Alliance for Women in Media Southern California Affiliate Announce Speed Mentoring at CBS Studios
Alliance for Women in Media Southern California Affiliate Announce Speed Mentoring at CBS Studios
This career-development event will include mentors and top executives
from the digital media industry at-large
—Sponsored by R6S, the Premiere Digital Media Agency–
Los Angeles – May 23, 2016 – Alliance for Women in Media Southern California Affiliate (AWM SoCal) is pleased to announce its Speed Mentoring event – specializing in all areas of Digital Media – on Saturday, June 4 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Carla’s Cafe on the CBS Studios Radford Lot located at 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604. A distinguished panel of mentors will be on-hand to offer one-on-one career advice, coaching, and encouragement. AWM SoCal’s Speed Mentoring is a career development event sponsored by R6S, the Premiere Digital Media Agency. Register by June 2nd at awmsocal.org/events.
Founded in 1952, AWM SoCal is the longest established professional association dedicated to advancing women in media and entertainment. “We are excited to have so many trailblazers from all areas of digital media participating in our Speed Mentoring event. Our mentors are graciously volunteering their time on a Saturday morning to offer career advice and guidance to our mentees,” stated Minoti Vaishnav, AWM SoCal Events Director. “Digital technology is a driving force for change in our industry and we encourage more women to explore career opportunities in electronic media.”
Modeled after the “speed dating” concept, participants will have five minutes with each mentor before moving on to the next short meeting. Mentees can learn about all areas of digital media, how these professionals got their start and how to hone important networking skills.
All ages and career levels are welcome.
This setting is ideal for students and young professionals, but does not exclude those already established who may be seeking a career change.
- Discover different types of digital media jobs within the industry
- Learn about job openings and internships
- Get tips from the pros
- Meet contacts from executive search agencies
- Swap business cards
- Bring your resume
- Receive AWM SoCal’s recommended list of media job sites
- Make new friends and professional contacts
Introductions to the right mentor can provide invaluable career guidance and help to open doors. Meet the mentors:
JEFF BROOKS
ThinkNear
Jeff Brooks has over 10 years’ experience in digital advertising sales, Working with Yahoo, Zynga and the NBC show “The Apprentice.” Currently Jeff is the Director of Sales for mobile location platform Thinknear. Opportunities in digital media continue to grow as consumers shift their time spent to smart phones from television.
KRISTYN BURTT
Lifescript.com
Currently the Entertainment Editor for Lifescript.com, Krystn also works as an on-camera correspondent for SheKnows Entertainment, Dance Network and Red Carpet Report where she is also has been a producer since 2010.
DAVE DUFFY
Cinedigm
Digital Cinema, Deployment Director at Cinedigm. Dave has been working in digital cinema distribution and deployment since it’s infancy in 2005 when Cinedigm owned the only, twenty-eight digital screens in the US. Now 99% of the US screens are digital and Dave manages the over 12,000 Cinedigm screens across the globe.
DESIREE DUFFY
R6S
Desireé Duffy is a marketer, writer, and public relations expert. She’s the Vice President of Operations for R6S, an award-winning digital marketing agency in Los Angeles. She is also the Immediate Past President for the Alliance for Women in Media’s Southern California Affiliate, is on the Board of Advisors for Digital Hollywood’s Women in Technology and Entertainment Summit, and is on the Board of Directors for the L.E.A.F. Foundation.
ELSA DUNKIN
Netflix
Elsa comes from the San Francisco Bay Area, where after earning a degree in Social Welfare, she moved to LA to experience a change of pace. Being in LA naturally led to a career in entertainment. Her career eventually morphed into a leadership role at Netflix, where she manages a team of content strategists and a global catalog. What brings her satisfaction is a job well done and making meaningful impact on the product and on her team.
KATY HASTY
BuzzFeed
Katie Hasty is a longtime film/music/TV reporter, editor, and critic. She is currently Deputy Entertainment Editor at BuzzFeed, co-helming a team of longform and news writers; she previously held posts as the day-to-day editorial manager at HitFix, music department manager at KCRW, and digital editor and columnist at Billboard.
PARVA HASHEMI
R6S
Parva Hashemi is the lead front-end developer at R6S. She thrives on creating interactive and intuitive digital experiences using the latest trends. Aside from coding, she also specializes in graphic design and user experience.
