EVENTS - THE ART OF MARKET-MAKING
I have been on the conference circuit my entire career. As an agency executive and analyst, it was my pleasure to serve as a speaker and moderator at leading conferences worldwide. My professional entry point into the business occurred in 2005 after being recruited by the ad:tech conference to help reinvigorate the ad:tech brand and serve as the Event Chairman, Head of Programming and U.S. Advisory Board Chair for it's flagship events in San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago. After also helping launch new ad:tech conferences in Sydney, Shanghai and Singapore, I branched out on my own and launched and produced over 100 live and virtual conferences under the CDX, APPNATION and IoT Influencer Summit brands. Over the course of my event career, I have conceptualized, launched, produced and/or curated over 150 conferences across four continents.
EARLY DAYS: ON THE CIRCUIT
1995-2005
As a digital agency executive at shops such as CKS | Partners, BBDO, and AKQA and research analyst at firms such as Jupiter Research and Lazard Fréres, I was privileged to have the opportunity to provide thought leadership and research insights at dozens of leading conferences in the US and worldwide.
ad:tech CALLING
2005-2009
In 2005, dmg world media approached me to take on the role of Event Chairman, Head of Programming, and US Advisory Board Chair for its flagship U.S. events in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. I later assumed additional responsibilities as the Founding Event Chairman, Head of Programming and Advisory Board Chair for new ad:tech conferences in Sydney, Singapore, and Shanghai. I also conceptualized and launched the US Hispanic/LatAM-focused ad:tech Miami. During my tenure at ad:tech, I managed, and helped launch, twenty-five ad:tech conferences across three continents and directly curated 1500+ sessions, 200+ keynotes and placed 3000+ speakers on stage.
CONTENT & PROGRAMMING
2005 - TODAY
I have spent my entire career as a speaker and moderator at, and programmer of, over 150 conferences globally. I firmly believe that the conference program sets the tone and drives the perceived credibility of an event more than any other component. As a program curator and editor, I have directly programmed 3,000+ sessions, including hundreds of keynotes, and placed 5,000+ speakers on various stages across four continents. It is critical for every conference program to feature a diverse mix of inspiring, engaging, educational, and entertaining speakers as well as those who aren't afraid to challenge the status quo.
MONETIZATION
I have an extensive sponsor network and prospected and closed over $6MM in sponsorship deals to-date. I have a deep understanding of business development best practices and event monetization via thought leadership, event real estate, brand engagement, pre-and-post-show marketing, custom content, sponsor host-model monetization and other cost offsets, and more. My approach with prospective supporting partners is to gain a deep understanding of their business and their core success metrics and sell in a custom-tailored set of deliverables that meets and exceeds their expectations and partnership KPIs.
THE FUTURE OF EVENTS
The pandemic upended the event industry in 2020. And while in-person conferences have returned and will continue to thrive, the disruption forced event producers to innovate and pivot to digital / virtual events and content which impacted everything from production to monetization to marketing. The future of events will often be "hybrid" with in-show and post-show virtual programming, content, and engagement and monetization opportunities woven into most conferences moving forward. From 2020 - 2022, I produced over 50 virtual events.
Click on the image to get a feel for a CDX virtual event produced soon after the onset of the pandemic
APPNATION: TAPPING INTO A REVOLUTION
2009-2016
After working with an amazing team to produce the largest, and most profitable ad:tech event in its history, I ventured out on my own to create a new conference and exhibition series - APPNATION - to cover the burgeoning app economy. APPNATION ran for seven years with conferences held in SF/Silicon Valley, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Las Vegas (in partnership with CES), and Barcelona (in partnership with Mobile World Congress). During its run, I also launched and produced multiple spin-off events including the APPNATION IoT summit, the APPNATION Enterprise Summit and the APPNATION Media & Entertainment Summit. In total, I launched and produced over 30 APPNATION conferences, curated 700+ plenary and breakout sessions and placed 2000+ speakers on the APPNATION stage.
CDX: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
2013 - TODAY
With APPNATION rolling along, in 2013, I launched a by-invitation-only thought leadership and networking event series called The Chief Digital Officer Global Forum (CDX). CDX was launched to focus on digital marketing transformation and, over time, evolved to cover the acceleration of digital transformation and innovation across the enterprise. We hosted over 75 live and virtual events under the CDX brand in Silicon Valley, New York, Atlanta, Singapore, Dubai, Las Vegas (in partnership with CES and Medialink), Los Angeles (in partnership with GSMA/Mobile World Congress), and on Zoom. I also conceptualized, and launched, multiple spin-off events including the CDX Academy Blockchain Summit (produced in partnership with Columbia University), the CDX Sonic event focused on voice + audio, and the CDX Accelerate event series which focuses on the acceleration of digital business transformation.
THE ATTENDEE EXPERIENCE
I believe that a great venue, a superior conference program, and a first-rate attendee list are table stakes for any event. And it is then the job of the event producer to deliver a memorable attendee experience fueled by on-and-off-site networking, socializing and learning. The most successful conferences educate its attendees, facilitate meaningful professional growth, generate new business, and create unforgettable, personal and professional experiences and relationships.
