DC Startup Forum: Network like an Entrepreneur with Jen Consalvo

Wed. Feb. 20 8 p.m.; light refreshments at 7:30 p.m.

American University, Wechsler Theater (Mary Graydon Center 315)

Hear the co-founder and COO of Tech Cocktail, the tech-focused media company, share insider tips to networking across the technology community. She knows. She's done it.

DC Startup Forum: Building a Successful Modern Media Company featuring Jim Bankoff

Mon. Mar. 18 7p.m.; light refreshments at 6:30 p.m.

American University, Ward 2

Yes, you can build a new media empire – in sports, gaming and personal tech. Get the game plan from Jim Bankoff, chairman and CEO of Vox Media, one of the fastest growing online publishers, with 30 million users in SB Nation alone. Vox's latest media ventures: The Verge to cover tech and Polygon to cover gaming.

DC Startup Forum: Building a Business, Building Your Brand featuring Amy Webb
Thurs. April 18, 7p.m.; light refreshments at 6:30 p.m.

American University, Butler Boardroom

One of the most sought-after speakers in media and technology, media entrepreneur Amy Webb shares the secrets of building a digital strategy company -- and a personal brand with her book, Data: A Love Story

Once RSVPing, you will receive detailed directions to the event(s) you registered for.  

About the speakers:

Jen Consalvo is Co-founder and COO of the tech-focused media company, Tech Cocktail, as well as the Co-founder of Thankfulfor, an online gratitude journal community. She has worked in product development for over a decade, leading large and small teams in a range of product areas such as digital imaging, community & social platforms and personalization. The majority of her career was at AOL, planning and building products used by millions of people globally.

Consalvo is also co-producer of Digital Capital Week (@DCWEEK), a week-long festival in Washington, D.C., focused on technology, innovation and all things digital in the nation’s capital. The festival has attracted over 10,000 people.

Consalvo was named a 2011 Tech Titan by Washingtonian Magazine, was featured in DC Modern Luxury Magazine in “The Smart Set”, in The Washington Post cover story “Digital Nomads Choose Their Tribes” and also in the Huffington Post story “What is Work? Cutting Yourself Free With Heart". Over the past few years, Consalvo’s products have been featured in such places as WashingtonPost.com, TechCrunch, CNET, Mashable and more.

She earned an MBA from American University's Kogod School of Business and a BA from the School of Communication.

Jim Bankoff runs all aspects of Vox Media, one of the fastest growing online publishers, focused on the sports, personal technology and gaming categories.  SB Nation, its sports brand, boasts over 30mm users per month across 300 individually branded, fan-centric sports communities, each covering a specific professional or college team, league or sport.  In November 2011, Vox Media launched The Verge, which has quickly established itself as a category leader and the fastest growing site that covers technology. In October, Vox launched Polygon, a site dedicated to news and community for fans of gaming, anchored by an all-star roster of writers.  All Vox Media sites are built upon its world-class proprietary publishing platform.   

The company enjoys support from leading investors including Accel Partners, Comcast Interactive Capital and Khosla Ventures.

A veteran of the online industry, Jim developed and led dozens of the most popular websites on the internet includingAOL, Mapquest, Moviefone, AOL Music, TMZ and Engadget as an Executive Vice President at AOL.  Jim also oversaw AOL’s industry-leading instant messaging services, AIM and ICQ, and social networking and community applications including Blogsmith and Netscape. 

His accomplishments have earned him wide recognition, most notably the first Emmy ever awarded to a webcast, for his role as Executive Producer of the Live 8 concerts online. Jim also serves as a Senior Advisor at Providence Equity Partners, the largest private equity firm focused on media and communications.

Amy Webb is a professional disruptor (that’s a good thing!). She leads a brilliant team that advises a worldwide client base of Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies, government agencies, media organizations and foundations. Her new book is "Data, A Love Story” (published by Dutton/ Penguin).

Amy is CEO of Webbmedia Group (http://www.webbmediagroup.com), a digital strategy agency solves problems related to emerging technology. She and her team help Webbmedia Group’s clients prepare for the future using research, ideation and a vast knowledge of digital media. Recently, her team worked with the City of Chicago to redesign, in every aspect, a modern library system for the 21st century.

Amy holds many professional affiliations and collaborates with a number of institutions. She is a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and has been a Lecturer at the Columbia University Sulzberger Program at the Graduate School of Journalism since it began in 2007. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Online News Association and serves on a number of advisory boards, including the SXSW Accelerator, Temple University’s Journalism Program, TheLi.st, International Center for Journalists and International Press Institute. She is a Delegate on the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and has served as one of the Knight News Challenge judges. Amy is also a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group) and helps judge the Emmy awards. She co-founded Spark Camp, a 501(c)(3) invite-only conference that brings together the brightest minds in media and technology once each quarter.

Amy's work has been recognized with awards and nominations from the Columbia Journalism Review, Webby, Editor & Publisher, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Society of Professional Journalists, W3 and IAVA, among others. She originally attended the Jacobs School of Music to study classical clarinet and later graduated with a B.A. in political science. She also has an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Additionally, Amy earned Nikyu Certification in the Japanese government-administered Language Proficiency Test and speaks fluently. In the past, Amy has served on the adjunct faculty at University of Maryland, Temple University, Tokyo University and University of the Arts.

Amy began her career as a reporter/ writer with Newsweek (Tokyo) and the Wall Street Journal (Hong Kong) where she covered emerging technology, media and cultural trends. She has contributed to the New York Times, NPR, Economist and many publications and broadcast shows. She appears regularly as a commentator, and is a keynote/ featured speaker at conferences and industry gatherings around the world.

DC Startup Forum is an exciting new speaker series co-sponsored by the American University School of Communication M.A. in Media Entrepreneurship, WAMU 88.5, and J-Lab.