Emerge?s Ross Nichols on bringing adtech, entrepreneurs and start-ups and brands together at #FOMG16
Social Media Portal (SMP) What is your name and what do you do there at C Squared and emerge? Ross Nichols (RN): I?m head of emerge. I manage all aspects of the
emerge channel, within C squared.
SMP: Briefly, tell us about emerge?RN: Emerge has one main focus: to introduce the world?s most exciting adtech start-ups to the biggest advertisers, brands and agencies on the planet. Selected fledgling companies get to pitch for three minutes to our audience of senior media professionals, at our various conferences each year. By connecting start-ups with big brands, we?re supporting both sides of the ecosystem. Our next is in Rome, at the
Festival of Media Global, on May 19th and 20th (the festival running from 18-20 May).
SMP: Who are your target audience and why?RN: We have a number of audiences within the start-up sector. We?re building relationships with angels, investment groups, VCs, accelerators, funding platforms and of course the start-ups themselves. By building these relationships, it?ll help establish the emerge brand and put us in a better position to find the best companies.
SMP: Why is the Festival of Media Global a great opportunity to share what they?re about?RN: It?s a great platform for the start-ups because they get to pitch to hundreds of very senior, influential people within the media world, in just three minutes. There isn?t another event that brings everyone together from the media industry, quite like this.
SMP: What are you hoping the start-ups and attendees take away from what is presented/experienced at the Festival of Media Global?RN: I hope that every start-up gets at least one genuinely useful contact which will ultimately lead to them generating revenue for their businesses.
SMP: Are there any start-ups that you?ve seen which have blown you away ? which ones and why?RN: We?ve got an incredibly strong line-up this year? I have two favourites, but I don?t want to tell you who they are, as it might affect the voting!
SMP: What are the challenges that you?ve encountered and how are you overcoming them in what you have been doing so far at emerge?
RN: The biggest challenge so far has been a lack of time. I joined on 1st March and we had no start-ups on board. Eight weeks later and we?ve got 30+ companies coming to Rome. Given the fact that we?re working with start-ups, a lot of companies have had to pull out along the way, to deal with day-to-day things that start-ups have to do to survive, so it?s just been a question of getting out there and meeting as many start-ups as possible.
SMP: What are the high moments of what you have been doing so far?RN: My personal high moment has been persuading 30+ genuinely exciting start-ups from across the globe to come to our event, in just eight weeks.
SMP: Is there anything else we should know, or is there anything that you?d like to share?RN: Yup, follow us on twitter at
@emergeadtech for all the latest info.
All festival delegates, including the emerge guys can keep up-to-date using the
Festival of Media mobile app.
SMP: Best way to contact you and emerge?I can be reached on email at
ross.nichols@csquared.cc, LinkedIn and Twitter
@rossnichols. Companies wanting to attend our next event in Miami, for the Latam market, can email
emerge@csquared.cc for more information and follow us on Twitter at
@emergeadtech.
Watch an example of the emerge session at the Festival of Media Global from last year below.
Now some questions for fun
SMP: What did you have for breakfast / lunch?RN: Granola.
SMP: What?s the last good thing that you did for someone?RN: I introduced an old colleague to a start-up who I thought might have a role for her, and it looks like he?s going to hire her.
SMP: If you weren?t working at emerge what would you be doing?
RN: Launching another start-up.
SMP: When / where did you go on your last holiday and why?RN: I haven?t been on a proper holiday for two years. I went to Glastonbury last year, but that?s never a holiday?
SMP: What?s the first thing you do when you get into the office of a morning?RN: Cup of tea. Always.
SMP: If you had a superpower what would it be and why?RN: To be able to fly. Getting everywhere quickly would be immense.
Find out more about the festival (from 18 to 20 May 2016) at Festival of Media Global website.
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