On January 10th, Elizabeth Shea and I had the privilege of joining the region’s Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ winners at the closing bell ceremony at NASDAQ. SpeakerBox has been a proud, long-time sponsor of the Fast 500 program and each year this event gets better...
We’re proud to share that our CEO Elizabeth Shea and COO Lisa Throckmorton were selected as 2017 “Top 100 Tech Titans” by Washingtonian magazine. The recognition coincides with the kick-off of SpeakerBox’s yearlong 20th Anniversary campaign, which celebrates the firm’s history and accomplishments—past and present. The award recognizes outstanding leaders...
Many are starting to take notice as Washington, DC blossoms into a region which is bolstering the work of female entrepreneurs and fostering strong networks with federal agencies in the nation's capital. Lisa Throckmorton, COO of SpeakerBox joins Jonathan Aberman on "What's Working in Washington"...
It’s been an exciting week on the awards front here at SpeakerBox. We are proud to share the news of two MarCom Awards! Together, with our client SolarWinds, we won a Gold MarCom Award in the "Research/Study" category. SolarWinds Federal Cybersecurity survey is an annual blind survey of...
Two of my colleagues and I had the good fortune of volunteering on a media relations team on Tuesday and Wednesday of last week as Pope Francis started his U.S. trip in D.C. Our assignment at his mass at The Basilica at the National Shrine...
We are excited to announce that Allison Gilmore is starting next week as a full-time Account Coordinator next week. She started her career at SpeakerBox as an intern and a new graduate from my alma mater, Radford University. Internships are an increasing focus for college students and...
The 2015 Brava Awards program celebrates female CEOs, nonprofit leaders and high impact executives who combine their irrepressible entrepreneurial spirit with a passion for giving back to the community. The women that I was surrounded by last night are exemplary leaders of both their companies and...
In the spirit of mobile marketing, I decided to Periscope Kevin Alansky's presentation, “5 Things You Should Know About Mobile Marketing Today and 5 More for Tomorrow.” If you don't know what Periscope is, Google it and get smart quickly. It's one of Kevin's must-know tools...
Pictured left to right: Moderator, Fred Diamond, Principal, DIAMOND Strategic Marketing; Bob London, President of London, Ink LLC; Christine G.D. Schaefer, Chief Marketing Officer, ThreatConnect; Anuj Agrawal, Vice President, Product Marketing, Orchestro; Debbie Shemony, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, MarketBridge; and Brian Cooley, Chief Marketing Officer,...
Last night, DCFemTech, the coalition of women leaders aimed at amplifying women in tech organizations, recognized 30 women as recipients of its inaugural ‘Powerful Women Programmers’ Award. The awardees and nominees were celebrated at a reception from 6-8pm at Google DC and energy was high as colleagues and...
Last night, I had the pleasure and honor of holding office hours at the University of Maryland's Digman Center for its “Fearless Founders” program. The Fearless Founders program guides student ventures from idea to launch. Using lean startup methodology, you'll learn the strategy, frameworks and tools...
Tuesday marked the launch, or relaunch as it were, of DC Inno. The media outlet, formerly known as IntheCapital hosted a couple hundred people at a party sponsored by DC Biz Labs at the offices at 1725 DeSales Street, NW, to celebrate the rebrand. DC Inno...
Yesterday, Eastern Foundry, a veteran-owned government technology and innovation incubator in Crystal City, held its official ribbon-cutting ceremony its new headquarters at 2011 Crystal Drive in Arlington, VA. Senator Mark Warner was there to lend support to the veteran-led incubator that supports emerging tech companies...
Potomac Tech Wire hosted its "Startup Outlook 2015: Growing a Company in the Current Market" program last Thursday at the new Tysons Tower. The event kicked off with a keynote from Phil Bronner of Quad Learning on "Understanding Both Sides of the Table: What Entrepreneurs Need to Know About Venture Capital." Bronner drew...
Our own Katie Hanusik reached her 10-year milestone at SpeakerBox this past weekend. To commemorate the occassion, the Washington Nationals tried to top her by playing the longest baseball game in Major League Baseball post-season history :) I've had the pleasure of working with Katie since...
