Guests

ERIK KESSELS

Erik Kessels is a Dutch communication designer, artist and curator with great interest in photography. Erik Kessels is since 1996 Creative Partner of communications agency KesselsKramer in Amsterdam/London and has created campaigns for national and international clients such as Nike, Diesel, J&B Whisky, Oxfam, Ben, Vitra, Citizen M, I amsterdam and The Hans Brinker Budget Hotel. Kessels has won many international awards with his advertising work.

As an artist and curator Kessels has published over 70 books of his ‘re-appropriated’ images: Missing Links (1999), The Instant Men (2000), in almost every picture (2001-2019) and Shit (2018). Since 2000, he has been an editor of the alternative photography magazine Useful Photography and has written the international bestseller Failed It!

Kessels writes regular editorials for numerous international magazines. He lectured at the D&AD Presidents Lecture and at several international design conferences such as in Singapore, Goa, NY, Toronto and Bangkok. He has taught at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (Amsterdam), Écal (Lausanne), Raffles (Milan) and at the Amsterdam Academy of Architecture where he curated a celebration of amateurism.

Kessels made and curated exhibitions such as Loving Your Pictures, Mother Nature, 24HRS in Photos, Album Beauty, Unfinished Father and GroupShow. He als co-curated an exhibition called From Here on together with Martin Parr, Joachim Schmid, Clement Cheroux and Joan Fontuberta.

In 2010 Kessels was awarded with the Amsterdam Prize of the Arts, in 2016 nominated for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. Until 2019 his mid-career retrospective was shown in Turin, Düsseldorf, Budapest and he exhibited this year in the SFMOMA. He was called “a visual sorcerer” by Time Magazine and a “Modern Anthropologist” by Voque (Italia).

ROYA ZEITOUNE

Roya’s career path hasn’t been particularly conventional. She started as a secondary school teacher in comprehensives in deprived parts of London, was then a counsellor in a South American juvenile prison, worked in education and advocacy for Save The Children, she founded and ran an award-winning start-up and was an undercover reporter for Panorama, but she has spent the last nine years working at Google, six of those on YouTube. Her job is to understand the weird and wonderful world of the platform’s content and try and help others understand it too. With almost 500 hours uploaded every minute, it keeps her busy.

ENRICO MENTANA

Enrico Mentana was born in Milan in 1995. At the age of 25 he joined the TG1 team and in 1988 became head of special features. In 1989 he was appointed deputy director of TG2, only to be removed after a year and a half. In 1991 he moved to Mediaset and was asked to head Canale 5’s revamped nightly news programme, which he anchored from 1992 to 2004. In 2005 he launched the current affairs programme “Matrix” on Canale 5 which he headed until 2009. After a stormy farewell with Mediaset, in 2010 he took the reins of the nightly news on Tg La7 which he still anchors today.

NINO FRASSICA

In 1985 musician and television celebrity Renzo Arbore invited him to be part of his permanent guests on the variety show “Quelli della notte”, in which he appeared in the guise of friar Antonio da Scasazza, the unlikely organiser of a prize-winning competition. He followed this with an entertaining parody of the classic tv compère on “Indietro tutta”. He has made appearances on “Fantastico”, “Domenica In”, Scommettiamo che…”, “I Cervelloni”, “Acqua Calda”, “Colorado Cafè” and “Markette”, Piero Chiambretti’s immensely successful variety show.

From 1999 he has been playing the part of the Carabiniere Marshal Nino Cecchini in the long-running tv series “Don Matteo”, starring Terence Hill, Flavio Insinna and Simone Montedoro and now in its twelfth season. He regularly appears on Carlo Conti’s “I migliori anni” and Sabina Guzzanti’s La7 channel show “Un due tre stelle”, in which he reprises some of his roles from the past. Since 2015 he has been hosting “Programmone” on Rai Radio 2 and is a permanent guest on Rai 3 on Saturday evenings on “Che Fuori Tempi Che fa”, hosted by Fabio Fazio.

In February 2016 he was a celebrity guest at the Sanremo Festival, presented by Carlo Conti, appearing in a now famous double-interview with Gabriel Garko and performing “A Mare Si Gioca”, a bitter-sweet tale written and set to music by Tony Canto, promoting the Associazione Ai.Bi, a non-profit organisation that helps abandoned children.

AMELIA HARTLEY

Amelia Hartley is the Head of Music for Endemol Shine UK and looks after music use for the group, working on a wide range of programming.  She has been with the company for over 15yrs and is the music supervisor on such projects as Peaky Blinders seasons 1-5 (BBC/Netflix), Black Mirror seasons 1-5 (Netflix), Fortitude seasons 1-3 (Sky Atlantic), Delicious seasons 1-3 (Sky 1), Bounty Hunters 1-2 (Sky 1), Curfew (Sky), Turn Up Charlie (Netflix) and many more.  She was nominated for a US Guild of Music Supervisors award and has won Best TV Music Supervisor of the year at the Music Week Sync Awards in 2015 and 2018.

MASSIMO RECALCATI

Massimo Recalcati is one of Italy’s best-known psychoanalysts. He teaches at the University of Pavia and Verona. He is the founder of Jonas Onlus: centro di clinica psicoanalitica per i nuovi sintomi and science director of IRPA, a research institute specialised in psychotherapy. He is clinical supervisor at a number of health institutions. Since 2014 he has been editing the Eredi series of books for Feltrinelli and since 2015 the Studi di Psicoanalisi for Mimesis. He writes for specialist publications in Italy and contributes to the culture section of the daily newspaper La Repubblica.

(photo of Gigliola Chistè-Maxxi Rome 2017)

STEFANIA ROMENTI

Stefania Romenti, Ph.D, is Professor in Strategic communication at IULM University (Milan, Italy) and Chair of the Master of Science in Strategic Communication. She is Delegate of the Rector for the Sustainability. She is Director of the Executive Master in Corporate Public Relations (IULM University) and Adjunct Professor at IE Business School (Madrid) in “Measuring Intangibles and KPI’s in Communication”. She is founder and director of the Research Center in Strategic Communication (CECOMS) and member of the Board of the European Association of Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA). Dr. Romenti centers her research on strategic communication, corporate reputation, stakeholder management and engagement, dialogue, social media, measurement and evaluation.

LUCA VERGANO

Luca Vergano is currently VP of Strategy at Elephant, New York, following spells at R/GA, Clemenger BBDO and TBWA. He has worked on Apple, IKEA, Adidas, McDonald’s, Google, Uber, Nissan, and P&G, consistently redefining the way people interact with brands. His work has been awarded by the Cannes Festival, Markies Awards, Campaign Magazine’s Tech Awards, Drum Design and Shorty Awards.

MATTEO CACCIA

He collects, writes and tells stories on the radio and in the flesh, using both the written and spoken word. He has done so on Radio2 where he wrote and presented “Amnèsia”, “Una Vita” and “Pascal”.  In 2019 he returned to Radio24 where he began with “VendoTutto” and “Voi siete qui”, and now he can be heard at 3 p.m. every afternoon on “Linee d’ombra”. He is the producer and presenter of “Don’t tell my mom”, a storyshow held every first Monday of the month in Milan. 

 

In 2018 Audible released “La Piena”, his first podcast series, in which, over 10 episodes, he tells the story of a mechanic that infiltrated South American drug trafficking organisations. He has written three books: “amnèsia” and “Il nostro fuoco è l’unica luce” for Mondadori, and most recently “Il silenzio coprì le sue tracce” for Baldini&Castoldi. He is MC of the “Brand new” biennial dedicated to business communications at the Holden School of Turin. He is founding partner of brandstories, an agency specialised in the creation of Branded Content and Branded Entertainment projects.

LINUS

Born in the small town of Foligno, not far from Perugia in central Italy, on 30th October 1957, Pasquale Di Molfetta is far better  known by his stage name, Linus. He cut his radio teeth on 18th April 1976 in Milan on one of the thousands of private stations that had suddenly sprung up at the time. In just a few years, what had started out as just a game turned into a proper real life job. In 1984 Linus joined Radio Deejay  and a few months later debuted on Deejay Television, the massively popular programme on Italia Uno, for which he was poster boy right through to the end of the 90s.

In 1991 he hosted Deejay Chiama Italia, today still the station’s flagship programme, on air Monday mornings through Friday. In 1998 Linus was joined by Nicola Savino, a partnership still going strong as we speak. The end of 1994 saw his second  great career leap, when he became artistic director of Radio Deejay. In 2007 he took over editorial management of the entire radio output of L’Espresso Group, and two years later he was given artistic direction of Deejay Tv, the channel that rose from the ashes of All Music.

