Hamptons Tech Week – Where The Future Meets

#HTWPRESENTS

#TECHSTOPOVER

WHERE

THE FUTURE

MEETS

Our Tech Stopover events are truly exceptional. Our Micro Conference with a Macro Perspective brings together select individuals from different industries, such as Entertainment, Sport, Art and Investing, who are influential in their respective fields in a relaxed and unique locations around the world. The aim of these intimate gatherings is to encourage conversation and mutual exchange of insights. The focus is on driving innovation in the various industries by embracing the latest technology.

We believe that the intersection of technology and creativity is where the most exciting ideas emerge. Our Stopover events are designed to bring together thought leaders who are passionate about exploring this intersection. As a result, you can expect unique conversations, excellent networking opportunities, and the chance to uncover new perspectives and opportunities. The Stopover events are a one-of-a-kind platform for fostering meaningful personal and professional connections and collaborations.

meet our Speakers

COMING SOON

SCHEDULE

10:00 am - 10:30 am

Registration Opens

10:30 am -

Welcome

10:40 am - 11:10 am

Web3 in Sports: Future of Fan Engagement or Fading Trend

The discussion will focus on whether Web3 technologies will revolutionize fan engagement in sports or prove to be a fleeting trend. Industry experts will delve into the impact of blockchain, NFTs, and decentralized platforms on enhancing fan experiences and building stronger connections with teams and athletes.

Lucy Mills

11:10 am - 11:40 am

AI in Adland: Transforming Creativity and Targeting in Marketing

Exploring how AI is revolutionizing the advertising industry through hyper-targeting, creative personalization, and innovative marketing techniques.

11:40 am - 12:10 pm

Ethical AI: Balancing Innovation with Responsibility

Examination of ethical considerations in AI development and responsible innovation.

12:10 pm - 12:30 pm

Break

12:30 pm - 1:00 pm

Streaming Success: The Evolution of Music Platforms

The panel will examine how streaming technologies have reshaped the music industry, from revenue models and artist exposure to listener habits and platform dominance.

1:00 pm - 1:30 pm

The Sports Industry at the center of Gamification and Web3

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm

Lunch

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Building a Thriving Startup: The Ecosystem Advantage

Exploring elements of successful startup ecosystems and leveraging them for growth.

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm

The Future Unseen: Unlocking Spatial Computing

Dive into the uncharted territory of spatial computing, where digital and physical realities merge. Explore how this rapidly evolving technology is reshaping industries, creating new opportunities, and redefining human experience. From augmented realities to virtual spaces, discover what’s next in the future of computing.

3:30 pm - 4:00 pm

Engaging the Modern Fan: The Role of Technology in Sports

How technology changes fan interaction, from VR experiences to data-driven strategies.

4:00 pm - 4:20 pm

Break

4:20 pm - 4:50 pm

Sustainability and Innovation in Fashion and Food

Exploring cutting-edge technologies and ideas shaping the future of fashion and food

4:50 pm - 5:20 pm

Smart Investments: Identifying the Next Big Tech Startup

Discussion on tech investing trends, attracting funding, and what investors seek.

5:20 pm - 5:30 pm

Closing Remarks

5:30 pm - 7:00 pm

Happy Hour

TICKETS

Previous Speakers

John Frehse

Ankura

John Frehse is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura, based in the New York office. He has more than 20 years of experience focused on labor and operations strategy.

John has developed and implemented strategies for more than 100 companies, and he delivers to corporate leaders innovative labor solutions that incorporate solutions to employee needs. His work has spanned a wide range of industries, including food and beverage, automotive, chemical, electronics, pharmaceuticals, power, call centers, banking/insurance, distribution, telecommunications, mining, government and healthcare.

John’s professional philosophy is that people are the most valuable resource of every company. His experience has proven that in order to create long-term success, a thoughtful and methodical approach to labor must be created.

Before joining Ankura, John was a founding partner of Core Practice LLC, an international labor strategies firm. Prior to that, he was head of Global Strategic Services Sales for Blue Pumpkin Software, now known as Verint. His clients included the manufacturer of automobile driveline and drivetrain components and systems, a multinational food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, and a Canadian telecommunications and media company.

John sits on the board of The Workforce Institute and is a thought leader for its think tank. He is also a member of the advisory board for HR.com’s Workforce Management practice, where he educates management teams on union negotiation strategies and employee engagement methodologies.

His professional experience includes:

Labor strategy development for an American specialty storage and organization products retail chain, a consistent Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For,” on warehouse and distribution operations.
Restructuring of a Canadian telecommunications and media company’s contact center operations, which reduced turnover by more than half in the first year and captured over $10 million in labor savings in the first year.
Labor and advisory work for several multinational food manufacturing and processing conglomerates.
Labor strategy development for various mining operations globally.
Cost reduction and performance improvement for one of the largest American department store retail chain’s contact center operations.

