Facebook IPO and Social Media Speakers

With Facebook’s recent initial public offering, the world has turned an attentive eye to social media. APB is proud to represent some of the world’s most astute media mavens, who will gladly share their insights into social networking and help you make sense of the constant innovations in the field.

Called “one of the best hires I ever made” by Facebook founding president Sean Parker, Kevin Colleran—Facebook's pioneering sales executive and among its first ten employees—was an integral part of the social networking behemoth's sales force. As the company's global partnership lead, he was responsible for creatively monetizing the site without hampering user experience. In 2010, he was named one of New York's 100 Coolest Tech People by Business Insider. Learn more about speaker Kevin Colleran.

Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes worked first as the site's spokesperson and later helped lead the product and user experience team. Joining Barack Obama's presidential campaign as the director of online organizing, Hughes was charged with developing web technologies to engage and empower grassroots supporters to self-organize on behalf of the then-candidate. He oversaw the development of the on-site network My.BarackObama.com along with the campaign's presence on other networks like Facebook and MySpace. Learn more about speaker Chris Hughes.

A web superstar, Dave Morin is perhaps best known as a member of the Facebook team, where he was a co-inventor of Facebook Connect and Facebook Platform. Connect—which allows users to interact with sites across the web using their Facebook account—and Platform—which enables developers to create and share their applications on Facebook—completely changed the way we use the internet to seek entertainment, interact with our peers, and share information. Most recently he has launched Path.com, a web- and mobile-based social networking site that allows users to interact with a limited, exclusive group of 50 friends. Learn more about speaker Dave Morin.

As manager of digital partnerships and social media at The New York Times, Soraya Darabi positioned the Times on such networks as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter; partnered with startups large and small; established award-winning campaigns; and taught journalists and chief executives alike how to best use and leverage social media. Renowned Times columnist Nicholas Kristof credits Darabi as being "the only reason why he has [millions] of followers on Twitter." Currently, Soraya Darabi invests in and advises technology start-ups (such as Contently.com, StyleSaint.com, Trippy.com, Cir.ca), while beginning new endeavors of her own. Learn more about speaker Soraya Darabi.

Jeff Taylor is the founder of Monster.com, the first and only globally recognized brand for careers, now in nearly 50 countries with over 40 million monthly visitors. A big-picture entrepreneur, Taylor again harnessed the power of the internet when he created an innovative media company that challenged a generation of boomers and seniors to live a full life. Two companies emerged from this work: Eons.com and Tributes.com. Eons is an online community created for adults age 45 and older, a social network that inspires and enables boomers to tackle their life dreams and adventures, celebrate their accomplishments, and make the most of today. Tributes is focused on local and national obituary news. Learn more about speaker Jeff Taylor.

As a strategic advisor and a key member of President Barack Obama's online campaign team, Sam Graham-Felsen raised $500 million online, shattering previous records; had an e-mailing list of 13 million, the largest in political history; generated 200,000 offline events created by supporters on my.BarackObama.com; and created one thousand videos on YouTube, which were viewed for over one billion minutes in total. Pronounced by BBC as the "key to [Obama's] victories," much of the 2008 campaign's record-breaking achievements were thanks to his media team. Learn more about speaker Sam Graham-Felsen.