In recent years Linus has published four books: “Linus Chiama Italia” (1996), “E qualcosa rimane” (2004), “Qualcuno con cui giocare” (2007) and “Parli sempre di corsa” (2010). In 2013 he hosted  Rai2’s tv talk show “Il grande cocomero”. On 10 May  2014, he covered the Eurovision Song Contest live with his deskmate Nicola Savino for Rai2.

Currently, Linus is airing on Radio Deejay (live on Deejay Tv and deejay.it) with “Deejay Chiama Italia” and “Deejay Training Center” with Stefano Baldini and Davide Cassani.

VALENTINA RICCI

Valentina Ricci was born and lives in Milano. She has been a honor student since Middle School, but when the hormonal tenneage period begins, she starts to have a series of school failures and then she leaves university. In 2001 she starts to work by chance at Radio Deejay as an editor and author of the deejay Paoletta. After two years, she becomes co-author and then host with La Pina and Diego of Pinocchio, one of the longest and most successful Italian Radio programs. “Le posizioni dell’amore” is her first book.

MARIJN ROOZEMOND

Marijn lavora ad Amsterdam come Creative Strategist per il dipartimento Music & Brands dell’agenzia internazionale di musica MassiveMusic. Inizia a suonare il piano all’età di 5 anni ma è grazie al film ‘The Blues Brothers’ che si appassiona al sassofono e, più in generale, alla musica jazz. Dopo una breve esperienza in un’agenzia di branding, entra a far parte del team di MassiveMusic per aiutare i brand, tra cui UBS e Philips, a trovare la loro voce. Certo che la musica possa avere un’influenza positiva sulla nostra vita, prende parte a ‘Music x Mind’, un’iniziativa di MassiveMusic che offre approfondimenti sulla connessione tra benessere mentale e musica. Sempre in prima linea alle jam session, Marijn è uno di quei rari esemplari che anziché prendersi una settimana di pausa per andare in vacanza la trascorre a imparare un nuovo strumento.

ANDREOZZI BENEDETTA

Managing Partner of The Story Lab (Dentsu Aegis Network), after graduating in literature and a beginning in the independent digital publishing market, she’s spent the last ten years in dealing with digital communication and Influencer Marketing.

CRISTINA BACCELLI

Head of Creative Shop @ Facebook Italy

 

Cristina started her career as an art director in Leo Burnett. She has won many international awards (Cannes, Epica, Clio, Eurobest, NYF) in various international agencies. She then opened her own agency until Condé Nast asked her to join as creative director on branded content. Today she heads Creative Shop in Facebook Italy to inspires brands and agencies to create for social platforms.

 

ROBERTO BAGATTI

Roberto Bagatti is currently responsible for the Brand & Creative area within the Rai Creative Direction: he deals with the public service network branding and corporate branding. Bagatti has matured a consolidated experience in the broadcast field, having held positions in companies operating at a global level: he was the international creative director for MTV at the World Design Studio and for Youth and Music Brands at Viacom International Media Networks. Before that he worked for the Italian free to air broadcasting company La7 as Creative Director and for Sky Italia as Art Director for cinema channels.

He was born in London in 1971 and obtained a degree in graphic design at the P. Toschi Art Institute of Parma, before attending the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. He is passionate about everything that is communication, from graphics to design, from art to cinema, from music to interactivity.

 

NICK BAILEY

Named by Adweek in 2011 as one of the world’s top 10 creative minds in digital, Nick Bailey has held leadership positions as ECD of AKQA Amsterdam, CEO and CCO of Isobar London and Creative Director at Digitas LBi. Along the way he’s picked up over 100 international awards and sat on juries for the Cannes Lions’ inaugural Glass Lion, D&AD, Eurobest and the One Show. As futurefactor’s CEO and creative partner, Nick brings both his creative and commercial leadership experience to the earned space.

DAVIDE BALDI

He is CEO and founder of DUDE, an Italian independent hybrid advertising shop, somewhere between communication agency and production company. With offices in Milan and London, DUDE creates and produces integrated cross media campaigns. Furthermore, it deals with the conception, writing and production of original content for broadcasters.

Previously, Davide spent six years at the independent magazine lavoce.info, which provides critical and in-depth analysis on the country’s main economic, political and social issues.

 

LUCA BARRA

Luca Barra is associate professor at the Arts Department of Bologna University, where he teaches television and digital media studies. His principal research interests are the cultures of tv production and distribution, the international distribution of media content (and its local mediation), the history of Italian, European and American TV and the evolution of the contemporary media scenario. He is editorial consultant at “Link. Idee per la televisione” (Link. Ideas for TV) and co-director of the “Super Tele” series, published by minimum fax.

 

KARIM BARTOLETTI

Karim Bartoletti is a multi-award winning producer from Italy with a very varied career and considerable international experience.

Born in Geneva and raised in Iran, Italy and the USA, Karim began his advertising career in the States at agency DDB/Chicago, then moved to Y&R/Chicago in 1999 as the country’s youngest ever Head of Production.

In 2002 he returned to Italy as Executive Producer at Filmmaster Productions, becoming a partner in 2006. After thirteen years of both production and managerial success, he became partner and Executive Producer at Indiana Production, taking charge of the company’s Advertising and Brand Content division.

In his career we has won every major advertising award, including Cannes, Eurobest, D&AD, NY Festivals, Clio, Mobius and London International. He has been jury member and jury president at numerous national and international festivals, including BEA, Clio, Mobius, New York Festivals, AICP and KIAF, ADCI, Eurobest and Cannes Lions.

‘Visiting professor’ at the leading schools of communication in Italy, Karim has been an elected member of the board of ADCI since 2014 and was recently appointed to the board of CPA, the association of Italian advertising production companies, as well as to the board of IF! Italians. Festival. Karim speaks four languages and lives in Milan with his wife and two children.

 

GIOVANNI BEDESCHI

Giovanni Bedeschi graduated from Istituto d’Arte Beato Anglelico and subsequently from 1980 to 1992 worked as creative for international agencies like Ata Univas, Ted Bates, McCann, Saatchi & Saatchi creating campaigns for Renault, Land Rover, General Motors, Ferrarelle, Tuborg, Tampax and Swatch. In 1992 Giovanni turned to directing freelance and in 2002 opened his own production company Bedeschi Film. A company centered around its directors promoting made in Italy talent worldwide. Bedeschi Film has produced commercials for clients like: Sky, Rovagnati, Samsung, Giovanni Rana, Alitalia, Aboca, Nokia, Nestlè, Dacia, Diesel, Heineken, Fiat, Giorgio Armani, Credit Agricole, Yovis, Ubi Banca, Estra, Stroili, Sloboda, Brosway and Discovery just to name a few. Bedeschi Film has won important advertising awards like Cannes Lions, LIA, ADCI Awards, Eurobest and Clio. 

In 2018 Giovanni directed his first feature film Pane dal Cielo, a story about two homeless in Milan. The film was selected at Aquerò festival 2018 and won Best Film and Best Director award at Mirabile Dictu International Catholic Film Festival 2018. Pane dal cielo is distributed worldwide by TVCO and by Emera Film in Italy.

Since July this year Giovanni is President of CPA, Italian association of advertising production companies.

TITO BOERI

Professor of Economics at Bocconi University, where from 2012 to 2014 he was Dean for Research, and Senior Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. He was President of the Italian Social Security administration (INPS) from March 2015 to February 2019. He is Scientific Director of the Trento Festival of Economics. Before becoming president of INPS, he was Scientific Director of the Rodolfo Debenedetti Foundation. Previously he was Senior Economist at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and consultant to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Commission and the International Labour Office. 

MATTEO BORDONE

Matteo Bordone, journalist and columnist, with a particular interest in how technology impacts on our lives. He has written for “Wired” and “Rolling Stone”, and currently has a daily “audio” column on “Il Post”.

 

IGOR BORGHI

Igor has been a filmmaker since his teens, and after attending the Italian National Film School in Rome, he worked as an Assistant Director for some of Italy’s leading feature film and commercial directors. In these years he realized shortcuts that won awards in festivals around the world.

Since 2010 he started directing commercials.

 

Shots Magazine and LBB recognized him as one of the most interesting directors in Italy and his work and directorial vision has been featured in numerous publications including Adweek, The Best Ads on TV, Ads of The World.

