Philly Tech Week 2018

Jason Berger is a partner at the Philadelphia based law firm Margolis Edelstein and chairs the firm’s Entertainment and New Media practice group.

Jason’s expertise lies in recognizing talented artists, individuals and companies, developing strategy to achieve long-term success, and protecting their interests by rigorously negotiating and drafting the agreements forming the basis of their business relationships.

Jason’s practice focuses on securing and negotiating agreements in the music, television/film, digital media, technology, art and fashion industries. Jason’s client base covers the entertainment, media and technology industries and includes established and developing artists, songwriters, producers, bands, independent record labels, digital distribution companies, content creation and management companies, music publishing companies, apparel companies, management companies, executives, actors, models, and multimedia fashion and lifestyle companies.

Jason is a member and active participant in The Recording Academy’s Philadelphia Chapter, formally serving as an Advisor to the Board of Directors and currently involved in the Chapter’s Advocacy Committee.

Jason is active in his community of Philadelphia, PA, where he is an adjunct professor at Drexel University’s acclaimed Music Industry Program, teaching a wide variety of music and entertainment related topics. When not assisting his clients or working with his students, he is involved in a variety of music related endeavors from curating live performances to cofounding and developing nicethingsMUSIC, a technology inspired independent record label and distributor.

Emrah Ercan is the director of digital strategy & innovation at Suez Water Technologies and a member of the Company’s innovation and digital board of directors. He joined Suez Water (formerly GE Water) in 2012, bringing more than 15 years of innovation and commercial leadership experience to the organization.

In his current role, Mr. Ercan oversees corporate digital strategy, facilitating company activity in industrial IoT and asset performance management. This responsibility extends to include applying big data analytics and artificial learning to industrial water treatment and energy/resource management. Previously, he served as VP of strategic initiatives at GE Oil & Gas and GE Digital, where he established an internal incubator to fund early-stage digital oilfield ideas, which were later implemented across the global commercial team.

Prior to Suez (GE), Mr. Ercan spent ten years at Ashland, where he held a variety of management, operations, sales, and marketing roles, ultimately serving as the company’s West Coast territory manager and leading a successful effort to streamline operations, strengthen the product line, and drive growth.

Mr. Ercan holds an MBA from the University of Southern California, an MS in Industrial Engineering from Chalmers University in Sweden, and a BS in Chemical & Process Engineering from Bogazici University. In 2013, Mr. Ercan was honored by, then CEO, Jeff Immelt with the GE Corporate Innovation Award – in recognition of his achievements in the digitalization of the global field service team. Emrah is a member of the American Turkish Young Society Leaders (YSL) and an executive board of director of Stamford Metal Group in Stamford, CT. He is an avid reader, a devout Besiktas fan and resides in New York City with his family.

Jennifer Baker is an entrepreneur and executive producer who recently joined WRG, a part of The Creative Engagement Group as the Operations Director for the US. With nearly two decades of producing experiences and content for Fortune 500 brands under her belt, Jennifer knows how to craft an authentic story, creating an emotional connection between brand and consumer using the power of technology and innovation.

Some of her most recent projects have included the Lexus LIT IS which was featured in Dua Lipa's 'Be the One' video, an AR experience for Intel and working on The Single's Project which won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media - Multiplatform Storytelling.

Mark Wheeler, AICP, GISP is the interim Chief Information Officer for the Office of Innovation and Technology. He previously served as Deputy CIO and Chief Geographic Information Officer leading multiple teams of analysts, developers, and web designers. As GIO he introduced new spatial technologies and established programs to make web mapping, analysis and data sharing easy and accessible to all city staff to better enable decision making. He is a Citizens Planning Institute advisory board member and co-creator of the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Project and Citizens Toolkit. He has a master’s in regional planning from the University of Massachusetts

Brett Topche is the co-founder and Managing Director of Red & Blue Ventures, where he makes seed and early stage investments in technology companies from the University of Pennsylvania ecosystem. He has spent much of his career primarily focusing on investments in ecommerce, digital media, mobile applications, marketing technologies and B2B software. Prior to co-founding Red & Blue, he spent more than nine years at MentorTech Ventures, which had a similar focus. He represents Red & Blue on the Board of AptDeco and as an observer at Burrow. He has also served or observed on a number of other startup Boards, including Wanderfly (acquired by TripAdvisor), Cloudmine, PayPerks, goTenna, Curalate, Quad Learning, SeniorHomes.com (acquired by Bankrate) and TicketLeap (acquired by Patron Technology).

Prior to joining MentorTech, Brett was a member of the Fund Investments Team at Hamilton Lane Advisors, a fund-of-funds manager and private equity investment consultant. In this capacity, he evaluated private equity funds across a broad spectrum of stages and strategies on behalf of both discretionary and non-discretionary clients. During his time at Hamilton Lane, Brett reviewed more than 100 funds, including venture capital, mezzanine, buyout and real estate funds. Based in part on reports he drafted, more than $1 billion was invested into these funds.

Prior to working for Hamilton Lane, Brett spent more than four years as an Associate with NJTC Venture Fund, where he focused on investments in early-stage companies in the software, Internet and communications sectors. His responsibilities included deal flow generation, initial company reviews, performing due diligence on potential investments, participating in deal structuring, reviewing legal documentation and working with companies post-investment, occasionally as an Observer on Boards of Directors.

Brett is a magna cum laude graduate of the Wharton School, with a B.S. in Economics, with concentrations in Finance and Legal Studies and a Political Science minor from the College and Arts and Sciences.

A lifelong city resident, Jim Kenney grew up the oldest of four in a South Philadelphia rowhouse neighborhood. His father, a firefighter, and his mother, a homemaker, worked second jobs at The Inquirer and The Spectrum to put Jim and his four siblings through parochial school.

In high school, Jim delivered the paper in the morning and washed dishes after school as a member of Local 274, earning his first union card at 17.

After graduating from St. Joe's Prep, Jim worked his way through La Salle University and became the first in his family to graduate from college.

Jim was elected in 1991 to serve as a Democratic City Councilman-at-Large. In City Council, Jim stood up for Philadelphia's working families—fighting for a real living wage, increased funding for public education, and to protect the rights of firefighters and police.

A proud progressive, Jim led the way on broader protections for LGBTQ Philadelphians, marijuana decriminalization, and a more sensible immigration policy by ending ICE holds that tear families apart.

Jim served as Chairman of the Committee on Labor & Civil Service, the Committee on Law & Government, the Committee on Environment as well as a member of the Public Health, Fiscal Stability, Technology, and Ethics Committees. Jim resigned from office to run for mayor after serving six consecutive terms in 2015.