Media, VC Discussed at WSA Conference
The media and entertainment business can be a bit of a roller-coaster ride — particularly in today’s climate of tight margins and consolidation. But that state of flux creates opportunity, agreed panelists at the Women’s Student Association’s 2004 Dyn-amic Women in Business Conference.
“Personally, I see it as being the most creative and innovative time in the industry. It’s the Wild West,” said Ceci Kurzman, vice president of worldwide marketing for Epic Records Group. “The record business may be in decline, but the music business is forever.”
Technology is creating both challenges and opportunities. At the Washington Post, Margaret M. Cromelin, vice president of marketing, said that 20 percent of its readers are spending less time with the newspaper because of alternative news sources on the Internet. However, 11 percent say they are spending more time reading the Post as a result of something they’ve seen on the Web. And the company’s site is helping to push its brand, she said.
Venture capital, success strategies for minorities in business, and fashion retailing were among the other panel topics. Ann M. Fudge (MBA ’77), CEO of Young & Rubicam, and Ann S. Moore (MBA ’78), CEO of Time Inc., delivered keynote speeches challenging the notion that there’s only one path to the top.
“Let’s blow up the phrase ‘work-life balance,’” Fudge told an audience of some 850 participants gathered in Burden Auditorium. “Balance is simply about life leadership: taking control, taking ownership, guiding and serving.”
For a full report on this and other student conferences, visit the “HBS Conference Coverage” section of HBS Working Knowledge at www.workingknowledge.hbs.edu.