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Jessica Kriegel

Culture Partners

CHIEF SCIENTIST OF WORKPLACE CULTURE

Jessica is the Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture for Culture Partners, leading research and strategy in best practices for driving results through culture. For 15+ years, Jessica has been guiding global, national, Fortune 100, and other organizations across finance, technology, real estate, and healthcare industries on the path to creating intentional cultures that accelerate performance.

As a keynote speaker, Jessica leverages her ongoing research and decade and a half of global organizational culture innovation, providing leaders with the map and tools for how to build cultures that deliver results.

After earning her MBA and working as a global consultant for a human capital management solutions provider, Jessica consistently saw highly-stressed leaders failing to deliver against lofty financial goals. She knew that if these leaders could transform their cultures, performance and profitability would follow. But, because culture is often viewed as an intangible, these leaders didn’t know where to begin. So, Jessica set out on a personal mission to “quantify culture.” Her doctoral research and consulting engagements with Oracle, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Federal Reserve, and Bank of America to name a few, led to the Culture Equation — a tested model that aligns an organization’s purpose, strategy, and culture to deliver consistent results.

Today, Jessica applies data-driven insights to dismantle the chaos of poor morale, low performance, and missed financial goals. CEOs have leaned on her to ask questions that their internal resources may be too afraid or unaware to ask, and get the results they need. As a certified Business Impact ROI specialist, she can translate seemingly soft-skill programs into monetary values. With data, humor, and energy, Jessica is a disruptive thought leader on culture transformation that companies need to build organizational success. She works with clients in-person and virtually to drive business results. She is based out of a little house on the river in Sacramento, California.

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Chris Van Dusen

Solyco Capital

Chris Van Dusen is a Senior Partner at Solyco Capital as well as Chief Growth Officer and Partner in 3 exits through Acquisition. Solyco, is a vertically integrated investment firm that delivers capital solutions for late-stage startup and growth companies. They take a private equity approach to venture capital.

Solyco builds its portfolio of assets brand by brand - instead of through specific categories. Once the investment is secured, a partner led team is deployed on secondment to work alongside the portfolio company’s executive team. In 2022 Van Dusen joined Solyco. He is the last partner to be brought on by the firm. He manages sourcing of capitalization and serves in CMO and CRO roles for the brands in the portfolio.

Chris Van Dusen is a successful marketing and growth professional with extensive early stage and capitalization experience. Prior to joining Solyco, he launched marketing agency Parcon LLC. He was a partner in an Orange County liquor distillery, Surf City Still Works, where he led the successful merger with Kimo Sabe. He is formally the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of Balanced Health Botanicals (BHB) in Denver, CO which he successfully exited in 2021.

Chris received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from the College of William and Mary. He is active in the community and has held a variety of board seats at institutions like the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF). In addition to his non-profit work, Chris is a Regional Board member of Alder, a member of Entrepreneurs Organization(EO), and has traveled extensively speaking on a variety of topics. A life-long athlete he also has is brown belt in Jiu Jitsu.

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Company http://www.solycocapital.com

Specialty Featured

Nolan Carroll

ex NFL

Nolan A. Carroll II a native of Jacksonville, Florida is a retired National Football League (NFL)
player. He graduated from Clay High School and is a graduate of the University of Maryland.
At Clay High, besides playing football, he played soccer and ran track in the same school year.
He was swift with speed becoming one of the fastest, if not the fastest, high schoolers in Clay
County, Florida where he was coined the nickname “Flash.” Nolan received many athletic
awards in high school: First place in Florida Crown Conference in track and field, first place
winner at the 11th annual Clay County Track and Field Championship 4X400, 100 Meter Dash
and 4X100 Meter Relay. He was named Florida Star Conference Athletic Award All Conference
for boy’s track, Clay County Football Super 11 and All County Player and Florida Times Union
Super 24 High School Football Player.
He received a full scholarship to the University of Maryland. He jumped a vertical of 41.0, which
was the third best mark among defensive backs in Maryland’s history and ran a 4.35 in the 40 at
his Maryland Pro Day. Nolan was invited to the NFL Combine in 2010- he was impressive and
caught the eye of many scouts which landed him invites to workouts with various NFL teams.
After graduating from college, Nolan was drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the
Miami Dolphins where he excelled in his four years with the Dolphins. Nolan started 20 games
in his four years with Miami and was a playmaker at all levels. He had 5 interceptions, one
forced fumble and 3 quarterback sacks in his career with the Dolphins. In 2013 Nolan lead all
Dolphins’ cornerback in tackle percentage stopping opposing quarterback completion
percentages. Nolan was one of the top free agent corners available in 2014. In 2014 Nolan
made the list of potential pro bowl eligible players.
As a free agent, Nolan signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014. In 2015 week-6, Nolan was
named to “Gruden's Grinder.” Nolan shut down Odell Beckham Jr. and had a pick-6 to change
the momentum of the game for an Eagles win. By the 11th game in the 2015 season, before his
season ending injury when a fellow players fell on and broke his fibula, Nolan ranked 2nd
amongst all NFL cornerbacks with 57 tackles, 10 pass-defensed, and two interceptions
including a return for a touchdown. In 2015 Nolan made the list of potential pro bowl eligible
players.

