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Who and what we are.
mediabistro.com is dedicated to anyone who creates or works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and others in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design. Our mission is to provide opportunities to meet, share resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects and news, improve career skills, and showcase your work.
Sponsor an event
or advertise with us.
Our
greater goal: To revolutionize the way creative/content industry professionals
relate. Call it the AvantGuild,
a new guild for the new guard in media. Media professionals have so much in common,
yet we work in our little cubicle worlds, rarely meeting, rarely sharing our collective
experiences. We want to create a new version of the 14th-century guild system—so
that talented professionals in related industries can meet informally, mentor
each other, work on projects together, and more. Go ahead, call us idealists.
Call us medievalists even!
Join
the AvantGuild network of media professionals today!
Click here to get support from our
customer community, and find out how to contact us directly.
Staff
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Laurel Touby, Founder & Cyberhostess laurelT AT mediabistro.com The original idea for mediabistro.com was cooked up in 1994, when Laurel—then a freelance business writer and Glamour magazine contributor—and a friend decided to host a mixer for media people. About 20 editors, writers, and other content creators came to that original cocktail party at Jules Bistro in the East Village. Attendees bought their own drinks and enjoyed casual after-work bonding in the company of like-minded people. The parties quickly grew, and soon Laurel had 4,000 of New York's top media talent on her email list. After creating a website in 1996 and adding features such as job listings, bulletin boards, classes, e-classes, media and a freelance marketplace, Touby's business began to take off. Today, the site also includes news, events and "learn" emails, as well as media industry blogs. More than 850,000 media professionals have registered for various mediabistro.com services around the world. Laurel started her career at Young & Rubicam/NY in the media planning department. She left Y&R to become an editorial assistant at Working Woman, moved on to Business Week as a staff editor, and in 1993 began editing and writing a column on workplace issues for Glamour. She has covered everything from travel to business to breast cancer for a variety of publications, including New York, Travel + Leisure, Self, Redbook, McCall's, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping, Working Mother, and the New York Daily News. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Laurel grew up in Miami (before South Beach existed) and graduated from Smith College with a degree in economics. Follow Laurel on Twitter. (Photo credit: Gary He) |
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| Kiran Aditham, Editor, AgencySpy [send message] Kiran joined mediabistro.com in June 2009 and has been riling up ad agencies ever since as the editor of AgencySpy. Prior to joining Mediabistro, Kiran spent two years as a digital reporter for Crain's Creativity magazine and two years before that as managing editor of online marketing site Adotas.com. On the side, Kiran dabbles in music/film journalism and his work has appeared in Fangoria, Grooves, XLR8R, The New Times and sites like PrefixMag.com. He still continues his unenviable search to find someone else who shares equal love and admiration for horror films, tennis and the Golden Girls. |
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| Omer Algar, General Manager [send message] Omer, our chief technologist and our operating officer, is responsible for maintaining and growing mediabistro.com. An avid J-24 sailor, he likes our company's sails trimmed and tactics ticking. Formerly at Logicat Inc., he managed the development and operations of educational data services, including the College Board's Enrollment Planning Service and Predictor Plus. He grew up in lovely Istanbul, finished high school at Robert College, and then came to the U.S. to earn a B.A. degree in computer science and economics from Hamilton College. |
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| Weston Almond, Video Producer [send message] Weston has produced and directed everything from award-winning videos for the Muppets to videos on land mine safety in Afghanistan, environmental awareness with Meryl Streep, and preppie clothing for Polo Ralph Lauren. He has written seven feature-length screenplays that are in various stages of development, including a comedy, Victory & Loco, sold to Warner Brothers Studios. Born and raised on the twenty-six mile long island of Manhattan, Weston enjoys all things nautical, from sailing as first mate aboard the historic 102-foot schooner Pioneer to delving into the history of passenger liners from all over the world. He is a member of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Writers Guild of America. |