MICHELE BORONI

DAVIDE BOSCACCI

Davide is currently working as Executive Creative Director at Publicis Milan, working on global brands and accounts such as Nescafé, Coca Cola, Kinder and Voltaren (GSK). Before he had a four-year experience as Group Creative Director at Leo Burnett on the global FCA account for the brands Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, both in Turin and Detroit. Previously he was in JWT Italy, where he has worked on many local and international clients (Indesit, Huggies, Shell and more). His work has been awarded at major international festivals including Cannes, D&AD, Clio, NY Festival, Epica and Eurobest. He has served as a juror in many festivals including two editions of the Cannes Lions, D&AD, Eurobest and ADCE. Former VP of the Italian Art Directors Club, he is currently board member of UNA (the association of Italian communication agencies). He is the creator and co-founder of IF!, Italy’s most important festival of creativity.

 

DARIO CAIAZZO

Dario Caiazzo is one of the most popular people of the Italian digital scene. In 2007 he co-founded PromoDigital and from 2010 to 2014 he led the market launch of Ebuzzing, a global leader in online video advertising. His focus on innovation and an in-depth knowledge of the potential of the ad-tech market have allowed him to anticipate the explosive growth of mobile advertising with Beintoo, one of the most important global startups, in this industry.

From 2016 he is in charge for the business development of Teads Italia, consolidating and expanding the tech video premium and display/performance advertising market. Teads is the Global Media Platform that brought together the best publishers in the world in order to distribute ads to more than 1.5 billion unique monthly users within professionally produced editorial content.  

Dario Caiazzo is also a lecturer in Digital Marketing for various Business Schools such as IlSole24Ore, IED, Venice, Roma Tre University, University of Urbino, Gambero Rosso and co-author of the books “Buzz Marketing in social media” and “Viral Video: Content is King , Distribution is Queen ”published in 2010 and in 2013 by Fausto Lupetti Editore.

JAVIER CAMPOPIANO

Javier Campopiano, Chief Creative Officer – Grey Europe & Global Clients

Javier Campopiano has recently joined Grey as Chief Creative Officer for Grey Europe & Global Clients.  Based in London and Madrid, he oversees creative development on key global accounts, help set and implement the creative vision and spearhead the recruitment of top talent to serve them. In addition, he will contribute to enhance the overall creative product across Europe, working closely with Eduardo Maruri, President and CEO of Grey Europe. 

Javier Campopiano is the Mastermind Behind “It’s a Tide Ad”.  He joined Grey from FCB Mexico where he has served most recently as Chief Creative Officer after more than four years at Saatchi & Saatchi. During his tenure as Chief Creative Officer, he transformed the creative reputation of that agency’s flagship New York office.

He received global notoriety for the “It’s a Tide Ad” campaign, the gaggle of faux ads that hijacked the 2018 Super Bowl and swept the award shows, winning a Titanium Lion and the 2019 Grand Effie, among others. Critics hailed its humor, flawless craft and clever, classic problem-solving marketing.

During his career, Campopiano has brought his unique talents to build giant global brands for giant global networks. He began his career as an intern at Ogilvy Argentina and went on to become Regional Creative Director in Latin America for Ogilvy, Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB before becoming a Partner and Chief Creative Officer of FCB New York. The proud recipient of 40 Cannes Lions and a Black Pencil, he has won every top international creative honor.

STEFANO CAPRARO

SIMONA CARDILLO

My educational path includes a bachelor degree in Communication Sciences and a master degree in Information and Communication Technology. In 2006 I attended the School of Journalism “Walter Tobagi” in Milan. Since 2009, I have been a professional journalist and for more than 10 year I have been working in digital information field.

 

I believe that each journalist has the duty to describe the world where we are living and to show all the different points of view, allowing the reader to have a free and complete idea of the different topics.

 

I have always been interested in themes such as green, environment and wellness and health. I am trying to improve my life thanks to daily simple acts. I love nature and animals and I support sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle. I strongly believe that by taking care of ourselves and of our spaces with responsibility, awareness and diligence, we can leave a better world to our children.

ANTONINO CARIDI

37 years old, he has a degree in Economics and Marketing and a Master in Digital Communication Manager. After having held the role of “Musketeer” at Red Bull and, later, of Local On Premise Manager, he consolidated his experience at Ilva Saronno in the role of Head On Trade Regional Account. Since 2015, he has been Consumer Event Manager at Campari, where he is responsible for Experiential Marketing activities for the entire Group portfolio in Italy

STEFANIA CARINI

She is a journalist and writer, and has worked with Corriere della Sera, Il Foglio, Mediaset, Rai, Sky and Studio Universal. Among her programmes are Dizionario del Cinema, Galassia Nerd and Televisori. She holds courses at the Università Cattolica. She has published Il testo espanso (2009), I misteri de Les Revenants (2015) and Ogni canzone mi parla di te (2018).

ROBERTA CARRIERI

Performer and musical entertainer, Roberta Carrieri has worked in theatre with Fiamma Fumana, Davide Van de Sfross, Flavio Oreglio, Moni Ovadia and Davide Toffolo of the “Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti”. As a solo artist she has three albums to her name, as both composer and lyricist. The intense humour in her writing  and her unique energy in holding the attention of her audience (accompanied by guitar and ukelele) have resulted in successful tours in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Ireland, Scotland, France, Greece and Germany. She is also a composer and lyricist for the theatre and writes songs on commissioned topics.

ALESSANDRO CORBETTA

LAURA CORBETTA

Laura Corbetta is the founder & CEO of YAM112003 since 2004. YAM112003 is one of the most innovative and dynamic cross-media communication companies in the Italian and international market. Since 2006, the company is part of the Endemol Shine Group.

Since February 2017, Laura is President of the Branded Entertainment Observatory, an association active since 2003, which studies and promotes the spread of branded entertainment on the Italian market as a strategic lever for brand communication.

SIMONE CRISTIANI

I found out I was a creative when I put my hands on a guitar for the first time. I started soon in advertising, as an innocent copywriter lucky enough to work with inspiring and tough masters. In 2005 my passion for music met the one for communication as I founded the first Italian sound branding agency. Since 2012 I’m back to advertising in True Company, where I currently do my best as Executive Creative Director.

DANYSOL

D a n y s o l, Music Activist, 

is a musician, singer-songwriter, dj and music producer.

 

She came to Milan in 2004 with her band Triacorda, with whom she made a record, and appeared on numerous tv and radio shows.

In 2009 che signed with Warner as a songwriter and went on to work with Zucchero, Gianna Nannini, Ermal Meta and Fedez.

 

In 2016 she worked on another entirely woman-driven project with Alessandra Contini (Il Genio) for Operà Music. The Electro Dream Pop duo launched their single “I don’t wanna be your girlfriend”, produced by Operà Music and Andrea Mariano (Andro) of Negramaro, and the video, shot by director Maki Gherzi in virtual reality, got more than 100,000 clicks on YouTube. Currently, Danysol is working with Operà Music, a powerhouse of bespoke music production and consultancy for the advertising and film industries.

 

She also performs at various venues as dj, taking inspiration for her unique sound design from films and tv series and from the modern music scene, especially underground, indie and nostalgia.

 

Danysol is also creator and producer of a number of successful musical formats in Milan.  “The Rock and Roll Circus Experience”, is an event that combines the language of the rock concert with the collective imagination of the circus, drawing numerous celebrities from the Milan and national music scenes. She is a frequent guest on Radio Capital and at Milano Music Week. 

   

Danysol also conceived “IpseMixit”, where musicians, record producers, directors, actors, creatives, intellectuals and influencers from all walks take turns at the console to share their tastes in music. A transparent format that has allowed sharing from online to offline during unique evenings of music and socialising. A way to learn about new music, to experiment, discover and share, following one’s own taste but in a context of emotional spontaneity.

 

MAURO DEL RIO

Mauro Del Rio is co-founder of SOLO, a company creating “smart content for smart speakers”. Back in 1999 he founded Buongiorno, which developed apps and services for mobile

devices worldwide. It was listed on the stock exchange in 2003, and was acquired by the Japanese mobile operator Docomo in 2012. He is also co-founder and advisor of ICONIUM SpA.

LUCA DELLA DORA

Innovation Director

Seeking the meaning of decaffeinated coffee and non-alcoholic beer since 1981, today he heads We Are Social’s Innovation division, after having been Strategy Director and Editorial Director. His task is to keep the agency and its clients abreast of the latest innovations (not solely technical, on the contrary) and help them identify the most interesting trends for their business in the months to come. He never smiles in photos (but makes up for it in real life).

