is a Vice President of Marketing at HarperCollins Publishers, where she heads marketing, digital, and publicity for three fiction imprints. She is also a sought-after speaker and thought-leader who has been featured on podcasts, interviewed for publications such as Inc Magazine and Bizwomen Business Journal, and has done a TEDx Talk on personal power.
Terri Trespicio is an award-winning writer, speaker, and author of Unfollow YourPassion (Atria 2021). Her TEDx talk, “Stop Searching for Your Passion,” has been viewed 8M+ times. A former magazine editor, she’s been featured in Forbes Women, Business Insider, the Today show, and others. Learn more at territrespicio.com.
Bridget Marmion spent over a decade each at FSG, Random House and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, mostly as SVP of Marketing, Bridget now runs a full-service marketing firm, Bridget Marmion Book Marketing LLC. She is a member of WMG, and currently serves on the board of WNBA. She is also on the board of BISG, on the BISG Metadata Committee, and on the advisory board of Pace University Masters in Publishing Program.
We are pleased to introduce Member Talks. Member Talks are an opportunity for any WMG member to contribute to the professional development, enjoyment and personal interactions of WMG members.
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