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| Alex Alvarez, Newsfeed Editor and Co-Editor, FishbowlNY [send message] A Brooklyn-based writer and editor, Alex is editor of mediabistro.com's Morning Media Newsfeed and co-editor of FishbowlNY. Her work has appeared on Guanabee, Racialicious, Jezebel and Sadie Magazine, as well as within the pages of Surface and Playgirl. She hopes to continue covering topics as diverse as ethnic identity, celebrity baby names and, of course, New York media, as long as the Internet will have her. She is currently working on a novel you will never read. Send Alex a news tip. |
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| Chris Ariens, Editorial Director [send message] Chris joined mediabistro.com in July 2007 as editor of TVNewser.com and executive producer of the blog network and was promoted to editorial director in June 2009. Before joining mediabistro, Chris spent seven years at MSNBC, as a line producer, coordinating producer for the Olympics, and lastly as executive producer of daytime programs., Chris worked as a producer in local TV news in Green Bay (WLUK) and Tampa (WFTS). Born, raised, and schooled in Wisconsin; skiing and travel keep Chris from falling into a TV news trance. Follow TVNewser on Twitter. |
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| Damien Barchowsky, Programmer [send message] Damien has been writing the code that makes mb tick since 1999, initially as a freelancer and as a fulltime employee since the summer of 2003. Before he became a freelance tech guy in 1998, he worked for Bloomberg L.P., doing design work and computer programming for the TV network. He lives in San Francisco, and he writes and draws comics in whatever small amount of free time he can scrounge up. |
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| Amanda Barrett, Director of Marketing [send message] Amanda spreads the mediabistro.com love in a professionally appropriate way. She studied theater at Barnard College, Columbia University, and has an M.A. and M. Phil. in Performance Studies from NYU. Those things have turned out to be surprisingly useful in her marketing career. Amanda likes outsider art, fixing stuff, and all things Brooklyn. |
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| Donya Blaze, Senior Editor [send message] As mediabistro.com's senior editor, Donya spends her days, nights, and shower time thinking of new and interesting feaures that speak to the needs of busy media professionals. She should know -- before joining mb, she worked in every aspect of the business other than cleaning floors. She has been an on-air announcer for WOWI-FM, WPGC-FM, WUSL-FM, and WCAU-TV, and the urban programming manager for AOL Music and AOL Radio. More recently, she published the music magazine Milk and freelanced for HoneyMag.com, Sister 2 Sister, and Upscale. In her free time, she enjoys Cold Stone Creamery's Birthday Cake Remix (a Like It Serving, please), reruns of Martin (Damn, Gina!), and shopping for bargains (Do you have a rewards program?). |
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| Jason Boog, Editor, Mediabistro Publishing [send message] As editor of Mediabistro Publishing, Jason Boog curates publishing events and shapes the digital publishing curriculum at mediabistro.com. He also edits the GalleyCat blog and hosts the daily Morning Media Menu podcast. Before mediabistro.com, Jason was an investigative reporter at Judicial Reports and a publishing blogger for Know More Media. His work has appeared in The Believer, Granta, Salon.com, The Revealer, and Peace Corps Writers. |
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Charlene Caronan, Events Coordinator [send message] Charlene joins mediabistro.com after two years of working in film publicity. Shortly after graduating from the University of Virginia, she decided to migrate north and give it a shot in NYC. She landed a job working at Fat Dot, where she ran publicity campaigns for the latest films, read scripts, planned premieres, and attended film festivals across the country. When Charlene isn't helping to plan the next Mediabistro event, she can be found striking up conversation with random Manhattanites, attempting to cook exotic cuisine, and plotting her next board game victory. |
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Jacky Carter, Community Coordinator [send message] Jacky came to mediabistro.com after three years in print design. She graduated with a journalism degree from The University of Kansas in 2006. If you plan on watching March Madness in her vicinity, you better be cheering for the Jayhawks. Jacky loves to travel -- her most recent trip was five weeks around the U.S., Caribbean and Costa Rica, where she flew like Superman on a zipline in a forest. Jacky also enjoys reading, writing, running, and when people efficiently use sidewalks. |