DANIELA DELLA RIVA

Smart and brilliant, Daniela began her career at the beginning of 2000s, when media, even in Italy, was no longer just planning and buying but also strategy. She has grown professionally in the WPP group, first in CIA Medianetwork, then in Mindshare and Maxus, always taking care of communication strategy and moving from Strategic Planner to Strategic Manager to Maxus Strategic Director. She then joined Dentsu Aegis group as Strategic Director of Carat Milano. In 2014 she joined Omnicom Media Group as a Strategic Director of PHD. Her varied experience led her to work for different companies in different segments: Automotive, FMCG, TLC.

FABIO DE LUCA

Journalist and dj, based in Milan, wrote articles and books, interviewed Daft Punk before they put their helmets on, has been deputy editor at “Rolling Stone Italia”, hosted shows on Italian national radio, and did several other things.

GIANLUCA DIEGOLI

Since his time at Bocconi University he has been observing passing trends that border the fine line between online and offline. His day job is in e-commerce and digital; at night, he is a writer, with Mobile Marketing (Hoepli), Vendere online (Il Sole 24 Ore) and Social Commerce (Apogeo) to his name. He is visiting professor at IULM and at numerous Masters. His enjoyment is his blog minimarketing.it.

FRANCESCO EBBASTA

Francesco Ebbasta graduated in Communication Sciences at Suor Orsola Benincasa”University in Naples. Ever since he was a child he has been passionate about videomaking and directing his own work. In 2005 with Ruzzo Simone (Simone Russo), Alfredo Felco (Alfredo Felaco), and Gianluca Cozzolino, he founded The Jackal, a video production company in Naples, of which he is currently artistic director and film director. Among various productions for television and the web, in 2011 he directed the web series “Lost in Google”, the first experiment in interaction with fans. In 2014 he made “The Parker”), a short action film which achieved over 668,000 hits. He also directed the trilogy “Gli effetti di Gomorra sulla gente”. In 2016, his short film “30 anni”, produced and distributed by The Jackal, was released on YouTube, and was watched by 3 million users. “Addio fottuti musi verdi”, produced by The Jackal and Cattleya and distributed by 01 Distribution, is his first feature.

ANTONIO DIKELE DISTEFANO

Antonio Dikele Distefano is an italian writer, journalist and music A&R of Angolan descent. He was born in Busto Arsizio but grew up in Ravenna. He first started out as a writer. In 2014 he published his first book “Fuori piove dentro pure, passo a prenderti?” independently that later went on to become a best seller under Mondadori publishing company. He has written a total of 5 books. He is now working on a Netflix series based on one of his books, “Non ho mai avuto la mia età”. 

Antonio’s carrier in music first began when he moved to Milan where he met representatives of the Italian hip-hop scene. In 2015 he co-founded “Sto”, an urban clothing line that later became a magazine and then a record label. The magazine first started as a Instagram magazine that focused all it’s work on social media. Antonio is now director of “Esse’ Magazine” and he is continuing his work in the music industry.

LUDOVICA FEDERIGHI

Ludovica boasts vast experience in show business. Reared and nurtured in Magnolia, today she is head of Fuse, the Omnicom Media Group division that develops Branded Entertainment projects. As a creative manager, she has turned communication into an art at the service of brands. Know-how and narrative of every kind have been the pillars of her career. She develops multiplatform projects of Branded Entertainment, responding with strategic sensitivity to the growing demand for original productions, focused on effective brand storytelling, that always puts the real protagonists at the centre of the story: individuals, their lives and dreams, in which the brand is seamlessly integrated with the narrative. 

FRANCESCA FELLER

 Group Account Director 

More than ten years experience in international agencies, including JWT, Leo Burnett and Y&R, at the forefront in building strategy and campaigns for products and services, both for the local and international markets. At We Are Social since 2015, she is in charge of relations with clients, who include IKEA, NETFLIX, VODAFONE, BMW, MINI,MSC, Manfrotto and BNL. She leads a client service team and is personally involved in ensuring strategic/creative output and in the management and growth of agency business..

PAOLO FERRARINI

Researcher, teacher and content curator, he focuses on cultural innovation, design,

fashion, technology and communication. He teaches “Fashion and Industrial Design” at the University of Bologna (Polo di Rimini) and is a visiting professor at fashion and design schools in Italy and abroad, including Accademia Costume & Moda, Istituto Marangoni, Domus Academy, Central Saint Martins UAL London, SDA Bocconi and IULM. He is Italian correspondent

for Cool Hunting and collaborates with national and international publications such

as Vogue Italia and Eye. Since 2018 he hosts the podcast Parola Progetto .

FEDERICO FERRAZZA

Director of Wired Italia since June 2015, after having been appointed vice-director in 2013, he had in 2004 founded the media company Galileo Servizi Editoriali, a company dealing in the production and development of scientific content and of strategic consulting in the field of communication. He has written about science and technology for various newspapers, such as La Repubblica, Il Sole 24 Ore and L’Espresso. He taught New Media and Journalism at the universities of La Sapienza and Tor Vergata in Rome. From 2000 to 2002 he was one of the writers of the TV programmes Greed and 100%, two quiz shows produced by Pearson Television and Magnolia that aired on Rai Due and La7.

GIORGIO FERRETTI

40 years and an insane passion for every sport that puts a table under his feet, “Creativity is intelligence having fun” is one of his favorite quotes. A degree in Communication in Perugia, a Master in Marketing at UPA Ca Foscari in Venice, and a 2 years experience in RCS Pubblicità before joining Google. He started in Google ZOO creative team five years ago and today he is a Creative Business Partner leading creative business for FR-IT-ES. ZOO has recently intercepted a major shift in the way brands and marketers approach digital today: they don’t need to be further convinced that digital is great – they rather need quick and practical help to shine in the digital space. ZOO now helps creative Agencies and Brands to solve big challenges and test new ideas in just 2 days with MAChINETM Sprint format.

DAVID FISHER

With a background in entertainment marketing, David Fisher (Milan, 1976) set up Blue Joint Film e Red Joint Film.

With Blue Joint he produced the urban culture format “Basement Cafè”, and conceived “The Nation of Plants” format for the Milan Triennale XXII International Exhibition. He is one of the producers of “Zero”, the first Netflix tv series set in Milan and scheduled for release in 2020.

 

ANNA GAVAZZI

After graduating in Communication Sciences at IULM University in Milan, she joined Mediaset in 2003, where she earned a “Campus Multimedia” Master’s  Degree in Management. She began her professional career at Sky Italia, where for more than two years she dealt with programme schedule planning and on air promotions. In September 2006 she joined the Telecom Italia group, where she held various positions, first in marketing the Matrix subsidiaries and Telecom Italia Media, working on the launch of the Web TV and IPTV platforms. She then moved to the Consumer Communication and Brand Strategy & Media divisions of  Telecom Italia, where she worked on the Tim brand at commercial and corporate level. In recent years she has focused on content marketing, implementing several BC&E projects. From 2014 to 2016 she was Head of Content at LIVEonTIM. Since 2017 she is general manager of OBE Osservatorio Branded Entertainment.

DOMENICO GENOVESE

Domenico Genovese, Digital & Innovation Manager PHD Italia.

After failing with Artes, his own startup in the healthcare industry, Domenico applied the love for technology and the finance knowledge working as Investment Manager at Azimut Holding Group. Working for three years for the main Italian Crowdfunding Platform, he managed more than 80 ventures in startups from 10 different industries, picked in partnership with the main Italian business accelerators and incubators.

He’s currently Innovation Manager at PHD Media Italy, a communication agency of OmnicomMedia Group, focused on digital transformation and digital marketing services for clients of many industries (Automotive, Tech, FMCG, GDO). He’s facing the challenge of applying the best of digital marketing technology to the old standardized multinational internal processes.

 

WILLEM GERRITSEN

Studying Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, Willem discovered his love for film making. He started making shorts and music videos for several top Dutch artists and founded a production company in 2005. Later he broke through on an international level in commercials joining CZAR and winning a Young Director Award at the Cannes Lions Festival and many other international awards followed. Especially for his viral films, that garnished over 40 million Youtube hits together. Willem is a storytelling and performance director at heart, often touching (or humouring) the audience with characters that feel true to life visually brought in a stylish, yet authentic way. 

MARIANNA GHIRLANDA

Marianna Ghirlanda joined the BBDO group in September 2018 as CEO of DLV BBDO and Proximyt Italia, after a long spell at Google, where from 2011 she was Head of Creative Partnerships at Google Italia, overseeing special projects and relations with creative agencies. Following a degree in architecture, specialising in ergonomics, and a master’s degree in marketing, she started out as a designer. In 2001 she entered the world of communication and spent ten years in creative agencies in Italy, the Netherlands and the UK.