After spending eight years in the league, Nolan retired from the Dallas Cowboys and went into
business. Finding a new passion—public speaking—he published a motivational book, “It’s Up
To You,” and he found a way to utilize his playing experience to help encourage others. Nolan
knew from experience that changing habits and environments can accelerate growth potentials
and encourage change for the better.
In 2016 Nolan established the Nolan Carroll Foundation with a mission to support educational
opportunities and promote healthy lifestyle for today’s disadvantaged youths. The foundation is
active in providing S.T.E.M. educational opportunities to help improve academic achievements
among underprivileged youths.
In 2021, seeing doors closed to high school football players due to COVID-19 restrictions, which
prevented opportunities to advance to the next level football, Nolan started a Junior College
Athletic program. The program is designed to give a second chance to players to develop their
on-field skills, and gain experience while furthering their college degree to help them achieve
their goals to play college football.
Nolan’s hope is to inspire others to reach for their dreams and change their lives for the better...
one positive step at a time.
Nolan is the proud dad of Nolan Carroll III.

Specialty Featured

Nneka Ukpai

POP Venture

Nneka Ukpai is an avid investor and digital innovation enthusiast focused on funding and scaling new products for early and growth-stage companies, digitizing legacy enterprises, and helping accelerators, venture capital, private debt, and private equity firms grow their portfolios by providing a private network of professionals with deep subject matter expertise in every field necessary for a growing company to thrive. Nneka is a results-driven serial entrepreneur who co-founded one of the most popular social apps in Brazil and co-founded a B2B2C fintech in Washington, D.C. As a two-time technology founder, Nneka understands the challenges faced by growing tech and tech-enabled companies and routinely advises companies looking for ways to expand their digital offerings or grow through strategic acquisition. Nneka is currently the Chief Investment Officer at POP Venture, a registered fund designed to bring investment opportunities to the masses through multimedia distribution.

Prior to POP, Nneka was the Head of Financial Innovation at Better, the fastest fintech to surpass $100 Billion in funded volume. Nneka was part of the small and mighty deal team that took Better public in 2023. For the decade preceding Better, Nneka honed her legal skills as a senior attorney at a global law firm defending large corporations, Boards, and C-suite executives in regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions across multiple jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, Africa, and East Asia.

Nneka is a proud alumna of Howard University and Harvard Law School, where she currently holds a distinguished teaching faculty position in Harvard’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.

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Fred Sharp

SAP

As the Global Chief of Staff for SAP’s Intelligent Spend & Business Network division, Fred is
a dynamic leader who is pivotal in driving strategic initiatives, fostering operational
excellence, and supporting the executive leadership team. With a proven track record of
orchestrating cross-functional efforts and optimizing organizational processes, Fred brings
a wealth of experience to their role. With a deep understanding of SAP's mission and vision, Fred collaborates closely with the ISBN CRO and other senior leaders to shape the division’s direction and ensure alignment
across various departments. As the division now spans 60 countries, Fred has leveraged his
time as a Sr. Account Executive to ensure that the division remains committed to serving
customers and is at the forefront of innovating, both inside of SAP and out.
Before assuming the role of Chief of Staff, Fred was a Sr. Account Executive while also
holding a key leadership position on the SAP Emerging Talent Advisory Board, where he
demonstrated a remarkable ability to bridge the gap between past and future SAP. Fred’s
experience in business operations, sales, and go-to-market, enabled him to own
transformational initiatives that have propelled ISBN’s success.Before SAP & Ariba, Fred worked in various leadership and management roles within sales
and business operations. Fred graduated from Bowling Green State University with
undergraduate and graduate degrees in Business Administration. He resides in Detroit,
Michigan, with his wife, Mara, and two children, Leila and Milo.

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Melissa Newhart

United Talent Agency

Melissa Newhart is an award-winning entertainment and music industry executive with extensive advertising, marketing, branding, strategic partnership, and media experience. Newhart has been named to Billboard’s “Branding Power Players” and “Latin Power Players” lists, spotlighted in HITS! “Noisemakers” and featured in publications Muse by Clio & Campaign. In 2022, Variety named Newhart to their New York Impact Report, and in 2023, Advertising Week awarded her their "Future is Female" award.

