WITI WINs Sports, Entertainment, and Technology Symposium Recap

WITI WINs Sports, Entertainment, and Technology Symposium

Opening Ceremony:

Keynotes and Introductions:

Ronni Eloff, Executive Director WITI WINs, introduced Joanne Moretti, Jabil Marketing SVP, who set off the event by welcoming 120+ players to the WITI SET Symposium, where there were six panels showcased new technologies coming to our sports and entertainment fields soon.

"How Player Tracking is Changing Insights."

Jill Stelfox: Vice President & General Manager; Location Solutions, Zebra Technologies.

Jill shared Player Tracking information as our first keynote in a session that enlightened attendees about shoulder pad sensors, which on-field tracking enables fans to view never-before-seen real-time player data, such as, speed, acceleration, and in-depth analytics.

"Sports, Tech, Fashion, and Alphas: A Unlikely Woman's Breakthrough to Success"

Claire Ortiz: CEO, ORTIZ Industry Inc.

Claire spoke about her underprivileged past and how she turned into an industry leader and front runner within highly competitive performance sports fashion. Her takeaway? Always be searching for the opening that allows you to step forward.

"Top 10 Leadership Tips for Breaking through the Class Ceiling."

Joanne Moretti: Senior Vice President/Marketing & Sales Enablement, Jabil.

Joanne shared with the audience strategic activities everyone can apply to their professional space to help advance their careers. A favorite was #6 “Your Network is your #1 Personal Asset. Build it, Strengthen it, Learn from it and very importantly, build your Brand inside it.”

First set of three panels included:

Super Bowl 50: Insiders' Insights on the making of the Ultimate Event

Ali Towle: VP/Marketing, San Francisco 49ers

Senior Members of the Super Bowl 50th Host Committee:

- Stephanie Martin: VP/Marketing & Communications
- Vicky Selway-Swift: Sr. Director/Partnership Services
- Rosie Spaulding: VP/Event Planning & Operations

Wearables - Fashion? Fad? Future?

- Heather Andrus, Senior VP & GM/Product Innovation, Radius Product Development
- Hillary Barnhart, Senior Director, Business Ops & Program Management, Applied Materials
- Julie Desjardins, Product Marketing, Athos
- Claire Ortiz, CEO, ORTIZ Industry, Inc.
- Angela Pan, Founder, and CEO, Ashley Chloe

The last panel for the first half of the day was "Women Making a Difference in Sports/Entertainment Technologies" with panelists;

- Jennifer Brace: User Experience Research Supervisor, Ford Motor Company
- Terri Givens: Provost & Professor, Menlo College
- Radhika Iyengar-Emens: CEO, Rajah Partners
- Leslie Pirritano: Co-Founder, Elevate Charity
- Zoe Stumbaugh: Professional Drone Racer

After a break the remaining three panels commenced:

"The Wearable Tech Boom in Healthcare, Sports, and Sports Medicine" with panelists:

- Jennifer Smith, CEO, Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative
- Kelly Crowley, Founder/Director, The ParaSport Institute
- Lisa Giannone, Founder, Active Care Physical Therapy
- Radhika Iyengar-Emens, CEO, Rajah Partners
- Mary Vincent, Former CTO, Sensilk; Founder, Green Star Labs

Drone use for Sports and Recreation

- Douglas Burnet: Founder & COO, Aerial Sports League
- Sally French: Founder, The Drone Girl
- Zoe Stumbaugh: Professional Drone Racer
- Gretchen West: Senior Advisor, Hogan Lovells US LLP

"The Immersive Experience: Enhancing Human Interaction"

- Heather Furby: CEO and Co-Founder, Creative Age Leadership, Inc.
- Beatrice Leung: Head of Communications, LiveLikeVR
- Ramona Najmi: Video Solution Architect & Solution Manager, Cisco Systems
- Tara Scarrow: Director of Programs, Heartwood 3D
- Ali Towle: VP/Marketing, San Francisco 49ers

Before the final Keynote and after the last panel sessions, Jabil staff provided guided tours of the Jabil Blue Sky Center to the Symposium attendees.

Unfortunately, one of the last Keynote speakers Juliana Paoli, CMO, of the San Jose Giants could not be with us due to an emergency.

After closing the Symposium, everyone joined WITI and Jabil at the Taste of Technology Reception, which showcased 20 companies' hands-on demos, delightful food, and wine provided by Monticello Vineyards

We want to thank all the panelists, Keynote Speakers, Exhibitors and our Sponsors, San Francisco American Marketing Association, Monticello Vineyards, Ford, PWC for supporting this event. We especially want to thank our co-host and partner Jabil and the Blue Sky Center staff for the usage of the Blue Sky Center and their collaboration with this event.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.