AMY HAUPL
LegalZoom
Amy leads the User Experience group at LegalZoom. Her team looks at the user experience and makes recommendations on how the UI should behave in order to meet both business and user requirements. Her team works closely with product management and the customer facing teams, in addition to testing concepts and prototypes, and doing market research.
CUPID HAYES
Missing Channel Media Group
Working in Digital Distribution, Cupid has worked with clients including LEGO, Procter & Gamble, and Western Union. She serves on the SAG-AFTRA Board of Directors, and is Vice President of Business Development for MCMG (Missing Channel Media Group).
VALERIE KEERANAN
Scorpion
Valerie Keeranan has a degree in Multimedia Production from California State University Northridge. She started her career in Internet Marketing, designing, developing and optimizing websites for local businesses; then she transitioned into Online Paid Advertising, and is now a top Search Engine Marketing Manager at Scorpion – an Internet Marketing Firm based in Valencia, CA that manages thousands of websites and online campaigns across North America.
VINCE KING
Cars.com
Vince has been working in Product Management in the Internet industry since 1998, collaborating with marketers, designers and engineers to define and build a great user experience on websites. Currently, Vince is the Senior Director of Product at Cars.com Santa Monica, managing Product, Design, QA and DevOps.
RANDY LANE
The Randy Lane Company
Owner of The Randy Lane Company, Randy works in digital and personal branding. He has directed and coached celebrities like Ryan Seacrest, Jimmy Kimmel, Kidd Kraddick, Jamie & Danny Bonaduce, Billy Bush and scores of others in every format.
VICKI LIAO
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Vicki is Director of Pay TV and Digital Distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment. She works with Video on Demand and premium pay TV distribution for feature films and TV series.
SUSAN MCMARTIN
Studio City Mom/CBS’ Mom
Susan is the author of the popular blog “Studio City Mom” and of the book “Understanding The Fall”, a filmmaker and television writer. She currently writes for CBS’ Mom and her feature film “Mr. Church” starring Eddie Murphy releases in Sept 2016.
LAUREN MERRIN
Kin Community
As Vice President, Sales, Lauren Merriam is responsible for all advertising revenue at Kin Community. She manages a sales and client services organization with offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Toronto (Kin Canada). She and her team have worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies to execute award-winning brand content and digital media campaigns. Lauren has over 12 years of experience in traditional and digital media.
LAURA NICKERSON
The Randy Lane Company/MomAngelesLA
Content Creator and brand developer. Laura has been an On-Camera Host and Radio Personality for HBO, Broad Topics TV and Radio, Clear Channel Inc., NBC/Universal and more. She also hosts the weekly television show “The Buzz” for CTV and the podcast and video series “Best of LA with Kristin and Laura” for MomAngeles.com alongside fellow radio personality Kristin Cruz. Laura has also managed websites, and done social media for several TV shows.
TESSA NIELSEN
The Oprah Winfrey Network
Tessa conceptualizes, writes and produces compelling original creative marketing including episodic promotion, network IDs, social and digital content for the Oprah Winfrey Network.
ROSE PEREZ
VUBIQUITY
SVP of Business and Legal Affairs for VUBIQUITY, negotiating television transport and licensing agreements for several major network clients.
DANNY PESSES
The CW
Danny Pesses is currently a Senior Web Developer at Warner Bros. Worldwide TV Marketing. Over the last five years, he has helped build & maintain numerous internal & public-facing sites for The CW and Warner Bros TV productions.
SARAH PICCHI
LegalZoom
Sarah Picchi is the Director of Product Marketing for LegalZoom. Sarah has over 20 years of digital experience and has held a variety of roles in production, project management, product management and product marketing. Prior to joining LegalZoom, Sarah worked as a Sr. Product Marketing Manager for YP, supporting the marketing products that the company sells to more than 500,000 smbs across the US.
STEPHANIE PICHE
Mingle Media TV/Red Carpet Report
Stephanie is a serial entrepreneur, marketing strategist and new media producer and has been featured in AdAge.com Digital, the Huffington Post, the NY Times, and other publications. With over 25 years in technology marketing and sales, she has successfully lead 42 new media, commerce and mobile app product launches. She is also the founder and Executive Producer of Mingle Media TV Network, an online media and digital entertainment company, and YouTube partner ranked in the top 5% viewership.
