About the event
The Next World Media Symposium is back! The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media professors JoAnn Sciarrino, John Sweeney and Gary Kayye will host this exciting event, now in its third year.
Join us in the Hanes Art Center (Room 121) on Friday, Nov. 13 from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. to hear from thought leaders in the evolving world of marketing and advertising. The days of our beloved "Mad Men" may be fading into a distant memory, but the future of the industry is bright — and our speakers are excited to share why.
This year's distinguished speakers include:
- Livis Freeman, Owner, 4ourFans
- Gretchen Walsh, SVP, Group Account Director at McKinney
- Liz Paradise, Executive Creative Director at McKinney
- Trip Park, art director, illustrator, movie marketer and painter
- Mark Rockett, SVP, Director of Data, Attribution & Insights at iProspect
- Dave Alsobrooks, Partner at The PARAGRAPH Project
- Stevie Archer, Associate Creative Director at McKinney
- Casey Brown, Events Marketing Associate at Facebook
Admission is free, but please register to reserve your seat. Coffee from Carolina Coffee Shop will be provided.
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Itinerary
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Welcome and Motivation for Next World Symposium
JoAnn Sciarrino, Master of Ceremonies
9 a.m.
Changes in Advertising (and Public Relations)
Livis Freeman, 4ourFans
9:10 a.m.
Our Careers in Advertising
Gretchen Walsh and Liz Paradise, McKinney
9:40 a.m.
My Careers Including Advertising
Trip Park
10:10 a.m.
The New World of Digital
Mark Rockett, iProspect
10:35 a.m.
Break
10:50 a.m.
The New World of Strategy
Dave Alsobrooks,The PARAGRAPH Project
11:20 a.m.
The Reinvented Job of Copywriter
Stevie Archer, McKinney
11:50 a.m.
The Reinvented World of Branding
Casey Brown, Facebook
About Dave Alsobrooks
Dave Alsobrooks
Partner at The Paragraph Project
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
Dave is an artist from the South. But it’s not as cut and dry as this, because being from the South is rife with inconsistencies if not outright contradictions. Listening to The Geto Boys on the way to church. Humidity and suits and ties. Integrated schools and segregated towns (even today). New South. Old South. And he’ll go out on a limb and tell you that passive-aggressiveness was born somewhere below the Mason-Dixon Line. These cultural contradictions have always interested Dave a great deal and continue to feed his interest in how people connect to each other and the world around them. He’s been his own client as an artist, but he also has a bleeding heart for brands in need of new stories. For the past ten years he’s worked on a number of brands across multiple categories, including ESPN, Schlitz, Starbucks, Lowe’s and Quiksilver. Besides being a partner at The PARAGRAPH Project, a co-founder and President of Avalo (formerly Bayou Rescue) and serving on the board of the Durham Art Guild, Dave is a distance runner, weekend cook (not a chef) and budding yogi.
“Searching means having a goal. But finding means being free, being open, having no goal.” — Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
About Stevie Archer
Stevie Archer
Associate Creative Director at McKinney
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
Though she was named after Stevie Nicks, this particular Stevie has yet to display any discernible musical talents. So instead she’s devoted herself to a life of advertising, created award-winning integrated campaigns for brands the likes of Nationwide Insurance, T.J. Maxx, Sherwin-Williams, and Samsung. She currently leads social efforts for Crocs and under her leadership the Travelocity Roaming Gnome became the most engaging brand icon in social media, and was inducted into Twitter’s exclusive ranks as a “Creative Favorite.” Her work has been recognized by the One Show, Cannes, Communication Arts, Mixx Awards, Creativity and even Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin.
“Writing is easy. Just stare at the screen of your computer until a tear drops on your keyboard.” — Paulo CoelhoAbout Casey Brown
Casey Brown
Event Marketing Associate at Facebook
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
Casey Brown, one of Facebook’s Event Marketing Associates, specializes in social media, marketing, and event planning. Social media marketing, digital marketing, advertising, and copyright are just a few of her exceptional communication skills. Before going to Facebook, Casey was the Marketing Manager at Mashable, a large digital media website providing news, information and resources. During her time at Mashable, Casey received the Best Use of Social Media award from BizBash Event Style Awards for the event Mashable House. This event, designed to interact with the company’s digital audience of over 17 million social media followers, succeeded greatly with over 3,900 Twitter mentions of the hash tag and 99 million Twitter impressions over the course of the three-day event. Casey graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication with an Advertising Specialization and a minor in Entrepreneurship.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
About Livis Freeman
Livis Freeman
Owner, 4ourFans
(LinkedIn)
Livis graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1999 with a degree in psychology. In 2001, Livis started a public and community relations company called 4ourFans to help professional athletes create their charitable identities, improve their image/marketability and give back to their communities and fans.
