Agustino Fontevecchia Digital Director Editorial Perfil

Agustino Fontevecchia is the digital director for Editorial Perfil, one of Latin American’s largest publishers with a big presence in Argentina and Brazil. He oversees digital strategy including newsroom, technology, sales and subscriptions in Argentina while working in tandem with Perfil’s teams in Brazil. Previously he was a markets and wealth reporter for Forbes in New York. Agustino has degreees from NYU and Columbia University.

Alan Soon Co-founder and CEO Splice Media, Singapore

Alan Soon is the Co-founder and CEO of Splice Media in Singapore, the outfit that supports the growth and viability of media startups and creators across Asia. He's been working in media for almost three decades. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

Àlex Poderoso Chief Digital Officer Grupo RBA

Àlex Poderoso is a Technical Engineer in Computer Science and a Graduate in Multimedia from the Open University of Catalonia. He began his professional career in the first digital department of the public broadcaster of Catalonia. Later, he was the Digital Director at the magazine publisher Sàpiens. He then leapt at the chance to be part of the founding team of the newspaper Ara, the first integrated print-digital newsroom in Spain.

That experience led him to become the Head of Technological Development at El Periódico de Catalunya, a national newspaper based in Barcelona. 

Alex is currently the Digital Director of the RBA group. In this position, he helps general management with all issues related to digital business: product, technology and organisation.

 RBA has managed to take its leadership in the print world to digital, growing more than 1,300% in users in just 5 years and ranks among Spain’s most popular digital entities. The transformation of RBA included refocusing teams, specializing in verticals, and drawing upon quality content and people to adapt to dynamic changes in the media landscape while focusing on growth.

Ana Rocha Senior News Programme Manager, EMEA Google

Ana Rocha de Paiva is a Senior Programme Manager for News and Media at Google, spearheading a multitude of initiatives that drive innovation and support the success of news organizations’ digital transition journeys across Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Ana has been at Google for 10 years and developed her expertise in the news industry by leading Google’s relationship with some of the largest publishers in the world, including The New York Times.

Ana is Portuguese and recently moved from New York to Lisbon, where she currently resides with her husband and two children.

Andrés Rodríguez Founder and CEO Spainmedia

Andrés Rodríguez is a Journalist from the Complutense University of Madrid. After his time as editor and director of the most historic newspapers in Spain, in 2007 he decided to found the publishing group SpainMedia. Since then, he has consolidated a prestigious and profitable position in the lifestyle publications market, both in print and digital format. 

In 15 years, Spain Media has edited Esquire, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Robb Report, L’Officiel, Tapas and T Magazine. In addition, Andrés is a board member of the newspaper El Español, a member of the board of directors of the Press Association of Madrid, founder of Club Matador, member of the board of protectors of the Teatro Real, 2016 Spanish National Gastronomy Award for Tapas magazine and in 2018 received the First Amendment Award by the Eisenhower Fellowship Association. He is also president of the Spanish Media Association (ARI).

Andrew Losowsky Head of Community Product Vox Media LLC

Founder and innovator with expertise in journalism, product leadership, community, and preventing harmful speech.

Andrii Vdovychenko CEO Burda Ukraine

Andrii started his carrier in Burda Ukraine (daughter company of Germany based Hubert Burda Media) in 1998  as Advertising sales director, in 2004 was appointed as Chief operation officer. In 2013, he was promoted to Chief executive officer. In 2019 as a result of management buyout deal with Hubert Burda Media became the owner of the company. 

Prior to Burda Media, he worked at different positions in marketing of British American Tobacco in Germany and Ukraine and at  Kyiv office of confectionary producer Huhtamaki oy Leaf ( Finland).

Andrii is a member of Supervisory Board of WAN-IFRA, member of the Directors Board of Ukrainian Media Business Association, co-chair of the Media Committee in American Chamber of Commerce Ukraine (2019-2020.

Andy Burt MD CFO.com and Proformative.com at Industry Dive, USA

Andy is a 20+ year veteran of business and finance media. At Industry Dive, he focuses on strategy, operations, building new products, cultivating strong team culture, and building teams who excel.

Andy Macharg CTO Hello! & HOLA!

Andy is one of the most experienced technology leaders in publishing today, with unrivalled experience in acquiring and creating systems to grow publishing businesses.

Andy is leading Hello! and Hola! through an ambitious product portfolio overhaul, building on experience in technology leadership working with brands including The Week, FourFourTwo, What HiFi?, Stuff, Volkswagen Group, the Army, and World Athletics.

With more than 15 years experience in senior Technology roles, including steering UK media firm Dennis Publishing to a successful sale to Future PLC, Andrew has a unique insight into building, rebuilding and running media businesses, and building high performing teams and technology.

Angelica Velati Head of News Partnerships & Ecosystem Strategy, EMEA Google

Passionate about Relationship Management and Business Development, in Google Angelica is responsible for building executive relationships with the News Ecosystem including Regional and Global Media Associations in Europe, Middle East and Africa with a focus on product development, training & research and innovation funding through the Google News Initiative.

Angelica has a long proven history of operating in very fast paced environments cross functionally leading and coordinating sales, marketing, product and strategy teams in multiple countries. 

With a 20 years long experience in the tech industry in Google she covered multiple roles as Digital Media Consultant, Sales, Project and Partnership Lead.

Angie Byun Principal AB World

Angie Byun is the principal of AB World, LLC – a global consultancy representing leading U.S., Asian and international media, entertainment and luxury companies seeking to monetize their IP on new digital and social media platforms, expand their influence and reach new consumers through strategic cross-border business opportunities.  Several of her current and past clients have included: BDG and W Media Group, TIME and TIME for Kids, Penske Media, Condé Nast, Panda Express and SuperOrdinary.

Prior to starting AB WORLD, Angie was at Condé Nast for 13 years and held various executive level roles in new business development, sales and international licensing for brands like VOGUE, GQ, WIRED, and GOLF DIGEST – successfully launching and managing new editions, digital products, experiences, global advertising buys and over 100+ brand extensions in 30+ markets worldwide.

As one of the most senior Asian American businesswomen in media, she is also actively involved in DEI initiatives and has a strong track record of leading diverse teams and bringing emerging brands and multicultural talent into the forefront of the media, entertainment, luxury and sports industry.

Anita Zielina CEO & Founder Better Leaders Lab

Anita Zielina is an experienced digital media executive, strategic advisor and board member with a focus on digital transformation, modern leadership and management, and product and business strategy. She is the founder and CEO of Better Leaders Lab, a Do and Think Tank for good leadership and strategic management that also acts as a boutique consultancy firm. Anita is an Executive in Residence at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in NYC and serves as a non-executive board member at the Austrian Public Broadcaster (ORF), as well as the inaugural board chair of the News Product Alliance (NPA). She holds an Executive MBA from INSEAD and a Master in Law from Vienna University.

Bernardo Corrêa President Cascais Tourism Board Visitors & Convention Bureau

Bernardo Corrêa de Barros is President of Cascais Tourism Board Visitors & Convention
Bureau.

Graduated in Journalism at Universidade Lusófona by INP, he also carried out executive training at Nova SBE and Erasmus University – Rotterdam School of Management.

He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry, joining the Municipality of Cascais in 2009. In Cascais, he held various positions, passing through council offices, the vice-presidency office, and was also administrator of the municipal company Cascais Dinâmica as well as Board Member of Cascais Invest. He is also a member of the board of Lisbon Tourism Board, of the Advisory Board of the Estoril Higher School of Hospitality and Tourism (ESHTE) and an integral part of several Strategic Councils for the Sector.

Passionate about the sea, he dedicates his volunteer work and free time to the NGO Sailors for the Sea, where he is President and Founder.

Married, father of three, he lives in what he considers to be “the best place in the world to live for a day, a week or a lifetime” – Cascais.

Bettina Widmer Head of Vertical Hub at Blick Gruppe Ringier, Switzerland

Bettina has worked in the media sector for the past seven years in various roles including editorial, social media, and product development. Since 2021 she has been Head of Vertical Hub at Blick, a Swiss national daily newspaper with 1.2 million daily online users and 750k registered users. Her team develops verticals targeting new audiences, acquiring registered members, and increasing monetisation through sponsorships.

Bonnie Kintzer CEO TMB

Bonnie Kintzer, President and CEO, TMB, a Board Member of SILVERspac and Thryv, and Chairman of the Board of Reader’s Digest Foundation, USA

Bonnie is the President and Chief Executive Officer of TMB (Trusted Media  Brands), the world’s leading community-driven entertainment company powered by  content that’s inspired and created by its fans. Authentic to the core, TMB shines the  spotlight on amazing people and moments to fuel the passions and pastimes of more  than 200 million consumers worldwide.

TMB’s properties include FailArmy, The Pet Collective, Taste of Home, Family  Handyman, Reader’s Digest, People are Awesome, Birds & Blooms and WeatherSpy.  The company reaches more than 250 million social media users and delivers more than  two billion minutes of monthly video viewership across streaming TV and social media.