JULIANA SAKAE
GOOD DOCS
Juliana Sakae is a multimedia journalist who works with Digital Marketing at GOOD DOCS, a distribution company for educational documentaries. She worked as a Social Media & Innovation Editor for various newspapers in Brazil, and as a Digital Content Producer at the International Documentary Association (IDA). She holds a degree in Journalism, Documentary Filmmaking and Digital Journalism.
LONNIE SILL
FirstCom Music
Lonnie has produced for key industry leaders including: Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Columbia Pictures and more. He has expertise in all areas of music supervision, including physical production, post-production, music publishing and music licensing. Lonnie is the director of the Film/TV division of FirstCom Music, a Universal Production Music catalogue with licensing and administration for (30) catalogs in all areas of film and television with over 200,000 tracks and 7,000+ new tracks released annually.
ASH SOBHE
R6S
Ash Sobhe is an entrepreneur with a deep passion for technology. His first company was ITC, the award-winning digital marketing firm. Today he is at the helm of R6S, the revolutionary creative media group.
RICHIE SOLOMON
Richie Solomon has developed projects for companies such as Fox Searchlight Pictures, 20th Century Fox Television, MTV Networks, Electronic Arts, Zynga, Harvey Entertainment, and GSD&M. He was a supervising producer and writer for the online videogame series Daily Rage!, which ran for over 150 episodes, and has also written and designed such other videogames as BINGO Blitz, Zynga Elite Slots, Scratchers Casino, and The Godfather: Gangland. Richie received three Emmy® nominations for his work on the interactive series Stranger Adventures. He is a member of AIAS, ATAS, PGA, and WGA.
KATE TALBOT
Klick Communications
Consumer PR and corporate communications specialist with an international career spanning a decade across the US, UK and Australia. Worked for some of the world’s biggest blue chip brands, including Virgin, Volkswagen and Moet Hennessy, as well as nurtured start-ups. At Klick, an award winning global PR and social agency, Kate splits her time between fostering new client relationships and managing the business’ accounts.
CARINA VOIGHT
R6S
Carina Voigt is an enthusiastic brand marketing professional with a close affinity to luxury consumer goods. In her role as the Project Manager of R6S, she leads the team of designers, developers, SEO and social media specialists to victory through superior leadership. As the key interface between the client and internal teams, she manages multifaceted projects, drafts strategies and ensures deliverables are met.
DAVID WARHOL
Realtime Associates
David Warhol is a video game development pioneer with over 30 years of professional experience, designing and programming games for Mattel Electronics’ Intellivision game console in 1982, creating award-winning music and sounds for dozens of games for Electronic Arts, Lucasfilm Games, Interplay, and others, until founding his own game development studio, Realtime Associates, in 1989, which remains one of the longest standing independent studios in operation today.
Mentors are added as they confirm. Continue to check for the updated list of mentors at awmsocal.org/events.
Tickets are $20 for AWM SoCal members and $45 for nonmembers. Students will receive a one-year AWM SoCal membership with their $45 ticket. Light breakfast will be served. Space is limited, so register today at awmsocal.org/events.
About R6S:
A wickedly-creative blend of integrated marketing strategies, the award-winning team at R6S delivers avant-garde digital solutions to an elite list of clientele. Founded by Ash Sobhe, R6S is a creative media group. R6S specializes in organically growing businesses through R6S Coteries—customized partnerships which deliver unprecedented results. Always a leader and never a follower, Sobhe and his team leap beyond the ordinary to deliver dynamic solutions with unprecedented results. Sobhe’s company was declared one of the Top 10 Best Design firms by 10 BestDesign. It was also awarded a Top 5 position by MOZ, the marketing analytics authority, and declared a Top 50 SEO company by an independent ranking company. Visit R6S.com to explore more.
About AWM SoCal:
Alliance for Women in Media, Southern California Affiliate (AWM SoCal) is the local affiliate to the Alliance for Women in Media, a national, nonprofit organization with nearly 10,000 community members. We extend membership to qualified professionals in the media and entertainment industries. Founded in 1952 as American Women in Radio & Television Southern California (formerly AWRT SoCal), our mission is to advance the impact of women in media by educating and acting as a resource to our members, the industry and our community. AWM SoCal is dedicated to empowering career development and driving positive change for our industry and societal progress. The Southern California Chapter of Alliance for Women in Media offers local benefits to its members.
For more information about the Southern California Affiliate of AWM, please visit awmsocal.org or send an email to communications@awmsocal.org.
# # # #
