On November 2, Connatix held the inaugural Captivate summit, an exclusive, invite-only afternoon curated for marketers to explore the innovations shaping the next era of video advertising. From Web3 and the metaverse to new brand safety tools and programmatic convergence, we covered the hard hitting topics impacting advertisers and began to chart the course toward a captivating future.
At Connatix, Jenn leads the global growth and expansion of the publisher development, buyer, partnerships and marketing teams. Previously, she was the VP/GM of Programmatic at Sizmek, where she scaled the programmatic business and drove several strategic acquisitions. Jenn co-founded Givology.org, a nonprofit which connects donors to students in developing countries.
At Connatix, Dor leads the product delivery organization, including the product and the R&D teams. Previously, Dor was the founder of Kamidoo, an AI-powered text-to-storytelling technology startup that was acquired by Connatix in 2019. Prior to his current role, Dor served as VP of AI and Content Automation, leading the tech team behind the company’s content analysis and generation technologies.
Jounce Media is the industry leader in programmatic supply chain management and is trusted by the world's largest marketers, media companies, and advertising technology platforms to enable high efficiency programmatic trades. Chris Kane founded Jounce Media in 2015.
Chris was previously Chief of Staff to the CEO and CFO at AOL. Prior to AOL, Chris managed a portfolio of enterprise accounts at Turn, a pioneer in the DSP category. He started his career as a management consultant at Oliver Wyman where he focused on the converging media and technology sectors.
Jesse Fisher is a 15-year digital media veteran with deep expertise in ad tech, programmatic strategy, identity resolution and audience data. He has held numerous positions over the years prior to Horizon Media, most notable at MediaMath, LiveRamp, Everyday Health (now Ziff Davis) and Yahoo. At Horizon, Jesse oversees Programmatic Strategy, Data & Partnerships across HX-LA.
Esra manages partnerships and programmatic investment for GroupM across programmatic with major focus on CTV. Utilizing the power and sophistication of GroupM’s position in the marketplace, Esra has been leading some key initiatives that help GroupM clients to access quality inventory with full supply chain transparency. She negotiated key partnerships with SSPs, publishers and buying platforms incl DSPs with main goal of creating quantifiable buying advantages in programmatic for GroupM clients. Esra is a trusted partner to GroupM agencies, clients, and vendors thanks to her fair, but direct, approach to deals, her commitment to finding terms that are wins for everyone involved, and her expertise in the digital landscape spanning formats and platforms.
Prior to her role at GroupM, Esra worked at Criteo as Business Development Director playing a critical role in building Criteo's presence in EMEA. She holds a Master of Science degree from Vienna University of Economics and Business with major in International Marketing and
Management.
Ashley is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of obé, a premium on-demand fitness platform with a focus on bringing entertainment and pop culture to fitness. Obé offers the most live and on-demand classes and variety in the category, plus partnerships with Hollywood studios and brands such as Athleta, Samsung, American Airlines, WW and more.
An entertainment industry veteran, Ashley previously spent a decade representing television’s top talent and content providers across network and digital platforms. Ashley began her career at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and eventually came to lead the lifestyle talent department, where she was responsible for recruiting top talent, building out television and digital platforms and overseeing endorsement and licensing businesses.
Sarah Stringer has come quite some way since she started out in London, with her first job in media booking ads for the UK’s largest funeral company. After making the move from funerals to the music industry, she spent three years working on Universal Music before moving to Melbourne, Australia.
Sarah joined Carat Australia in 2011 as a strategist, delivering impressive results on brands such as Disney, Nintendo, Adidas and Mattel, including the launches of movies: The Avengers, Frozen and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Previously named a "Formidable Femme" in Campaign Asia's Women to Watch 2015, she became the youngest member of the agency’s senior management team, founding the Innovation department in Australia, where she focused on delivering technology and trends insights to agency teams and clients.
Stringer joined the Carat USA team in 2016 and was recognized as a 2018 Adweek Young Influential and Internationalist Agency Innovator. As Head of Innovation, Sarah launched the agency's thought leadership series Brave Brews, led the strategy that helped Carat retain Microsoft and most recently worked on key innovation initiatives including Gaming programs for Subway and GM, and The Home Depot IdeaJam Project. Stringer now leads the Media Partnerships team across dentsu Media in the US, working with its biggest partners and identifying the newest innovators to maximize value for its clients and differentiate the dentsu offering.
Will is the Vice President of Inventory Development at The Trade Desk where he oversees strategic partnerships with publishers on behalf of The Trade Desk’s advertising clients. Will’s scope includes building relationships with legacy media companies, television networks as well as new and emerging channels. He has been responsible for launching products including OpenPath and championing Unified ID 2.0 amongst the publisher side of digital media.
