FriendFeed
About Us
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
|
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) |
|
| 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. |
|
| Kevin Allocca, Editor, TVNewser [send message] Kevin joined Mediabistro in 2009 to write about the TV news industry. Most recently, he was associate editor of the political satire Web site 23/6, where his work was often featured on the cable news networks he now covers. He has also traveled from post-Katrina Biloxi, Miss., to the Russian Arctic Circle as a documentary filmmaker, taught acting to hyper-active high school students, and earned a degree from Boston College. He grew up in South Florida with a tan, but now lives in New York City without one. Follow TVNewser on Twitter. |
|
| 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. |
|
| Chris Ariens, Editorial Director, Content [send message] Chris joined mediabistro.com in July, 2007 as editor of TVNewser.com and Executive Producer of the blog network. Before joining mediabistro, Chris spent seven years at MSNBC, as a line producer, co-ordinating 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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?). |
|
|
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. |
|
|
Joe Ciarallo, Manager of PR Initiatives and Editor of PRNewser [send message] Joe Ciarallo is editor of PRNewser and manager of PR initiatives for mediabistro.com, where he oversees PR related events, classes and Webcasts for the site. In his career as a communications professional, Ciarallo has worked with consumer, tech, nonprofit and entertainment clients from Fortune 500 companies to startups. Prior to joining WebMediaBrands, Joe worked at the Horn Group, a digital communications agency in downtown Manhattan. His writing and photography has appeared in PRWeek, PR News, Folio, DVDFanatic.com, LiveMusicBlog.com and JamBands.com. Ciarallo is often called upon to speak at industry events such as the PRSA T3 Conference and PR News Digital PR Next Practices conference. He is a graduate from the School of Media Arts & Design at James Madison University. |
|
|
Kirsten Cluthe, Producer Conferences and Special Events [send message] Kirsten joined mediabistro.com after a brief stint in Beijing working on the 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. Madly at work on mediabistro.com's first conference, she is on an impassioned quest for the coolest ideas, speakers and innovators in media and technology. When she's not in New York at work or at play, she freelances as a travel writer and can be found in a window seat indulging in her iPod playlists. |
|
|
Seamus Condron, Community Manager [send message] Seamus wears many hats at mediabistro.com. He writes snappy newsletters; he's the company's social media voice, and the General of a growing media army on the @mediabistro Twitter feed. He's also a goldmine of pop culture musings that can both delight and clear rooms. Some of Seamus' favorite things include everything Boston (including the Red Sox), being an early adopter, his Google Reader feed, British comedy, puppies, and diet coke. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
Katherine Dagenhart, Education Assistant [send message] Katherine joined mediabistro.com in December 2007 after dedicating much time free-laboring (interning) at a radio station, modern art museum, indie record label, and two magazines. She received her BA in Communication from the University of Delaware (where she grew up -- don't hate on her state) and studied abroad in Argentina. When not collaborating with her pod partner, being issued unofficial mediabistro laughter citations, collecting 'Best Folder' treasures, and concentrating on the life, times, and success of mbLearn, you can find Katherine dancing, thinking up dinner party recipes, reading girly mags, lounging, dreaming up her romcom in Central Park, or fantasizing about all things latino. She ventured to the city solo in June 2007 and has since met a lot of interesting people in the media industry and beyond. |
|
|
Lara Drasin, Membership Coordinator [send message] Lara comes to mediabistro.com straight from NYU, where she earned a dual degree in journalism and sociology. She has interned in law, print journalism, film production, casting for the stage and screen, and most recently, with NBC News. A notorious chocoholic (and cheeseaholic), she likes crossword puzzles, running (which comes in handy when you're a cheeseaholic) and spending time with friends. Lara also enjoys watching, telling, reading, writing and hearing stories in every medium -- even musical theatre. Okay... especially musical theatre. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
Courtney Ellert, Junior Designer [send message] Courtney is a recent graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Electronic Media Arts and Communication. She is a huge fan of clean design with lots of color. When not working or designing, Courtney loves cooking, reading gossip blogs (especially jezebel.com), upholstering furniture, and going to trivia nights. Courtney is an avid Lost watcher. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| Blake Gernstetter, Associate Editor [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. She loves to travel, read, bake pies and make people laugh. |
|
| David Hirschman, Newsfeed Editor [send message] David was one of the original editorial staffers at mediabistro.com in 2000, and has returned for a couple of tours of duty since. He is currently a full-time freelance writer and editor based in New York. He has edited mediabistro.com's Daily Media News Feed since 2002. |
|
| Greg Horowitz, Director of Membership [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 getting in shape for the NYC Marathon, which he's already completed twice. Greg holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University's Stern School of Business. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
| Stephanie Lee, Education Assistant [send message] Stephanie joined mediabistro.com as an education assistant in May 2009. She has experience in journalism, publishing, and education. From 2007-2008, she served as a high school Latin teacher at the Wheeler School in Providence, RI. Since then, she has worked for Manhattan Media, The New York Observer, HFMUS, and the Council on Foreign Relations. In her free time, she enjoys reading and writing. Stephanie graduated with a BA in classics from Brown University in 2008. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
|
|
Stephanie Mack, Events Coordinator Stephanie is a recent graduate of Rider University in New Jersey where she studied journalism, public relations, and event planning. Previous internships include Radio Disney AM 1560 and Atlantic Records at Warner Music Group. She currently lives in Staten Island, but is looking forward to moving in with friends soon. She is also very excited about starting her career at mediabistro.com and working in special events. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
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. |
|
|
Jude O’Connor, Advertising Sales Manager |
|
| Mara Piazza, Events Account Executive [send message] Mara Piazza oversees mediabistro.com's event sponsorships, including cocktail parties, conferences, and panel discussions. Mara joined mediabistro.com in November 2006 as events coordinator and was promoted to events manager in October 2007. Mara graduated from Boston University and currently lives in NYC. When not working, Mara likes going to the movies, running, and spending time with friends. |
|
|
Hussain Rahim, Online Marketing Associate |
|
|
Tatiana Ridley, Events Manager |
|
|
Kenny Rufino, Creative and Operations Director |
|
|
Carmen Scheidel, Director, Education, Events, and Multimedia Content |
|
|
Melissa Sumida, Production Assistant |
|
|
Heather Frank Turk, Associate Director of Event Operations |
|
|
Gretchen VanEsselstyn, Curriculum Editor, Mediabistro OnDemand |
|
|
Matt Van Hoven, Editor, AgencySpy |
Some testimonials for mediabistro
 |
|
|
| 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 |
||
|
||
| 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 |
||
|
||
| 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 |
||
|
||
| 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 |
||
|
||
|
||
mediabistro.com in the News
Books/guides and other mentions of mediabistro.com
|
|
|
 "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. |
||
|
||
| "New York Writers Guide" published by www.iUniverse.com | ||
|
||
| "Internet Cool Guide for 2001" published September 2000 by internet cool guide | ||
|
||
|
||
