IPREX Global Leadership Conference in New York: “Digital Media‘s Future: Implications for the Global Communications Industry”

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Digital Media‘s Future: Implications for the Global Communications Industry” was the theme of this year’s Global Leadership Conference held by IPREX, the global communications network. The event, held February 21^st – 23^rd, was hosted by Makovsky, one of the world’s largest independent integrated communications firms, and attracted emerging leaders from IPREX partners around the globe.

“As the world’s digital media center and the home to some of the social media sphere’s leading innovators, New York provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s IPREX Global Leadership Conference”

“As the world’s digital media center and the home to some of the social media sphere’s leading innovators, New York provided the perfect backdrop for this year’s IPREX Global Leadership Conference,” said Ken Makovsky, president of Makovsky and a cofounder of IPREX. “The programs and events provided IPREX members with invaluable insights into the social media revolution, including the fusion of journalism and digital engagement, generating content to build social communities, incorporating digital analytics, and the use of next-generation tools.”

Rashada Whitehead, IPREX Marketing Chair, who led one of the sessions, said “The event was a great example of how we spread leading-edge digital best practices right across our network. Makovsky did an extraordinary job of bringing together an outstanding group of world-class experts for two days of serious thought leadership.”

The jam-packed meeting began with a keynote address by noted digital guru Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer of Columbia University and Dean of the world- renowned Columbia Journalism School. Sree delivered a talk entitled, “There's a Tool for That,” which focused on the incorporation of cutting-edge tools to help communications professionals build a stronger social media presence.

The second day began with a presentation by Mashwork founder Jared Feldman entitled, “The Modern Market Research: Using Social Analytics to Capture Insights for Communications Programs.” It was followed by “Not All Channels and Content are Created Equal: Social Activation for Community Building and Engagement,” a panel discussion featuring Adam Skollar, Manager of Marketing and Digital Programming for The New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden, and Jayne Bussman-Wise, Digital Director for the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center. The combination of digital thought leadership was framed to dissect several of the hot-button trends that communications professionals can capitalize on when developing integrated client programs.

The day’s centerpiece session, entitled “The Fusion of Journalism and Digital Culture: The Implication of Transmedia Storytelling,” was a panel discussion featuring Jonathan Perelman, Vice President of Agency Strategy and Industry Development at BuzzFeed, Paul Smurl, Vice President of The NYTimes.com’s Paid Products, Strategy and Business Development, and Gregory Galant, CEO of Muck Rack and founder of The Shorty Awards. The discussion illuminated the changing face of the media business and how the industry’s institutions and newcomer alike are working to deliver sharable content fit for the multi-device consumer.

The final session was “Technology is our Friend: Understanding the Platforms and Tools of Digital Media,” which featured Joe Burton, President of SocialChorus, Dennis Yu, Founder and CEO of BlitzMetrics, and Elaine Mesker-Garcia, Social Media Manager at Luby's Fuddruckers Restaurants. There has been an explosion of tools that help maximize social media marketing, Social Chorus and Blitz Metrics are two innovators helping communicators understand the back-end of social network and the distribution of social content, better.

The day ended with a trip to Brooklyn’s new Barclays Center to attend a Brooklyn Nets game.

“Hosting the IPREX GLC was the ideal opportunity to get a diverse collection of international communications professionals together with progressive digital thinkers to start to build the communications framework of tomorrow. Digital and social channels transcend boarders and the knowledge that was shared with and across the IPREX network will allow us to start getting ahead of where the media and our clients are headed,” added Matt Makovsky, conference chair. “IPREX GLC featured a unique group of young international communications leaders and Makovsky was honored to host the team in New York City, the gateway to digital media marketing’s future.”

Makovsky Productions is developing a mini-documentary of the conference. Stay tuned for the release in late March 2013.

About IPREX

IPREX (www.iprex.com) is a $200 million network of communication agencies, with 1,500 staff and 100 offices worldwide working across the spectrum of industry sectors and practice disciplines.

About Makovsky

Founded in 1979, Makovsky (www.makovsky.com) is one of the nation’s largest independent integrated communications firms. The firm attributes its success to its original vision: that the Power of Specialized Thinking™ is the best way to build reputation, sales and fair valuation for a client. Based in New York City and Washington, D.C., Makovsky is a founding member of IPREX.