Bio: Kunal Gupta

Kunal Gupta is the CEO of Polar Mobile, a leading mobile content solutions enabler for large media companies. He leads a fast-growing team in building a next generation mobile software platform so businesses can quickly and efficiently bring to market intuitive and engaging mobile products and services that grow audiences, open new revenue streams and extend brands to the mobile marketplace.

A frequent speaker at industry events on the topics of bringing to market innovative products and services for the mobile consumer, Kunal is regarded as a rising young visionary in the mobile industry.

As founder of the Impact Entrepreneurship Group, the largest youth entrepreneurship non-profit organization in Canada for which he also serves as Chair of the Board, Kunal has been recognized for his efforts in promoting entrepreneurship to youth. He was recognized as Alumnus of the Year by Shad Valley and as a Global Citizen by the United Nations.

Kunal holds an Honours Bachelor of Software Engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Kunal Gupta was a speaker at Future of Media 2010. Watch the video from Future of Media 2010 to see Kunal speak.

Bio: David Skok

David Skok oversees the local and national digital properties under the GlobalNews.ca network. His career spans both the online and on-air worlds of news, and he’s pioneered many of Global News’ online and cross-platform efforts.

David worked for six years at Global Toronto prior to joining Globalnews.ca, where he helped create and produce several of Global Toronto’s news programs before becoming the station’s first ever online producer.

He has worked with ABC News in Washington on its iconic Nightline program, and with CHUM Radio in Toronto. David is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and Ryerson’s Journalism program where he was awarded the Joe Perlove scholarship as best graduating student.

David Skok was a speaker at Future of Media 2010. Watch the video from Future of Media 2010 to see David speak.

Bio: Mark Evans

Mark Evans is the principal of ME Consulting, a full-service digital marketing and social media strategic agency focused on start-ups and fast-growing companies. Mark’s professional experience includes more than 10 years as a technology reporter with the National Post, Globe & Mail and Bloomberg News.

He has also worked for four online start-ups – b5media, PlanetEye, Blanketware and Sysomos.

Mark writes a twice-a-week online column for the Globe & Mail, as well as two blogs: Mark Evans Tech and Twitterrati. He is also one of the organizers of the mesh, meshU and meshmarketing conferences.

Mark Evans was a speaker at Future of Media 2010. Watch the video from Future of Media 2010 to see Mark speak.

Video: Future of Media 2009

For those who missed the Future of Media event on Sept 24, 2009, the following clips have been made available. You can also read a written recap of Future of Media 2010.

The discussion topic was social media and mobile, and included a panel made up of experts from a variety of industries:

• Rachel Nixon, director of digital media at CBC News and former editor at NowPublic
• Richard Mcilveen, producer of the local late-night CTV News and the tech trends segment Webmania
• Keith McArthur, senior director of social media and digital communications for Rogers Communications
• Tim Shore, founder of Toronto news site blogTO
• Chris Hogg, CEO of DigitalJournal.com

The panel discussion was moderated by DigitalJournal.com Managing Editor, David Silverberg. The clips from Future of Media 2009 are in order below:

Part 2: How do news organizations produce more content with fewer resources? What are the strengths & weaknesses of the Web?

Part 3: Is news becoming more collaborative and involving the audience?

Part 4: Can user-generated content and citizen journalism be trusted? How do you get more people to engage on a website?

Part 5: What is the business model likely to emerge for user-generated news organizations? Does content that works online, work offline as well?

Part 6: What can newsrooms learn from the BBC? What do hyperlocal blogs do better than mainstream media? How should brands engage with people through social media?

Part 7: The impact of TV becoming more interactive; Reader loyalty in the era of the Internet; Citizen journalists’ role in a large-scale news event.

Part 8: Podcasting and the future of radio; Separating editorial and advertising; How citizen journalism can be verified

Part 9: Investigative journalism; Providing resources to citizen journalists; Protecting citizen journalists; Ethnic diversity in citizen journalism

Part 10: Social media’s impact on journalism; Does citizen journalism produce too much noise?

Bio: Chris Hogg

Chris Hogg is the CEO of Digital Journal Inc. and is regarded as a social news & new media expert with a proven track record of leveraging tech, social & content to scale media businesses. In the summer of 2012, Digital Journal was recognized as one of the Top 20 most promising startup companies in Canada.

Chris developed one of the Web’s first revenue-sharing social news platforms and is widely credited as being a pioneer in the user-generated media space.

Chris led the development of Digital Journal’s media platform that enables media companies, brands, retailers and agencies to launch engaging and content-rich media sites. The proprietary platform was built in-house as a way to transition Digital Journal magazine from a printed magazine into a global digital media company.

Today Digital Journal’s flagship media property, digitaljournal.com, boasts a network of tens of thousands of reporters in 200 countries, attracting millions of readers/month. With a platform that caters to specific challenges faced by organizations going digital, Digital Journal offers solutions to enable the power of the crowd through a technology-driven social media platform.

Digital Journal’s 3 pillars: Technology, social and content. The company leverages a custom-built CMS and data to automate growth around content/user management; Digital Journal gamifies and creates social profiles of media consumers; and the company draws from a global reach to produce engaging, high-quality content at scale, cost-effectively.

Chris is also the co-founder of Future of Media, a widely attended event for the media industry.

Chris holds a degree in Journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto. He has experience in broadcast television, radio, print and online media. Chris has worked in both Canada and abroad, and has worked with or appeared on many news programs and publications including: CBC News, Fifth Estate, CBC Sports, CTV News, City News, CP24, Global News, Business News Network, Daily Planet, Space, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and dozens of syndicated TV and radio networks.

Chris is also a consultant to large brands and media companies, as well as a mentor/adviser to startups.

Chris Hogg was a speaker at Future of Media 2009. Watch the video from Future of Media 2009 to see Chris speak.