About
Social Media Week is a global platform that connects people, content, and conversation around emerging trends in social and mobile media.
Delivered primarily through a network of internationally hosted conferences and online through social media, Social Media Week literally connects hundreds of thousands of people every year through learning experiences that aim to advance our understanding of social media’s role in society.
History
Social Media Week, organized by Crowdcentric, was held for the first time in February 2009 in New York City, and was launched as a distributed conference, with events taking place throughout the city with organizations such as the New York Times, Wired, Razorfish and Nielsen. Over 2,500 people attended over forty individual events, and thousands more participated online.
In February 2010, the organizers expanded the conference from one to six cities, reconvening in New York while adding London, Berlin, San Francisco, Toronto and São Paolo to the fold. This multi-city event attracted more than 7,500 attendees across 200 events, nearly all of which were made available for free to attendees thanks to sponsorship from a number of global brands, including Meebo and PepsiCo. And in addition to the physical events, Social Media Week organizers also streamed many of the events live and hosted real time conversations at socialmediaweek.org, reaching more than 100,000 unique visitors with millions of impressions generated throughout the social web. In February 2011, Social Media Week will return again to these six cities, plus additional new cities.
Social Media Week is owned and operated by Crowdcentric Media LLC.
Meet the Global Team:
Toby Daniels, Founder & Executive Director, Social Media Week, and CEO, Crowdcentric
Twitter:@tobyd
Toby Daniels is the CEO of New York based Crowdcentric, which was founded as a means of bringing people together around the world via collaborative platforms that fuse real-world and online and mobile experiences, connecting people, content and conversation. Crowdcentric owns and operates Social Media Week. Toby is also the co-founder and executive director of ThinkSocial at the Paley Center for Media, a non-profit initiative that is dedicated to advancing public interest activism through emerging media and technology. In his spare time, Toby likes to run marathons, scuba dive, snowboard, travel and pretend that he can surf. Unfortunately he can’t.
Brian Leddy, Operations Director, Social Media Week,
and COO, Crowdcentric
Brian Leddy is COO of Crowdcentric and operations director of Social Media Week. Brian formed Crowdcentric with Daniels in May of 2010. Brian is also a managing partner with Citiology, an invite-only social network centered around nightlife and restaurants in NYC. Prior to joining the web start-up world in 2008, Leddy worked in finance for seven years at a notable hedge-fund based in New York.
Ben Scheim, Global Director, Social Media Week,
and VP, Crowdcentric
Twitter: @slangeditorial
Ben Scheim is vice president at Crowdcentric, responsible for sponsorship, media partnerships, and communications. Previously he was manager of the Paley Center for Media’s International Council conferences, a private biannual CEO-level meeting of global media heads. Ben loves music, biking, and technology, and strives to live within a happy cross-section of seriousness and laughter.
Lauren Hurst, Global Director, Social Media Week,
and VP, Crowdcentric
Twitter: @laurentarahurst
Lauren Hurst is vice president at Crowdcentric, responsible for brand partnerships & special projects. Lauren is also director of design and collaboration for Nest (buildanest.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering female artists and artisans around the globe. Previously, Lauren spent her days behind the scenes in film and television. Lauren loves outdoor food markets, retro design, travel to old places, polaroid cameras & extra jalapenos.