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Shao Chen, Director of Development [send message] Shao Chen hails from Brooklyn and likes to find new restaurants and places to eat at. She has eaten at almost all the restaurants in Chinatown and can tell you where to get the best soup dumplings or ice cream -- two of her favorite foods. Shao also knows several languages, such as Chinese, English, PHP, Java, VBscript, and Javascript. Shao graduated from New York University with a degree in Computer Science and Economics. |
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Kirsten Cluthe, Producer, Conferences and Special Events [send message] Kirsten joined mediabistro.com after working in Beijing on the 2008 Olympics, and a longer tenure at GE, where she was charged with creating events that inspired innovation and cultural change at one of the world's largest companies. She began her career in the music industry coordinating concert tours and recovering lost baggage for traveling musicians. At mediabistro.com, Kirsten curates and directs content for conferences and events, and is always on an impassioned quest for the most interesting, relevant speakers in media, technology, and business -- so if you know anyone, please email her. |
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Bill Conneely, Director of Job Market, Strategy and Business Development [send message] Bill started his career in media 30 years ago when he and his brothers monopolized their neighborhood paper routes. He has been strategizing ever since. His experience includes 10 years in strategic planning, consumer marketing and business development at The New York Times. Prior to working at The Times, Bill spent four years developing and implementing alternative dispute resolution services as director of community mediation programs for the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center in San Mateo, CA. Bill is a graduate of Grinnell College, a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School. |
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Molly Stark Dean, Co-Editor, TVNewser [send message] Before working at mediabistro.com, Molly worked on Fox News Channel's Assignment Desk. She's been in news for the majority of her life: She used to interview her stuffed animals and used her little siblings as her crew. Her high school was a CNN student bureau. Molly interned at six newsrooms in three markets over her two college degrees from Suffolk University and the New York University Journalism school: WGBH-TV (PBS), WHDH-TV (NBC), WNYT-TV (NBC), USA Today, Nightline (ABC), and the Brian Ross Investigative Unit (ABC). Molly doesn't play favorites, because she doesn't have one. |
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Dianna Ekins, Production Assistant [send message] Dianna edits and posts Web videos for Mediabistro On Demand and Graphics.com/Learning. She also performs as a PA for most of mediabistro.com's video shoots. For the past three years, Dianna has worked in video production and digital media at the Sundance Channel, The News Market, and Videoart.net. Prior to working in digital media, she worked for print publications such as AARP Magazine and Contact Design Magazine based in Phoenix, AZ. Dianna received her BA from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA and will be pursuing her Masters degree part-time in the fall of 2009 in Media Management at The New School. Dianna also has a former life as a nightclub DJ, having performed in several cities, including DJ residencies in Prague, Phoenix, and New York. |
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Courtney Ellert, Web Designer [send message] Courtney joined mediabistro.com in 2008 after graduating from RPI with a degree in Electronic Media, Arts, and Communication. When she�s not busy making all things graphically related to mediabistro.com look fabulous, she can probably be found at a show, in the car on her way to the beach, or half finishing a sewing project. Courtney loves New York but lives in New Jersey. |
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Jessica Eule, Associate Director of Education [send message] Jessica comes to mediabistro.com from the advertising and business departments of Gourmet. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a communications degree and interned at CBS News, Zagat Survey, and Working Mother. When she's not busy planning classes, Jessica can be found scoping out the latest restaurant, catching up on her DVR collection of reality television, and expanding her knowledge of wines under $5. |
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Frank Fazio, Senior Director of Sales, Events [send message] Frank Fazio oversees mediabistro.com's event sponsorships, including cocktail parties, conferences, and panel discussions. Prior to joining mediabistro.com, he spent eight years as the director of sales at the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo Series, which was formerly owned by WebMediaBrands. Frank is is a graduate of the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) and lives in Stamford, CT. In his spare time, you can find Frank coaching his daughter's soccer team, downloading music (legally of course), or hiking some random section of the Appalachian Trail. |
