Jennifer Preston, the New York Times‘ Social Media Editor, is the first key note speaker confirmed for this year’s nonick conference focusing on on-line communities, being held in Bilbao on May 14th and 15th. The Basque broadcasting service website, eitb.com, and internet company Enpresa Digitala will be in charge of organizing the event.

Jennifer Preston has spent the last 15 years as a reporter, editor and newsroom manager at The New York Times. Before being named as the papers first social media editor, she previously oversaw The Times’ regional weeklies. Prior to joining the Times in 1995, initially as state house bureau chief in New Jersey, Jennifer worked at the Philadelphia Bulletin, Philadelphia Daily News and New York Newsday, where she held a variety of posts including, Deputy Metropolitan Editor, City Hall Bureau Chief, and Police Bureau Chief.

While a reporter in Room 9 at City Hall for six years, Jennifer published a book, Queen Bess, about Bess Myerson, the former Miss America and Koch administration official who was caught up in New York City’s municipal corruption scandal in the 1980’s. As a reporter, she has also won several investigative reporting awards, including the Golden Typewriter Award for Public Service by the New York Press Club for a series on the police use of deadly force by off-duty police officers.

In addition to her experience as a newsroom manager in News Administration at The Times, where she was involved in staffing, recruiting, labor relations, budgeting, and strategic planning, she has also worked as a circulation marketing manager at Newsday. Nowadays she is one of the professors at The H Journalism School of Columbia University. She has attended newsroom management and leadership programs at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business Administration. Jennifer is a graduate of Boston University.

This year’s Nonick will take place on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th May at the Bilbao headquarters of the Basque Country’s Public Broadcasting Company, EITB. The focus of Nonick 2010 will be on-line communities, bringing together experts in the field of on-line social network from all over Europe.

This year’s edition of Nonick will also hold presentations by professionals of reknowned success and international standing, will include workshops and dedicate an important part to networking sessions.
This year will mark the second Nonick conference, following last year’s first edition which focused on video, web and television. Nonick is the successor to Blogak, an event which during the last decade brought together bloggers from all to the Biscay capital.

Tags: Bilbao, bloggers, jennifer preston, networking, online communities, social media, social networks