Melissa Chang (Accredited in PR), Vice President of Buzzmaster, has more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and public relations, including work with Starr Seigle Communications, as the Marketing Director for Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, and as the Marketing Director of Aloha Tower Marketplace. She is currently a freelance writer and independent marketing consultant, specializing in integrating the social media with traditional media to maximize clients’ marketing efforts. Melissa writes for Nonstophonolulu.com, Gayot.com, Fodors, Honolulu Magazine (real estate), and Edible Hawaiian Islands. Melissa is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America. She was named the 2006 Gregg W. Perry Public Relations Professional of the Year by the Hawai‘i  Chapter of PRSA and given the President’s Award in 2010. She was also named one of the “Top 20 Social Media Geeks in Honolulu” by Bytemarks and “Honolulu’s Best Twitter” by Honolulu Weekly.
 

Kevin Y. Kawamoto has long been interested in the social impact of technology on human communities. He was the technology studies manager at The Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in New York City and helped plan many events that brought educators, government officials and industry insiders together to talk about the latest developments in their respective sectors. His PhD dissertation at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he later became an assistant professor, explored the emerging digital media environment and became the basis for his first book published in 2002. He edited another book, “Digital Journalism: Emerging Media and the Changing Horizons of Journalism” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), which featured some of the leading experts in the field at the time. He has taught journalism and communication at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa as both an associate professor and a part-time lecturer and now studies the role of technology in aging, caregiving and wellness.