 

VICKY GITTO

 

Founder & Executive Creative Director – Gitto/Battaglia_22

President – Art Directors Club Italiano

Italian Representative – Cannes Lions Festival

European Board Member – ADCE

His career began in 1997, when he won the first edition of Cannes Young Lions and was immediately taken on as copywriter by BGS D’Arcy, Agency of the Year at the time. In the year 2000 he joined DLV BBDO, where he was soon appointed Creative Director. In 2005 he became member of the board and Group ECD in DDB Italia. In 2009 he signed up with Young & Rubicam/VML as EVP & Group CCO, and was soon appointed member of the Global Creative Board, of the Emea Creative Board and President of the Italian branch, a role he held until January 2018. In 2016 he was elected President of the Italian Art Directors Club, a role he still covers today, as well as that of Italian Representative of the Cannes Lions Festival and Board Member of the European Art Directors Club. In October 2019 he founded, the independent shop Gitto/Battaglia_22 with Roberto Battaglia ex-President & ECD of Grey.

FABIO GUARNACCIA

Managing director of Link. Ideas for TV, strategy marketing manager of RTI and co-director of the “SuperTele” series, published by minimum fax. He has written short stories for magazines, aswell as articles on television, cinema and comic strips. He has published two novels, Più leggero dell’aria (Transeuropa, 2010) and Una specie di paradiso (Laurana, 2015).

ALESSANDRO INNOCENTI

Alessandro Innocenti, born in 1980, he’s the founder and General Manager of Madhouse Group, events and BTL agency.

In 2017 he starts Tweenkle, first media agency specialized on the teen target (generazion Z).

Founder of Hedera Mgmt.

He collaborates as head of brand for the musical label Asian Fake (Coma Cose, Venerus, SXRRXWLAN).

From 2008 to 2017 he taught marketing and fashion communication at IED Milano.

Passionate about subcultures and lifestyle.

He collaborated with the most important italian musical festivals.

RAVID KUPERBERG

Partner and structured creative thinking trainer in the field of brand communications, working with numerous advertising agencies and brands around the world. 

Ravid is a former advertising professional with 14 years of experience in strategic planning and creative development. 

He is a frequent keynote speaker and trainer at international marketing conferences and advertising festivals. And a retired amateur goalkeeper (which nobody misses).

 

ANTONELLA LA CARPIA

Antonella La Carpia is one of the most important personalities in the Digital World, with over 15 years of experience in Media at national and international level. 

With a strong leadership built over the years of her career and a natural entrepreneurial approach, Antonella is leading the Marketing Strategies of Teads, global leader company in the Outstream Advertising market, holding the position of Marketing Director for EMEA and APAC. 

Expert in Web and New Media, she has worked with many national and international companies, including: SmartBox, Adnkronos Multimedia, MN Italia Viralteam, RAI, Zimbalam. She collaborates with various training institutions in advertising and has taught in some of the most prestigious communication academies and Business Schools in Milan and Rome. To name a few: IAB, Il Sole 24 ORE Business School and Events, NABA, IULM, Ateneo Impresa, La Sapienza. Antonella was named Digital Media Person of the Year in the NC Digital Awards in 2018.

NICOLA LAMPUGNANI

He began as copywriter and content provider.

After arriving in Milan in 2001 he worked in several ad agencies. He started out in DLV BBDO as a trainee and five years later moved on to DDB as senior copywriter. He was appointed Deputy Creative Director in Armando Testa in July 2008. In January 2010, at only 33 years old, he was made Executive Creative Director of TBWA Milan and five years later became Chief Creative Officer of the entire TBWA Italia group.

Since June 2017 he has been Creative and Marketing Senior Director at Discovery Italia, and heads its creative factory, Discovery Creative Italia, with responsibility for the group’s entire promotional/marketing and PR channels, also supporting special initiatives of the Discovery Media dealership.  

Vice-president of the Italian Art Directors Club from 2016 to 2019, he is also founder of IF! Italians festival and has been a member of the editorial committee.

He is a surfer and is passionate about sport, and has played both tennis and skiing at a competitive level. He is married with two children and a black cat.

 

ALESSANDRA LANZA

She is a university professor in Event Management for the Mimec Masters course at Bocconi University and consultant for marketing, communication and events production. Alessandra Lanza has twenty years’ experience in the design and production of online and offline campaigns. She has worked with leading brands investing in communication and with the major ad agencies. General manager and co-founder of IF! Italians Festival, Alessandra member of the board of ADCI Servizi and works with both profit and non-profit organisations.

LA PINA

Born in Florence on June 20th, 1970, in 1973 she moved with her parents to Milan where she studied Visual Communications at ITSOS (High School for business). In the meanwhile, she began to work as an educator for children with behavioral problems for almost ten years. Her career in Radio Deejay began in 1994 together with Albertino in the program “Venerdì Rappa” (then “One-Two One-Two”), where she was in charge to deal the listeners’ emails. Here La Pina has the chance to develop her interest in language and in rapping, a recurring element in all her radio programs. On October 19th, 2013, she married Emiliano Pepe, with whom in 2014 she participated in the third edition of “Pechino Express”. She now works as a speaker in “Pinocchio”, the program broadcasted on Radio Deejay who has been conducting since 2001, along with Diego Passoni and Valentina Ricci.

MONICA LAZZAROTTO

Monica Lazzarotto. I was born on 10th July, but I can’t quite remember the year… (1964). In 2007, Cecilia Ungania and I founded www.youmark.it, which I run.  What is it? It started out as a video-magazine (and I would say without exaggeration that we were the first – videos weren’t yet a must), today we consider ourselves a place where we give form and substance in words and images to the value that agencies, brands, venues, cities, people, production companies, etc. know how to create, with their vision and their work. Our passion is creativity, in all its declinations.  Our plus is the human spirit. And we never stop. Since January, we’ve launched new thematic channels, starting with health. Having said that… where were we? Ah, yes, before youmark, I had very varied work experience. I worked on daily broadcasts such as Borsa Oggi (Telelombardia) and TuttoBorsa (Telecampione), but I’ve also sold advertising space, I gave accounting a try, I’ve done technical analysis of currency trends, and lots more. I graduated in Economics from Cà Foscari (Ve). I adore stories. Especially good ones.

HOMAR LEUCI

Homar Leuci was born in Milano and he caught the degree in economics, great and strange background if you think to become one of the legend of the depth freediving in the Sea. He changed is mind suddenly after having caught the license to become a financial broker in London. Since that moment he setted down record after record, year after year, reaching amazing depth and with them the limit of human physiology, as the last depth of him -121 meters in the abyss. 29 records trough national and world, 4 international medals with one Gold, 9 Italian titles, 3 Italian record holder and 1 world record holder, with a maximum depth of -131 meters reached without breathing, he can hold his breath for more then 7′, a real cetacean.

CARLA LEVERATTO

Carla is Creative Partnership Manager at Google in Italy, managing the relationships with creatives teams across the industry ecosystem.

Originally from Argentina, Carla brings more than 16 years of creative industry experience. She began her career in Wunderman as an Art Director for Unilever, Ford, Alitalia and Playstation. Then she joined Young & Rubicam where she enjoyed creating all kinds of materials for film launches for United International Pictures.

Finally she joined Gruppo Roncaglia in 2007 and after working for brands such as Lexus, Bulgari, MAXXI and Save the Children she became Creative Director in 2012.

Since then she has worked with multidisciplinary teams inspiring talents in creating innovative campaigns that allow brands to create lasting relationships with their customers, increasing their business. Some of these clients are: Mercedes-Benz, smart, Mastercard, Playstation, Volkswagen, Unieuro and Enel.

She has been a jury member in various national and international awards such as Cannes Lions, eurobest, New York Festivals and others.

VITO LOMELE

Vito Lomele è co-fondatore di SOLO insieme a Mauro Del Rio. Precedentemente aveva fondato il motore di ricerca e aggregatore per offerte di lavoro Jobrapido.com (ceduto nel 2014 al Daily Mail). È anche co-fondatore di Fiscozen.it, e investitore in diverse società tra cui Empatica, ProntoPro e AutoXY. // Vito Lomele is co-founder of SOLO with Mauro Del Rio. 

PAOLA MARAZZINI

Paola Marazzini joined Google in 2007 and contributed to the development of the business in Italy, covering different roles.

