Australia's digital entrepreneurs to learn from internet pioneer
Wang is a board member and Chair Emeritus of the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab (VLAB), a chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the growth and success of high-tech entrepreneurial ventures by bringing together ideas, technology and people.
Her connections with the top venture capitalists, super angels, and investors—from Silicon Valley to the international stage—makes her one of the world's most important people for digital entrepreneurs. Wang will give an overview of the current trends in investment and a forecast of what's coming next from a US and Asian perspective.
Wang's considerable experience in starting successful ICT and marketing companies, and her insights into business development, marketing, sales and strategy for mobile, web services and ICT organisations, will also become valuable lessons for Australia's digital entrepreneurs.
In addition to her VLAB board position, Wang is currently the managing partner at MG-Team, an international strategic marketing and business development firm, co-Chair of the Location Based Services special interest group at Wireless Communications Alliance, and Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at National University of Singapore.
Other confirmed speakers include media reformist and Professor at Columbia University Tim Wu via video link, online content manager for investigative reporting site Sunlight Live Joshua Hatch, and Vanessa Fox, creator of Google’s Webmaster Central and author of Marketing in the Age of Google.
Digital Directions will be held in Sydney on March 3, 2011. See digitaldirections.com.au for further details.
Confirmed Speakers
- Kevin Anderson is a London-based digital strategist, freelance journalist and journalism trainer, with more than a decade of experience with the BBC, where he was the first online journalist outside of the UK, and The Guardian, where he was blogs editor, then its digital research editor. He has also worked for global news services Reuters and Al Jazeera. He now helps global news organisations develop and execute digital journalism strategies.
- Tony Chen, managing director for GroupM Interaction, is responsible
for the strategic growth and operation of the group's digital business in
China. His 16-year career in China saw him as general manager for Dell
consumer direct, chief operating officer for RealNetwork, marketing
vice-president for eBay China and vice-president of operations for Yahoo!
China. He has a master's degree in Communications from New York University
and an EMBA degree from Fudan University.
- Vanessa Fox is the creator of Google’s Webmaster Central and the
author of Marketing in the Age of Google. She’s
also an entrepreneur-in-residence with Ignition Partners, contributing
editor at Search Engine Land, and host of the weekly podcast Office Hours.
She shares her marketing perspectives at ninebyblue.com and content for
developers at janeandrobot.com. Seattle Business Monthly has called her a “cyberspace visionary”.
- Joshua Hatch is the online content manager for Sunlight Live, the
live investigative reporting site for the non-partisan, non-profit
Sunlight Foundation and senior training consultant for Webb Media Group,
having formerly been the interactive director for USA Today, where he led an award-winning team to create innovative news apps
and digital stories. He also teaches digital journalism at American
University in Washington DC where he earned his Master's in news media
studies.
- Tan Le is the co-founder and president of Emotiv, a
neuroengineering company with interface technology for digital media
taking inputs directly from the brain, transforming the way humans
interact with computers. Le, a technology entrepreneur, also co-founded
and ran SASme. In 1998, she was named Young Australian of the Year and
voted one of Australia's 30 Most Successful Women Under 30. The World
Economic Forum named her a Young Global Leader in 2009.
- Riyaad Minty is the head of Social Media at news network Al
Jazeera, ensuring that Al Jazeera has a presence and is part of the
conversation across Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms,
including Emmy-nominated coverage of the 2008 US Presidential Election to
Egyptian politics in 2011. Prior to joining Al Jazeera he co-founded
Future Technologies, which focused on mobile content production,
aggregation and distribution. He will appear via video link in an
interview with Mike Van Niekerk.
- Rajat Paharia is the founder and chief product officer of
Bunchball, which develops platforms to motivate user behaviour online.
Paharia has a background in design and technology, having been co-director
of the Software Experiences Practice at design firm IDEO. He has a Masters
degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, with a focus on Human
Computer Interaction, and an undergraduate degree from the University of
California Berkeley.
- Anthony Rose is a technical and product visionary, most recently
chief technology officer for YouView, the venture creating an open IPTV
platform that brings internet connectivity to the UK’s free-to-air
platforms. His career spans back through work with the BBC, where he was
Future Media Controller for the Vision & Online Media Group, a CTO
role at Kazaa/Altnet, and a position as Vice President for Technology at
Sega Australia New Developments.
- Robert Tercek is one of the world’s most prolific creators of
interactive content with creations on every digital platform including
satellite TV, game consoles, the internet, interactive TV and mobile
networks. Most recently the President of Digital Media at The Oprah Winfrey
Network, he has also been Senior Vice President of Digital Media at Sony
Pictures Entertainment and Creative Director at MTV. He has co-founded
five start-up ventures, including video game developer 7th Level.
- Baratunde Thurston is the web editor at satirical website The
Onion, capitalising on a career as a comedian and author specialising in
technology and politics. He co-founded the black political blog Jack &
Jill Politics in 2006, and hosts Popular Science’s Future Of on the
Science Channel. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair and The Independent (UK),
as well as on radio station WNYC. He is the author of three books, with
the fourth to be released this year.
- Gigi Wang is the Chair Emeritus of the MIT/Stanford Venture Lab in
San Francisco and managing partner at MG-Team. Her experience ranges from
marketing roles to founding companies such as AsiaQuest, the International
Carrier Marketing group, TRUSTe, and Singapore's Pacific Internet. Wang
co-chairs the Location Based Services SIG at Wireless Communications
Alliance and is Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at National
University of Singapore.
- Tim Wu is a Professor at Columbia Law School and the chair of media reform group Free Press. His work includes papers on censorship, network neutrality and telecommunications policy, and he writes for publications such as Slate magazine, the New York Times, and Forbes. He is the author of two books, 2010's The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, and Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World with Jack Goldsmith. He will appear via video link in an interview with Mike Van Niekerk.
ENDS
About Digital Directions
Digital Directions is a one-day international gathering of the world’s leading digital media executives and entrepreneurs, showcasing global best practice in digital media innovations. Guest speakers share their expertise on the changes in media and technology strategies, the preferences and behaviours of consumers, as well as the brightest digital revenues.
Presented by Fairfax Media and X Media Lab, the conference follows on from the success of Media2010, formerly part of Fairfax’s Media series.
About Fairfax Digital
Part of Fairfax Media Limited, Fairfax Digital is one of the world's most respected media organisations, with a network of 200+ websites that reaches a unique audience of over 5.7 million Australians per month. Its Media Division includes the leading news sites smh.com.au, theage.com.au, brisbanetimes.com.au, WAtoday.com.au and parenting website Essential Baby, providing incisive and up to date news, business, technology, sport and lifestyle content. The Classifieds Division holds strong positions in online employment, motoring and property categories, with brands including Domain, Drive, MyCareer, TheBigChair, CommercialRealEstate and Country Cars. Its Transactions Division consists of a portfolio of sites that lead in their niche categories including RSVP, Stayz and InvestSMART. www.fairfax.com.au
About X Media Lab
X Media Lab is the internationally acclaimed professional network and digital media event for the world’s creative industries. X Media Lab provides assistance with creative industries development, business development and access to international expertise and finance. Each X Media Lab is a completely unique event where people with original digital media ideas connect with a superb international network of independent creative thinkers, technology wizards, commercialisation experts, potential business partners and financial resources. Since launching in Sydney in 2003, over 45 X Media Lab events have been have been held in 14 different cities in 11 countries around the world including London, Beijing, Mumbai, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Shanghai, Los Angeles, Malmö, Auckland, Wellington, Seoul, Melbourne and Sydney. The full X Media Lab program is available at www.xmedialab.com.