Kintzer has led a bold transformation of the company as part of a broader growth  strategy to transform TMB into a video and digital-first company with a portfolio of brands consumers trust. Under Kintzer’s leadership, the company acquired streaming  and social video powerhouse Jukin Media and enjoyed impressive organic growth  including the doubling of overall digital reach. Kintzer also spearheaded TMB’s  launching new direct-to-consumer products such as MyDiyUniversity.com Taste of  Home’s Cookware and Bakeware, and Family Handyman digital project plans.

Kintzer, who holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Clark  University, is Chairperson of the Reader’s Digest Foundation. She serves as a member  of the Board of Directors for Thryv (Nasdaq: THRY) and SilverSpac (Nasdaq:SLVRU).

Carlos Eugénio Executive Director Visapress

Carlos Eugénio is a graduate from ISLA Lisbon in Management Computing.  He did a post graduate in Web Technologies and Computer Systems at UAB.  He is also a student of law at the University of Law of Lisbon.

Until 2017, he was responsible for the anti-piracy department of FEVIP – ASSOCIAÇÃO PORTUGUESA DE DEFESA DE OBRAS AUDIOVISUAIS.  From 2010 to 2020 was General Secretary of Mapinet – Movimento Cívico Anti Pirataria na Internet, today he is a consultant to the Board of this entity.

He is an Executive Director of VISAPRESS, a collective management entity for the remuneration of press copyrights, since 2015.  He is also a member of the Board of AGECOP – Associação para a Gestão da Cópia Privada and a member of the Board of Directors of PDLN Press Database Licensing Network, a global organization of collective management entities.

Carolin Hulshoff CEO, WELT Group Axel Springer

Previously MD of BILD at Axel Springer, Carolin was appointed to her new position as CEO WELT Group” in late 2022.

In July 2020, Carolin Hulshoff Pol took over the position of Managing Director of Axel Springer’s BILD group and is responsible for the development and transformation of Germany’s biggest media brand. As Managing Director of Sales Impact, Carolin is also running Axel Springer’s newspapers distribution and logistics in Germany, what is including as well the newspaper brands DIE WELT and WELT AM SONNTAG. Furthermore, she overlooks Axel Springer’s licensing and syndication business as Managing Director of Axel Springer Syndication.

Prior to that, she managed BILD, BILD am SONNTAG, B.Z. as publishing director from 2017-2020 after running several different positions within BILD group, such as BILD’s Regional General Manager in Northern Germany, General Marketing Manager or Managing Director BILD am SONNTAG.

Carolyn Morgan Founder and Managing Consultant Speciall Media and Non- Executive Board Member, UK

Carolyn Morgan has launched, acquired, grown and sold media businesses across print, digital and live events.

She was formerly an Exec Director at EMAP, specialising in marketing, events, digital development and strategy. Carolyn was a co-founder of the Specialist Media Show, which she sold to SIIA in 2013.   Carolyn has wide experience of niche publishing businesses and advises many independent media owners on digital strategy through her consulting business, Speciall Media. She regularly curates and chairs conferences on digital media strategy. She moderates an online community of 190 media leaders, the Speciall Media Group on Guild.

Carolyn is a Non-Exec Director for Thomas Telford, the commercial and publishing division of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and also Executive Grapevine International, an independent niche B2B media business.

Christian Kallenberg Owner, We Like Mags Publisher, POP Rocky

Christian Kallenberg is the owner of We Like Mags, a Berlin-based agency that helps publishers optimize their portfolio in print and digital magazine media. He‘s also the host of the „We Like Mags“ B2B media industry podcast and the publisher of 80s-90s retro magazine brand POP Rocky. During his career, he has held various senior positions in publishing such as editor-in-chief of FHM, Publisher of L’Officiel Hommes, and Editorial Director of Octane.

Claudia Maia Editor-in-Chief Deco Proteste

Editorial Director at Deco Proteste since 2015, Cláudia Maia is responsible for the magazines Proteste, Dinheiro & Direitos, Teste Saúde and Proteste Investe. For over 25 years, her journalistic activity has been in ​​consumer protection, following an internship in national and local newspapers, such as Jornal de Notícias and Diário de Aveiro.

Cláudia has been on the board of the Portuguese Publishers Association, the largest press business association in Portugal, since 2016, in which she has served as vice-chairwoman since 2019. In 2022, she also became a board member of the Professional Journalist License Commission, as a representative of that sector.

She has a degree in Social Communication from University of Beira Interior.

Colin Morrison OBE, Director, Consultant & Investor, and Editor-Publisher of Flashes & Flames - The Global Media Weekly, UK

Colin Morrison OBE writes the award-winning Flashes & Flames: The Global Media Weekly He was formerly a CEO of media companies in Europe and the AsiaPacific, including for: Axel Springer, Future, Hearst, Reed, EMAP and Australian Consolidated Press.Flashes & Flames features deepdives on companies, markets and trends and exclusive weekly interviews with industry leaders who don't give interviews anywhere else. Have you subscribed yet? With Colin’s expert analysis and wide range of industry interviews and features, Friday will never be the same. 

www.flashesandflames.com

Damian Radcliffe Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at University of Oregon and Fellow at the Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia University University of Oregon and Columbia University

Damian Radcliffe is a journalist, researcher, and professor based at the University of Oregon. He is also a three-time Knight News Innovation Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies (JOMEC), and a life fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In Spring 2023, he will be a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.

With over 25 years of experience in the media industry, Damian has worked in editorial, strategic, research, policy and teaching roles in the USA, Middle East and UK. He has worked across all platforms (audio, TV, digital and print) and all media sectors (commercial, public, community and non-profit, regulatory and academia). He continues to be an active journalist, writing regular features for Digital Content Next, the International Journalists’ Network (IJNet), What’s New in Publishing, journalism.co.uk and other outlets. His work focuses on digital trends, social media, technology, the business of media, and the evolution – and practice – of journalism.

As an analyst, researcher and trainer, he has worked with a wide range of additional industry and academic organizations including the BBC World Service, Facebook, FIPP, INMA, Thomson Reuters Foundation, World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the United Nations. He has been quoted on issues relating to digital media and journalism by major outlets such as AFP, BBC News, Business Insider, Editor & Publisher, NPR, The New York Times, Snapchat, Wired and Voice of America. As a freelance journalist, his work has been published by leading publications and trade outlets such as the BBC, Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Harvard’s Nieman Lab, HuffPost, PBS MediaShift, Poynter, TheMediaBriefing and ZDNet.

Originally from the UK, Damian lives on the west coast of the US with his wife and three young children. He holds a BA in Modern History and MA (Oxon) from the University of Oxford.

Dan Pacheco Peter A. Horvitz Endowed Chair in Journalism Innovation S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Syracuse University

Dan Pacheco is the Peter A. Horvitz Chair of Journalism Innovation at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University and author of the upcoming book, Experimenting With Emerging Media Platforms: Field Testing the Future, (Taylor & Francis / Routledge, launching June 2023). The book is based on an approach and set of exercises Pacheco has developed over the years to help students of journalism, film, public relations and advertising conduct controlled tests of new technologies to solve media-related problems.

Pacheco has a long history as an innovator in major media companies. He started his digital career as online producer for Washingtonpost.com, where he produced Interact, one of the first online news communities. Subsequently, as a principal product manager at America Online, he oversaw some of the internet’s first truly global community products. In 2005, after pioneering the first implementation of a social networking platform at a U.S. newspaper, he received an NAA “20 Under 40” award. In 2007, he received a Knight News Challenge grant to build a democratized publishing service that evolved into an eBook platform which he ran as a startup for four years. In 2014, he started and co-produced the USA TODAY NETWORK’s Harvest of Change VR project for the Oculus Rift, which was the world’s first large-scale use of virtual reality by a commercial news organization. Harvest of Change earned an Edward R. Murrow Award for its innovative use of 360-degree video for virtual reality.

Daniel Heffernan Vice President & Chief Product Manager AdvantageCS

Daniel Heffernan is Vice President & Chief Product Manager at AdvantageCS – an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company serving publishers, membership associations, box subscription providers and service organizations with subscription management, order to cash, and membership solutions. Daniel is responsible for sales, marketing, product direction and business development at this 80-person software and services company. His career, spanning 4 decades, has included roles in sales, marketing, operations, project management, business development, client services and, a long time ago, computer programming. Daniel holds a B. Science degree in Computer Science from The University of Michigan. He has spent 10 years of his career living outside the US: in Nicaragua and the United Kingdom. He and his wife have lived in Southeast Michigan for the past 16 years.

David Clinch VP of Partnerships Mather Economics and Media Growth Partners

David has more than 30 years of experience working in the news and media industries, working as an international journalist at ITN and then CNN, and then as a media executive at both Storyful and Mather Economics. As a co-founder and Managing Director of Partnerships, David leads strategic partnerships for Media Growth Partners. MGP helps media companies access the resources and technology that they need to support a successful revenue strategy.

Dom Needler Head of Operations Gfinity

Dom has spent the last five years of his career working in the gaming digital publishing space – in this time, he has driven the launch & growth of Gfinity PLC’s Digital Media group from 1 site with 400k MAUs to 12 brands reaching 16m MAUs. 

With a focus on business operations, project management, M&A & content strategy – Dom has extensive experience in achieving growth in the digital entertainment world through multiple avenues. 