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Tonya Garcia, Editor, PRNewser, and Manager, PR Initiatives [send message] Tonya Garcia joined Mediabistro in August 2010 as editor of PRNewser. Most recently, Tonya was a member of the media team at the PR firm MS&L.; Prior to that, she spent three years as a reporter with PRWeek. She's also written about other things in places like Fast Company, Essence.com and the New York Press. Tonya's been a member of the same book club for more than a decade, she has a master's degree in journalism from NYU, and she's from Brooklyn but (unfortunately) doesn't have the accent. |
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| John Gephart, Senior Developer [send message] John is a Web developer and information junkie. Sports interests include playing racquetball, skiing, and destroying friends in fantasy sports leagues. He roots hard for the Philadelphia Eagles from deep within New York Giants country. John recently taught a cat to roll over on command after being told it couldn't be done. His Tivo is always overloaded, and he has probably seen every episode of Seinfeld at least 10 times. John's work has nothing to do with chemistry or beakers. |
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| Blake Gernstetter, Editor and Social Media Coordinator [send message] Blake joined mediabistro.com in 2008 after graduating from NYU with a B.A. in journalism and French. She was previously an intern at NBC Universal, Zagat Survey, ForbesTraveler.com, and three magazines in her native Chicago. When she's not busy entertaining and informing you on Facebook and Twitter, she loves to travel, read, bake pies, make people laugh, and use serial commas. |
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| Greg Horowitz, Director of Product Development [send message] Greg came to mediabistro.com from Time Inc., where, while working on renewals for People magazine, he learned more than he ever thought possible about Brangelina, K-Fed and other media-marinated nicknames. Prior to Time Inc., Greg ran online marketing departments at Uproar.com and Sony Digital Ventures and held various marketing and production roles at the Forward and Budapest Sun newspapers. A native of Princeton, NJ, Greg now lives in Brooklyn but loves to travel -- while plotting his next adventure, he often waxes poetic about his three glorious years as an expat in Hungary during the '90s. When not traversing the globe, he spends his free time running marathons (four and counting). Greg holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. |
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| Tiffany Kesden, Online Ad Trafficker [send message] Tiffany graduated with a B.S. in business administration (concentrating in finance and marketing) from Binghamton University in New York in May 2009. From there, she worked as a marketing coordinator intern for the SeekingAlpha, where she learned how to operate an ad server (GAM in this case) among other responsibilities. After her short but extremely valuable stay there, Tiffany joined the mediabistro.com team! She'll be the mastermind behind the smooth transition from outsourced ad managment to in-house (and then it's overseer from there on out). She is very excited to begin her career in the media world at such a welcoming company. |
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| Liana L. Kim, Account and Data Manager [send message] Liana graduated from Binghamton University in '03 and has always worked in media. She lived in London for a semester, where she had the chance to travel Europe while interning at a production house. Her previous positions include working as an editor at PRNewswire and as an on-air programmer at Lifetime Television. Her most recent adventure was in Korea, where she taught English and worked as an assistant director at a TV station. From Nas to Coldplay, Liana doesn't discriminate when it comes to music. In her spare time, you can find her researching a new exercise plan that never seems to last. |
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| Carrie Lieberman, Senior Account Manager [send message] Carrie joins mediabistro.com with more than eight years of online advertising sales experience. Previously at Yahoo! and The Knot Inc, Carrie thrives in the media world and in establishing strong relationships with our recruitment advertising partners. Carrie graduated from The University of Delaware and currently lives in New York City. |
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| Raymond Lo, Developer [send message] Raymond joined mediabistro.com's tech department in March 2008. He graduated from Rutgers University in 2003 with a BS in Computer Science. After being raised in the suburbs of New Jersey for most of his life, he is now slowly trying to adjust to the city life. When not found staring at computer screens at mediabistro.com, he'll most likely be found staring at computer screens at home, browsing the Web, playing online games, or managing his online investing portfolios. |
