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2023’s Keynote Speaker: Puja Rios
Keynote Topic & description: Leadership lessons for your life, your workplace and your future. An enlightening keynote session focused on leadership and how to apply it to multiple aspects of life.
Puja Bhola Rios is the Chief Revenue Officer at Frame.io, an Adobe Company. Frame is a cloud-based video collaboration platform. Previous to Frame.io, Puja spent seven years at Xerox and thirteen years at CareerBuilder as their SVP of Enterprise Sales and Customer Success. While at CareerBuilder, Puja founded and ran her company’s Women’s Alliance, CareerBuildHER.
With a knack for numbers and a thoughtful tough love approach to leadership, Puja Rios presents her proven formula for success. Her book, “Get It Together: A Winning Formula for Success From the Boss You Need,” guides readers through what it takes to achieve the results they want in business and life.
Chapter by chapter she breaks down the success principles she’s applied to achieve both business and personal goals, with the perfect mix of encouragement and hard truths. Whether it’s having clarity about your goals, developing critical thinking skills, or persevering through pain, Puja’s lucid lessons are immediately actionable and profoundly transformative.
Puja also prides herself on her work as a chronic pain advocate and blogger. She is the author of the Huffington Post feature blog, “Me vs. Fibromyalgia,” as well as a contributor to Thrive Global. A dynamic speaker and an energetic leader, Puja is a fierce advocate for inspiring people to “Get It Together.”
2023’s Tech It Out Speakers:
Samuel Cummings
Chief Executive Officer
Dataplant
Topic: AI + CX = Digital Empathy
David Debrecht
Vice President
Wireless Technologies, CableLabs
Topic: TBD
Nameet Dutia
Senior Solutions Architect
Amazon Web Services
Topic: Building Secure In-context Q&A applications with Generative AI on Amazon Web Services
Niamani Knight
Founder, S.T.R.E.A.M. Kids Expo™
Co-Founder, S.T.R.E.A.M.
Topic: EdYOUcation’s Role in Next-Gen Transformation
Barbara Nelms
Director, Digital Strategy & Operations
Charter Communications
Topic: TBD
Jan Neumann
Vice President
Machine Learning, Comcast
Topic: TBD
MacKenzie Roebuck-Walsh
Principal Sales Executive
IntentHQ & AI Martech & Adtech
Topic: TBD
Kat Saks
Senior Principal
Global Digital Strategy, Slalom
Topic: TBD
Wendy Turner-Williams
Founder & CEO
TheAssociation.ai & Culstrata-ai
Topic: TheAssociation – The Practitioner led charge to ethical, quality AI and data!
Courtney Walsh
Communications Director
Nova Sky Stories
Topic: How Drones are Transforming the Night Sky into a Storytelling Canvas
2022’s Keynote Speaker: Christopher Lafayette
Christopher Lafayette is an emergent technologist, humanitarian, architect, speaker, and virtual worlds explorer. He is bringing thousands of communities and millions of people into the metaverse, humanely. He works for a more equitable culture of technology as a thought leader and advocate for greater inclusion and cross-cultural community building. He is the founder of GatherVerse and The Black Technology Mentorship Program. An expert on the metaverse, medtech, ai, education, Web3, and applied sciences, he has served with and advised companies, organizations, and universities around the world.
Jennifer Andreoli-Fang
Senior Manager
Service Provider Cloud Architecture – AWS
Tracy Baumgartner
Vice President
Business Process Effectiveness- Environment, Comcast
Jenna Ficula
Engineer
Slalom Element Lab212
Sheri Byrne Haber
Senior Staff Architect
Accesibility, VMare
Petr Kucheryavyy
Senior Accessibility Manager
Charter Communications
Amber Longtin
Student of Industrial/Organization Psychology
Bruno Sarda
Partner/Principal
Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY
Evan Shapiro
Lead
ESHAP
Kat Stracquatanio
Senior Director
UX Engineering and Design Systems, Comcast
Carmela Stuart
Director
Future Infrastructure / CableLabs
Susie Tomenchok
Executive Coach
John Tomik
Managing Director
Slalom Strategy / Slalom Element
Rob Wilmoth
Senior Principal Architect
Red Hat
2022 TIO Schedule
| Time | Overview | Speaker(s) |
| 8:00-8:45 | Breakfast | |
| UX Engineering – The Best of Both Worlds | Kat Stracquatanio | |
| How AI and Digital Virtual Technology Mirror Sci-Fi Technologies, and how they’re changing life today and in the future | Jenna Ficula, John Tomik | |
| 10:00-10:20 | Break | |
| Tech Talk 10G/Converging Network Stacks | Carmela Stuart, Rob Wilmoth | |
| Sustainability Fireside Chat | Tracy Baumgartner, Bruno Sarda | |
| Inclusive Design | Sheri Byrne Haber | |
| The Pain of Potential – Building Careers with Neurodiversity | Amber Longtin | |
| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch | |
| The Power of Positive Politics | Susie Tomenchok | |
| Disability Inclusion in Entertainment | Petr Kucheryavyy | |
| 1:30-1:50 | Break | |
| Bringing Media into This Century, Now | Evan Shapiro | |
| Tech Talk | Jennifer Andreoli-Fang | |
| Keynote – The Humanity Driven Metaverse | Christopher Lafayette | |
| 4:00 | Closing |
Sofia Rossato
SVP of Strategic Partnerships
TeamSupport
BJ Daisey
Vice President, Emerging Experiences
Comcast Product Experience
2020 Tech It Out Speakers & Topics
- Rich DiGeronimo – Chief Product and Technology Officer, Charter Communications, & Cynthia Carpenter – VP/Human Resources and Employee Experience, Charter Communications
- In Conversation: Cynthia Carpenter and Rich DiGeronimo: Charter execs Cynthia Carpenter and Rich DiGeronimo discuss what it took to survive and thrive during the extraordinary events of 2020 – including what positive developments arose from the worldwide shelter-at-home transition, and what innovations are helping to shape Charter for the future.
