Virtual Events GroupBoard ofAdvisors

Jim Louderback is among the most respected figures in digital media with a 20-year history of leadership at the intersection of digital media, experiential events and technology.

He currently runs experiential business VidCon as an independent division of Viacom. Jim joined VidCon in 2014 as editorial director of the industry track, and took over as CEO in 2017. in early 2018 he led the sale of VidCon to Viacom. He is also a Venture Partner at seed investment firm Social Starts and recently did extensive consulting with a variety of top tech and media companies.

Throughout his career, Jim has earned a reputation as a visionary who excels at leading startups, growth businesses and turnarounds. His most well-known role prior to VidCon was as CEO of Revision3, where he helped drive a 20x increase in viewers and a 12x increase in revenue beginning in 2007. In 2012, Jim sold Revision3 to Discovery Communications where he remained as General Manager, transforming the group into Discovery Digital Networks. Prior to Revision3, He was Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer for Ziff Davis Media’s Consumer group and Editor in Chief of many of the publisher’s titles including PC Magazine. He also helped launch cable network ZDTV and guide its transition to TechTV.

Jim is a recognized thought leader and sought-after speaker who has participated in countless industry events including Collision, The Video Marketing Summit, Digital Leaders San Francisco, International Journalism Festival, Mumbrella, Stream, Reel Online Video Marketing Summit and more. He is based in San Francisco, CA.

Sherry Huss is Co-founder of Maker Faire and a major advocate of "all things maker" in the global community. A former Vice President of Maker Media, her vision and passion have helped spark the maker movement and she has been instrumental in growing the Make: brand within the maker ecosystem. Sherry has recently joined The Freeman Company team as Innovator-in-Residence and is working on creating community and building tribes inside and outside the company. She is a founding member of LIVE Labs Studio, focusing on the future of LIVE, and is one of the founders of a new project, Decameron Row, “Perhaps the most ambitious new online arts project to emerge so far during COVID-19 and sheltering in place.”” She has over 30 years of technology marketing, management and event experience and has held senior management positions at MediaLive International, Key3Media, Ziff-Davis and Softbank.

As a Forbes, Forty over 40 Honoree, a 2019 & 2018 Hackaday Prize Judge, and Reinvented’s Advisor of the Year, she is passionate about making and the Maker community, and is an entrepreneur, event strategist, marketing maven, innovator, proven leader, community organizer and consultant who serves on advisory boards for: Reinvented, (a nonprofit organization that aspires to break barriers and aid the movement to get more girls involved in STEM by creating the nation’s first print magazine for women in STEM); Collab (a Fabrication Lab, Innovation Studio and Do Tank in NYC); Future Food Institute (an Italian-based non-profit, opening an office in San Francisco) with global horizons that aims to build a more equitable world through enlightening a world-class breed of innovators, boosting entrepreneurial potential and improving agri-food expertise and tradition); 180 Studios (North Bay’s Community Makerspace focused on workforce development, community and making for all ages) and Sonoma Family Meal (Sonoma County’s Emergency Food Network delivering chef made meals to families in need).

Martin Porter provides senior-level executives in media & entertainment with information services, event experiences and industry initiatives. He is co-founder and executive director of the Sports Video Group (SVG) and Silicon Valley Video (SVV). Formerly, he was executive producer of CE Week and founder and executive director of the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA). He can be contacted at: [email protected]

Chona Freeman has been leading the Living in Digital Times Digital Marketing efforts since its inception in 2006. Her design skills and web development experience allow for a knockout “brand” experience for all our conferences and events. From website creation to registration systems, from blog management to high-impact signage and creative design, Chona is a virtual Renaissance Woman with an eye for design and a knack for digital integration for high-impact results.

Kaare Christian has been producing the Last Gadget Standing and Mobile Apps Showdown competitions at CES for the last five years. He’s also involved in the KAPi awards, Young Innovators to Watch, and many other LIDT activities. Prior to LIDT, Mr. Christian worked with the Young People’s Chorus of New York, helping to manage concerts at most major NYC halls including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd St Y, and many others. Mr. Christian has a background in biomedical engineering, and was a principal at Optical Imaging Ltd. for over ten years, and before that he worked in the Wiesel Laboratory at the Rockefeller University. He also has a background in photography, including a stint with WWLP in Springfield Mass as a TV news photographer. He is the author of a dozen books on programming and technology. Outside the tech world, Mr. Christian is a founder of the Roe Jan Watershed Community, a regular contributor to the Hudson River Almanac, and an avid paddler and outdoors enthusiast. He’s the father of three, married to Robin Raskin, and he is still trying to locate his smart watch.

She discovered the power of brands 14 years ago at UBM/Informa, orchestrated brand licensing and strategic partnerships as VP Business Development at the licensing trade association, and is currently creatively enhancing brand storytelling as the CEO of PowerStation Studios US.

