Connecting through the noise: using digital media to inspire adventure
- Soho Room @ HI NYC 891 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY, 10025 United States (map)
From editor to professional athlete, our diverse panel will address the ways that digital media has and continues to influence adventure and the adventure community. Whether through video, photos or words -the digital sphere continues to evolve and these speakers are at the forefront of it all.
OUTSIDE MAGAZINE
News Editor, Social Media Manager
Abigail Wise is the news editor and social media manager at Outside Magazine. She was previously an associate editor at Real Simple and a part of the Healthy Living team at The Huffington Post. Publications including Reader's Digest, Time, and PopSci have also featured her work. Abigail holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and specializes in `content focused on health, fitness, and the great outdoors.
In her free time, Abigail loves to rock climb, hike, practice yoga, brew beer, and travel. She's the mother of two adventure dogs, Ted and Stella, who come with her just about everywhere.
THE NORTH FACE
CLIMBER, PHOTOGRAPHER, VIDEOGRAPHER
Cedar Wright first discovered climbing while pursuing an English degree at Humboldt State University. In between classes, Cedar explored the jagged boulders and sea cliffs of the Northern coast. He was instantly hooked.
After graduating from college, Cedar decided to dedicate himself fully to climbing. He moved to Yosemite where he became inspired and humbled by the vast granite before him. For the next few years, he worked for Yosemite Search and Rescue, where he learned invaluable skills and techniques. In between dangling on a rope outside a helicopter, he climbed relentlessly. He applied his love for speed and adventure by making blistering speed ascents on El Capitan and first ascents on the Sentinel. He remains one of the few people to have freed El Capitan in a day.
Cedar’s love for exploration soon took him outside of the United States. From Africa to Pakistan to Argentina, Cedar continued to put up impressive climbs in impeccable style: fast, free, and with no trace. In the past few years, Cedar has become increasingly interested in filmmaking and has shot video for numerous climbing companies as well as outdoor giants like National Geographic. For many of his video pieces, he writes his own music.
He passes along his climbing knowledge to sherpas at the Khumbu Climbing Center in Nepal, and his love for the outdoors to children as part of Big City Mountaineers and Protect Our Winters. Cedar is characterized by his tenacity, and unique sense of humor, and continues to push himself as a climber and a creative. One part climber, one-part filmmaker, and one-part musician, the future holds great things for Cedar.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Director of Adventure Editorial
Mary Anne Potts has been editing, writing and producing stories about outdoor adventure for more than a dozen years. As the editor ofNational Geographic Adventure, she stays closely connected to the outdoor industry's top adventurers, explorers, filmmakers, photographers and writers to create award-winning storytelling about adventure and exploration — including scouting for the next Adventurers of the Year.
Potts is also a member on the National Geographic Young Explorers Grant Committee and proud to be a part of a company that supports exploration and enjoys finding people who can inspire others about the outdoors. The Minnesota native lives in Brooklyn, New York, and enjoys skiing, running, hiking, yoga, snowshoeing, photography and solar cooking. Her adventures have taken her from trekking in Zimbabwe to climbing Mount Rainier to diving at the Great Barrier Reef to camping in Central Park.
VIMEO
DIRECTOR OF VOD
Peter Gerard grew up in Missouri, where as a teenager he made his first award-winning documentary and created and ran the Bargain Basement Film Festival for several years.
He then founded Accidental Media and relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he finished the feature documentary “Just to Get a Rep“ for international television distribution. Running Accidental Media for more than ten years, Peter produced and directed a range of documentaries, music videos, and short films, and picked up many awards, including a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award.
Peter also built award-winning websites and is webmaster for The D-Word - the premiere online community portal for documentary professionals.
In 2010, Peter founded Distrify to pioneer “direct-to-fan” digital film sales by inventing a shareable movie trailer that included a built-in buy-button and the easiest affiliate rewards system ever. In 2013 Peter won the British Council’s Creative Enterpreneur Award and was named in the h.Club 100 list by The Hospital and The Guardian Culture Professionals Network.
As a thought leader in digital distribution and marketing, Peter is regularly invited to speak at film festivals (Cannes, Sundance, Amsterdam, London, etc.) and to teach workshops for film producers.
In 2014, Peter moved to New York to join the team at Vimeo as Director of VOD. In his role, Peter oversees the marketing, distribution and promotions of the Vimeo On Demand catalog as well as Vimeo’s Original Series.