Summit Connects Black America
NEW YORK - Interactive One, LLC, the digital connection for Black America and the digital division of Radio One, Inc., and the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), a nonprofit advancing the social, political and economic interests of minorities and women, has concluded their inaugural Digital Summit in New York City. The event drew nearly 200 professionals from various sectors, including digital media, advertising, marketing and venture capital, and featured two lively panels composed of key industry innovators debating the growing economic opportunities for and importance of the multicultural online consumer. The Digital Summit culminated with a one-on-one interview with Beth Noveck, technology innovation expert and current U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Director of the White House Open Government Initiative. The National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) and the ADCOLOR Industry Coalition also took part in the Digital Summit as marketing partners.
The Digital Summit featured two one-hour panel discussions in which thought leaders from different areas of digital media, marketing and advertising discussed using online media to reach multicultural audiences, strategies on how to maximize audience engagement to generate revenue, and the evolving digital landscape. The Summit's first panel, entitled, "Understanding the Multicultural Audience Online," examined how multicultural audiences uniquely engage with online media platforms and specifically focused on the nuances of their use of these platforms. Speakers included: Heather James, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, The Advertising Research Foundation; Mark Lopez, Chief Operating Officer, TERRA Networks USA; Don Moore, President, Burrell Digital; Moderator Steven Wolfe Pereira, SVP, Managing Director, MV Forty-Two Degrees | MediaVest Multicultural; and Smokey Fontaine, Chief Content Officer, Interactive One. The event's second panel, "Evolving Economics of Online Media," explored in-depth the ever-changing business models for online properties, including emerging strategies on how to transform site traffic into profits. Presenters from a number of leading companies participated in this provocative discussion, among them: Sarah Baehr, Associate Partner, Rosetta;Torrence Boone, Managing Director of Agency Development, Google; Matt Jacobson, Head of Market Development, Facebook; Moderator Ritu Trivedi, Managing Partner, Media Director, Mindshare Interaction; and Omar Wasow, Co-Founder, BlackPlanet.com. "The impressive turnout and diversity of the Digital Summit's audience was the true testament to its strength and necessity," said Chloe Drew, Executive Director of CUP. "The audience of more than 200 demonstrated a clear need for this comprehensive forum addressing the economic opportunities for and benefits of reaching the multicultural online user. We want to thank Interactive One for partnering with us to create such an outstanding inaugural conference." According to feedback from attendees, the Digital Summit tackled the timeliest and most important issues presently affecting multicultural marketing and advertising. "The panel themes, especially the approaches to monetizing an engaged multicultural audience, were featured at an ideal time given the current growth and development of the digital media industry. Overall, I thought the event was informative and valuable for my business. I hope to attend again next year," said Charles Crocket Co-Founder and Partner of the Ascend Venture Group. ABOUT THE COUNCIL OF URBAN PROFESSIONALS: The Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization whose members are leading minority and women professionals in finance, law, business, real estate, media and entertainment. CUP's mission is to develop diverse business and civic leaders, empowering them to exert their influence, achieve their individual goals, and create collective impact. More information is available at www.nycup.org. ABOUT INTERACTIVE ONE Interactive One has over 15 million members and reaches over 7 million Black Americans each month. With approximately 4 billion annual page views on its suite of sites, the Company has the definitive social network for Black America, BlackPlanet (www.BlackPlanet.com), as well as a number of leading content sites. These sites include: NewsOne (www.NewsOne.com), which provides up to the minute, comprehensive coverage of newsworthy events relevant to African Americans across the country and the world through syndicated news, original news reports, local content and opinion blogs from some of the most provocative minds in Black America.; TheUrbanDaily (www.TheUrbanDaily.com), which serves as the eyes and ears for African-Americans looking for a one-stop, comprehensive destination for entertainment news, information, gossip and opinion and original celebrity interviews; HelloBeautiful (www.HelloBeautiful.com), which celebrates the lives and style of African American women with a dynamic daily mix of fashion, beauty, entertainment and relationship content; Elev8 (www.Elev8.com) which a personal empowerment website dedicated to uplifting and enriching the lives of African-Americans by offering services, tools, information and community; and GIANTlife (www.Giantlife.com) celebrity, style and culture for the affluent African American and 52 radio station websites. Interactive One was launched by Radio One in 2008 to complement Radio One's existing portfolio of media companies targeting the African American community. Since its launch, Interactive One has quickly become the #1 online platform for the African American community. Interactive One is powered by the mission to create an online community that engages and positively impacts the lives of African Americans. ABOUT RADIO ONE Radio One, Inc. (www.radio-one.com) is a diversified media company that primarily targets African American and urban consumers. The Company is one of the nation's largest radio broadcasting companies, currently owning 53 broadcast stations located in 16 urban markets in the United States. As a part of its core broadcasting business, Radio One operates syndicated programming including the Russ Parr Morning Show, the Yolanda Adams Morning Show, the Rickey Smiley Morning Show,CoCo Brother Live, CoCo Brother's "Spirit" program, Bishop T.D. Jakes' "Empowering Moments", the Reverend Al Sharpton Show, and the Warren Ballentine Show. The Company also owns a controlling interest in Reach Media, Inc. (www.blackamericaweb.com), owner of the Tom Joyner Morning Show and other businesses associated with Tom Joyner. Beyond its core radio broadcasting business, Radio One owns Interactive One (www.interactiveone.com), an online platform serving the African American community through social content, news, information, and entertainment, which operates a number of branded sites, including NewsOne, TheUrbanDaily, HelloBeautiful, and social networks BlackPlanet, MiGente, and AsianAvenue and an interest in TV One, LLC (www.tvoneonline.com), a cable/satellite network programming primarily to African-Americans.
"We are thrilled with the tremendous outcome of our first Digital Summit, achieved through our partnerships with CUP, NAMIC and the ADCOLOR Industry Coalition. The high level of energy and discourse shown by our expert panelists made each part of the program compelling and illuminating," said Maria Weaver Watson, VP, Brand Marketing and Strategic Communications for Interactive One. "We look forward to building on the success of this year's program in 2011."
