The Next Conversation:
Digging Into Audio
Lunch Event
Tuesday, July 16 11AM-2PM
Reuters, 3 Times Square, 30th Floor (Carnegie Room), NYC
A lunch event designed to dig deeply into a few tactical areas important to publishers exploring audio for their businesses – from podcasting to digital audio to voice-activated technology. The agenda will feature DCN member speakers who will share their insight and expertise and facilitate room-wide discussions to help our members exchange practical, in-depth information valuable to understanding where audio makes sense for their businesses.
Speakers and Agenda
Audio primer: what publishers should know
Nicholas Quah, Founder and Publisher, Hot Pod newsletter
Nick Quah is the founder and publisher of Hot Pod Media, the leading trade publication on the podcast industry. He is also a podcast critic for New York Magazine's entertainment website, Vulture, and he is currently working on a book of oral histories about podcasting.
Joseph Rosenfeld, SVP, Innovations and Partnerships, Dow Jones News Corp.
With more than 20 years of experience supporting B2B and consumer information businesses through executive leadership and innovative financial planning and analysis, Rosenfeld is a motivated leader and innovative strategist with a passion for developing results-generating solutions that align with company mission, values, and objectives. Rosenfeld has held senior leadership positions at Dow Jones for more than nine years. Prior to Dow Jones he served for 12 years as Financial Director & General/Business Manager for Hearst Magazines.
Audio in the Car
Joel Sucherman, Vice President, New Platform Partnerships, NPR
For more than 25 years Joel Sucherman has been helping to usher in the new ways we experience news and information. As NPR’s Vice President for New Platform Partnerships, Sucherman guides strategy and leads the teams that build NPR’s presence on voice assistants, connected cars, TVs and other emerging platforms. Under Sucherman’s leadership, NPR has become a preeminent brand on smart speakers, developing skills and actions on Alexa and Google Assistant platforms used by millions of people each month. Sucherman’s teams were also responsible for NPR One, an IOS and Android app that uses a combination of human curation and algorithms to provide a personalized radio news/podcast experience. Prior to working in public radio, Sucherman was instrumental in the digital transformation of USA TODAY, re-imagining storytelling for the “Nation’s Newspaper” on various platforms.
Paid Podcast Subscriptions
David Stern, Vice President, Product and Business Development, Slate
David Stern is VP of product & business development at Slate. He and his team manage the overall Slate reader and listener experience, prioritizing user satisfaction and monetization goals in shaping the product roadmap. Following his experience helping to launch and grow Slate Plus to nearly 50,000 members, David recently led the creation of Supporting Cast, a podcasting membership software service that allows podcasters and networks to sell access to paid audio content. Previously, David was online director at a nonprofit that engaged citizens in developing public policy. He also founded a user generated content startup whose clients included the Obama White House, The Associated Press, The Guardian, Slate, and other major media companies. David holds an MS from the London School of Economics and a BA from Cornell.
Building an audio business around a portfolio of diverse brands
Nishat Kurwa, Executive Producer of Audio, Vox Media
For the past 2.5 years, Nishat has helped to establish the Vox Media Podcast Network, one of the largest and fastest-growing collections of high-quality podcasts — currently, with more than 100 active shows. She leads podcast programming, production, and new show development across the company's editorial networks and partners.
Previously, Nishat spent more than a decade as News Director/Senior Producer at the Peabody Award-winning independent production company Youth Radio (NPR's Youth Desk). After Youth Radio, Nishat joined APM's Marketplace, where she led the digital publishing team. Nishat is a mentor for the Third Coast International Audio Festival's Radio Residency and also publishes the women of color-centered newsletter Talk Story.
This is a free event for DCN members. The unique, members-only attendee list allows for open conversation, information sharing and networking .
Thank you to our DCN Member, Reuters, for hosting this event.