I'm part of the founding group of DCFemTech, a collective of 25+ women in technology organizations in the Washington DC/Metro area that formed earlier this year to worktogether to collaborate, support and streamline technology education and events in the community. The gender gap in tech is...
October may be a record month for networking events this year. I've got eleven on my list and on a few days, there are a couple to choose from! Here are the events that are on my radar: NoVA TechBreakfast 8:00AM – 11:00AM, Wednesday, October 1 AOL - 22000 AOL...
Back-to-school, back to networking. DC has a plethora of networking events this month to connect with the DCTech community and get you Fall off to a good start. Here are the events that are on my radar: MoCo TechBreakfast 8:00AM - 11:00AM, Tuesday, September 2 800 King Farm Boulevard,...
A couple years ago, Jonathon Perrelli of Fortify.vc did a Webinar on "PR 101 for Startups." I've presented on the topic many times since and find myself in almost weekly conversations with startups about media relations. I've had three of these conversations in the past...
Wait! It's August already? DC has a reputation for a serious summer slow down in the last month of summer, but that doesn't feel like the case this year. Here are the events that are on my radar: NoVA TechBreakfast 8:00AM – 11:00AM, Wednesday, August 6 AOL - 22000 AOL...
This afternoon, our client and digital identity solution-provider, ID.me placed branded home plates near DC metro stops and on sidewalks near the Washington Nationals Ballpark. Underneath each of the plates (there were 30 around the city) was a voucher that can be redeemed for two tickets...
After a busy June, the DC Tech networking scene, seems to have officially dialed back a bit for summer. Nonetheless, there are still a handful of events to keep you connected this month: NoVA TechBreakfast 8:00AM – 11:00AM, Wednesday, July 2 AOL - 22000 AOL Way, Dulles, VA Tech Cocktail DC's Startup...
Startupland is a first-of-its-kind documentary series, that follows five founders through a startup accelerator to show what it takes to start a company, and to succeed in growing and sustaining a business. It features interviews with world famous founders and investors including the founders of...
Summer is here and networking opportunties abound. Here's what's on my radar during the month of June: NoVA TechBreakfast 8:00AM – 11:00AM, Wednesday, June 4 AOL - 22000 AOL Way, Dulles, VA Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum 7:00AM - 11:30AM, Thursday, June 5 Tysons Corner Marriott, 8028 Leesburg Pike, Tysons Corner, VA Tech Cocktail's DC Mixer...
1776's Challenge Festival has been in full gear this week and it's been an exceptional week thus far. I expected it to be a great event -- the concept was unique and I've seen all of the hard work that the 1776 team has put...
April showers bring May...
Our team has been working with the 1776 team and is excited for it to finally be time for the Challenge Festival http://challengecup.1776dc.com/festival/, which starts next Friday, May 9th. DC will be buzzing with amazing events, venues, speakers, startups and the community supporting startups and you should definitely...
Spring has arrived, supposedly, and while the cherry blossoms, crocus and daffodils have yet to materialize, there are a plethora of tech networking events to welcome a change in seasons. Here's what's on my radar: Destination Innovation 1:30PM - 6:30PM, Wednesday, April 2 Washington Post, 1150 15th Street NW NoVA...
DC is converging on Austin, Texas for another year of SxSW Interactive. The following is a list of links and events to help you connect with the DC Tech community while you're there. I will update this list as I get insights on additional events and...
We're all about Challenge Cup at SpeakerBox these days. Since October, we've been busy with the team at 1776, helping to spread the word about the global competitions that have been taking place. Thousands of people from around the world will join the Challenge Festival in...
I am spreading the word about an App that launched this week: SocialRadar. SocialRadar, which delivers "real-time information about the people around you" seems to be the App that has finally done a good job of executing on the combination of social networks, location-based information and...