Currently, she is the Agency & Strategic Partnerships Director dealing with the business development with Media and Creative Agencies as well as the evangelization of the digital ecosystem through partnerships with Consulting Companies and the world of Publishers and Broadcasters.

Paola is also a member of the Google EMEA Leadership Coaching team that plans and internally provides coaching support for Google Executives.

Previously, she worked for 15 years at Publitalia ’80, a licensee of the Mediaset Group, first in the capacity of Agency Sales Manager of analogue TV, then of Sales Director of Publitalia online and, in 2003, she became the Commercial Manager in the area of Digital Terrestrial Television.

Graduated in Law and with a Masters in Retail Management, Paola started her professional career in Nielsen as an account on FMCG clients.

In 2016, Paola became ACC Coach certified with Erickson College Interna

GREG MARCHETEAU

Greg Marcheteau is in charge of Strategic Partnerships at Google, with specific responsibility for Google Home.

 

ELENA MARINONI

Trend forecaster and strategic design consultant. She is Head of Trend Research at Nextatlas (www.nextatlas.com), an AI-driven trend forecasting platform based on a crowd-sourced data stream of contents shared by an international community of +300k trendsetters gathering on social media. Over the years she has been working for top companies in order to help them tune in with demand evolutions, to support their strategic positioning, the development of new products/services and their marketing and communication strategies. She is a trend specialist in such areas as consumer trends, social and cultural change and new lifestyles, emerging styles in fashion, product and interior design, luxury scenario, trends in retailing. She is Professor of Trend Forecasting and Strategic Innovation at Politecnico of Milano. Since 2007 she is lecturer at Istituto Marangoni for Trend Forecasting, Sociology of Consumption, Cool Hunting and Cult Searching.

MIMMI MASELLI

FRANCESCO MENEGAT

Francesco Menegat is a music consultant at Operà Music, a music production powerhouse based in Milan, Turin and London, where he is in charge of creative searches, licensing and the organisation of a production music catalogue. Having worked for almost a decade in the role he has estensive knowledge and experience in the use of music for the moving image, in particular in the advertising field. He is a co-founder and director at Black Wire Music Ltd, a UK based music publisher, and its imprint label Minimum Records, specialised on video game soundtrack releases on vinyl.

GIORGIO MENNELLA

Giorgio Mennella, Advertising Director Ciaopeople.

Giorgio Mennella began his career as a mediator in international cooperation, having the good fortune to develop his skills across various Mediterranean countries.

He moved from international mediation to the digital world when he became project manager for the publisher AgoraVox, with the task of developing the French and Italian markets.

His professional career led him to head marketing and business development at Ciaopeople: Mennella oversaw the launch of Native Advertising on Fanpage.it and of the Branded Content division of The Jackal. He is currently the group’s business manager.

 

GIANNI MIRAGLIA

Born in 1965 and Milanese by adoption, Gianni Miraglia has enjoyed a twenty-year career as copywriter at a number of Milan’s multinational ad agencies, namely Leo Burnett, Bates, Euro Rscg and Lowe Pirella Fronzoni. He has written four novels, most recently ”Ritornello al futuro”, published in November 2016 by Baldini&Castoldi.

 

He writes for Icon Panorama and Marie Claire and has contributed features to Rolling Stone, GQ, Wired and Riders. He is creator and presenter of DMAX’s Discovery “#MandatemiAQuelPaese”, filmed in Iceland, as well as stage performer and improviser in “Monologhi della Fatica”.  He has appeared on Rai3 and Rai2 in “Provincia Capitale” and “Viaggio nell’Italia del Giro”, both hosted by Edoardo Camurri.

 

For more than a year he has turned his attention to art, printing and selling his works of digital design.

 

PAOLA MONTI

Paola Monti is research coordinator at the Rodolfo Debenedetti Foundation in Milan. She collaborates occasionally with Bocconi University as project manager and has considerable experience in the presentation and management of research projects financed by local and European institutions. In the implementation phase of projects, she deals with monitoring research, budget management and coordinates the activities of the working groups. She frequently carries out research personally and drafts policy reports. Over the last ten years, she has been involved across a variety of projects in the fields of labour economics, immigration and welfare programmes. In 2004 Paola Monti graduated in Social Economic Disciplines at Milan’s Bocconi University and she has a Master’s Degree in Economics from University College London

STEFANO MONTICELLI

Stefano Monticelli was born in Milan in 1967. From 1996 to 2008 he was a writer on numerous programmes for Mediaset, MTV and Rai (among which, ”Kitchen” with Andrea Pezzi, “Cornetto Free Music Festival” and “Scorie”).  He ran the Radio Deejay press office from 1996 to 2001, and was Linus’s protegé. From 2001 to 2006 he produced the channel’s first episodes of “Deejay Chiama Italia”. In 2012 he was executive producer on Radio Deejay’s 30th anniversary at the Assago Forum.

STEFANO MORELLI

EMANUELE NENNA

Born in Milan in 1973, Emanuele Nenna has been working in communication since 1995. Starting out as copywriter, he rose to CEO and partner in several international agencies (Nurun, Tribal DDB, Rapp Collins), before setting up Now Available with two partners in 2008. It was Italy’s first agency of neutral advertising, and in 2014 became The Big Now, with offices in Milan, Rome and the capital of Ghana, Accra. In 2018 the creative agency of which Nenna is co-founder and CEO became part of the Dentsu Aegis Group Network.He is currently president of UNA – Aziende della Comunicazione Unite, an association that came out of the recent merger of ASSOCOM and Unicom, and set up to represent the entire chain of communication operators in Italy with more than 200 associates. He is also co-founder of the annual IF! Italians Festival, the international advertising event devoted entirely to creativity, conceived and promoted in 2014 with ADCI – Art Directors Club Italiano, in partnership with Google.

Lecturer at NABA IED and Politecnico, Emanuele Nenna is also author of “Creative 4Cast. A new solution for the future of advertising” (LID Publishing, London, 2013).

MAURIZIO NICHETTI

After graduating in Architecture, he studied mime and worked at Milan’s Piccolo Teatro. Still in Milan, in 1974 he founded the theatre cooperative “QuellidiGrock”. From 1970 to 1978 he worked as screenwriter at Bruno Bozzetto’s studio. In 1979 he wrote, directed and starred in his first feature film “Ratataplan”. He has also worked in television, hosting various programmes, such as “Quovadiz?”, “Pista!”, “Fantasy Party”, and has directed more than 150 commercials over the years. In 1998 he was part of the jury at the Berlin International Film Festival and a year later at the Cannes Film Festival. He has won three Nastri d’argento: “Ratataplan” (1980), “Ladri di saponette” (1989), “Luna e l’altra” (1997), and in 1991 was awarded the David Donatello for Best Screenplay for “Volere Volare”. He won the 1989 Moscow Festival with “Ladri di Saponette”, the 1990 Festival of Festivals in Montreal with Volere Volare and the 1997 Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival with “Luna e l’altra”. Since 2014 he has been artistic director of the Milan branch of the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and heads the directing laboratory at IULM University in Milan.

GABRIELLA NOBILE

Originally from Puglia in southern Italy, Gabriella Nobile has been an entrepreneur for the last twenty years in the photography and visual industry.

She is the adoptive mother of two African children. In early 2018, she challenged politican Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s far-right party with a post on Facebook, accusing him of inciting racial hatred against immigrants and “giving my children truly unheard of moments of terror”. The post went viral, with 100,000 shares, and inspired mothers from all over Italy in similar circumstances to band together. This was  start of “Mamme Per la Pelle, which she founded and remains its beating heart. It is a network that promotes intercultural awareness and aims to support adoptive and biological mothers, foster parents and children of different ethnicity against discrimination, by way of legal and psychological helpdesks.

ROBERTO OTTOLINO

Roberto Ottolino was born in 1985 in Rome. Over the years he has worked as a copywriter in Milan (A-Tono) and Rome (Gruppo Roncaglia, GTB, McCann) for brands such as 3M, Barilla, BNL, Bosch, Ford, Kia, Mastercard, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, Playboy, Poste Italiane, San Carlo, Save The Children, Smart, Sony PlayStation. Today he is Senior Creative in The&Partnership, the European hub for Toyota and Lexus, where he achieved several national and international acknowledgements. He is also a lecturer at the Europen Institute of Design.

CINZIA PEDRIZZETTI

GORY PIANCA

Gory Pianca graduated in Political Economics and trained professionally at the Mediaset ScuolAutori.

