Futurists Symposium: The Future of Technology, the Arts, and Design

As we conclude the 50th Anniversary of the Henrietta Campus, join us in the RIT MAGIC Center’s Wegmans Theater for an interactive symposium with three of RIT’s best and brightest alumni, as well as a current student, who will share their experiences and insights into the future of technology, the arts and design. The symposium will be moderated by Virginia Butler, Digital Studio Director for the Democrat and Chronicle.Sign language interpreters and captioning will be provided. Registration is not required to attend the event; however attendance in the Wegmans Theater will be on a first-come basis and Doors open at 10 a.m. The symposium will also be simulcast in the Alumni Oasis, located on the main floor of the Gene Polisseni Center. Please note, there is no food or drink allowed in the theater and no cell phone photos or video recording. Can’t attend in person? Join us for the live stream of the event at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rit-events.Symposium PresentersMelanie Shapiro ’07, ‘09 CEO and co-founder of TokenMelanie Shapiro is the CEO and co-founder of Token, the first universal identity network that unifies the way you access the world and eliminates the everyday hassle of keys, cards, passwords, and IDs. With a PhD in Consumer Behavior, she has spent her career building intuitive experiences that make complicated technologies like cryptography and blockchains widely accessible. With her work in the identity space, Melanie has become an advocate for personal freedom, speaking at TED2018, the United Nations, and other global forums on the important connection between personal freedom and identity ownership. Prior to Token, Melanie co-founded Digsby, a messaging platform for managing online social identities, which was acquired in 2011. Tom Connor '11 Adjunct Professor, RIT School of Film & Animation VP Creative Marketing, The Walt Disney CompanyTom Connor has spent over 30 years working in Hollywood as a creative marketing and brand executive at both Paramount Pictures and The Walt Disney Company where he is currently Vice President of Creative Marketing. Tom has led creative campaigns for many successful television shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Entertainment Tonight, LIVE with Kelly & Ryan, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black-ish and many others. At Disney, Tom is also involved in the creative marketing of feature films after they have had their run in the movie theaters. In addition to his tenure at the studios, Tom ran his own international design and animation firm, TAG, which was involved in the launches of many broadcast and cable television channels around the globe. He has also worked in retail, pioneering in-store media networks for many well-known retail outlets including Walmart and Best Buy. For the past 8 years, Tom has developed and taught business-focused courses about the entertainment industry exclusively for students of RIT's School of Film & Animation. In 2016, Tom was named one of the founding members of the RIT Entertainment Advisory Board which is tasked with expanding RIT's presence in the entertainment industry and enhancing partnerships between industry and education. Brandon Hudson CEO of SeerwiseBrandon Hudson, CEO of Seerwise, is no stranger to entrepreneurship. At 17, he launched Click, a business that developed a watchband adapter for the Apple Watch, shipping to 15,000 customers worldwide. Now 21, and a senior at RIT, he leads a company that is set to disrupt the building management industry, allowing contractors to do what they do best: manage buildings efficiently and effectively.  The first firm in the market to offer products designed to simplify the installation of an HVAC system, Seerwise targets building contractors, enabling them to streamline installation, maintenance and management of these systems, while reducing costs, time and energy consumption. Originally a computer science major, Brandon eventually created a custom education program as an individualized study major, focusing on computer science and internet technologies. He parlays his skills in developing and growing Seer-wise, an Internet of Things company, into his classroom experience. His work with Seerwise runs in tandem with his education, while exposing him to mentors across the RIT campus. Working with RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator has further sharpened Brandon’s business acumen as Seerwise accelerates its business. Kwaku Alston ’94 Photographer & DirectorKwaku has photographed some of the most famous faces of our time—from Oscar and Grammy winners to Barack Obama and the First Family. His many and diverse clients include The New York Times Magazine, Time and Essence Magazine, global brands like Amgen, Pfizer, Coca-Cola, Target and Verizon, and media giants such as Universal Studios, Disney, Amazon, Sony Music and ESPN. His portraits have a fresh, unaffected feel, and yet they celebrate the extraordinariness of his subjects, striking a balance between contemporary documentary photography and classic celebrity portraiture. After graduating from RIT, Kwaku launched his career in New York City and began shooting for major magazines and ad agencies while in his early 20s. Today he bases himself out of both New York and Los Angeles and his photos have appeared on everything from movie posters to the covers of bestselling books to advertising spreads for international brands such as Apple and HBO.  ModeratorVirginia Butler Digital Studio Director - Democrat and ChronicleVirginia Butler, a longtime anchor on Time Warner Cable News, is Digital Studio Director at the Democrat and Chronicle. She has 35 years of experience in video journalism as an anchor, reporter and producer, sometimes all at the same time. At the D&C, Butler is responsible for managing and coordinating live and recorded video broadcasts, podcasts and other multimedia offerings.  Prior to her time at the D&C, she was part of the team that launched the area’s first computerized broadcast newsroom and created the first local 24-hour news channel, then called R News.  She also produced, anchored and tailored CNN Headline News Local Edition for the Rochester market. Developing leading-edge ways to deliver video news content has been an integral part of her 35-year career.