The implications of blockchain technology for media and business will be the subject of executive briefings on March 27 in Columbia, South Carolina, and March 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The sessions are intended for senior-level business executives and communicators and are sponsored by the University of South Carolina’s College of Information and Communications and the Darla Moore School of Business.
 
Each session will feature two industry experts:

Sydney Lai, the head of strategy for ConsenSys, an industry leader in developing protocol-based open platforms. ConsenSys projects drive the Ethereum blockchain.

Joseph Olewitz the founder and CEO of Virtual Chief Revenue Officer, who has been advocating blockchain and other disruptive technologies since early 2017.

“We are pleased to be able to bring to the Carolinas experts in a disruptive technology expected to revolutionize many aspects of business, media and information flow,” said Tom Reichert, dean of the College of Information and Communications. “We’ll learn the basics of blockchain and how it can be used to make communication more secure as well as how it will change business models and drive revenue.”
 
Blockchain is the foundation for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether, but it has broader implications. According to The New York Times, blockchain has the potential to displace “much of what we now think of as the internet, while at the same time returning the online world to a more decentralized and egalitarian system.”
 
“I am passionate about revenue growth and blockchain is something businesses and all of us need to understand,” Olewitz said. “Sydney Lai is a great speaker, she’s knowledgeable about blockchain and she’s passionate about technology.”
 
The Columbia session will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon on March 27 in room of 318 of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications, which is located at 800 Sumter St.   

The Charlotte briefing will take place from 9:30 a.m. to noon on March 28, at the Darla Moore School of Business Charlotte classrooms, located in Suite 110 at 200 South College St. in downtown Charlotte.
 
The first 10 people to register for each briefing will get an early bird rate of $125. Afterward, the rate will increase of $150.
 
For more information and to register, visit https://blockchaincolumbia2018.eventbrite.com (Columbia) or https://blockchaincharlotte2018.eventbrite.com (Charlotte).