The Women In Consumer Electronics will meet at CES 2013 (Zennie62 coverage sponsored by Tout.com) January 8th Paris Hotel, 7-9 PM to honor five women who’s made significant contributions to the industry in different ways. The event will led by The Master of Ceremonies: Tricia Nystrom, Senior Merchant, Audio, Best Buy.
Here’s what Women In CE reports on the five women: Tara Dunion, Marcia Grand, Mindy Grossman, Helen Heneveld, and Marla Suttenberg:
Tara Dunion, Senior Director, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Tara Dunion brings more than fifteen years of promotions and media experience to her role as spokeswoman and senior director of event communications for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). She is responsible for communications to the more than 5,000 global media who attend and cover the International CES, the world’s largest innovation event. Since arriving in the post five years ago, she has helped increase CES media coverage by 30 percent. Tara also created the International CES’ social media strategy, launching CEA’s blog, Digital Dialogue, and other CES social media activities. In 2010, Engadget named Tara as a “Top Tech Women to Follow on Twitter,” and she is a frequent speaker on the use of social media for event promotion. Prior to joining CEA in June 2002, Tara worked at international PR agencies Burston-Marsteller and Fleishman-Hillard, developing PR campaigns for technology clients Intel, Motorola and Sun Microsystems. Tara graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy. She lives in Arlington, Va., with her husband and two sons.
Photo Link:Marcia Grand, Vice President and Publisher, TWICE
Marcia Grand is Vice President and Publisher of TWICE, a leading consumer electronics industry trade publication she helped found in 1986. She started her career as a publisher’s assistant at Audio Times Magazine, where she learned the basics of publishing. Ms. Grand moved up to ad sales and later associate publisher of Consumer Electronics Magazine. In 1986, she left her position at CE to join in the launch of TWICE. In 1999, Ms. Grand was given the ADL Electronics Torch of Liberty Award and in 2004 was awarded the Passion for Winning Award from Reed Business Information.
Photo Link:Mindy Grossman, Chief Executive Officer & Director, HSN, Inc.
Mindy Grossman is Chief Executive Officer of HSN, Inc. and a member of the company’s Board of Directors. She oversees a retail portfolio which generates more than $3.2 billion in revenue and encompasses the multichannel retailers of HSN and Cornerstone. Since joining the company in 2006, HSN.com has become a top-ten most trafficked ecommerce site, with digital sales accounting for more than 35% of HSN’s total revenues. A 35-year veteran of the retail and apparel industries, Ms. Grossman served as Global Vice-President of Nike and led the company’s $4 billion apparel business from 2000 to 2006. In addition, she was responsible for the development and growth of Nike’s global women’s business and served as Co-chair of its Women’s Leadership Council. Prior to Nike, Ms. Grossman held executive positions at Polo Jeans Company, Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation, Chaps Ralph Lauren, Warnaco, Tommy Hilfiger, and Oxford Industries.In 2012, Forbes magazine named Ms. Grossman one of the world’s 100 most powerful women, an honor she has received three times. In 2011, she was named Corporate Innovator of the Year at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® Florida Awards, and was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Top 100 Most Creative People in Business. In both 2010 and 2011, Ms. Grossman was ranked by the Financial Times as one of the top 50 women in world business. She serves on the Board of Directors of the National Retail Federation, Bloomin’ Brands and U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
Photo Link:Helen Heneveld, Founder and President, Bedrock Learning, Inc.
Helen Heneveld, MBA, is a CEDIA Installer 1 Certified and CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ Certified industry expert who speaks and consults worldwide in the converging home systems industry. Her early entry into the 1980s home automation installation business and her years in industry training make her contributions valuable as a current board member for CEA Tech Home Division and past member on the CEDIA Board of Directors – where she was the first female certified installer in 1992 and first woman board member in 1995. She is co-author of the first and second editions of DHTI+ Home Technology Integrator All-In-One Exam Guide by McGraw-Hill and author of Residential Technologies Terms and Definitions. Passionate about the industry, Heneveld leads BedrockLearning.com in providing effective, convenient and affordable training and resource materials to the connected technologies industry.
Photo Link:Marla Suttenberg, Owner, Sapphire Marketing LLC
As the head of a manufacturers’ representative organization supporting the residential custom installation and commercial integration markets in the Northeast U.S., Marla Suttenberg will be celebrating her company’s 12-year anniversary this January. Marla began her career in the commercial audio/visual space and considers herself fortunate to have entered the Consumer Electronics industry nearly 20 years ago. For once, she felt she was able to explain what she did for a living to friends and family, using consumer-friendly terms such as “home theater” and “smart home/home automation.” For the past 23 years, she has been the exclusive Northeast sales representative for Crestron Electronics, and currently represents other industry leaders such as Digital Projection et. al. Since owning her own business, Marla has made a conscious decision to employ several women as outside Regional Sales Managers who share the same passion she does for her customers and the technology she represents. Marla has served on the Board of Directors of IPRO for the past three years, and is the Membership Chairperson for the group. She is a member of CEDIA, CEA, InfoComm and other industry associations.
Make sure you get your tickets for Women In CE here ($35 for non-members):
http://www.womenince.org/cart
Bill Carroll