Brave New World – Friday, Oct. 4

AI, SEO, XR … making sense of these emerging technologies

Some of the biggest questions right now in the digital content space center on all of the new technologies that are out there. How can we best use generative AI? Should we be using AI at all? Why are search results not nearly as good as they used to be? How can we as marketers and content professionals leverage what’s happening right now in the gaming industry? These aren’t easy questions to answer, and so we’ve gathered some of our region’s leading experts and practitioners in these exact topics to help us wrestle with this brave new world we’re now living in. Let’s dive in!

1:00-4:00 p.m. at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center

Free parking! (bring your parking ticket with you for validation)

Featured Presentation

Sarah Day
Sarah Day, Asurion – Featured Presenter

Sarah Day is vice president of growth marketing at Asurion. Sarah and her team currently support the pursuit and development of new business partnerships that expand Asurion’s relationship with households across the US and the globe. Sarah has created and deployed marketing plans for a diverse set of business lines during her career, all aimed at achieving ambitious growth objectives. She has nearly 20 years of marketing and strategy experience in the wireless, wireline, and technology space. 

CeCe Watkins
CeCe Watkins, Asurion – Featured Presenter

CeCe Watkins is the principal for marketing engagement and generative AI strategy at Asurion.

Expert Panel

Edwin Acevedo
Edwin Acevedo, TruStar Marketing – Expert Panel

Edwin Acevedo is a technologist, problem solver and food opportunist. He started his career as a newspaper journalist, then transitioned into marketing after completing his master’s degree in graphic design. Shortly after completing the Nashville Software School full-stack boot camp, he wrote news releases, web/social content and support docs for an internet-of-things company. Currently he leads SEO and analytics for TruStar Marketing, helping brands get found on the web by combining logic (technical know-how) with magic (entity-focused SEO).

Franklin Graves
Franklin Graves, HCA Healthcare – Expert Panel

Franklin Graves is an experienced in-house counsel currently serving as a member of the technology law group at HCA Healthcare, where he provides guidance and strategic counsel for corporate technology initiatives, including artificial intelligence and the Responsible AI program. He also runs the weekly newsletter, Creator Economy Law, on LinkedIn and teaches Cyber Law at New England Law Boston. This summer, Franklin was invited to participate as one of 100 creators and creator economy professionals in the first-ever White House Creator Economy Conference. 

Angie Boyd Chambers
Angie Boyd Chambers, Boyd-Chambers Communications and MTSU – Expert Panel

Angie Boyd Chambers is the founder and owner of Boyd-Chambers Communications and a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Strategic Media at MTSU. She most recently served as Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Ascension Saint Thomas Health, where she spent nearly 15 years of her corporate career.

Josiah Parkhurst
Josiah Parkhurst, BlackBox Realities – Expert Panel

Josiah Parkhurst is an Unreal Engine specialist at BlackBox Realities and a senior interactive media major at MTSU. Josiah grew up creating and programming video games, eventually self-publishing two. His game-engine experience also allowed him to quickly and easily adapt to the virtual needs of the film industry in Nashville.

Denise Shackelford
Denise Shackelford, MTSU – Expert Panel Moderator

Panel moderator Denise Shackelford is an assistant professor in the Department of Recording Industry at MTSU and faculty advisor to Match Records, a student-run record label services company. She also currently serves as counsel for the Country Radio Broadcasters Board of Directors.

Live Podcast – The Zak Kuhn Show

Zak Kuhn
Zak Kuhn, The Zak Kuhn Show – Live Podcast

Zak Kuhn is an entertainment entrepreneur and media personality with various ventures at the intersection of music and culture. He is the founder and CEO of The Nashville Briefing newsletter, covering the confluence of country music and the global music business. His podcast features discussions with music and entertainment leaders about shifts and trends in the music industry.

Nathan Adam
Nathan Adam, Belmont University – Live Podcast

Nathan “Adan” Adam is an award-winning audio and video producer with a strong focus on music production and an assistant professor of Cinema, Television & Emerging Media at Belmont University. He has worked with artists including Vince Gill, Paul Franklin, Bill Medley, and Collin Raye among others. Nathan has also coordinated and taught audio engineering for more than 100 GRAMMY Camps across the country. He is the co-founder of Multi-Platinum.com and co-owner of the Walnut House production complex in Murfreesboro.

Event Emcee

Chris Clancy
Chris Clancy, Clancy Partners – Event Emcee

Chris Clancy is the co-founder of Clancy Partners, a small business that helps clients craft effective messaging and achieve their organizational goals. He also teaches creative writing at The Porch Writers’ Collective and is an adjunct instructor in the Interactive Media program at MTSU.