Prior to joining The Trade Desk, Will spent seven years at Index Exchange as Chief of Marketplace Development, where he led the global growth and business development for one of the largest independent SSPs. He also has served as the Director of Business Development for Netmining, a provider of display targeting solutions.
Will is a graduate of Bates College and lives outside New York City with his family.
Ilana Wollin currently leads the global partnerships team at Xandr, focused on supporting and growing spend from third-party demand partners. She works closely with clients to improve integrations and drive partnership and product adoption. In her decade long tenure at Xandr (previously known as AppNexus), Ilana has developed and grown several teams and key client relationships across the business and is on the board of the Women’s Network. Prior to AppNexus, Ilana was a Manager of Strategic Accounts at Datalot and a key Account Manager at AOL. She holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from Emory University and lives in the suburbs of New York City with her husband and children.
Justin Fromm is an experienced media executive and a leading expert in the Connected TV and SVOD space. Justin has extensive experience as a data leader, conducting strategic research on the value and effectiveness of TV and digital media as advertising platforms, the marketing of televisual programming, and the effects of new technology on consumer behavior and the media industry.
Amanda Gomez is a seasoned ad ops veteran with many years of experience. She has worked for major publications such as the Wall Street Journal and currently the New York Post where she is the Director of
Revenue Operations. At the Post, she has a multifaceted role where she manages direct and programmatic revenue for the New York Post Network of sites, as well as manages relationships with vendors, works internally with account executives, and is greatly involved in any vertical launches and site changes. Amanda has played a key role in the network, growing the digital business from 9 – 22 unique users in just over a year’s
time.
Kerel Cooper is President of Advertising at Group Black where he leads Group Black's advertising revenue & operations team including sales, ad operations and customer success. Cooper is an award-winning executive with 20+ years of digital media experience building Advertising Operations, Account Management, and Marketing teams. Before joining Group Black, Kerel was the Chief Marketing Officer at LiveIntent, where he led teams that managed campaigns for key publishers and advertisers, and teams that helped the company better understand the customer’s journey. He is the co-founder and co-host of Minority Report Podcast which highlights people of color, women & LGBTQ+ leaders within business, media, and technology.
He has been widely recognized for his leadership and innovation. Kerel was included in Crain's New York Business Notable Black Leaders and Executives 2021 list. He is the recipient of the 2021 AdWeek Readers’ Choice best of tech diversity advocate of the year award, the 2021 Diversity Advocate of the Year award by Campaign Tech Awards and 2021 Award of Excellence by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts.
Motivated by his passion for strategy and innovation in media and ad tech, Mike Richter leads Global CTV & Digital Revenue Operations at TMB. He is a driving force behind the strategy and revenue growth of TMB’s (formerly Jukin Media) streaming TV brands – FailArmy, The Pet Collective, People Are Awesome, WeatherSpy, and more – and helped shape TMB as a leader in streaming TV. In addition to CTV, Mike leads the team behind TMB’s programmatic operations across TMB’s portfolio of market-leading internet publications – Reader’s Digest, Taste of Home, Family Handyman, and more. A former hair stylist and makeup artist, Mike put down the shears to pursue a career in TV and digital media, beginning his journey from local TV ad sales to global CTV & Digital revenue leadership.
Prior to joining TMB, Mike was the Director of Programmatic Revenue at Newsy, where he led initiatives to grow programmatic revenue across the company’s CTV distribution. Prior to his time with Newsy, he held multiple roles at TEGNA. Originally starting at a local TV station in Charlotte, NC as an Account Executive, he helped local businesses grow and achieve new heights through the power of local advertising. He then joined the founding team of TEGNA’s newest division, Premion, in NYC as Product Marketing Manager. He helped launch and monetize the company’s new venture in local CTV advertising across more than sixty TV markets.
Mike has a BA in Business Management from East Carolina University. He is an avid traveler, a creative baker, a lover of arts & entertainment, always ready to try out the latest and greatest tech, and a proud dog dad to Finn!
Adam leads Business & Partner Marketing at Niantic, the world’s leading augmented reality company, with a focus on how AR-games, entertainment, and immersive experiences unite the digital and physical worlds. In this role, Adam is focused on establishing Niantic’s commercial identity across the global marketing ecosystem, working hand-in-hand with marketers, agencies, and consultancies to create innovative programs that bring brands to life inside Niantic’s vision for the “Real World Metaverse,” and drive real-world business results. With over 20 years of experience, Adam is one of the most well rounded and respected leaders in the industry, having served in many senior roles across GroupM, Starwood Hotels, Publicis Media, and Group Nine (now Vox Media), helping some of the biggest brands transform and grow their businesses through digitally-led, advertising, marketing, and creative solutions.