Between 2000 and 2006 he wrote for numerous tv programmes, such as “C’è posta per te”, “Passaparola”, “L’isola dei famosi”, and “Music Farm”.

He is one of the founding members of YAM112003 and he has been Chief Creative Officer since January 2006.

Gory deals with the conception and development of integrated communications projects, both in the field of tv and digital branded entertainment and in terms of internal and corporate communications activities for large companies.

 

FRANCESCO PICCININI

Born in Naples in 1981, he studied Communication and Information Sciences, obtaining a research doctorate from the Université Paris VIII. He was digital manager at Caltagirone Editore Digital and director of AgoraVox Italia, and has been a lecturer in Brand Strategy and Communication at the École Supérieure de Gestion in Paris. He is currently managing director of Fanpage.it.

MARINA PIERRI

Marina Pierri, journalist and co-founder of the tv series festival “FeST”. She was the first columnist to be hired at SOLO.

 

VINCENZO PISCOPO

Vincenzo Piscopo, Head of Branded Content at Ciaopeople, a publishing group that includes/comprises Fanpage.it, The Jackal, Ohga and Cookist. He graduated in computer engineering in 2010, and joined Ciaopeople a year later to look after analysis and development of new products. Since 2014 he has been handling business development and production reorganisation of The Jackal, establishing it as a leader in the production of digital branded content and a production house for third parties. Over the past four years the group has been bolstered with new business roles and has formed dedicated working units, which has successfully brought in companies such as Sky, Disney, Ford, Huawei and many others. In 2016 he was The Jackal’s producer on the feature film Addio Fottuti Musi Verdi, co-produced with Cattleya and 01. Since January 2017, he has been coordinating the branded content unit of Fanpage.it, making it one of the major publishers for the production of Branded Content. He is Local Ambassador in the region of Campania for ADCI and was media jury member at the 2019 Cannes Lions.

 

FIORENZA PLINIO

When it comes to creativity, passion is the key. As Head of Creative Excellence at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Fiorenza is in constant dialogue with corporate departments and external organisations to create and develop opportunities for growth and involvement with creative communities and brands at local and global level. Previously in charge of the development of awards at Cannes Lions and Eurobest, Fiorenza launched the Public Relations Lions in 2009 and the Mobile Lions in 2012. She often speaks at congresses and roundtables on creativity in the media and communication sectors. Fiorenza was previously an editor at the Ansa news agency in Paris, and has written for several international publications. Originally from Rome, she has spent the last twelve years in London, and holds a degree in Communications Sciences from LUMSA University and a Master’s in Journalism from the Sorbonne.

GAETANO POLIGNANO

 

Graduated in Economics, Gaetano Polignano is a recognized specialist of programmatic Marketing with 15 years experience in Online advertising, including 8 years in the field of Real Time Bidding. Previously Head of Performance Advertising for Hi-Media Southern Europe, Gaetano Polignano has been an active player in the programmatic transformation of the group. Back in Milan in October 2012, he became Sales Director of the Demand Side Platform Adform before joining Tradelab in September 2014.

 

POPULOUS

Andrea Mangia, aka Populous, is a music producer and dj from Salento. He made his debut in 2003 with the Berlin music label Morr Music. He has  written jingles and soundtracks for television, and is also a sound designer for the web, museums and fashion shows. He has worked for Imperial, IKEA, Vogue, Vivienne Westwood, Carhartt, Elie Saab, Nissan, Wired, Skoda. He has produced for, among others, Teebs, Clap! Clap!, Dj Khalab, Blue Hawaii, Lukid, John Wizards, Simon Scott/Slowdive, Sun Glitters, Larry Gus and Giardini Di Mirò. 

In 2010 he won the “Premio 2061 – La musica elettronica italiana del futuro”. In 2014 he released “Night Safari”, an album that received unanimous acclaim from both critics (Pitchfork, Interview Magazine, XLR8R) and public, with tracks regularly played on cult radio stations, such as NTS, KEXP and Le Mellotron. In 2016 he won the “Best Artist” award at the Italian Quality Music Festivals.

JULIAN PRAT

Chief Strategy Officer – Wavemaker

20 years in the media environment, technology lover, strategy obsessed.
After an experience in Nielsen, he decided that media was the world for him, where he could exploit his passion for people and the way they interact with brands. With the digital transformation, everything became even more interesting expanding the world of possible connections.
Julian arrived in Wavemaker 10 years ago as Chief Strategy Officer and for the last 3 years he has been also in charge of the coordination of WN Content, the Wavemaker content and social business area. 

MASSIMO RECALCATI

Massimo Recalcati is one of Italy’s best-known psychoanalysts. He teaches at the University of Pavia and Verona. He  is the founder of Jonas Onlus: centro di clinica psicoanalitica per i nuovi sintomi and science director of IRPA, a research institute specialised in psychotherapy. He is clinical supervisor at a number of health institutions. Since 2014 he has been editing the Eredi series of books for Feltrinelli and since 2015 the Studi di Psicoanalisi for Mimesis. He writes for specialist publications in Italy and contributes to the culture section of the daily newspaper La Repubblica.

 

(photo of Gigliola Chistè-Maxxi Rome 2017)

VINCENZO RIILI

Vincenzo Riili has been Marketing Director for Google since 2016, he is a member of the Italian board and of the EMEA marketing leadership team.

He worked for 14 years in international marketing at Unilever, covering various senior roles and gaining experience in different businesses and areas in Europe, Asia, Africa and America.

Recognized as a digital and traditional marketing expert, Vincenzo has led complex teams, achieving international success and improving his skills in communication, product innovation, strategy and business, and P&L management.

STEFANO ROSSELLI

GIAMPAOLO ROSSI

Founder of Fabbrica di Lampadine and Erreduedidue, and the publishing group Oltre La Media, Giampaolo Rossi is an authority on communication, leadership, change and innovation. Using innovative methodology, he addresses top-level managerial topics, reworking classic skills to make them more effective and relevant today. Regularly called on to give motivational talks at business conferences, he uses mostly cinema as a metaphor from which he takes inspiration to tackle issues in a lively and amusing way. He hosts large corporate events, often with guests from the worlds of entertainment, sports, art and adventure, to highlight the similarities between the role of the testimonial and the business of work. He reports weekly on how advertising spots communicate their message and is a frequent guest on national and local tv. In 2017 he published “Viaggio su Marte”, a book that brings together years of research and managerial experience on the issue of change.

ENEA ROVEDA

In 2000 Enea Roveda contributed to the foundation of LifeGate, starting as artistic director of LifeGate Radio and then becoming managing director. Since 2010, as director of marketing and communication for the LifeGate group, he is committed to expanding the community and accompanying companies in their sustainable development paths. In 2014 he was appointed CEO of the group, with the aim to consolidate LifeGate as a reference point for sustainability in Italy.

SALVATORE SAGONE

Salvatore Sagone is founder, President and Editor in Chief of ADC Group. The publishing company has created the ADVexpress and e20express websites, NC and e20 magazines, The Notebooks of Communications. He also organises the NC Awards and Best Event Awards that are now acknowledged as the main local and international events award, involving 30 countries so far. He also created the Live Communication Week, an international format that for the first time will be held this year in Milan from 26th to 30th of November.

Sagone has been a professional journalist since 1991. He graduated in Modern Foreign Literatures, carried out teching activities at Universities, and collaborated with radio and newspapers since 1987.

PIERLUIGI SASSI

He was born in Camerino on 21 August 1967. He is married and has two children. He graduated in Work and Organization Psychology at the Sapienza University of Rome, and since 1996 has carried out research and social investigations and founded CeSAR – Center for Academic Studies on Reputation. University and post-university teacher at universities and higher education institutes. He is the President of Earth Day Italia, the organization that celebrates the United Nations World Earth Day. As an expert in Communication, Research and Development, he collaborates with multinational companies and public bodies. He was National Secretary of Young Christian Businesses; consultant to the ABI and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for the analysis of the impact of legislative interventions; director of the regional observatory on public opinion at the presidency of the Lazio Region. He founded the Christian Businesses for the Common Good series with the LEV; produces the Economic Heading A Conti Fatti broadcast on Vatican Radio; he is the Editorial Director of the information portals Economiacristiana.it and Earthday.it; publishes a blog on Formiche.net; collaborates with RAI / Sky / La7 / TV2000 and Avvenire. With the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers he founded Impresa Sant’Annibale Onlus for the job placement of young people from the Family Houses of Rome; collaborates with the Vicariate on the Campo Hospital project on youth distress; is founder of PAX, a network of social enterprises specialized in hospitality services whose proceeds are donated to work projects for disadvantaged young people. 

