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In the 2000s, the Internet was gaining traction, reliability, and mobility. From this, came a slew of new platforms -- many that disrupted established media companies. From 2010 until 2020, billions of people took to those new platforms, and we witnessed all manner of social media madness: misinformation/disinformation, social activism, online dating, trolling, social media celebrity and influencers, direct-to-consumer channels in every aspect of life (sports, politics, entertainment, fitness/wellness, etc), and brands acting as media companies. Yes. The good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.

The Creator Economy is the next round of development in digital media, and it's already underway. It gives power to the storytellers, artists, writers, photographers, movie makers and creators of all kinds. Social Media Influencers are OUT; Creators of all kinds are IN. Some experts are predicting The Creator Economy will produce a robust middle class of creatives -- The Creator Class -- producing what they love, making a good living doing it, controlling their careers, and some even creating generational wealth. 

This movement is already underway in pockets of the Internet, but creators will need new skills for success. Luckily, creators are uniquely qualified; they just haven't been taught how to think like entrepreneurs, innovate +  iterate, and launch + learn. The outcome of learning these skills can help you start your own venture, create your own job, or discover alternative paths to innovative jobs in more traditional media companies.

Our speaker is Sean Branagan, from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University in New York, where he teaches media innovation and entrepreneurship and runs the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship. In May till mid-June he will be a visiting Fulbright Specialist here at Tallinn BFM. He wants to meet you, hear about your wildest projects, venture ideas and career goals, and basically do what he does at Newhouse/Syracuse with media students there. He will tell you about some of his former students and where they are today.

Sean is a serial entrepreneur, interactive marketer, educator, investor, and evangelist for innovation and startups. Aside from being Director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship at Syracuse's prestigious Newhouse School, Sean is Chief Instigator of Media-Nxt.org, founder of Student Startup Madness at SXSW (a national collegiate startup tournament), the founding advisor of student-led 44NewVoices.org, and leader of the SXSW Pitch internship program that has brought more than 150 Newhouse students to the SXSW festival over the last 9+ years. 

Professionally, Sean started and is Chairman of Scrappy Capital, a seed fund for rising tech cities in the US. He sold an Internet media company to a public company in 1999, was founder and president of a technology marketing firm, and started several other tech and media ventures. He holds board and advisory board positions with several early-stage tech companies, and serves on a number of charitable boards. 

Registration

Please send a note to ulrike.rohn@tlu.ee with the subject line "Registration Entrepreneurship Talk"