To simply say that Darren Herman works in digital media is a vast understatement. A serial entrepreneur, adviser, and board member within the media, advertising, and technology industries, Herman is currently the chief digital media officer of Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal and Partners (kbs+p)/The Media Kitchen, which is wholly owned by MDC Partners. In this role, he is directly responsible for overseeing digital media capabilities and infrastructure including ad serving, data warehousing, digital media strategies (video, social, search, display), and tactics for all clients.

Darren is an online media maverick who has been a change-maker throughout the industry and his organizations. As an active speaker and blogger, he has uniquely been able to bridge the gap between the online technology space and advertising, resulting in new approaches."

• Hooman Radfar
• CEO and Co-founder, Clearspring

In 2008, Herman incubated and founded advanced targeting and data platform Varick Media Management for MDC Partners. The platform has been the subject of critical acclaim in the pages of Adweek, Ad Age, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Further flexing his entrepreneurial spirit, in late 2008, he launched Herman blackbook, an investments and consulting vehicle to early stage startups that are having trouble bridging the gap between innovation and adoption. In January 2009, the firm launched its first fund, the New Platforms Fund, the goal of which is to make investments in early ideas that build off of existing platforms such as Twitter, Boxee, AppNexus, Chumby, iPhone, and others.

Herman has spent the past 12 years in various entrepreneurial capacities. He founded and grew IGA Worldwide Inc., the first independent in-game advertising platform to raise $40 million in capital through various venture-backed investors including Intel Capital and NBC Universal. His companies have received numerous awards, including Avenue-A | Razorfish's Breakout Company of the Year and inclusion in AlwaysOn's Top 100 Private Companies list. He also won BusinessWeek's Top Entrepreneur award in 2006, and is frequently quoted in global marketing, technology, and financial periodicals.

In 2008, Herman released his first book, "Coloring Outside the Lines: Confessions of a Digital Native." He is more than willing to share his media knowledge on his personal blog or on Twitter at @dherman76.