Summit Featured Notable Speakers Including Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development for Facebook, and Beth Noveck, U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Director of the White House Open Government Initiative
Interactive One, LLC, the digital connection for Black America and the digital division of Radio One, Inc., and the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), a nonprofit advancing the social, political and economic interests of minorities and women, today announced the completion of their inaugural Digital Summit in New York City on July 21, 2010. The event drew nearly 200 professionals from various sectors, including digital media, advertising, marketing and venture capital, and featured two lively panels composed of key industry innovators debating the growing economic opportunities for and importance of the multicultural online consumer. The Digital Summit culminated with a one-on-one interview with Beth Noveck, technology innovation expert and current U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Director of the White House Open Government Initiative. The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and the ADCOLOR Industry Coalition also took part in the Digital Summit as marketing partners.
"We are thrilled with the tremendous outcome of our first Digital Summit, achieved through our partnerships with CUP, NAMIC and the ADCOLOR Industry Coalition. The high level of energy and discourse shown by our expert panelists made each part of the program compelling and illuminating," said Maria Weaver Watson, VP, Brand Marketing and Strategic Communications for Interactive One. "We look forward to building on the success of this year's program in 2011."
The Digital Summit featured two one-hour panel discussions in which thought leaders from different areas of digital media, marketing and advertising discussed using online media to reach multicultural audiences, strategies on how to maximize audience engagement to generate revenue, and the evolving digital landscape.
The Summit's first panel, entitled, "Understanding the Multicultural Audience Online," examined how multicultural audiences uniquely engage with online media platforms and specifically focused on the nuances of their use of these platforms. Speakers included: Heather James, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, The Advertising Research Foundation; Mark Lopez, Chief Operating Officer, TERRA Networks USA; Don Moore, President, Burrell Digital; Moderator Steven Wolfe Pereira, SVP, Managing Director, MV Forty-Two Degrees | MediaVest Multicultural; and Smokey Fontaine, Chief Content Officer, Interactive One.
The event's second panel, "Evolving Economics of Online Media," explored in-depth the ever-changing business models for online properties, including emerging strategies on how to transform site traffic into profits. Presenters from a number of leading companies participated in this provocative discussion, among them: Sarah Baehr, Associate Partner, Rosetta; Torrence Boone, Managing Director of Agency Development, Google; Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development, Facebook; Moderator Ritu Trivedi, Managing Partner, Media Director, Mindshare Interaction; and Omar Wasow, Co-Founder, BlackPlanet.com.
"The impressive turnout and diversity of the Digital Summit's audience was the true testament to its strength and necessity," said Chloe Drew, Executive Director of CUP. "The audience of more than 200 demonstrated a clear need for this comprehensive forum addressing the economic opportunities for and benefits of reaching the multicultural online user. We want to thank Interactive One for partnering with us to create such an outstanding inaugural conference."
According to feedback from attendees, the Digital Summit tackled the timeliest and most important issues presently affecting multicultural marketing and advertising. "The panel themes, especially the approaches to monetizing an engaged multicultural audience, were featured at an ideal time given the current growth and development of the digital media industry. Overall, I thought the event was informative and valuable for my business. I hope to attend again next year," said Charles Crocket Co-Founder and Partner of the Ascend Venture Group.