STEFANIA SAVONA

After graduating with honours in modern languages and literature, followed by a Publitalia 80 master’s degree in marketing and business communication, Stefania today boasts an extensive career as client director in multinational ad agencies. She has also coordinated integrated communication campaigns for international brands in the sectors of food & beverage, banking, telephony and home & cleaning.

For the last six years she has been Director of Communication in Leroy Merlin Italia, where with commitment and imagination she has led the transformation of the brand’s positioning from DIY retailer to multi-specialist in home improvement. In this context she coordinates online and offline communication campaigns, directing strategy on paid, owned and social media .

Passionate for many years about issues related to corporate social responsibility, she strongly endorses Leroy Merlin’s values and mission, personally initiating projects that improve the environment.  She frequently shares her first-hand experience in communication, lecturing at university and master’s courses.

STEFANIA SCAVOLINI

A graduate in Economics and Business, 49-year-old Fabiana Scavolini has been CEO of Scavolini S.p.A. since 2014. Entering the family business in 1995, she began in the marketing department, and worked her way up to become Head of Sales and Marketing for Italy in the year 2000. Since 2017 she has been on the ASSOBAGNO Board of Directors.

A few months ago she was appointed president of the subsidiary Scavolini France, based in Paris. She is vice-president of the Board of Directors of Scavolini. She is married with two children.

 

ALESSANDRO SCIARPELLETTI

Creative Director 

He started his career in advertising, but then fell in love with new and alternative media – and discovered that the fun lies in mixing everything together.  During his career he has worked with clients such as FCA, BMW, Ceres, Netflix, Lavazza, Vodafone, Samsung, Natuzzi and many others. He has been awarded at the world’s principal advertising festivals, both local and international, such as Cannes Lions, D&Ad, New York Festival, Epica, Clio and Art Directors Club Italiano. 

ANTONIO SEVERINO

Head of Content – Wavemaker

Passionate about people-centric, digitally-driven and goal-oriented marketing strategies capable of building outstanding experiences between brands and people, Antonio started his career working on digital strategy agency side with a strong focus on content marketing and digital transformation. After a brief stay client side, at Amplifon and Spotify, he is currently leading the content marketing team at Wavemaker: the internal unit that works around creativity.

CATARINA SISMEIRO

SERGIO SPACCAVENTO

Executive Creative Director and partner at Conversion, writer for radio (‘The Zoo’ on Channel 105) and television (“Gialappa’s”, “Mario” on MTV and Mariottide in “Infinity”, etc), film scriptwriter (“Italiano medio”, “Omicidio all’italiana”), university lecturer and international conference guest speaker, but above all really cool guy. Spaccavento has won various awards at major Italian and international advertising festivals, as well as MTV Best Show for the “Mario” series, two Cuffie d’oro for “The Zoo”, and he was Nastro d’Argento finalist for the feature films “Italiano medio” and “Omicidio all’italiana”, and was the first Italian to have the Cannes Lions stage all to himself.

MATTEO STARRI

Research & Insight Director

Nove anni in We Are Social, prima a Londra, ora a Milano. Research & Insight Director, guido un team di ricercatori ed analisti responsabili dell’individuazione di insight culturali a supporto di lavori strategici e ganci creativi, oltre che alla misurazione dell’impatto delle nostre attività sul business dei brand con cui collaboriamo. Esperienza su attività globali e locali nella maggior parte delle industry che i nostri brand presidiano, Telco, FMCG, Sport e Intrattenimento quelle più presidiate storicamente. 

THESHOW

theShow is a choral digital editorial channel that become a real entertainment landmark on YouTube Italia. Its storytelling mission is about “the reality into the reality” shown by the spy camera’s point of view. 

The channel was founded in 2015 by Alessio Stigliano and Alessandro Tenace and, to date, it includes 5 more participants (called “players”) with their own formats: Aktriz, Lale, Jaser Eppoi? and Gatto. 

Thanks to theShow channel, pranks and candid cameras as formats have been imported and become well-known in Italian web scenario. They become a landmark not only for who loves these genres but also for everyone looking for an irreverent but authentic storytelling about our society. 

theShow’s language and tone of voice become well-known “brands”, recognizable regardless of the faces embodying them. For this reason, Alessio and Alessandro could have turned their YouTube channel into a digital editorial one, increasing the number of both weekly broadcasted videos and the “theShow’s faces”. 

Thanks to their career path, in 2019 Alessio and Alessandro made a further professional step, becoming entrepreneurs and founding their own start-up with a 5-persons team: theShow srl, a part of the digital media company Show Reel Media Group. 

In less than 5 years, these two young men experienced the world of entertainment both online – web is their main expressive platform – and offline, on TV and in publishing. 

ALESSANDRO TOSATTO

Shamelessly passionate, totally into a charming way of thinking where creativity is in charge. When I’m awake I’m 100% committed to what comes to my mind when I sleep, with no half measures. After my graduation, I discovered that cooking is rewarding, but saying thank you is even better. I live on unsaturated fat and good ideas. I often look out the windows. 

ARMANDO TRIVELLINI

Armando Trivellini was born in Milan, Italy, in 1973. He graduated in Italian Literature and he’s a film director. He works for cinema, advertising, Tv, music videos. He’s a screen writer and a documentary author.

ISABELLA VALLINI

With degree in Economics and Business and a Master’s at MarComm Management, she began her career at Ernst&Young. But her professional growth really came about in communication within the Lowe group, where she handled major local and international clients, contributing to the realisation of increasingly integrated projects. After more than 15 years, she left the agency as Client Services Director and was taken on as Chief Operating Officer of Gattinoni&Co in 2015 to improve the efficiency and performance of the four business units active in the MICE market (meeting incentive convention event) and the development of live communication.

 

ANNA VITIELLO

Anna Vitiello is an eclectic professional with a deep knowledge of the models and dynamics of today’s business climate. A Bocconi University graduate, she began her career working in the marketing departments of various companies, such as Lego, Averna and Vodafone. 

She developed a keen interest in start-ups and lead the launch in 2003 of the TV channel Sport Italia, and in 2005 she planned and then for three years managed MotoLive, the events area of EICMA.

After gaining considerable experience  as Senior Consultant at Focus Management, she then joined OmnicomMediaGroup in 2012. After three years as Content Strategy Manager, she powered up the Insight department, helping all the clients of the group define their communication strategy.

Since 2018 she is Chief Experience Officer of Fuse, the Business Unit of OmnicomMediaGroup, which deals with Content Marketing and Branded Entertainment.  

Currently she also covers the role of Director of OBE Academy and is Head of Insight Hub at OBE.

GIACOMO ZANNI

GIANPIERO ZANNIER

BÉLA ZIEMANN

Béla is Chief Strategy Officer at Publicis Italy and is leading the brand strategy transformation for most of Publicis’ global brands. For the past 4 years, he has worked closely together with Bruno Bertelli (Global CCO of Publicis) to reset the strategic focus for brands such as Coca-Cola, Diesel, Kinder, Heineken, Maggi, Mercedes-Benz, Nescafé, Orange, Pirelli, Renault, Voltaren and Sky. Béla’s strength is to find the sweet spot between brand DNA, product truth and consumer tension. The area in which brands develop their greatest potential to drive relevant brand actions. Béla won numerous creative and effectiveness awards, to which he added last year his first APG and 3 IPA’s. 

NICOLA ZONCA

Journalist since 1992.

Active in communication, marketing and media publishing, he has also written for local newspapers and appeared on radio and national tv (“Target” on Canale 5).

He has written news reports and produced photo features on foreign affairs topics, namely from Yemen, Papua, Iran and the Congo for Corriere delle Sera, Panorama and Rolling Stone.

 

In 2011 he founded the online daily newspaper Brand News.

 

PAOLA ZUKAR

Paola Zukar (Genoa, 1968) has been part of the rap scene since the 90s. She began with independent projects such as “Aelle”, a magazine specialised in hip hop culture, moving on to a series of ventures in the music industry, from MP3.com to the majors BMG Ricordi and Universal Music Italia. In 2005 she set up Big Picture Management, which handles artists such as Fabri Fibra, Marracash, Clementino, Madame and Kina. Today, in addition to her role as manager, she works with various record companies as artistic consultant. “Rap – Una storia italiana” is her first book, in which she recounts her personal experience running her company and the human and artistic journey that led her to transform her passion into a profession.