Dom is most interested in exploring the future of digital publishing & how the use of artificial intelligence & the Metaverse will play a much bigger role in how brands communicate & engage with their audiences whilst also streamlining & opening up new ways to produce content for target audiences.

Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau CEO and Publisher MIT Technology Review

Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau is the CEO and publisher of MIT Technology Review, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s independent media company.

Since Elizabeth took the helm of MIT Technology Review in mid-2017, the business has undergone a massive transformation from its previous position as a respected but niche print magazine to a widely read, multi-platform, digital first media organization with operations and reach spanning the globe. Under her leadership, MIT Technology Review has been lauded for its editorial authority, its best-in-class events, and its novel use of independent, original research to support both advertisers and readers.

Prior to joining MIT Technology Review, Elizabeth held a senior executive role at The Economist Group, where her leadership stretched across business lines and included mergers and acquisitions; editorial and product creation and modernization; sales; marketing; and events.  Earlier in her career, she worked as a consultant advising technology firms on market entry and international expansion.

Elizabeth holds an executive MBA from the London Business School, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College.

Elsa Esparbé Group Rights & Licensing Manager RBA

In 2008, she started working at the RBA Group’s Rights Department, under the Collectibles and Partworks Division. She was promoted to manage this business division in 2009 and she finally filled the role of Group Rights and Licensing Director in 2014. In this position, she leads the acquisition of the rights and licenses to the content published by the Group, but also manages the licensing and syndication business.

Prior to that, she was the Rights Director at PDAPF (Planeta Group), the Deputy General Manager at Norma Editorial (the biggest comic publishing house in Spanish) and the Foreign Rights Manager at Círculo de Lectores (Bertelsmann’s book club in Spain).

Erika Marzano Project Manager: Audience Development Deutsche Welle, Germany

Erika Marzano is a Project Manager in the Audience Development team at Deutsche Welle (DW) in Bonn. She specialises in fostering connectivity between newsrooms and journalists and their audiences through social media strategies and engagement online. She leads central platform management for TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) in Audience Development. Her academic background spans linguistics to European and international studies, and journalism.

Ganesh Baniya Media & Technology Entreprenuer Impact First Media Entrepreneur

Ganesh is co-founder of Icarus Media with five vertical brands in the digital product portfolio. He specializes in sustainable media development in volatile markets. 

GandaWinTM, one of his brain childs created in 2013 when Myanmar became independent. It is the first and largest women empowerment brand in Myanmar which encourages social dialogues on both sensitive & fun topics with a reach of 11 million people per month. 

After going dark for nearly a year due to the 2021 political upheaval in Myanmar he is on a journey to reviving the brands. The other brand focuses include skills development for the Myanmar labor market, parenting psychology and mental wellbeing.

His experience goes beyond MediaTech and expands into the TravelTech, MarTech & FinTech industry. He is a qualified Agile practitioner and played key leading roles in a few digital transformation projects.  

He is passionate about customer experience, product design and creating constructive social changes. He is an ICF registered coach and mentors a few media startups in Asia for sustainability and growth.

George Montagu Head of Insights FT Strategies, UK

George is Head of Insights at FT Strategies and an expert in the media industry and its accompanying business models. George has led and contributed to a number of high-profile projects including the News Sustainability Project, the National Theatre, and various leading European news publishers. Prior to joining FT Strategies, George spent 4 years guiding FT's data strategy and their future approach to marketing & advertising.

Gonçalo Gil Barreiros Partner and Head of Intellectual Property PRA-Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados

Gonçalo Gil Barreiros is a lawyer, partner and head of Intellectual Property at PRA-Raposo, Sá Miranda & Associados. Gonçalo has a law degree at University of Coimbra, and is postgraduate in Business Law, University of Coimbra with a  Masters in Corporate Law and Business, Catholic University – Porto.

Gonçalo was awarded the Prize Dr. Paulo Merea by the University of Coimbra, Faculty of Law and was a lecturer of Intellectual Property Law in the Masters in Corporate Law and Business, Catholic University – Oporto, and, on Copyright and Related rights of law degree from Catholic University – Oporto, Faculty of Law . Member of the Editorial Committee of the legal magazine “Intellectual Property” (Catholic University Publishing), Gonçalo is also author of several papers on copyright matters, and a recognized lawyer by Legal 500, Chambers and Iberian Lawyer.

Gonçalo Pereira Editor-in-Chief Historia NG

Born in 1975, Gonçalo started his journalistic career in 1994.  He has written about sports, science, the environment and history.

Joining the launching team of the Portuguese edition of National Geographic Magazine in 2001, he served as a deputy editor until 2006. Since then, he is the editor-in-chief.  In January 2022, Gonçalo was also asked to become the editor-in-chief of the Spanish edition of National Geographic.

With a PhD in Sociology from the University of Lisbon and a Masters in Communication from the Catholic University of Portugal, he is the author of seven books on the history of Portuguese journalism and risk communication in scientific subjects.  He has written a comic book script and two biographies.

Ileana Grabitz Head of the Department of Politics, Economics & Society at ZEIT ONLINE and Co-Host of “Das Politikteil”, the political podcast of ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE

Ileana studied English, Spanish and German Literature at the University of Cologne and completed postgraduate studies in Science Journalism at the Free University of Berlin. At the beginning of her career she worked as a reporter and editor at the “Financial Times Deutschland”. In 2005 she joined “Die Welt”, after nine years working as economics editor, she became deputy head of the investigative team in 2014. From 2016 on, Ileana worked as head of the “Economy, Finance & Real Estate” department at “Welt-Gruppe”. In July 2019, she joined ZEIT ONLINE as head of the politics, economy, and society department. Since 2020 she has been co-host of “Das Politkteil”, the political podcast of ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE.

Isabel Reis Rodrigues Chief Marketing and Digital Development Manager Cofina

With more than 30 years of experience in the media area where she has accumulated several transversal experiences and with a high level of specialization in the areas of Marketing and Digital.

With a degree in History from Universidade Clássica de Lisboa and with various degrees in Marketing, Leadership, Management and Communication, Advertising and Digital, she is currently Chief  Marketing and Digital Development Manager at Cofina, a group she joined in 2003 after starting her career in Diário de Notícias.

At Lusomundo, she was responsible for launching several digital products such as Lusomundo.net and the first Portuguese classified ad site and consultant for the group’s regional press, in addition to ensuring the Marketing Department and later Marketing and Distribution.

At Cofina, as Chief Marketing Manager, she was involved in the launch of the magazine Sábado and the CMTV channel and coordinates three areas of intervention Brand & Communication; New Business  and Brand Activation (events and brand activation)

In 2016 she accumulates with the general direction of Digital Development which includes Programming, Systems, UX &WebDesign,  and also Data & Analytics and  Reader Revenue

Collaborates regularly with specialized press and has taught at CENJOR and the Autonomous University; integrates specialized forums on topics such as digital transformation in the media, leadership, diversity and new audiences. In 2021, was recognized one of the Top Ten Best Marketeers to Work in Portugal ( by Scopen).

Jacob Donnelly Publisher, Morning Brew, and Founder, A Media Operator Morning Brew and A Media Operator

Jacob Donnelly is the Publisher at Morning Brew, overseeing the rapidly growing B2B business. In his time there, it has grown from $5 million to over $25 million. He is also the founder of A Media Operator, which is targeted toward media professionals that are building or working on sustainable, audience-first media companies.

Jacqueline Loch EVP Social + Emerging Platforms SJC Media

Jacquie is a content strategy and media executive specializing in delivering multi-platform content solutions across social, digital, video, print, SEO, research and e-commerce. With 25+ years of experience, she’s a branded content and revenue generation expert who drives engagement and results, and cultivates C-level relationships. She works closely with SJC’s largest clients to create innovative cross-platform content solutions that deliver on revenue goals. As VP Group Publisher at SJC Media and TC Media she oversaw a portfolio of consumer media brands including FASHION, ELLE Canada, Canadian Living, and Style at Home. She held the roles of VP Content Solutions and VP Client Solutions at Rogers Media. A recognized leader in marketing solutions and media innovation, Jacquie Chairs The Content Council (New York) and is a Board Member for the National Media Awards Foundation (Canada). A frequent speaker across North America and Europe, having created award-winning programs for a wide range of top-tier clients. SJC Media is Canada’s largest English language Publisher, publishing media brands that include Chatelaine, Maclean’s, Toronto Life, FASHION, Canadian Business and Today’s Parent.

James Elliott President James G. Elliott Co., Inc

Jim Elliott has over 40 years’ experience in the advertising industry. Before founding his own national media sales company in 1984, he held numerous executive positions, including CBS Magazines and Road & Track Magazine.

His hands-on work with more than 450 media clients has given him a tremendous breadth of knowledge about the challenges faced by publishers and media owners today. He has developed and executed strategies for clients of all sizes and managed sales for b2b and b2c media including digital publishers, a research company, single-title publishers, large media conglomerates and associations. Mr. Elliott has served on a number of industry boards, and is currently a member of the CEO Council, composed of C-suite executive members of SIIA in the business information, events and technology industries.

