Live Edit NYC Executive Media Summit Bios

Executive Media Summit Bios

Executive Media Summit Co-moderator: Maria Kennedy
Vice President, Direct Response/Paid Programming, Discovery Communications
Maria Kennedy manages the largest direct response/paid programming team in the industry with a current staff of 21. She oversees eight AEs who handle all the paid programming time, and short-form direct response sales efforts for 14 networks across the U.S. In August of 1990, Kennedy started her career at Discovery Communications when there were only two networks, Discovery and TLC. She was an integral part of launching the Paid Programming Division and was the first AE for the company in that area. Kennedy also has been extremely creative and a direct response industry pioneer for more than 15 years. She is a member of the Electronic Retailing Association's board of directors.

Executive Media Summit Co-moderator: Dick Wechsler
President & CEO, Lockard & Wechsler
Dick Wechsler is president and CEO of Lockard & Wechsler. Early in his career, Wechsler realized that good creative and the ability to quickly access and analyze data were the keys to successful direct response marketing. As a result, he developed MediaPro(TM), the only fully integrated media planning, buying, tracking and invoicing system designed specifically for direct response advertisers. Prior to Lockard & Wechsler, he was a senior vice president, group manager at Ketchum Public relations (1981-89), national publicist at National Public Radio (1979-81), and associated director for public affairs at the National Museum of African Art (1976-79). Wechsler is the current chairman of the Electronic Retailer Magazine Advisory Board.