TED Community » Emily Merkle

Sign in to send Emily an email »

About Me

stay hungry stay foolish

high risk high reward

Go big

think outside the box

Earn respect

Specialties:
communication
brainstorming
learning from mistakes
Communication is a work in progress ;) trying though.
honesty
integrity
passion

Experience:

Partner, Business Strategy and Ops
Mediality, LTD
2011 – Present (1 year)

Business Strategy and Ops
AdCloud Media
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry
2009 – 2010 (1 year) New York, NY

spectacular flameout.
Director, Business Development & Strategy
Resolute Digital
Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Internet industry
January 2009 – October 2009 (10 months) New York

Always great to work with these guys. Colleagues and friends.
Business Development Director
Covario
Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Internet industry
November 2008 – January 2009 (3 months) San Diego

Laid off after 3 mos.
Coulda been a contender...

Since I was laid off Covario has been really tearing it up! And Russ Mann has infectious enthusiasm - super leadership quality. ...
Director, Business Development
EMG / TRAFFIQ, Inc.
May 2007 – January 2008 (9 months) New York

A model a tad before its time..
Media Supervisor
EMG / Market Maker Interactive
December 2006 – October 2007 (11 months) New York

The other side of the desk was a great learning experience.
Senior Manager, Interactive
National Basketball Association
Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Sports industry
October 2005 – June 2006 (9 months) New York

Paramount Pictures.
Mission Impossible III
megadeal
Senior Account Executive
MIVA (formerly FindWhat.com)
Public Company; 51-200 employees; VTRO; Internet industry
June 2005 – October 2005 (5 months) New York

Personal specialization: Madison Avenue.
Senior Account Executive
FindWhat.com
Public Company; 201-500 employees; FWHT; Internet industry
August 2001 – June 2005 (3 years 11 months)

PPC start-up ad network.

Beat Google AdWords to the punch.

Began trading on NASDAQ (FWHT) in 2003

Acquired Espotting to gain an international presence in 2004

Rebranded to MIVA in mid-2005.

Made some lasting relationships.

FindWhat.com - man, those were the wild, wild west days..
Had to be there...

At least I sold at the top!
Found my partner in crime.
Account Executive
Sunset Direct
Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry
January 1999 – June 2000 (1 year 6 months) Austin

Helped launch RIM.
Skills & Expertise

the sidewalk crowd slalom Curb My Enthusiam (not) amateur particle physicist professional conspiracy theorist Sunday morning news talk show debater honesty slinger "force of nature"
Education

Georgia Institute of Technology
none, Business Psychology
2000 – 2001

Terminal PhD program.
Activities and Societies: Taught undergraduate course in Social Psychology.
Prof taught me to skateboard.
The University of Texas at Austin
none, Child Psychology
1997 – 1998

Terminal PhD program.
Activities and Societies: Taught at the University Laboratory Preschool; taught a graduate class in cognitive neuroscience; presented original research at the national American Psychological Association convention & was subsequently published; developed an affinity for Trudy's Mexican Martinis.
University of Florida
BS, Psychology
1995 – 1997

Activities and Societies: Minored in education; worked as a lifeguard and successfully provided water rescue, mouth-to-mouth and CPR to a drowned swimmer, saving his life. Learned the invaluable skill of bartending to pay my way through school.
Duke University
none, Psychology/Pre-Med
1993 – 1994

Activities and Societies: Accepted as early decision pick. Invited to walk on to the prominent Duke women's ACC Division I soccer team. Promptly walked off. I got pwnd.

Location:
United States, Brooklyn, NY
Current organization:
Mediality, LTD.
Past organizations:
Member of AVC community , Member of Jig community
Current role:
Start-up Interactive Media Strategist
Gender:
Female
Areas of expertise:
Digital Marketing, Empathy, Creative 'Big Ideas' Generator, Moon Shot Thinking , verbal expression , Fashion, design / aesthetics, Psychology - Clinical, Cognitive, Social, Human Experiences,Heal, Influencer/Tastemaker
I am:
Activist, Brainstormer, Change Agent, Connector, Entrepreneur, Idea generator, Scientist, Startup, Student, Web guru
Languages:
English
My website links:
A Ding in the Universe, Pure Mediality , Mediality
Universities:
Duke University, University of Florida - Gainesville, Fla, University of Texas at Austin
Member Picture Member Picture Member Picture Member Picture

More About Me

I'm passionate about

Humankind; living fully; my husband and partner in crime, Allen; learning always;my rescue cat Sasha, laughter; love; paying it forward; NYC. I am a fierce advocate of the mentally disadvantaged.

An idea worth spreading

Many of us bumble through much of this life without much self-examination or self-awareness. Some of us are altogether far too painfully aware of our selves. The acuteness of emotional experience that comes with living with bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder and all they entail can often be overwhelming. But such challenges are blessings to me. They allow me to experience a very full range of consciousness. I can plumb the depths and soar higher than the phoenix. Living with mental illness is no cakewalk, but nor is it cause for eternal despair. Those of us chosen to live and feel to extremes are indeed chosen, and I feel a responsibility to use my insight for the betterment of others.

Talk to me about

My dreams My imagination. It is in these spaces and places I am in close proximity to the most magnificent presences - it is what drives me to fight on - for myself and those also walking in my shoes.

People don't know that I'm good at

Being unabashedly true to my inner child. I have the sense of humor of a 7-year old. When I giggle it is unmistakable.

My TED Story

I have chosen to focus my insight on children, and on educating them at the junction of education and technology, psychology and philosophy.
Think. Love. Lead.

Mission:

Nurture youth to think, to love & to feel loved, and to be empathic.

Why?

Think
Too many of us know What to Think, but do not know How to think. It may very well be the case that the How is more important that the What.
We shall teach our youth How to Think. (adults too)

Love
Too many of us do not feel love. That is not because we are not loved. Even as we are loved, we display insecurity as we bully others. This demonstrates a lack of empathy. Empathy is rooted in love.

Empathy
Let us teach our youth to think, to feel, and to love. in doing so, we teach ourselves.

draw on the classic and modern philosophers/thinkers. follow the thinking of the epic scientists. learn a programming language. scrabble on the iPad. read early and often.

Grades K-12.

Comments

  • TEDCred score: 0.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

  • A comment on Conversation: Have you seen an ad worth spreading? Tell us about it!

    Dec 21 2011: I can't recall the automaker - but ithe tv ad has a passel of kids in an SUV wih 2 adults hurtling down a highway in silence. One start making a rhythmic noise. A minute later another kid adds a shaken fountain soda cup with ice in it. Another kids joins in. They chorus with "riding off the rails on the crazy train".

    Genius.

    It was promoting an SUV.

Favorite talks

This member doesn't have any favorite talks yet.