James Hewes President and CEO FIPP

Having held various positions in his 12-year stint at the BBC, James Hewes was part of the team that sold the business to private equity in November 2011. He was then Publishing Director for Top Gear, Good Food, Easy Cook and Lonely Planet Magazine and a Director of BBC Haymarket Exhibitions.
He spent five years in Dubai, running Gulf News Publishing and responsible for more than 30 product areas. He launched the group’s first consumer brand in Arabic – wheels Arabic.
Appointed President & CEO of FIPP in September 2017, he joined from The Art Newspaper, having been Interim CEO since December 2016.

He is also a member of the Advisory Board at Dojoko, an education-focused start-up and a member of Oxford Brookes University’s Journalism Advisory Board.

Day speakers

Jan Thoresen CEO of Labrador CMS, and Author, Norway

Jan Thoresen is an accomplished CEO in the media and technology industries. With a diverse background as both a machine code programmer and breaking news journalist, he brings a unique and valuable perspective to the intersection of technology and business. Thoresen has a proven track record of successfully launching and growing startups in the publishing space, working with renowned media groups such as Aller Media, Schibsted, and Egmont Story House. Currently, he serves as the CEO of Labrador CMS, a SaaS company providing a platform solution to address the complex software challenges faced by professional publishers. Labrador was a corporate venture that originated from Dagbladet.no. Thoresen is also the founder of Aller X, a software and media growth hub, and Elbil24, the largest electric vehicle site in the Nordic region. He also led the growth of Kode24, a highly successful niche site for developers. Thoresen’s prior experience also includes serving as the former CEO of the fast-growing news aggregator, Sol.no, as well as a digital editor-in-chief for over 25 different online newspapers and magazines.

Jean-Paul Reparon Managing Director Agri Media, The Netherlands

Jean Paul Reparon boasts over 17 years of experience in the Dutch magazine production industry, with a significant portion of his career at Senefelder Misset. His roles involved aiding small and medium-sized publishers and foundations in both print and digital publishing endeavors. As the general manager of Dock35 Media & Marketing, another component of Senefelder Misset, Jean Paul provided with his team a wide range of services to publishers, including ad sales, design, online marketing, web development, video production, and digital magazine creation. This period also saw the publication of specialized magazines targeting niche markets, including real estate agents (Vastgoed), DJs (under the licence of DJ Mag), and hobby carpenters (under the licence of Selber Machen).

Since 2019, Jean Paul has assumed the role of publisher and co-owner at a publishing house, called AgriMedia, focused on Dutch agriculture. Their portfolio includes eight brands specializing in agricultural machinery and animal health. They also organize knowledge events, including the "Nationaal Geiten Event," featuring exhibitions, symposiums, and goat examinations. In recent years, the company has transitioned from a print- centric operation to a brand-focused one, has adopted a new tech-stack, established new content services, introduced a new (digital) subscription strategy, developed new digital business models for advertisers, and explored international licensing opportunities. By concentrating on high- value content, particularly in the field of agricultural machinery and animal health, they have achieved success within several B2B and niche communities.

Jens Mueffelmann Executive Chairman Bonnier LLC

Jens Mueffelmann, Executive Chairman of Bonnier LLC.

Dr. Jens Mueffelmann is a US-/Europe-based investor, and serves on various boards in New York, Silicon Valley, Berlin, Stockholm and Vienna.

From 2004 to 2014, he was Chief Digital Officer at Axel Springer. During this time, its digital businesses grew from nothing to more than 50% of group revenues and profits. He was CEO of Axel Springer Digital Ventures from 2014 to 2018 and was also responsible for its entry into the US market. While at Axel Springer, notable transactions included Stepstone, Airbnb, Runtastic, N26, Group Nine, Yad2, Business Insider, Uber and eMarketer, as well as the Classified JV with General Atlantic.

Jens has an MEng/MBA from Berlin Institute of Technology and a PhD in Organizational Transformation from a joint research project with Columbia University.

Jérémy Parola Chief Digital Officer Reworld Media

Jérémy Parola is head of Digital of Reworld Media (french digital leading media group). He is in charge of a team of specialist that works on content production, tech optimization and monetization of the audience.  The group’s digital assets includes 80 websites, millions of data and leading the social media audience in France and reach 80% of the french population.

He is also head of the group’s vertical digital BtoB activities such as influencers management company (Social Playground /Propulse) , leads collect (Leads Lab), content to commerce (Retail in Media) etc. Reworld Media helps other publishers to optimize their revenues using the Rev Optimize technology.

John Barnes Chief Digital Officer William Reed

John has been the Chief Digital Officer at William Reed since June 2020 and is responsible for driving digital transformation across the business. William Reed was the 2021 AOP UK digital publisher of the year. Prior to William Reed John was Managing Director of Sloop Media.

He was the Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at Infopro Digital following its acquisition of the Incisive Media Insight Group in spring 2017. Infopro was named UK digital publisher of the year twice during this time.

Prior to this he held the same role at Incisive Media and was responsible for driving change in its digital strategy and delivery globally across the group. During this time Incisive Media was named UK digital publisher of the year a record four times.

He was Chairman of the AOP from 2010 to 2015 and remains a non Executive director of the organisation.

He was Managing director of VNU Business Publications prior to Incisive Media acquiring it in 2007. He has over 30 years experience in B2B Media.

John has a wealth of experience in paywalls and meters, lead generation, ABM, online and hybrid events and content strategies, ad and martech and continuous payment models.

Jonny Kaldor Co-founder and CEO Pugpig

Jonny is c-founder and CEO of Pugpig, the platform that powers mobile apps, websites and digital archives for the world’s leading media brands.

Prior to launching Pugpig, Jonny was MD, Technology and Product Development at News Corporation’s Digital Media Group, focusing on building new digital brands. This followed three years as CTO at News UK, where he was responsible for technology delivery across the business for The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers.

Joris van Lierop CEO The Content Exchange

Joris van Lierop has a successful track record as publisher of some of the biggest media brands in the Netherlands. He worked for Sanoma, Financieel Dagblad and for eight years he was responsible for the news brands of RTL. In 2020 he founded The Content Exchange (TCE). A global syndication platform that supports collaborations between publishers, content creators and editorial teams worldwide. TCE’s mission is to create more value for great stories.

Juan Señor President Innovation Media Consulting

Juan Señor is the President of INNOVATION Media Consulting Group in London – one the world’s leading news media consultancies.

He has worked with and advised hundreds of media companies on every continent directing transformative projects. He also serves on the advisory board of several media groups. 

He is also a former Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford. 

He has been listed as one of ‘The World’s Leading Innovators’ in Journalism and Media’ by Journalism UK. Mr. Señor is a highly-sought commentator on the media industry, speaking at global forums and quoted frequently in leading publications such as The Economist and The Financial Times.  

He is co-editor of two annuals books; Innovation in News Media and Innovation in Media, written on behalf of WAN-IFRA and the FIPP respectively. Altogether he has edited 32 books. 

He worked for seven years as a war and conflict reporter for PBS’s NewsHour. He then became a presenter for EBN-Wall Street Journal TV and CNBC Europe. And he served as London correspondent of International Herald Tribune Television then owned by The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

His work has been nominated for an EMMY and his television programme, Media Report, was voted by viewers as Europe’s Best Business Programme. 

He continues to work as a live event and television host and presenter. He has hosted the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for 14 years, Reinvention Festival for a decade, and dozens of public speaking engagements every year as a keynote speaker or moderator. 

In addition to his passion for the media business, he is a campaigner for disabilities via means of fundraising expeditions to the ends of the earth. 

 He has skied unsupported to the North Pole, crossed the Western Sahara, trekked the Amazon, and organised the first-ever expedition to the South Pole of a team with physical disabilities.

A Spanish national, he was born and raised in Barcelona and educated in Europe and New York. He is conversant in six languages.

Julia Schvartzer Senior Customer Success Manager Chartbeat

Julia is a Customer Success Manager at Chartbeat where she helps the world’s top publishers in Europe and Latin America turn metrics into action. She works with editorial leaders, digital analysts, and media executives to help teams use Chartbeat to guide editorial strategy and grow a loyal audience. Prior to joining Chartbeat, Julia worked 10 years for L’Oréal as a Marketing Manager in 4 different countries (Spain, Brazil, Canada and USA).

Katarzyna Dąbrowska Editor-in-Chief Glamour

Katarzyna works as a Editor-in-Chief of Glamour Poland. She has been working as a journalist and editor for 20 years. She has a great experience in creating content for luxury brands, ex. InStyle, Gala, Glamour. Under her leadership Glamour has turned into a magazine that is the voice of young women and Gen Z in Poland.

Keith Grossman President, Enterprise Moonpay

More details to follow.

Kerin O'Connor CEO Atlas

More details to follow.

Kiessé Lamour Global Head of Media, Commerce Wunderman Thompson Commerce & Technology

Kiessé is Global Head of Media, Commerce at Wunderman Thompson, which she joined in August 2021 to establish and scale the business’ commerce media practice and operations globally, as well as embed new capabilities and processes across various regions.

Before joining Wunderman Thompson, Kiessé was Head of Industry Partnerships at Pinterest UK, where she was responsible for building and leading a team to help marketers drive business growth on the platform.

