On Saturday, August 20th, Black Girls In Media hosted their annual Black Girls in Media Conference at the Westin Plaza in downtown Atlanta. Over a hundred attendees including Black creatives, media professionals, and influencers from BET, MTV, and Warner Records celebrated and networked with Black women in the media industry. Tasha Mccaskiel, CEO of Black Girls In Media shares her reason for bringing the second conference to Atlanta.
“Atlanta is the first place I thought of for many reasons. We have a strong audience there, plus, it’s what I would consider the home of Black media. This life-changing conference will be the start of many more to come,” said Mccaskiel.
This year’s conference panels included the topics of: “Building Your Brand”, “About the Money: Managing and Scaling Your Wealth,” “Black Women in Leadership” and “Hosting 101: Interviewing with Confidence”. The powerhouse speakers were Finance and Business Guru, Ellie Diop, Vice President of Marketing at Warner Records, Shawnae Corbett-Rice, Talent Relations Manager for Viacom, Ashle Mitchell, and Brand Designer and Founder of Cult Creative Agency, Dominique Webb. From 10 am - 6 pm, attendees were able to engage in panel discussions and resumé workshops, network with leading media professionals, and eat catered food. When asked about the inspiration behind creating BGIM, Mccaskiel instantly replied.
“The inspiration came from what I was lacking. I didn’t have many opportunities post-grad and eventually, I created a group chat to network with other women,” said Mccaskiel “I started to look for other ways to pour into women such as events, content, and growing brands”
The founder mentioned that she chose the different media outlets for the conference based on the positive impact she wanted BGIM to have. “I always want to highlight positive media. My social platform is filled with uplifting positive aspects. I had the same mindset when I chose the guest list for the conference and wanted to keep in mind Black people doing amazing things”.
Black Girls In Media is a networking organization committed to supporting and uplifting minority women in the media industry. The community has 80k followers on Instagram alone and has been hosting networking events for years. The organization is about supporting and connecting minority women working in and interested in working in professional media jobs and opportunities in the TV, film, digital, social media, public relations, entertainment, and tech space.
