OSWEGO — This year’s Lewis B. O’Donnell Media Summit at SUNY Oswego will explore the direction of an ever-changing communication landscape on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
Themed “Your GPS Directions to the Digital Media World,” the event will feature top names in the media industry taking part in a 3 p.m. panel in the Sheldon Hall ballroom, speaking in classes and providing career guidance to current students.
Louis A. Borrelli Jr., former president and chief executive officer of market leader NEP Broadcasting, the summit’s founding sponsor and a 1977 Oswego graduate, will moderate the 3 p.m. panel presentation. Panelists will include E.B. Moss, founder of high-profile marketing firm Moss Appeal; 1986 Oswego graduate Mark Levy, vice president and creative director for NBC Sports and Olympics; and 1977 Oswego graduate Rick Yacobush, market sales manager for Clear Channel in Syracuse. Student reactor will be senior broadcasting major Robert Stobie.
The panelists will address the way changing technology alters how people obtain and understand news and world events, interact with one another, consume entertainment, and relate to and influence government and business. The interactive panel discussion will be free and open to the public.
Guest experts
While heading up NEP Sharpshooters, Borrelli spearheaded the pre-eminent provider of broadcast management, engineering, facilities and television production professionals to media companies worldwide. Borrelli’s company handled live broadcasts including the Super Bowl, World Series, the Olympics, Academy Awards and Rose Bowl Parades. Previously he served as CEO and chief operating officer of Marcus Communications and senior vice president of America Online.
Moss is an award-winning marketer/writer/producer for both mainstream and “green” companies. Established in 2001, Moss Appeal created marketing and business-to-business programs, collateral material and sweepstakes, and social media campaigns for top companies worldwide. She added Moss Appeal Green in 2006 to focus on innovative campaigns in an environmentally friendly manner.
A 15-time Emmy Award winner, Levy oversees the on-air broadcast look for both NBC’s Sports and Olympics divisions. He also supervises NBC’s Olympic Documentary Film and Profiles Unit and the management of all production and editorial functions of NBC’s Stamford-based HD production facility. He is currently in pre-production for his seventh Olympic Games, coming to Vancouver in February.
A veteran of 34 years in the Syracuse radio market, Yacobush started as nighttime DJ Rick Charles at WOLF. He owes his career path to a suggestion by the Media Summit’s namesake, longtime Oswego communication professor Dr. Lewis B. “Doc” O’Donnell — “If you want a lifelong career in the broadcast industry, always have your eye on the sales department.” — which was “the best advice I ever received,” Yacobush said.
Students can also benefit from a Career Connections speed-networking opportunity at 5 p.m. in the Sheldon Hall lower lobby, where they can meet and talk with media professionals, most of whom are SUNY Oswego alumni.
Career Connectors booked include Emanuel Adjekum of ESPN, Michael Gewirtzman of Vinyl Artist Management, Jim Griffin of noise, Ron Lombard of News 10 Now, Larry Rubinstein of Magno Sound and Video Studios, Seth Thibault of Yahoo! and Koren L. Vaughan of WBLS-FM and WLIB-AM.
About the summit
A donation from Borrelli in 2005 created the summit, with fellow Oswego alumnus Al Roker, weathercaster and host of NBC’s “Today” show, providing an additional gift in 2007. At that time, the summit was renamed in memory of O’Donnell, a seminal figure in the college experiences of Borrelli, Roker and many other graduates.
For more information, visit www.oswego.edu/mediasummit.
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