Prior to that, Kiessé held various leadership roles in programmatic, paid search, social and brand safety within Omnicom Media Group UK, where she worked for 8 years. At Omnicom Media Group UK, Kiessé has been responsible for establishing operational excellence, driving commercial efficiency and pushing the standards for brand safety, fraud prevention and viewability. She also led strategy and planning for Programmatic and Paid Search across a vast portfolio of clients whilst building Omnicom’s Programmatic Audio offering from the ground up.

Early in her career she worked in Ireland and France for companies like Google, Unilever and Société Générale.

Kiessé studied British, American and Afro-American studies at the Université Grenoble Alpes, and also holds a Master’s of International Business from the Grenoble School of Business.

She is married with 2 daughters (12 yo and 6 yo) and enjoys African fashion, travelling, reading, cooking with her husband, going out with her girlfriends, binging Nollywood on Netflix and Amazon Prime and spending quality time with her daughters.

Kritasha Gupta Head of Business Development Financial Times, UK

Kritasha Gupta is the Head of Business Development, leading the FT's vertical growth strategy, responsible for leading the launch and growth of editorial verticals across topics like ESG, Climate, Private Equity, Markets, Work & Careers, etc. She works across editorial, product and commercial (subscriptions, advertising, events) teams to discover, test and scale vertical-led initiatives that support the FT's primary revenue streams.

Lance Johnson Executive Investor and Advisor, and former CEO of Recurrent Ventures Recurrent Ventures

Lance Johnson, CEO, Recurrent, and Operating Partner, North Equity, USA

Lance Johnson is the CEO of Recurrent. He joined the company in 2019 as an Operating Partner to help oversee and integrate North Equity’s digital media acquisitions. Lance was named CEO in June 2021 when North introduced Recurrent as the new parent company to its growing media portfolio. Under his leadership, the company has expanded to nearly 25 digital media brands and over 300 employees while tripling its YoY revenue.

Prior to joining North Equity, he was the Head of Corporate Development of MIH Naspers in Silicon Valley, where he focused on group M&A activities and building portfolio-company relationships in the United States. MIH Holdings is the financial subsidiary of Naspers, the multimedia. Naspers is best known for its investment in Tencent in China and is also the parent company of Media24 in South Africa.

Lance has more than 20 years of global business experience as an investor and operator in media and technology. As an angel investor and advisor in Europe and the United States, his experience has helped him enable startups to effectively build teams, scale operations, and grow revenue. His investment portfolio has included Molekule, Salt Security, Unsplash, The Athletic, Perkbox, and more.

Additional executive experience in media includes roles with Nokia in New York and Yahoo’s mobile media business in Munich and London, as well as consulting with Viacom and Amdocs.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics (with honors) from Trinity University in Texas and completed further study at the University of Freiburg in Germany, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He splits his time between Miami, FL, and Boulder, CO.

Leo Xavier Director of Product Observador

Leo Xavier is the Director of Product at Observador, Portugal’s leading digital newspaper, looking after the technology, design, data and subscriptions teams. For the last 10 years Leo has been helping newspapers in the UK and Portugal with their digital efforts, and pushing for the adoption of data and product culture in different organisations.

Previously, he taught coding at the University of Lisbon, started Portugal’s first coworking space, founded Quodis, one of the countries leading digital consultancies with clients as Deloitte and the Mozilla Foundation, and founded Frames, a Google DNI funded product to augment news articles with data visualizations.

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana Chief Executive Impress

Lexie Kirkconnell-Kawana is the Chief Executive of Impress, the UK’s only approved press regulator and a champion of news that can be trusted. Lexie is a New Zealand qualified barrister and solicitor who has worked in all forms of media regulation, in the UK and New Zealand, in investigations, research and semi-judicial capacity.

Li Qizheng President of the Periodicals Agency at Sci-Tech University and President of the Journal of Silk Journal of Silk

Mainly engaged in research work on journal evaluation and management, academic platform construction, textile color science and non-heritage protection and development. He has published more than 20 core and above research papers, including 6 SCI/EI indexed papers, been granted 3 national invention patents, presided over and participated in more than 20 various scientific research projects, served as the project leader and executive deputy editor of the compilation project of Zhejiang General Magazine(Textile Industry), and published many articles in People’s Daily, World Silk Website, Qianjiang Evening NEWS and other platforms.

Lucy Kueng Strategic Advisor, Board Member, Author and Speaker, Switzerland

Professor Lucy Kueng is an expert on strategy, innovation and leadership and focuses on successful responses to the challenges of digitalization. She is Senior Visiting Research Associate at the Reuters Institute, Oxford University and Non-Executive Board Member of the NZZ Media Group and formerly of Swiss PSM broadcaster SRG and VIZRT, the media tech provider. Lucy advises leading companies worldwide industry on digital transformation strategy and implementation. She keynotes frequently at international conferences and is the author of numerous books including Hearts and Minds: Harnessing Leadership, Culture and Talent to Really Go Digital, Going Digital, Innovators in Digital News, Strategic Management in the Media, and Inside the BBC and CNN. She holds a PhD and Habilitation from the University of St Gallen and an MBA from City Business School/Ashridge. 

Luke Magerko Luke Magerko, Managing Partner, Strategic Consulting, and Head of Data Science, Mather Economics, USA

Luke Magerko is Managing Partner, Strategic Consulting, and Head of Data Science at Mather Economics. Luke has over 15 years of experience leading data science and business intelligence teams across media organizations. Luke’s teams produce significant incremental revenue and cost savings by focusing on a holistic view of subscribers and data-process automation.

Luke leads teams focused on value creation through data storytelling:   strategy, governance, analytics, data science, and MLOps for multiple business disciplines, including hundreds of media brands and websites representing 150 million unique subscribers.

Madeleine White Head of International Poool

Madeleine is Head of International at Poool, The Membership & Subscription Suite, and Editor-in-Chief of The Audiencers, a B2B media for digital publishing professionals, sharing insights and expertise to engage, convert and retain members and subscribers.

Marco Olavarria Consultant Berlin Consulting, Germany

Awaiting Biography.

Martin Ashplant MD of TechPro B2B Vertical Future, UK

Martin is a digital media and product leader with 20 years of experience in content, commercial, product, engineering, data & analytics, marketing and audience development. Currently the Managing Director of Future's TechPro B2B vertical, Martin has also held senior digital leadership roles at Metro, New Statesman Media Group, City A.M. and Beano Studios. He is also a certified executive coach and has worked as a consultant for numerous media businesses.

Martynas Vanagas Co-founder Yoof Agency

Martynas, 21, is the co-founder of Yoof Agency. A new kind of creative agency helping publishers to reach Gen-Z attention. He co-founded the Yoof agency after working as a partnership consultant for large companies in the F&B industry. With his experience, he works with his partner Pierre to find alternative news solutions and provide quality services.

Matthieu Atlani Product, UX & Premium Development Manager CMI France

Matthieu is Product, UX & Premium Development Manager at CMI France for ELLE, Marianne, Public & Franc-Tireur brands. Having worked for various publishers, including Le Figaro and Le Point, he has 10 years experience in designing websites and apps with the aim of improving user experience, based on Product, Subscription and Engagement issues. Today, he is in charge of any subscription-related topics aimed at engaging, converting and retaining subscribers for the various CMI media brands.

Mbali Soga Editor-in-Chief Media24

Mbali Soga spent 10 years working with TRUELOVE in various roles, including as editor between 2017 and 2022. In 2019, the vision and new direction that she brought to TRUELOVE captured the attention of FIPP and UPM, who named Mbali as the overall winner of their Rising Stars Award.

Local and international advertising and marketing authorities also took note. Over the past two years, during her time as Head of Content at South Africa’s no.1 online fashion retailer, Superbalist.com, Mbali worked on two Loerie award-winning campaigns as well as one Effie award-winning campaign.

Mbali’s eye for style and her knowledge of our local design community made her an essential part of the Superbalist team that created the corporate uniform for SA’s newest airline, LIFT. She was also on the creative team that brought you the hottest retail collaboration with visual artist Lulama Wolf.

Now, after a year stretching her wings in the digital space, Mbali is back at TRUELOVE to lead this exciting new part of our journey, where she takes on the role of Editor-in-Chief.

Mbali represents the journey of, and has gathered lessons about, why content and storytelling are the foundation of what makes the world go round.

Michael Clinton Author of ROAR and former President of Hearst Magazines

Michael Clintonis the former president and publishing director of Hearst Magazines, and now serves as special media advisor to the Hearst Corporation’s CEO. He is the author of the best seller ROAR into the Second Half of Your Life – Before It’s Too Late (Atria Books/Beyond Words, Sept. 2021). From his working-class roots to success in the New York magazine world, Michael shares his own journey as an avid traveler, having experienced 126 countries, and running marathons on seven continents. A photographer, private pilot, part owner of a vineyard in Argentina, and founder of a nonprofit foundation, Michael holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh, plus two master’s degrees (from Columbia University and Pace University). He serves on the boards of trustees of International Center of Photography and Pace University; and has written for The New York Times, Town & Country, Esquire and is a columnist for Men’s Health and contributor to other outlets.  He resides in New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Michell Myers Global Chief Revenue Officer Wright’s Media, USA

Michelle is an accomplished media executive with a diverse publishing background and is known for growing brands, identifying new revenue streams, and fostering deep relationships in the media community. Prior to joining Wright’s Media as their Chief Revenue Officer, Myers was President of the Women’s Choice Award where she leveraged her experience in accolades and brand licensing to develop omnichannel retail programs and content strategies for their brand partners. 