Melissa began her career at Columbia Records & joined United Talent Agency in 2017 from Roc Nation, where she was Vice President of Brand Partnerships. Throughout her career, Melissa has closed over 350 deals for over 100 different artists such as Anitta, Bebe Rexha, Jonas Brothers, Karol G, Latto, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tierra Whack, and Young Miko, working with global brands such as Mastercard, Google, Xbox, Louis Vuitton, Levi’s, and Cadillac, to name a few.

Currently an Executive in UTA’s Music Brand Partnerships group, Melissa leads the team’s East Coast business. In addition to artist specific brand strategy, Melissa has experience negotiating and executing partnerships for large-scale music properties such as Made in America Festival and TIDAL X Concert, as well as global tour sponsorships. Newhart has also been instrumental in recognizing new lanes of business for UTA and was at the forefront of UTA’s expansion into the Hip Hop and Latin music genres.

Not only does Newhart advance her clients’ careers, but she is equally as dedicated to mentoring the next generation of professionals across the entertainment industry. She is actively involved in UTA's Mentorship Program, UTA's Women's Interest Group, & Le Femme Majeure - a UTA organization & event series dedicated to bringing together music’s next generation of female leaders. Newhart has also been a featured speaker at universities such as NYU, Pepperdine, Drexel, & The Roc Nation School at Long Island University. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at NYU, teaching a course on strategic music & branding.

In 2024, Newhart became a voting member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and joined the Board of WhyHunger, an organization working to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world by providing critical resources to support grassroots movements and fuel community solutions rooted in social, environmental, racial and economic justice.

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Ajay Nwosu

Teqball USA & COACT Capital

Ajay Nwosu, is a British entrepreneur and promient angel investor who currently serves as the CEO of Teqball USA and holds the position of President at The US National Teqball Federation. Under his visionary leadership, Teqball has successfully expanded its presence to over 150 countries worldwide, achieving the remarkable distinction of becoming the fastest- ever recognized sport globally. Notably, it has been included as a medal sport in the prestigious 2023 European Games, Asian Beach Games, African Beach Games and aspires to be part of the equally prestigious Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

He has been recognized as a visionary and for his exceptional leadership by Forbes, Bloomberg, Sports Business Journal and more.

Ajay was formerly COO at Champro Sports, a Fortune 1,000 B2B sports apparel & equipment provider, where he lead and oversaw Champro’s sales/growth trajectory and delivered double-digit revenue growth pre-acquisition of the company whilst winning multiple awards along the way for accelerated initiatives in CSR.

His academic achievements include degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Business and Economics as a student-athlete at Coventry University, England.

Beyond his corporate achievements, Ajay is recognized as an international speaker on Sports Technology, Intellectual Properties, and Web3 protocols. He has delivered notable keynotes at prestigious events such as SXSW, Global Sports Forum, and LA Sports Innovation Conference. Moreover, his contributions extend to serving on the board of directors for the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Ajay is the co-founder of COACT Capital a boutique angel investment fund channeling capital into disruptive companies across a range of industries, including Sports Technology & Sports Teams, Financial Technology, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and more.

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Ashley Battle

Boston Celtics

Ashley Battle has excelled in every facet of basketball as a trusted player, business strategist and transformative coach. Battle is a three-time NCAA Women's Basketball National Champion at the University of Connecticut and the 2003 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. In 2005, she was drafted 25th overall by the Seattle Storm, spent five seasons in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces), and played overseas in Turkey and Spain.

After her playing days, the Pittsburgh native applied her Business Marketing and Economics degrees within the banking industry before pivoting to wealth management at Barnum Financial Group. Her strategic insight found a new arena in basketball operations at the NBA, where she not only strategized but also mentored, guiding the next generation at the international NBA Academy and Jr. NBA camps in the US. Her journey took her from a strategic role with the Jordan Brand at Nike back to the NBA, where she currently scouts for the Boston Celtics, serves as Assistant General Manager for the G-League's Maine Celtics, and provides color commentary for the WNBA's New York Liberty.

Ashley is dedicated to community, growth, leadership, and service. She is the founding member of BattleCon, which advocates for youth development and created the Culture Bound Foundation, which provides youth opportunities. Former teammates and colleagues describe her as humble, confident, genuine, and adaptable. Her philosophy, inspired by the late Kobe Bryant to "Do Epic Things," fuels her ambition to drive the WNBA's Golden State expansion team towards groundbreaking success.

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#HTWPRESENTS

#TECHSTOPOVER

WHERE

THE FUTURE

MEETS

meet our Speakers

COMING SOON