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Shauna Maher, Online Education Manager [send message] Shauna works with mediabistro.com's wide array of instructors to create content for the education department's online, self-paced, and On Demand offerings. Prior to joining mediabistro.com in 2006, she studied Comparative Literature at Georgetown University and interned at Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, and WashingtonPost.com. When not taking a Mediabistro class herself, Shauna can be found exploring the East Village, attempting to cook her way through Mario Batali cookbooks, and counting down the days until football season. |
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Noreen McCaffrey, Senior Marketing Manager [send message] Noreen has spent her career making sure you know and love her events. With a marketing degree from the University of Maryland in her pocket, Noreen returned to New York to put it to work at IIR and BizBash, where she marketed trade shows, conferences, and networking events for the design, marketing, innovation, and event planning worlds. When not touting mediabistro.com's wonderful events, Noreen can be found traveling, reading, laughing with friends, or pining for new Mac products. |
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Jude O’Connor, Advertising Sales Manager |
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| Amanda Pacitti, Education Assistant [send message] Amanda joined mediabistro.com as an education assistant in November 2009. A recent grad of The George Washington University, she earned her BA in American studies, compiling pop cultural research on topics ranging in type from deodorant advertising campaigns to Rambo films to Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She has interned with the National Museum of American History, CBS News and the Providence Phoenix, an alternative weekly located in her home state of Rhode Island. |
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Hussain Rahim, Online Marketing Associate |
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Kenny Rufino, Creative and Operations Director |
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Carmen Scheidel, Director, Education, Events, and Multimedia Content |
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Melissa Sumida, Production Assistant |
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Heather Frank Turk, Associate Director of Event Operations |
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Gretchen VanEsselstyn, Managing Producer, Education |
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Jessica Vollman, Events Coordinator |
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Alex Weprin, Co-Editor, TVNewser, and Editor, SportsNewser and WebNewser |
Some testimonials for mediabistro
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| I think Mediabistro is the best source on the web for media people. Laurel saw what was sorely missing in an industry that is all about contacts and did something about it, and absolutely all of us can appreciate her willingness to help connect people with people. Lucy Banduci CNNfn.com Associate Producer |
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| I've been meaning to call mediabistro and let you know what a fantastic job you've done with it. First off, I've recommended it to a ton of people both as a research and a posting tool. Secondly, as someone who as spent the past eight years hiring editorial types for Random House, I was impressed by the calliber of resumes that I received. I literally had over 100 applicants. Caroline Haberfield Editor-in-Chief Tripology |
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| mediabistro.com is by far the best resource, particularly in the NYC area, for finding good editorial and art people, and we've also had success with other areas as well. Our senior creative managers also use the site for sourcing freelancers regularly. I recommend the site to anyone interested in finding good creative people; there really is no comparable resource. Charlie Gray Director of Recruiting Ziff-Davis Media |
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| I check in with mediabistro every day. I don't even need a job right now, but it's great to see what is out there. Also, I read the Wired article about your site recently, and it was really inspirational to hear how you put all this together. Congratulations, you really have a brilliant site here. Cheers, Chris K., NYC |
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mediabistro.com in the News
Books/guides and other mentions of mediabistro.com
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 "Cybergrrl@Work: Tips and Inspiration for the Professional You," by Aliza Sherman, @ 2001. The book contains over 115 individual stories of women who are using the Internet @ work and in their businesses. |
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| "New York Writers Guide" published by www.iUniverse.com | ||
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| "Internet Cool Guide for 2001" published September 2000 by internet cool guide | ||
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