Prior to The Women’s Choice Award, Michelle held the role of Chief Revenue Officer at Brides Magazine (Condé Nast). At Condé she was honoured with the first-ever Business Transformation Award for spearheading the brand to greater profitability through breakthrough ideas such as brand licensing and new ways to monetize social media. Myers also held Vice President & Publisher roles at Lucky Magazine, People StyleWatch and Star Magazine and was Associate Publisher of Allure and Shape.

Michelle Myers Global Chief Revenue Officer Wright’s Media

Michelle is an accomplished media executive with a diverse publishing background and is known for growing brands, identifying new revenue streams, and fostering deep relationships in the media community. Prior to joining Wright’s Media as their Chief Revenue Officer, Myers was President of the Women’s Choice Award where she leveraged her experience in accolades and brand licensing to develop omnichannel retail programs and content strategies for their brand partners. Prior to The Women’s Choice Award, Michelle held the role of Chief Revenue Officer at Brides Magazine (Condé Nast). At Condé she was honored with the first ever Business Transformation Award for spearheading the brand to greater profitability through breakthrough ideas such as brand licensing and new ways to monetize social media. Myers also held Vice President & Publisher roles at Lucky Magazine, People StyleWatch and Star Magazine and was Associate Publisher of Allure and Shape.

Mike Chaffe CEO Wolves Summit, Poland

Michael Chaffe is the CEO of Wolves Summit. He spent a decade working up to 250m under the Ocean as a Saturation Diver in the Oil & Gas industry, before entering the European VC industry in 2017.

Initially assisting UK-based startups in closing their funding rounds, he went on to acquire Central & Eastern Europe’s flagship innovation conference, Wolves Summit in 2019. Together with a rapidly expanding team, he is leveraging the summit to build valuable bridges between the CEE innovation ecosystem and global partners & investors.

Outside of the professional realm, Mike is an avid Crossfitter, enjoys hiking in summer and skiing in winter throughout Central & Eastern Europe with his young children.

Natasha Christie-Miller Former CEO Ascential Intelligence and Senior Advisor to TED conferences LLP Walking on Earth, Bayy Agency

Natasha Christie-Miller, is the former CEO of Ascential Intelligence,  Non-Executive Director and Chairwoman, Remco, and Senior Advisor to TED Talks, among others.

As CEO of Ascential Intelligence, the information services division at Ascential Plc, she built core, high-growth products in scale industries delivering high-value intelligence and connections for our powerful, professional audiences.

She started her career in sales and led the commercial teams on consumer brands such as Elle, Red, and the Emap parenting portfolio before taking on the role of Publishing Director of Drapers, the fashion industry bible at Emap B2B in 2005. She then became Managing Director for the Retail portfolio in 2007. Natasha was appointed CEO of EMAP in 2010 and CEO of Ascential Intelligence at Ascential Plc in 2015.

A Non-Exec Director of a media turned generalist VC for 13 years Natasha has overseen the buying, scaling, and divestment of over 200 companies. 

She is a Senior Board advisor to 3 fast growth companies (Walking On Earth, BAYY Agency, and EDITED) and a Senior Advisor to the world-famous TED Talks LLP.

Neil Thackray former Co-founder and CEO, Agribriefing, Non-Executive Director Gambit Media, and Host, Media Makers Meet – Mx3, UK

Non Exec Director of Gambit Media (Risk Leadership Network) – a subscription enterprise tool for risk managers around the world to network share and collaborate in next risk management practice. Advisor to PE funds on media investments and strategic advisor to media companies.

Co Founder and formerly CEO of Agribriefing. The business began as a self funded start up delivering content, events and strategy analysis for the media industry and through a series of private equity investments pivoted to be a world leading agri commodity/protein price reporting agency. Serial investor in media start ups, most recently Axate – an ingenious solution to the content micro payment challenge.

Earlier career as CEO Quantum Business Media, Nexus Business Media, The Industry Standard Europe. Former Executive Director Miller Freeman Uk (later UBM) and divisional director at Reed Business Information. Neil is a good friend of Media Makers Meet – Mx3, where he often (he says reluctantly, but we believe otherwise) does us favours by speaking at or hosting our events.

Nicki Murphy CEO The River Group

More details to follow.

Paul Miller CEO Questex, USA

As the CEO of Questex, Paul is responsible for shaping Questex’s growth strategy and enhancing its offerings to better serve its customers as the leading information services company focused on the experience economy. 

Paul is an award-winning visionary leader with a keen ability and a track record of growing businesses. He has a passion for creating winning cultures and high-performing teams. Paul has successfully led and grown businesses with revenues ranging from $30 million to $250 million in both privately and publicly held companies. Notably, he was a member of the Executive Leadership team that completed the sale of Penton to Informa for $1.2 billion.

Before joining Questex, Paul served as the President of Informa’s Industry & Infrastructure Intelligence division, where he brought a high level of innovation and creativity to help customers achieve superior ROI on marketing investments and drive subscription revenues. Earlier in his career, Paul was the President of Penton’s Industry Group, where he had responsibilities that encompassed energy and buildings, design engineering, sourcing and manufacturing, and supply chain markets. Paul enjoyed a long and successful career with UBM, where he held several leadership positions. His last role was as CEO of UBM Tech, where he drove the business unit into digital content and services, completed several M&A transactions, and led international expansion into Europe, Asia, and Latin America. 

Paul is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM).

Pierre Caulliez Co-founder Yoof Agency

Pierre, 20, is the founder of Yoof Agency start-up he founded in 2020. Yoof’s mission is to win Gen Z’s attention with the news outlet, thanks to a team of creative consultants in their 20s.
Pierre is a former influencer with 120.000 followers; he has acquired a deep knowledge of social media and what makes a format go viral, especially for people of his generation. Next to his business school studies, he has been scaling his start-up Yoof since 2020 and working with media brands of groups such as DPA, La Voix du Nord, or Mittelbayerische.

Preethi Nallu Global Director Report for the World

Preethi Nallu is a journalist, film-maker, press freedom advocate and global director at Report for the World, part of the Groundtruth Project. She was a founding editor at News Deeply.

Born in Iran, raised in India, Preethi’s career spans 14 countries across the global north and south. She has researched, reported and campaigned about humanitarian and media development issues. Her films and reports won two Webby awards, two Migration Media awards, and a Human Rights Press Award. Preethi has worked for mainstream media outlets such as Al Jazeera English and Foreign Policy, global think tanks such as Chatham House, and led multimedia campaigns for the UN and global NGOs such as the Norwegian Refugee Council and International Media Support (IMS). In her last role as co-editor at Mediabridge, supported by IMS, she created a digital platform with an Indian design team, &all, and facilitated partnerships between media of different sizes.

Rachel Arthur Founder and Editor Boom Saloon, UK and Malaysia

Passionate about championing the arts and creative industries, Rachel Arthur founded boom saloon via Kickstarter in 2016. Having previously studied fashion and design management, she initially embarked upon a stint at Conde Nast before moving to a pivotal role as Head of Content at Scotland’s fastest growing fashion tech company, where she led a small team. Here, the power and importance of data was truly brought to light whilst learnings on management and startup business were made. 

Three years at Creative Edinburgh further ignited her passion for nurturing creative growth across sectors whilst understanding the importance of a diverse creative ecosystem, which was further developed into boom saloon’s mission to democratise creativity for good across print magazine, community projects and creative studio. In her work to build a global movement around this mission, Rachel has been named as an Industry Expert for Create Hub, FIPP Rising Star in Media and Young Women’s Movement’s 30 Under 30. She has spoken for Google, Monocle, FT Strategies, Media Voices and FIPP, covering topics including environmental sustainability, how to consistently marry the vitality and possibility of data with the tangibility of print and the belonging of community, and the move from subscription to membership to movement.

Rafat Ali CEO Skift

Rafat Ali, CEO and Founder of Skift, and a Board Member of the International Women’s Media Foundation, USA

Rafat is the CEO and Founder of Skift, the most influential business media company in the global travel sector providing news, research, events and marketing services to key sectors in travel.

Previously, he was the founder of paidContent, which he sold to UK’s Guardian News and Media in 2008. Prior to that, he was managing editor of Silicon Alley Reporter.

Rafat was the Knight Fellow at Indiana University, where he completed his Masters in Journalism, 1999-2000. Prior to that he completed his
BSc in Computer Engineering, from AMU in Aligarh, India.

Reid DeRamus Head of Growth Substack

Reid has served in various growth roles helping launch and scale Hulu, Crunchyroll, and HBO Max. More recently, Reid founded a company Yem to help individuals and small teams build their own media businesses. Yem was acquired by Substack, where Reid currently works on the growth team.

Richard Bean CRO Affilizz

Richard Bean has a 20-year record of building global brands and businesses. He has held leadership positions in the international operations for globally renowned companies such as Future plc., Dennis and Hearst Magazines.

