1. 1
TEDXNAVESINK
KEY
ORGANIZERS
TEDxNavesink:
The
Next
Wave
Friday,
September
20,
8
a.m.
-­‐
5
p.m.
Community
College
Performing
Arts
Center,
Lincroft,
NJ
Brian
Smiga,
Lead
Organizer
&
Co-­‐host
Brian
Smiga
grew
up
in
Rumson
in
a
house
that
flooded,
so
now
he
lives
on
a
cliff
where
he
can
admire
the
ocean
at
140
feet
up
with
his
7-­‐year-­‐
old
son
and
musician
wife
Mimi
Cross.
After
graduating
from
Rumson-­‐
Fair-­‐Haven
High
School,
Smiga
earned
a
BA
in
religion
and
theater
at
Swarthmore
and
Masters
in
Irish
Lit
at
Trinity
College
Dublin.
Since
then,
he’s
taught
at
Peddie,
Trevor
Day
and
Booz
&
Coearned
SAG
and
Actors
Equity
cards,
started
and
sold
four
software
companies
in
CA
and
NYC,
and
he’s
currently
the
co-­‐founder
and
operating
partner
at
Alpha
Venture
Partners.
Salad
gardening,
surfski
kayaking,
cycling,
photography,
world
history,
and
the
future
occupy
Smiga’s
free
time.
Jennifer
Crews,
Co-­‐host
Jennifer
Crews
is
a
business
leader
and
philosopher.
She
has
led
multimillion-­‐dollar
projects
and
businesses
within
large
companies,
such
as
Lucent
Technologies
and
Dun
&
Bradstreet;
she
now
uses
those
experiences
to
help
entrepreneurial
CEOs
to
grow
their
businesses
quickly
and
profitably.
Crews
holds
an
MBA
from
The
Wharton
School
and
a
BA
from
Lafayette
College.
She
is
a
mentor
for
TechLaunch,
a
technology
accelerator
program
in
Montclair,
New
Jersey,
and
she
serves
as
a
board
member
for
Second
Life
Bikes,
a
not-­‐for-­‐profit
community
bike
shop
and
youth
earn-­‐a-­‐bike
program
in
Asbury
Park,
New
Jersey.
Crews
lives
five
blocks
from
the
beach
with
her
husband,
son,
daughter
and
dog.
She
enjoys
hiking
and
playing
the
drums
and
ukulele.
Vidar
Brekke,
Social
Media,
Web
&
Ticket
Sales
Vidar
Brekke
grew
up
in
the
fjords
of
Norway.
After
a
brief
opposites-­‐
attract
love
stint
with
Manhattan,
he
fell
deeper
in
love
with
the
Jersey
shore
and
made
himself
a
home
in
Atlantic
Highlands,
with
his
Jersey-­‐
native
wife.
As
an
incurable
entrepreneur
he’s
been
active
in
the
NY
and
NJ
start-­‐up
scene
for
the
last
10
years.
His
latest
venture,
Meddle.it,
is
a
nascent
micro-­‐blogging
platform
designed
to
give
subject
matter
experts
a
quick
way
to
share
their
know-­‐how
by
commenting
on
current
events
and
other
public
content
relevant
to
their
expertise.

2. 2
Dorothea
Drew,
Event
Planning
Dorota
Drew
was
born
and
raised
in
Germany
where
she
met
her
husband
Jon,
who
was
stationed
there
with
the
US
Air
Force.
She
studied
Business
and
Economics
at
Frankfurt’s
Goethe
Universitaet
and
has
worked
for
Barclays
Capital
and
Goldman
Sachs
in
New
York
before
she
had
her
two
children.
Since
2007
she
has
been
the
co-­‐founder
and
Managing
Director
of
the
German
School
of
Monmouth
County
in
Holmdel,
a
non-­‐profit
that
teaches
German
to
all
ages.
Andrew
Struse,
Video
Production
Navesink
resident
Andrew
Struse
is
a
TV
executive
with
over
15
years
experience
building
global
media
brands
as
a
creative
director.
He
currently
runs
the
promotions
and
creative
department
at
Veria
Living,
a
health
and
wellness
network
based
in
New
York.
Andrew
was
a
key
creative
team
leader
of
Current
TV,
the
innovative
news
and
information
network
co-­‐founded
by
Al
Gore,
and
he
has
won
numerous
awards
for
outstanding
creative
work
launching
Nickelodeon
internationally.
Jennifer
Smiga,
Media
Relations
Jennifer
Smiga
is
the
founder
of
inBLOOM
Communications
and
Board
Member
of
EarthShare
NJ,
which
offers
NJ’s
employers
one-­‐stop
access
to
the
nation’s
leading
environmental
organizations
through
charitable
giving
and
volunteerism.
With
clients
across
the
Jersey
Shore
and
NYC,
inBLOOM
blends
media
and
community
relations
with
social
media
marketing
and
event
production.
Smiga
has
held
key
positions
at
organizations
including
the
Center
for
Reproductive
Rights,
Miami
Art
Museum,
New
York
Restoration
Project
and
Clean
Ocean
Action.
At
these
leading
institutions,
Smiga
cultivated
and
managed
corporate
and
individual
donor
relations,
wrote
copy
for
marketing
and
press
materials,
and
coordinated
special
events
from
multi-­‐million
dollar
galas
to
grassroots
marketing
campaigns.
Smiga
lives
in
Long
Branch,
NJ
with
her
husband,
son
and
four
shelter
rescue
pets.