With the 2020 OurCrowd Global Investor Summit approaching, everyone in the OurCrowd office is eagerly preparing for the best one yet. There’s more programming, more speakers, more companies – more everything. With all this added content, the team behind Summit is busier than ever, making sure that all the Summit Week details are taken care of. We decided to give you a peek at some of the team behind the conference – the people who make it all happen!
Ari Goldberg
Events and Project Manager, Global Events Team
How would you describe yourself? Fun, annoying and annoyingly fun
Where were you born? When did you make Aliyah? Born in Edison, New Jersey and moved to Israel in 1990
What are some of your hobbies? Hiking, guitar playing, softball
Favorite thing about Summit? The waffles!
Worst previous job: In charge of a jumpy castle
Challenges overcome in past Summits: There’s isn’t enough internet to write this down
Opinion on garden gnomes: Like it, only if its baseball figures
What would you do with the money if you won the lottery? Start a nonprofit
Three things you’d take to a desert island: Guitar, prayer book, my wife
Most looking forward to at 2020 Summit: The waffles!
Liz Cohen
VP of Marketing
How would you describe yourself? Addicted to having a purpose… never a dull moment…
Where were you born? When did you make Aliyah? Born in Brooklyn. Made Aliyah in January 2005.
Which animal would you be and why? Dog… they seem so carefree
Favorite thing about Summit: The people I work with to make it happen
What’s your superpower? Using a whiteboard to the maximum effect
When you’re not working on Summit, what are you doing? Writing short stories
If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza
First random fact that comes to your mind: 12 humans have visited the moon, but only 3 have reached the bottom of Earth’s deepest ocean
Most looking forward to at 2020 Summit: Celebrating it once it’s done 😊
Eric Brand
Director of Corporate Marketing
How would you describe yourself? Jon called me Summit Czar, but I think the description on my high school yearbook class photo is more apt: “Third From Right”
Where were you born? When did you make Aliyah? Polyclinic Hospital, New York City (3:10 p.m.). Moved to Israel on December 28, 2016.
Favorite thing about Summit? Bringing innovation and OurCrowd and Israel to the attention of thousands of people around the world, and getting them excited about it.
Most looking forward to at 2020 Summit: Sitting in the balcony with the crew during the final minutes of the Closing Plenary, counting down the moments when the last thing could go wrong, but doesn’t.
What do you think about when you’re alone in your car? Thank God, I don’t have a car. One of the best things about moving here.
What was the last gift you gave someone? Yikes, you just reminded me I didn’t give a gift to my friend’s son when he got married last week.
What inspires you? Random acts of kindness, which I am fortunate to witness almost every day in Jerusalem.
How would you convince someone to do something they didn’t want to do? Tell them how great it is owning a Summit session, how much fun, how rewarding, how it’s the best session (but don’t tell any of the other session owners I said that), and I was going to give it to so-and-so but I’m giving you first crack because of our friendship, and I already checked with your manager and they said it was ok, and really, it’s just going to be great.
What is the last book you read? I hope I haven’t read it yet.
Avital Lapian
Project Manager, Global Events Team
How would you describe yourself? I want coffee. At all times.
Where were you born? When did you make Aliyah? New York, 32 years ago
Favorite thing about Summit? Late-night summit slack group
Most looking forward to at 2020 Summit: The closing plenary
What do you think about when you’re alone in your car? Quiet is awesome
What was the last gift you gave someone? A book
What’s the last thing you watched on TV? This is us
What inspires you? People
What do you do in your free time? At this stage in the life, hard to define free time
Who would win a fight between Spiderman and Batman? Batman
Name a person, alive or dead that you would want to meet and why? My grandmother. I always felt like I miss her even though I never met her.
What is the last book you read? Seriously, I can’t remember the last time I managed to finish a book.
Now you know a little bit about some of the team behind Summit, make sure not to miss the events they make happen including cutting-edge technologies, the entrepreneurs behind them, and the corporate leaders deploying them.