For the past few years, he has worked for SaaS technology companies helping tier-1 content media businesses diversify their revenue streams and maximise the opportunities offered through licensing intellectual property and affiliate eCommerce.

Richard Lee Chief Integration Officer The News Lens Group

Richard is a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for technology and media. He currently leads the integration of operations and technologies at The News Lens Group (TNL), an independent media group with media brands in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan. Prior to joining TNL, Richard founded and sold two successful media companies – INSIDE and iCook – where he served as Chief Technology Officer and led product development.

Richard is also the organizer of the Taiwan Publisher Group, an online community of publishers in Chinese Taipei, and the chief editor of TPG’s weekly newsletters covering the latest trends and news in media and adtech. In recognition of his achievements, Richard was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in Media, Marketing & Advertising in 2017 and has been recognized as a Google Developer Expert since 2020.

Richard O’Connor CEO B2B Marketing/Propolis, UK

Richard’s career has spanned B2B and B2C media, events and SaaS. He has run commercial teams at several leading private and public businesses, including Centaur,  The Independent Newspaper, UBM, Informa and RELX. He also led a multi-year commercial transformation programme for UBM, which involved the design and delivery of a sales and marketing operating model in EMEA, Asia and the US. He was also on the integration team following the acquisition of UBM by Informa.

Richard currently leads B2B Marketing, a Community Intelligence business with a portfolio of specialist conferences, awards, marketing services and Propolis - the multi-award winning global community for B2B Marketing Leaders. Launched in 2021, Propolis has grown rapidly into the go-to community for many of the world’s leading B2B brands

Ruwayda Mustafah PR Manager Rûdaw Media Network

Ruwayda Mustafah is the Manager of Public Relations at Rudaw Media Network, which is a multilingual platform that runs in English, Arabic, Kurdish, and Turkish.

She is also an advocate for women and children’s rights in Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Ruwayda has written a series of illustrated children’s books to highlight the unique Kurdish culture for diaspora communities, and is the founder of multiple initiatives that advocate for the well-being of children and women.

Sam Baker Founder-Publisher The Shift with Sam Baker, UK

Sam Baker has spent more than 30 years in women’s media. She is the award- winning former Editor of the British magazines J17, Company, Cosmopolitan and Red. In 2015, she co-founded the Webby- and Lovie-winning women’s digital media brand, The Pool, with broadcaster Lauren Laverne. Late 2020 she launched the acclaimed podcast, The Shift, which has since expanded into a community and newsletter. 

She is a regular contributor to The Times, The Guardian, The Mail on Sunday and The Telegraph, amongst others, on a wide range of women’s issues, but particularly those affecting midlife women and beyond. She has written five novels and one work of non-fiction.

Sanne Breimer Regional Research Manager: Northern Europe for Project Oasis Sembra Media

Sanne Breimer is a freelance project manager, consultant and journalism trainer for international media organizations, including Sembra Media, Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), European Journalism Centre (EJC), and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Sanne works remotely and divides her time between Europe and South East Asia. She founded Inclusive Journalism, with which she aims to educate (primarily) Western journalists about media representation and decolonisation through a weekly newsletter, online courses and retreats.

Prior to moving into training, Sanne worked at a managerial level in national public broadcasting in the Netherlands for almost 13 years, with a focus on radio, digital media and innovation. She is Dutch with Frisian roots.

Sharon Waxman Founder, CEO & Editor in Chief TheWrap, USA

Sharon Waxman is the founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of TheWrap News, the leading media company covering the business of Hollywood through news and live events.

An award-winning journalist and best-selling author, Waxman is one of the world’s top experts on Hollywood, the business of entertainment, and popular culture. She is a former Hollywood correspondent for the New York Times and a frequent commentator on CNN, CBS, and other leading outlets.

Waxman became an entrepreneur in 2009 when she founded TheWrap, leading it to the top of the entertainment media landscape. The Wrap is known for its high-caliber news gathering and journalistic independence, winning numerous awards. Waxman was named 2021 Online Journalist of the Year by the LA Press Club's SoCal Journalism Awards, with WaxWord named as the best blog that same year.

Shirish Kulkarni Consultant, Journalism Innovation & Inclusion, and News Storytelling Researcher Monnow Media

Shirish is an award-winning journalist and researcher with 25 years’ experience working in all the UK’s major broadcast newsrooms, and at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. He now works across a range of innovation and inclusion projects, spanning community engagement, AI, modular journalism and mental health – all aimed at building more effective, engaging and trusted content.

Steffen Damborg CEO Author of Mastering Digital Transformation and Digital Transformation Specialist

Steffen Damborg (MBA) is a digital transformation specialist with 10 plus years of experience in all aspects of running an online business in the media industry. He is a former Digital Director and Chief Development Officer at the leading Danish publisher, JP/Politikens Hus, and is currently focusing on Digital Transformation for global media organisations accrued from his knowledge of working extensively in the Scandinavian market. His digital transformation experience includes different aspects of online media management, strategic development and emergent approaches towards new sustainable digital business models in the disrupted Nordic media market and beyond.

Mr. Damborg holds a MBA degree from Aarhus School of Business and a MSc degree in political science from Heidelberg University/Aarhus University. In 2016 Steffen Damborg was appointed Media & Entertainment Group Discussion Leader at Harvard Business School.

Stephanie Kaplan Lewis Co-founder and CEO Her Campus Media, USA

Stephanie Kaplan Lewis is the Co-founder and CEO of Her Campus Media, the #1 media company for college students and Gen Z, as well as a full-service youth marketing agency. She co-founded this company during her time as an undergraduate at Harvard in 2009. Her Campus Media encompasses multiple brands, including Her Campus, College Fashionista, Spoon University, InfluenceHer Collective, and Generation Hired. HCM reaches over 10 million monthly users on more than 1,500 college campuses, leveraging the power of its 50,000+ community members to connect brands with Gen Z through its comprehensive suite of services. 

Her Campus Media has received recognition as one of Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies and has been honored with the Campaign of the Year Award from Adweek. Stephanie also serves as an Expert-in-Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab, is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and has been named to Forbes 30 Under 30 and Inc. 30 Under 30, among other accolades.

Styli Charalambous Co-founder and CEO Daily Maverick

Styli Charalambous co-founded the Daily Maverick, in 2009, with editor-in-chief, Branko Brkic. Over the last decade he has helped launch new products and the organisation’s membership plan while navigating industry disruption and the country’s politics. 

His official role at Daily Maverick is that of publisher and CEO which translates into “he who constantly fights fires – sometimes successfully but always only after morning coffee.” 

Daily Maverick has grown to from a 5 person start-up to 100 full-time staff, reaching 9m monthly unique visitors, sending out 20m newsletters per month and generates a 1/3rd of revenue from its 20k members. 

In 2020, Styli also helped launch Daily Maverick’s weekly newspaper with innovative distribution model. 

He is passionate about solving the disruption of media industry and focuses most efforts on new revenue models, product, technology and membership. 

Tav Klitgaard CEO Good Tape and Zetland

Tav is a seasoned product executive, having worked in the Silicon Valley tech scene before joining the news industry to build Zetland’s distribution platform. Originally a jazz trumpet player, his first tech startup was in pre-school ed-tech, where he led the product ABCiTY from cradle to exit, before joining issuu.com to lead the reading experience teams.

He has championed the product innovation mindset at Zetland, where he now tries to instil it across the company as CEO. He also leads the horn section in Zetland’s house band and enjoys renovating his worn-down get-away house in the Danish countryside.

Thomas Waltasaari Area Sales Director for North Europe UPM Communication Papers

Thomas Waltasaari is the Area Sales Director for North Europe at UPM Communication Papers. Having worked for UPM for 25 years, he has gained extensive experience in the paper industry. In his current role, he oversees sales in the UK and Ireland, Scandinavia, Finland, Baltics and Ukraine, working with a diverse range of customers including Magazine & Newspaper Publishers, Printers, Paper Brokers, Cataloguers, Retail and Merchants across the region. Since 2011, Thomas has been based in the UK, after working as a Merchant Director in Sydney, Australia for eight years.

Tom Allum Co-founder Baytree

Tom Allum is a seasoned media professional with over 15 years of experience running digital transformation projects. He is the founder and managing director of Baytree, a company that is at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive growth in publishing organisations.

Tom has spearheaded numerous initiatives in the content management space, and his innovative approach to helping publishers take advantage of headless content management systems has earned him recognition as a trailblazer in the media industry. As a speaker, Tom brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insight that is invaluable for anyone looking to understand how headless CMS technology can unlock unprecedented growth and fuel success in today’s highly competitive publishing landscape. His talk promises to offer up a dynamic roadmap for thriving amidst the industry’s evolving complexities.

Xu Qiuhan Editor Natural History Magazine

Xu Qiuhan graduated from the Department of Sociology at Peking University in 1990s. Before the age of thirty, he used to be a traveler, freelance writer, and music producer. In this century, he became a magazine editor and successively served on “Civilization”, “Chinese Scientific Exploration”, and “Chinese Heritage”. Since 2006, he has been the editor in chief of “Natural History” and has been working there ever since.