About Liz Paradise
Liz Paradise
GCD/EVP at McKinney
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
Liz Paradise started off her career where all great media professionals do, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduating, Liz went on to work at The Martin Agency for four years as a writer. Joining McKinney in 1991 as a copywriter, she currently holds the position of Executive Vice President/Group Creative Director after being at the agency for more than two decades. She has worked on brands such as Audi, NASDAQ, Select Comfort, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Lands’ End, Coldwell Banker, EAS, Nationwide Insurance and Radio Flyer. Liz’s work has earned awards from D&AD, Effie, the One Show, CLIO Awards, and many more. If you asked Liz her age, she’d say she was 22 if “you took [her] mental age and averaged it with [her] physical age” because she is “still excited like a little schoolgirl to come to work everyday.” With a husband, three kids and a Weimaraner dog at home, Liz even had time to star on the reality TV Show “The Pitch.”
“Shit happens.” — Connie Eble, "UNC-CH Slang"
About Trip Park
Trip Park
Mindless Painter at Studio Blind
(LinkedIn, Twitter, Blog)
After growing up in Ithaca, NY, Trip Park attended UNC-Chapel Hill from 1985-1989. He graduated from The Hussman School of Journalism and Media with a specialization in advertising. Trip then began working at Leo Burnett Advertising as an art director. From 1990-2012, he was the owner of Trip Park Productions. At Harper Collins/Parachute Publishing, Trip illustrated R.L. Stine’s Rotten School chapter books. Trip has been an advertising art director on a ton of tween/YA accounts with several top 10 agencies from NYC to Chicago, an animation character designer with Blue Sky Studios, worked in-house in their studio doing Consumer Products, illustrated 19 picture books (16 of which were the Rotten School series with R.L. Stine), then began painting (now in 10 galleries across the eastern seaboard in little over a year's time). Trip currently works for Studio Blind, and also in art direction and illustration for the CBS television series “The Crazy Ones.”
"Never stop learning."
About Mark Rockett
Mark Rockett
SVP, Data, Attributions & Insights at iProspect
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
As Senior Vice President of Data, Attribution & Insights, Mark knows performance marketing inside and out. Leveraging insights derived from holistic data measurement, he helps clients understand and invest in the specific channels and customer touch points proven to drive ROI. For the majority of his 22 year career, Mark has been at the forefront of digital advertising. In 2008, Mark created his first attribution model and has been enhancing and perfecting it ever since. A self-proclaimed data geek, Mark is a non-stop learner and problem-solver with both a will and a knack for educating while creating excitement about interactive media. In late 2014, the agency Mark founded in 2003 (Rockett Interactive), was purchased by the Dentsu Aegis Network and incorporated into iProspect. On the rare occasion Mark isn't advancing his attribution methodology, he can be found on the trampoline with his three beloved kids, enjoying weekends with his awesome wife Genevieve, wreck diving off the coast of North Carolina, or trying to knock a few strokes off his handicap.
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” — John Wanamaker, father of modern advertising and a “pioneer in marketing”
About Gretchen Walsh
Gretchen Walsh
SVP, Group Account Director at McKinney
(LinkedIn, Twitter)
Like the consumers we seek to connect with, Gretchen Walsh is driven by creative ideas. This very creative drive is what propelled her into the Group Account Director role at McKinney, where she is responsible for running strategy for the agency’s largest clients. Gretchen has spent her 15+ year career helping with the design, launch, and nurturing of creative ideas at some of the best creative shops in the business – including The Martin Agency; Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; Goldberg, Moser, O'Neill; Miller Freeman; and Foote, Cone & Belding. In roles ranging from Media Planner to Media Director, Gretchen has worked with brands such as Levi’s, Coors, MTV, eBay, UPS, HP, Nasdaq and Nationwide.
“Arise, go forth and conquer.” — Alfred Lord Tennyson