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Event Panelists:
Alan Caldwell, APR, President and CEO, The Lancaster Caldwell Group
Alan K. Caldwell, APR, is the President + CEO of The Lancaster Caldwell Group, a public relations, strategic communications and diversity engagement firm in Los Angeles. His professional experience includes serving as the Vice President of Public Relations and Media Relations at Cerrell Associates; he also was the lead communications strategist for Shell Oil Company as the Southern California External Relations Manager. While at Shell, he also served as the Public Information Officer for the Shell North America Emergency Response Team.
Alan is a successful 20-year veteran within the communications and stakeholder engagement profession in both the public and private sector. He is well-respected in the public relations industry and by business leaders. He is known for his strategic thinking, crisis communications work and his ability to authentically engage stakeholders.
Alan serves as the VP/Secretary of the Los Angeles PRSA Chapter and serves on the National PRSA Nominating Committee. He is committed to the continued elevation of the profession and helping to bring more diversity to the profession. He believes it is important for public relations professionals to embrace technology but not forget the core of the job, which is communicating; you must speak clearly and write succinctly.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a Minor in Computer Science from Baylor University in Waco, TX, a Public Relations Certificate w/honors from UCLA and currently pursuing his MBA from Mount Saint Mary’s University.
Jarrett Hill, Correspondent, The Hollywood Reporter; Host, NBC BLK’s Back2Reality
Jarrett Hill is an award-winning journalist and host focused on the intersections of pop culture and politics. Based in Los Angeles, most notably, Hill is known for breaking the Michelle Obama/Melania Trump RNC plagiarism story. Hill is a Correspondent for The Hollywood Reporter and hosts the popular Back2Reality, a podcast and radio show covering hot topics and current events, which is a partnership with NBC BLK, he also begins contributing to The New York Times this Spring.
Hill has provided perspective and analysis for CNN, MSNBC, Access Hollywood Live, NBC Nightly News, and other recognizable programs, and was also just named to the Ebony Power 100.
Jarrett recently reported daily for the ABC affiliate in Tampa, presenting reports on diverse topics, from trending technology to social media and breaking news. Hill has worked in radio, television and digital media for local, national, and international outlets for more than 16 years; including iHeart Radio, CNN, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, Twentieth Television (FOX), TBS, and the UK’s ITN.
Hill is also a contributor for The Huffington Post writing on LGBT issues, race relations, and government.
His coming out story, originally published during National Coming Out Week, has become one of the quintessential pieces on coming out.
Hill is a Bay Area native, is fond of carbohydrates, cooking, creativity and design… and watching more television than he publicly admits.
Dave Reddy, Executive Vice President, Earned Media Strategy, Weber Shandwick
In close to two decades in communications, Dave has handled media campaigns involving semiconductors, VR, digital health, network security, consumer tech, healthcare, biotechnology and corporate crisis work. His recent client engagements include Qualcomm, Nokia Tech, Seagate, Sutter Health, Verizon, VeriSign and many more.
Dave serves those clients as one the agency’s leading media strategists . He is both the head of the agency’s West Coast earned media team and its network-wide technology earned media team. In these roles, Dave offers regular counsel to clients and staffers throughout the network – and also pitches the nation’s top tech reporters on their behalf. His most recent placements include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, BBC, AP, Bloomberg, BloombergTV, CNBC, Fox Business News, CNET, Wired, FastCompany, Mashable, The Verge, BusinessWeek, the San Jose Mercury News, FORTUNE, Recode, Forbes, IBD, Reuters, Dow Jones and dozens of other business and trade outlets. Dave is also an accomplished media trainer who has trained roughly 500 executives on how best to communicate with reporters.
Before re-joining Weber Shandwick in October 2005, Dave was a vice president at OutCast, for whom he represented Dell, salesforce.com and TiVo. Prior to that, Dave served as a director at Bite Communications, where he represented VeriSign and Sun. He began his career in PR in 1998 with Weber Shandwick, where he served in various capacities for five years and represented clients including Microsoft, Agilent and HP. Before entering the PR industry, Dave was a reporter with The Washington Post (1991-1993) and San Jose Mercury News (1993-1998).
Dave has a bachelor’s degree in communications, cum laude, from The American University.
Moderator:
Sharon Waxman, Founder and CEO, The Wrap
Sharon Waxman, founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of digital news organization The Wrap News Inc., is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author, a former Hollywood correspondent for The New York Times and a leading authority on the entertainment business and media.
Before the Times, she was a correspondent for eight years for The Washington Post. Sharon started out as a foreign correspondent, covering Europe and the Middle East for a decade. Sharon is the author of two books, including, “Rebels on the Backlot: Six Maverick Directors and How They Conquered the Hollywood Studio System.” In addition to producing an award-winning, industry leading digital news magazine, one known for its high-profile newsbreaks and investigative analysis, Sharon an her team at The Wrap produce signature events such as the Power Women breakfast series and TheGrill, and executive leadership conference centering on the convergences of entertainment, media and technology.
Follow her on Twitter at @sharonwaxman.