Our friends at iStrategy Labs dug into Facebook's advertising platform again this year (they also did it in 2011) and the findings, while focused on the decline of teenagers, may just be a good thing for B-to-B marketers. While Facebook's teen users are declining by the...
It's a new year to get your networking game into gear. While the winter holiday will strecth for many until January 6th, there are still opportunities to re-engage with the community and get 2014 off to a great start. Tech Cocktail is back in DC...
Where has the year gone? It feels like just yesterday that I was lamenting the summer heat and anticipating a hectic fall. Now the holidays are in full swing and 'tis the season for office parties and cheer with DC Tech friends. Here's what's on my...
If you’re a Redskins fan, like me, your spirits are in need of some lifting as we enter Week 11 of a lackluster football season. There is perpetual hope that RGIII and team will get it together, but in lieu of that, the women in...
Starbucks may have switched their coffee cups to red, but in DC, it's the first of November and there is still a lot of work to get done before December and the holidays are upon us and limiting our bandwidth. This month, we are thankful that...
Digital East 2013 is happening today and tomorrow at the Dulles Hyatt in Northern Virginia. Sessions range from "UX: Building Mobile Experiences That Don't Suck" to "The Visual Content Revolution: Pinterest, Instagram & Tumbler." Lots of content, dozens of speakers and hundreds of attendees. My session...
Boo! October is here. How'd that happen? September did not fail to pick up the slack from the summer lull and it's scary (in a good way) how many opportunities there are to get out and learn and build relationships this month Here's what's on my...
One of the constants of life in marketing and public relations is editing. We write and edit each others work and we edit communications from clients on a regular basis. The most common punctuation mistake I edit is the use of dashes, so I thought...
If my job weren't dependant on it, I would have abandoned the internet for a good portion of last week because of my frustration over the reaction to Marissa Mayer's Vogue September cover story appearance. Randomly, I rarely saw the contents of the article mentioned in rants....
August 2013. The ultimate yawn month in professional sports. There may have been a golf major worth watching (if you like athletes who don't emote or get haircuts - see below), but little else. PGA majors aside, August in sports makes me think fondly of a...
There is a long standing sentiment that DC is dead in August. The networking calendar for the month certainly reflects that. NVTC and Women in Technology's calendars were literally blank. Never fear, the good people that host Tech Breakfast and DC Tech Meetup have made...
They had me at Hailo. Hailo, an App-based taxi service launched in DC on July 8th. I worked closely with them on their launch, which is a disclosure, but also due diligence for you because SpeakerBox vets each company carefully before we bring on a new...
July in DC can be a bear. A festive 4th of July in the region is a temporary distraction from the weather. As quickly as the fireworks displays rise and desintegrate into the summer air, it is each man and woman againts the heat and...
I couldn't resist the title - I'm an unabashed big fan of moster ballads. So, I digress early in this blog post, but not really. This week, we helped launch a good story and I was excited to be a part of it. Mostly because I...
Where did April go? No, seriously, where did April go? At SpeakerBox, we just wrapped up a month that gave us the launch of the Ballston Initiative, another great Mid-Atlantic Marketing Summit, Queen Rania of Jordan's visit to 1776 (I event got a photo credit in print),...
This week, I responded to a DC Startups - Fierce Conversations Facebook group post that offered this basic notion: "Entrepreneurs are horrible at pitching. Not pitching the details of their companies so much, but generally pitching who they are to get introductions or sponsorships." As someone who...
I think I have finally recovered from South by Southwest Interactive. I think. I've been home a few days and have had time to reflect on the whirlwind of activities, interactions, events and parties. I went to Austin in collaboration with a wide range of people from...
Every February, I guest lecture at a friend's Finance and M&A class at the University of Maryland. As part of the marketing portion, he brings in a couple of us in the marketing industry to discuss the "how to's" in getting their name and potential/future...
Mark your calendars! Following last year's success, the second annual Day of Foster.ly (D.O.F.) will return to Artisphere in Arlington, Virginia on Saturday, May 4th, 2013. The event will draw more than 500 members of the region's entrepreneurship community, and D.O.F. will offer multiple panels and experience...