- Jan Hofmeyr – Executive Vice President and Chief Network Officer, Comcast Cable & Leslie Ellis, Technology Writer
- In Conversation: Leslie Ellis and Jan Hofmeyr: Comcast EVP and Chief Network Officer Jan Hofmeyr joins technology writer Leslie Ellis in a candid conversation about the year so far, innovations prompted by the pandemic, relevant new technologies, and what’s coming next.
- Dana Filip-Crandall – Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Call Center Operations, Comcast West Division & WICT Rocky Mountain’s 2020 Woman of the Year
- Current Events at the Intersection of Customer Care & 2020: Dana Filip-Crandall speaks about what it’s like when you need to very quickly pivot thousands of care employees into home-based workflows. Also: How consumer behaviors and demands are changing, coincident with the freakish events of 2020 – and what’s working to adapt along with them.
- Jana Henthorn – President and CEO, The Cable Center, & Janice Silver, Vice President, Programs and Marketing, The Cable Center
- MythBusters: Innovation Edition: Are entrepreneurs responsible for the majority of groundbreaking innovations? Are most innovations the result of that “light-bulb” moment? Are innovators born or made? Join us as the Cable Center duo, Jana Henthorn and Janice Silver, examine 6 common innovation beliefs, a la MythBusters style, to determine if they’re fact or fiction, and how intrapreneurship can be your key to success.
- Rama Sreenivasan – Cofounder & CEO – Blitzz Inc.
- TECH TALK: Part customer care evangelist, part scientist, part Zen master, Rama exudes a passion for service that is powerful and infectious. Hear how his company, Blitzz, is helping industries to adapt to mid- and post-pandemic customer realities using Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality.
- Teresa Elder – Chief Executive Officer and Director, WideOpenWest, Inc., & Camilla Formica, Chief Revenue Officer of NCTI
- In Conversation: Camilla Formica and Teresa Elder: Camilla Formica interviews Teresa Elder about her journey (so far!) as a female leader, pro tips for overcoming obstacles, and what it means to lead an organization heart-first – with compassion and kindness.
- Joe Hunt – GVP, Software Development and Architecture, Charter Communications
- TECH TALK: As a film enthusiast with a proclivity for “future-facing” themes, Joe shares what ideas from the movies made it into our day-to-day lives, and reflects on what’s coming next.
- Rachel Beisel – Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, CableLabs
- What COVID Is Teaching Us About Leadership: As CableLabs’ first-ever Chief Marketing Officer, Rachel Beisel is a powerhouse of ideas, action, and energy. Learn what the COVID pandemic taught her about the human side of leadership, how COVID gave new depth to the WICT Touchstones, and what matters when communicating during a global pandemic.
- Ruha Benjamin – Education Equity Advocate; Sociology & African American Studies Scholar; Author; Princeton University
- KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Ruha imparts actionable wisdom about biases in technology, and recommendations about challenging predispositions when building new products and services.
- Dr. Jennifer Andreoli-Fang – Distinguished Technologist, CableLabs & WICT Rocky Mountain’s 2020 Technology Woman of the Year
- TECH TALK: When she was growing up, Jennifer Andreoli-Fang thought it was normal to get to school an hour early to help her physics teacher get set up for class, and to attend science and math camps in the summer. Since then, she’s risen to become our industry’s leading technologist when it comes to the inevitable intersections between mobile and fixed networks. She’s also an artist, and will illustrate her journey with some of her own sketches.
- Jessica O. Matthews – Founder and CEO, Uncharted Power
- KEYNOTE SPEAKER: She invented a soccer ball that provides off-grid energy for the developing world – when she was 19. At 22, she founded Uncharted Power, a global, full-service power technology company that builds, owns and operates renewable power infrastructure. Jessica is a dynamo! Don’t miss this … powerhouse (ahem) of a keynote.
- Revisit the highlights with access to all of the webinars, videos, and photos here.
2019 Tech It Out Speakers & Topics
- WICT Champions – Shane Portfolio
- How Tech can Leverage Diversity and Inclusion to Win
- Morning Keynote – Dr. Davidson
- Leadership/Facing Challenges Head On
- Panel Discussion – Maria Rothschild (Moderator) with Kate Tummarello (Engine,) Debbie Fitzgerald (CableLabs,) Chris May (Comcast,) Manish Jindal (Charter)
- Oh Gs! Wired and Wireless at the Edge
- Tech Talk – Eilisa Reed, Woman in Technology Winner
- Perspectives from the Engine Room: IT Operations at a Major Cable Operator
- Tech Talk – Daisy Henderson, Young Woman in Technology Winner
- Being a Young, Ambitious Woman in Tech
- Tech Talk – Sarah Vergara
- Near Future Video and Behind the Tech
- Fireside Chat – Leslie Ellis interviewing Stephanie Mitchko
- Show & Tech Demo – Jodi Robinson
- Demo Tech House
- Leadership Talk – Cynthia Carpenter
- Dare to Shine
- Tech Talk – Rebecca Rusk
- Ethics in Design – How do we Keep Human-Centered Design Human?
- Tech Talk – Mona Kessel
- How to Communicate Effectively in Male-Dominated Fields
- NextGen – Shreya Nallapati
- Never Again Tech – Using Machine Learning Algorithms to Detect Markers of Mass Shootings
- Tech Talk – Lisa Schwab
- The Innovator vs The Entrepreneur: Why we Need Both
- Keynote Speaker – FlyGirl