New York's Premier Media & Marketing Event

Meredith Kopit Levien was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The New York Times Company in June 2017. Ms. Kopit Levien oversees the teams responsible for digital product, design, audience and brand, consumer revenue, advertising, live events and new product development.

She was most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, a position she held since April 2015. In that role, Ms. Kopit Levien was responsible for the generation of all advertising and subscription revenue from The Times’s products and services and for leadership of the advertising, marketing, video and live event teams. Ms. Kopit Levien joined The Times Company in August 2013 as head of advertising.

She previously served as chief revenue officer at Forbes Media, where she led the North American and European revenue operations for Forbes.com, the Forbes Magazine Group and Forbes Conferences since 2011.

Ms. Kopit Levien is a current Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, an executive committee member of the board of the Ad Council, on the board of the IAB, and a co-chair of the Lincoln Center Media and Entertainment Council.

Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons is one of the most iconic figures in music, having sold tens of millions of records worldwide and is widely credited for ushering rap music into mainstream culture. An inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Run-D.M.C. was named the greatest hip-hop artist of all-time by both MTV and VH1. With his trademark Adidas sneakers, black track suits and gold chains, Run has long been a global fashion influencer. His hit MTV show, Run’s House, aired for six seasons and became one of the most widely viewed shows on cable television; Rev most recently starred in Rev Run’s Renovation on DIY and HGTV Networks.

Martha Stewart is an Emmy Award-winning television show host, entrepreneur, bestselling author of 90 books, and America’s most trusted lifestyle expert and teacher. Millions of people rely on Martha Stewart as a source of useful “how-to” information for all aspects of everyday living – cooking, entertaining, gardening, home renovating, collecting, organizing, crafting, holidays, healthy living and pets.

James Thompson is the Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer for Diageo North America. He oversees all aspects of Diageo’s marketing and innovation capabilities across the United States and Canada and is a member of Diageo North America’s Executive team.

James is passionate about using creativity as a critical tool for competitive advantage and ensuring that a focus on marketing and big ideas is central to all business activity. He believes that giving people freedom and support to pursue what excites them within a clear guiding framework can create magic for a business.

James assumed his current role in August 2015. He has worked for Diageo since 1994 in a variety of roles including Global Managing Director for Diageo Reserve; President – Guinness Canada; Senior Vice President Priority Brands, Diageo North America; and President – Global Marketing, Vodka, Rum and Ready-to-Drink categories. Before joining Diageo, James worked for Unilever for ten years in UK, US and Europe-based roles.

James holds a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts from University of Oxford, St. Anne’s College.

Alex Tapscott is an entrepreneur, investor, speaker, author and social innovator focused on the impact of emerging technologies on business, society and government. Alex is the co-author (with Don Tapscott) of the critically acclaimed #1 Globe and Mail Non-fiction best-seller, Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money Business and the World. His writing has been featured in TIME, Fortune, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail and dozens of other publications. Prior to writing Blockchain Revolution, Alex worked for 7 years in Canadian and U.S. Capital Markets – raising hundreds of millions of dollars in critical growth capital. Alex is also the founder and CEO of Northwest Passage Ventures, an advisory firm building blockchain companies. Alex currently sits on Advisory Board to Elections Canada, the independent, non-partisan agency responsible for conducting federal elections and referendums, and is a founding Member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Blockchain. Alex is also a founding member of the International Monetary Fund’s special advisory group on fintech. Alex is a graduate of Amherst College (cum laude) and is a CFA Charterholder. He lives in Toronto.

Nancy Lublin does not sleep very much. She is currently the Founder & CEO of Crisis Text Line, which has processed over 50 million messages in 4 years and is one of the first “big data for good” orgs. She was CEO of DoSomething.org for 12 years, taking it from bankruptcy to the largest organization for teens and social change in the world. Her first venture was Dress for Success, which helps women transition from welfare to work in almost 150 cities in 22 countries. She founded this organization with a $5,000 inheritance from her great-grandfather. Before leading three of the most popular charity brands in America, she was a bookworm. She studied politics at Brown University, political theory at Oxford University (as a Marshall Scholar), and has a law degree from New York University. She is the author of 4 books and is a board member of McGraw Hill Education. Nancy was a judge for 2017’s Miss USA Pageant (she thought that was hilarious.) Nancy is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (attending Davos multiple times), was named Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2014, and has been named in the NonProfit Times Power and Influence Top 50 list 3 times. She is married to Jason Diaz and has two children who have never tasted Chicken McNuggets.

John Nitti joined Verizon in December of 2015 as Chief Media Officer. He is responsible for the strategic development and day-to-day operations for media, sponsorships and digital marketing. Leading Verizon’s online marketing efforts, he oversees paid search, search engine optimization and mobile & programmatic media buying. John is also responsible for media investments across video, audio and local platforms. He works to drive deeper engagement with key sports and sponsorship partners such as the NFL, the NBA and INDYCAR.

Prior to joining Verizon, John served as Chief Investment Officer for Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia – Worldwide. While there, he managed the media investments for 20th Century Fox, JP Morgan Chase, Kohls, H&M and Toyota. Prior to that, John was a member of the management team for American Express and led their global media & sponsorship marketing efforts. John has also worked at Dentsu, Time, Inc. and Young & Rubicam.

Melissa Bell is the Publisher of Vox Media, the fastest growing modern media company known for its standout technology, high-fidelity advertising, and editorial brands that go deeper into the topics passionate people care about most. She is also the co-founder of Vox, Vox Media’s brand known for explaining the news.

Melissa has been named one of the Most Connected Women by Marie Claire, Most Powerful Women in Washington by the Washingtonian, and a top media Changemaker by Digiday.

Prior to Vox Media, Melissa oversaw digital platforms at the Washington Post, where she was also one of The Post’s most-read bloggers and a columnist for the Style section. Before joining The Post, she helped launch Mint, a Wall Street Journal subsidiary in India, where she lived for four years. She hails from San Diego, California and makes a mean banana-and-cheese quesadilla.