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!
Here's
where you can find out how to contact us by email, phone, U.S. mail, or in person.
Staff
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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. (Photo credit: Gary He) |
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| Omer Algar, Vice President, Operations [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. |
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| 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. |
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| Chris Ariens, Executive Producer, News [send message] Chris has been with mediabistro.com since July, 2007. He becomes only the second editor of the TVNewser blog (after wunderkind-founder Stelter). Chris spent the last seven years at MSNBC, as a line producer, co-ordinating producer for the Olympics, and lastly as executive producer of daytime programs. Before that, 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Amanda Barrett, Associate Director, Marketing
for Events & Education [send message] Amanda is a word nerd in a sea of geeks. Her job is to make sure people like you know about mediabistro.com courses and events. Prior incarnations of Amanda include Academic Amanda (working, teaching and/or studying at Columbia, Cooper Union, CUNY, and NYU) and Art Administrator Amanda (at the Brooklyn Academy of Music). She studied theater at Barnard College, Columbia University, and received an M.A. and M. Phil. in Performance Studies from NYU. She likes outsider art, freeform radio, and all things Brooklyn. |
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Shao Chen, Development Manager [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. |
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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. |
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Seamus Condron, Community Manager [send message] Seamus is a writer and amateur humorist who is noted for accomplishing the least of anyone on Earth with his given talents. After an unsuccessful stint doing impersonations in front of disinterested family members from age 5-10, Seamus had equally ugly results as a stand-up comic. When not blogging or being the office's comic foil, he strategizes (meaning reads lots of blogs) online community and social media, and helps manage medibistro.com's subscription products. Seamus is an über tech geek, and uses that talent not to score chicks as one would assume, but to freelance for CNET Networks as an online course instructor. Seamus' favorite things include the Red Sox and injecting lines from Airplane into conversations whenever possible. He has no girlfriend or pets. |
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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. |
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Katherine Dagenhart, Education Assistant [send message] Katherine Dagenhart joined mediabistro.com as an education assistant in December 2007, happily retiring from her longtime position as Professional Intern, which included stints at a radio station, indie record label, modern art museum, and two magazines. She is representing the First State here in NYC as both a Delaware native and 2006 graduate from the University of Delaware. Katherine is a huge music fan, loves going to shows, and would love to add some more band interviews to her portfolio. When not mediabistro-ing, she enjoys lounging, dancing, cooking, dreaming of Argentina, and exploring this crazy city. |
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Noah Davis, Contributing Editor [send message] Noah Davis is mediabistro.com's contributing editor. After an occasionally successful stint as a freelancer that saw him publish features in Penthouse, The Onion, Co-Ed, and Diverse among others, he opted for regular hours, a steady paycheck, and paid vacations. When he's not chasing down How To Pitch updates, writing for FishbowlNY, or searching for the next great media story, he spends his time playing basketball, wandering around Brooklyn, and dogging his roommates in FIFA '07. |
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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. |
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Jessica Eule, Associate Director, Educational Development & Operations [send message] Jessica comes to mediabistro.com from the advertising and business departments of Gourmet. She graduated from the University of Delaware in 2002 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 buying many more shoes than she needs. |
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Jonathan Federico, Education Assistant [send message] A native of Boston Ma, Jonathan came to New York City after graduating from Boston University with a degree in Film and Television. With a professional background that includes public television, politics and publishing, Jonathan comes to mediabistro.com with a sincere interest in all aspects of media, but a passion for film and TV. When not working at mediabistro.com you can find Jonathan exercising, rocking out, cooking, watching movies, listening to music, sleeping, chillin' in Brooklyn, or you may not find him at all because he's traveling. |
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Rebecca Fox, Managing Editor, Features After kicking off her journalism career penning hard-hitting editorials for her junior high newspaper, Rebecca went on to work at national newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and Web sites in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. She ceded completely to her media fixation while earning her M.A. from NYU Journalism's Portfolio Program, covering the business behind magazines. Previously an editor at a trade journal, Rebecca now ensures all mediabistro.com's features trains run on time, and is known for holding a not-so-secret torch for the West Coast. |
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Pip Gengenbach, Membership Coordinator [send message] Pip comes to mediabistro.com with a background in non-profit education. After four years helping Minneapolis high school kids make their dreams come true, he moved to New York following dreams of his own. When he’s not Web production assistant-ing, Pip writes, seeks out brilliant theater and watches way too many movies. Shout-outs in Pip’s bio can be purchased for one (1) quality imported beer. |
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| Blake Gernstetter, Editorial Assistant [send message] Blake recently graduated from NYU with a B.A. in journalism and French. After serving time as an intern at NBC Universal, Zagat Survey, Forbestraveler.com, and three magazines in her native Chicago, she's thrilled to become a mediabistro.com staffer. She loves to travel, read, bake pies and make people laugh. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Yina Ke, Accounting Assistant [send message] Yina started working for mediabistro.com's finance department in 2007. She graduated from Hunter College with a BS in Accounting. She loves to read novels, watch Japanese anime, and play Final Fantasy, but don't ask her to play outdoor sports. She is not a sports person. She dreams of traveling the world and learning everything there is to know — all the good things at least. |
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| Steve Krakauer, Associate Editor, TVNewser [send message] Steve joined mediabistro.com in November 2007. He previously spent a year in the NBC Page Program and interned and worked as a production assistant for Fox News. Steve graduated in 2006 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Syracuse University with minors in Political Science and African American Studies. Originally from New Jersey, he is now enjoying life on the Upper East Side. |
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| 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. |
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| Carrie Lieberman, Senior Account Manager [send message] Carrie joins Mediabistro with over 8 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. |
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| Raymond Lo, Developer [send message] Raymond has 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. |
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Shauna Maher, Online Education Coordinator [send message] Shauna became an education assistant at mediabistro.com after spending several months as a night assistant, helping the New York courses and seminars run smoothly. Now, she works with the Learn team on West Coast courses and eClasses. She studied Comparative Literature, French, and Italian at Georgetown University and interned with Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, and washingtonpost.com. An aspiring expat, she misses the days she could call Paris and Florence home, but is happily exploring the neighborhoods and nuances of New York. |
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Jude O’Connor, Sales Manager, Job Board |
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| Brie O’Reilly, Manager, Ad Sales and Sponsorships [send message] Brie O'Reilly comes to mediabistro.com as a 2007 graduate of Hamilton College where she captained the Varsity Crew Team. Prior to mediabistro.com, Brie gained online media experience interning at NBC Universal and NBC Sports. She also enjoyed internships in the fashion industry with Donna Karan and Zac Posen. Raised in Fort Worth, Texas, she is an avid Mavericks fan and owns too many pairs of cowboy boots. Brie currently resides on the Upper East Side. |
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| Mara Piazza, Events Manager [send message] After graduating from Boston University in May 2006, Mara moved to Manhattan determined to launch her career in special events. She began at mediabistro.com in September as an intern and she fell in love with the crazy schedule packed with unique events and the family-like atmosphere of the office. As our Events Coordinator, she organizes mediabistro.com’s hectic calendar of media and cocktail parties. Mara’s favorite things are going to the movies, running, yoga, spending time with friends, and her yorkie named Charlotte. |
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Kenny Rufino, Creative Director |
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Carmen Scheidel, Director, Education, Events, and Multimedia Content |
Some testimonials for mediabistro
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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| 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 |
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mediabistro.com in the News
Books/guides and other mentions of mediabistro.com
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 "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. |
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| "New York Writers Guide" published by www.iUniverse.com | ||
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| "Internet Cool Guide for 2001" published September 2000 by internet cool guide | ||
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