Yolanda Ausin CEO ARI Spanish Magazine Association

Yolanda Ausin, joined ARI as CEO in September 2011. Ausin is Vice President of INTROL and Board Member of FIPP and EMMA.

Previously she had a successful career on TV. On 1999 Ausin was one of the founders of Cosmopolitan TV and VP Country Manager till 2006 when she joined Discovery Networks as VP Country Manager for Spain and Portugal. On 2008 Ausin was appointed Telemadrid Managing Director, Madrid PBS.

She began her career as a marketing professional working at Johnson & Johnson, Sanitas Bupa Group and Vodafone, where she was Marketing Director.

Ausin is a frequent speaker in courses and seminars on Media: TV, Magazines and Digital. She is also a woman committed to equal opportunities and diversity promotion in business and society and is an IWF, International Women Forum, member.

She is a passionate traveler, loves gardening and cooking and, overall, enjoys her private time with family and friends as much as she can.

Ausin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and Sociology at Madrid Complutense University and holds an MBA from IE Business School.

Yulia Boyle Senior Vice President for International Media Partnerships and Image Collection at National Geographic Partners, USA

Yulia Petrossian Boyle is Vice President at Disney’s DMED Division, responsible for NatGeo Global Media Partnerships, Image Collection, and Content Operations. She leads the strategy for NatGeo’s global media activities in 55 countries and 30 local languages, oversees the transformation of NatGeo iconic Image Collection archive into the best-in-class digital asset management system, and is in charge of NatGeo Media content operations and talent relations.

Yulia has been instrumental in rapid global expansion of the National Geographic media properties, overseeing launches of NG magazines media and books for adults and kids across the globe since 2007.

Forming strategic partnership with world’s leading media companies, Yulia has been successful in conceptualizing and launching many high-revenue, new-format publishing products, including special interest publications, such as NG History, Kids Collectibles, Travel, Adventure, Food NG magazine brand extensions, as well as bi-lingual kids “edutainment” products globally.

Yulia, who is fluent in English, Armenian and Russian, has had a 23-year career in media and international business development. Before joining National Geographic, she worked for Macmillan Publishing, UK, where she launched a joint venture with a local publishing house in Armenia, assisting in the winning World Bank Tender to publish curricula textbooks, expanding Macmillan’s offerings in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. She also worked as a reporter for Ukraine’s largest English-language newspaper, the Kyiv Post, and oversaw the rebranding and launch of a popular women’s weekly targeting Ukraine’s professional women, as its publisher. Boyle has also launched and managed the British Council (BC) operations in Armenia and supervised the first ever Royal Visit to Armenia in the framework of BC’s cultural exchange programs.

In January 2022 Yulia was appointed as the new Chair of FIPP, world’s oldest and largest global media membership association. Yulia has also served on the Board of Nikkei National Geographic Joint Venture since 2014.

Boyle holds a master’s degree in public management and comparative international affairs from Indiana University, Bloomington. She has a bachelor’s degree in English language and U.S./U.K. studies.

Alan Hunter Co-founder HBM Advisory

Alan is the co-founder of HBM Advisory, which partners with publishers to help them maximise the value of their digital content.

He advises publishers and other subscription businesses on aligning their content and product strategies for growth, paywall modelling, customer journeys, data insights and revenue development. HBM Advisory’s clients have included Future plc, Harvard Business Review, the Royal Opera House, Monocle and MIT Technology Review.

Prior to setting up HBM Advisory, Alan served as Head of Digital at The Times and The Sunday Times for seven years from 2013. He was responsible for the titles’ journalistic output in digital, both on and off platform, and also led their digital transformation, both in terms of strategy and newsroom organisation, as they moved to a subscription-first model. Digital subscriptions more than doubled – to 366,000 – during his time as Head of Digital.

In 2016, he combined the titles’ websites and launched the innovative edition-based publishing model. He also launched Red Box, the politics-based email that became an established part of the Westminster landscape and spawned first a podcast and now a radio show. He also led the development of a bespoke data analysis tool.

Prior to assuming his role in digital, Alan was Executive Managing Editor of the titles, primarily responsible for the Sunday Times budget and personnel issues. Before that he had served in senior journalistic roles on the Sunday title, ranging from News Review Editor to Deputy Sports Editor.

A graduate of Oxford University, Alan has undertaken professional education at Cambridge University (digital strategy), Stanford University (design thinking), Warwick University (behavioural insights) and Ashridge Business School (strategy and finance).

Alastair Lewis Principal & Managing Director FIPP Consulting

Alastair is a former Managing Director at Haymarket and Future PLC running some of the UK’s best known consumer media brands including Autocar, Stuff, FourFourTwo, How It Works and What Hi-Fi? amongst others. His 20 years in media have seen him focus on Digital Brand Development, Content, Audience and Commercial Growth as well as International Business Development and Partnerships, Digital Subscriptions, E-Commerce and Affiliate revenues.

In 2019 he founded his own business, Quested Consulting, that works with media companies to help them find opportunities to diversify revenue streams, launch new products and develop existing brands and with solutions providers who are looking to work with and understand specialist media.

In January 2023, Alastair formed a partnership with FIPP to launch FIPP Consulting, bringing together his expertise and experience as a media business leader and the extensive network of FIPP to offer consulting services to FIPP members and non-members alike.

Charlotte Ricca Performance Psychologist, Podcaster, and Content Strategist

Charlotte Ricca has worked in the media industry for almost three decades, as a journalist, editor, presenter and podcaster. She has written for leading titles, including the Guardian, Independent and BBC, and created content for big brands, including Samsung, American Express and TDK.
During this time, Charlotte has also interviewed leaders in business, sport and entertainment and has always been fascinated with what it takes to stay at the top of your game. This curiosity took her back to university, where she studied to become a performance psychologist. It certainly passed the time during lockdown… Alongside her ‘day job’ Charlotte coaches teams and individuals on how to block self doubt and unlock their true potential.

Damian Radcliffe Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at University of Oregon and Fellow at the Tow Centre for Digital Journalism at Columbia University University of Oregon and Columbia University

Damian Radcliffe is a journalist, researcher, and professor based at the University of Oregon. He is also a three-time Knight News Innovation Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies (JOMEC), and a life fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). In Spring 2023, he will be a Visiting Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.

With over 25 years of experience in the media industry, Damian has worked in editorial, strategic, research, policy and teaching roles in the USA, Middle East and UK. He has worked across all platforms (audio, TV, digital and print) and all media sectors (commercial, public, community and non-profit, regulatory and academia). He continues to be an active journalist, writing regular features for Digital Content Next, the International Journalists’ Network (IJNet), What’s New in Publishing, journalism.co.uk and other outlets. His work focuses on digital trends, social media, technology, the business of media, and the evolution – and practice – of journalism.

As an analyst, researcher and trainer, he has worked with a wide range of additional industry and academic organizations including the BBC World Service, Facebook, FIPP, INMA, Thomson Reuters Foundation, World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the United Nations. He has been quoted on issues relating to digital media and journalism by major outlets such as AFP, BBC News, Business Insider, Editor & Publisher, NPR, The New York Times, Snapchat, Wired and Voice of America. As a freelance journalist, his work has been published by leading publications and trade outlets such as the BBC, Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Harvard’s Nieman Lab, HuffPost, PBS MediaShift, Poynter, TheMediaBriefing and ZDNet.

Originally from the UK, Damian lives on the west coast of the US with his wife and three young children. He holds a BA in Modern History and MA (Oxon) from the University of Oxford.

Lisa Macleod Principal and Publishing Lead FT Strategies

Lisa MacLeod is a Principal and Publishing Lead at FT Strategies. Her recent projects include a 9-month subscription programme with 8 European publishers, and a digital revenue launch project. Lisa has more than 25 years experience in print to digital convergence and transition programmes, most notably working for 12 years at the Financial Times in London where she headed up newsroom operations, was Head of Operations for FT.com, an Assistant Editor and Managing Editor.

She contributes to Women in News as a trainer, consultant and advisor on digital transformation in newsrooms across the globe, and has led digital transformation at two of Africa’s largest media companies: Tiso Blackstar (now Arena Holdings) in South Africa, and Naspers’s 24.com.

She was Vice-President of the World Association of News Publishers, is a long-standing board member of the World Editors Forum, Leader-in-Residence at the University  of Lancashire, and a mentor on the Journalism Innovation and Leadership Programme.

Richard Askam Speaker and Broadcaster

Richard Askam spent 30 years working in the Wine Business before he took a career turn in 2010 to launch the first personalised champagne gifts in the UK as an antidote to the commoditisation of the wine market in the UK. Ultimately, this lead him to the doors of Coca-Cola where he created and executed the online ShareaCoke campaign across Europe in 2014. Over the following 2 years, Richard created similarly successful personalised campaigns for the likes of Unilever, Barclays, Vodafone and McVities before becoming a renowned full time speaker, debuting as a TED Talker in 2017 and he has worked extensively across the world for the likes of HP, Xerox, Canon and many more. Richard is a master of conversation, an invaluable skill in a world where businesses have to adapt to the conversation of their customers, and over the last few years has become an accomplished host and MC for business events both online and in person!