Infusing her military, chemistry and sales backgrounds, Weisman is on a constant mission to find C… because when you’re trying to get from A to B, you’ll never spot C.

Alfred Poor is a technology speaker and writer with an international reputation. Over the past forty years, he has covered a range of industries from personal computers to displays to health technology. He was a Contributing Editor with PC Magazine for more than 22 years and was on the masthead of at least a half dozen other major computer and technology magazines. A graduate of Harvard College, he is the author or co-author of more than a dozen books, including titles from Microsoft Press and Addison-Wesley. He has built his career on his skill at making complex concepts accessible to people, through the written word as well as on-site and online events. 

Alfred is in demand as a speaker at on-site and online events. He was the Keynote Speaker and Honorary Program Chair of The Digital Health Show in Melbourne, Australia. He has spoken at the Digital Health Summit at CES in Las Vegas for the past six years. Among his upcoming engagements, he will be the Summit Co-Host for the three-day NG Healthcare Summit in December and will be presenting an online program for the First Flight Society in December as well. He is also a partner in charge of the online experience for the Techfluence series of online tradeshows for the technology media. Additional information is available at https://alfredpoor.com.

Mary Ann Pierce is the founder & CEO of MAP Digital, Inc., who for over 20 years has fused the digital space to investment banking conferences and built MetaMeetings, a live, hybrid and virtual event Software as a Service. Since March 2020, the MAP Digital team has produced over 2,000 live webcasts…remotely.

Mary Ann has a background in direct marketing, corporate communications, theater and arts management. She has produced webcast events for pharmaceuticals, media and advertising companies, universities; along with hundreds of live investment banking webcast conferences worldwide.

MAP Digital also uses their MetaMeetings platform for social good. Our pro-bono clients are the Global Summit of Women, the Equality Moonshot and WATCH Media (#WeAreTheCHange), a GenZ news program produced with graduates of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

She is a former board member of Digital Irish and was an advisor for the MIT Enterprise Forum NYC and Inspirefest in Dublin. She taught digital event design at New York University and has been a speaker at may prestigious events including IMEX, PCMA, MPI, and Ideagen UN Empowering Women & Girls 2030 Summit at the UN. MAP Digital is certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Conference.

“Meetings Today” named MAP Digital CEO, Mary Ann Pierce as a Trendsetter for 2022: “For over 20 years, Pierce has organized hybrid events for clients and is now generously sharing what she has learned with planners and suppliers and showing the events industry the way forward.” In 2017, “Meetings & Conventions Magazine” named Pierce as one of The Top 25 Women in the Meetings Industry, noting that “Pierce is ahead of the curve, as the rest of the industry now embraces data capture and analytics as the next frontier.”

Catherine McConville is an early responder to new technologies that have shaken – not stirred – our communication mediums and methodologies. She has been a pioneer for internet advertising at Prodigy, cellphone marketing at SkyGo, experiential OOH immersive ads at Reactive Networks, and virtual event platform SciMeetings at ACS. With a rich background in B2C and B2B media including consumer, tech, life sciences, and biotech categories, Catherine translates the complex into easy-to-understand concepts for clients, agencies, and colleagues alike. Her unique skills are to “see around corners” and understand the rapidly changing events landscape. She has the ability to translate client objectives into measurable results building revenue and loyalty. Catherine provides clarity, strategy, and insights to the VEG Group as we move ahead to serve our partners, customers, and the virtual event category with her long tenure in media and marketing and familiarity in navigating the ambiguity of an emerging, shifting virtual and hybrid events market.

Since June 2021, Marian has served as Senior Advisor at the Toy Association in support of the Meeting and Events team.

During her 22 year tenure, she was responsible for management of the Toy Association’s two live go-to-market events: Toy Fair New York, the largest toy trade show in the Western hemisphere and Toy Fair Dallas, the by-appointment-only event targeted to long-lead buyers where toy makers and marketers preview the following year’s lineup to key accounts. Over those years, Marian has expanded the Toy Association’s live events to include a consumer-facing event, Play Fair. The event, dubbed a public celebration of play and entertainment for all ages, ran two years in 2016 and 2017. Under her leadership, the Association expanded their portfolio of go-to-market initiatives to include the toy industry’s first digital social marketplace, Toy Fair Everywhere and in 2020 launched the Toy Association’s Private Preview program in partnership with key retailers sourcing product in specific categories and from suppliers meeting specific criteria. Her team also organized the Association’s Annual Business conference which takes place in the home city of key retail partners in Seattle, Minneapolis and in 2022, Bentonville. In addition, Marian organized international trade missions to emerging markets with the goal of assisting members grow their businesses beyond North America.

Marian came to the Toy Association in 1999 after spending five years in the exhibition management industry and prior to that enjoyed a 16-year career in sales and customer service for Delta Air Lines.

She has previously served on the Advisory Board to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, NYC & Company and Women in Toys.

She is a 1977 graduate of Rutgers University and a life-long resident of New Jersey.