Interview: Pharrell's Kidult.com and The 2010 Kidult Youth Leadership Conference

This Just IN!!!
The day ends with a performance by Pharrell Williams! Register Your Youth HERE: http://kidultleadershipconference.com

Some of the speakers include Mimi Valdes Co-founder of Kidult, LLC/Editor-in-Chief of Latina Magazine; Dr. Steve Perry CNN Educational Contributor; Daniel "Diggy" Simmons of MTV's Run's House; Datwon Thomas, senior editor/advisor of GlobalGrind.com and many more

I had the pleasure of interviewing OJ Lima, the General Manager of Pharrell Williams newest website Kidult.com on my radio segment, Philly In The Know on The Streets Are Talking Radio Show this past Wednesday May 5th on 900AM WURD. http://900amwurd.com
The interview was a full of so many details on the website and the up coming conference. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed interviewing OJ.

Waheedah: Could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and your background?

OJ: I went to UPENN and I’m feeling the local love right now! I graduated from UPENN and I moved to New York and went to Columbia Teachers College. While I was there, I interned at Vibe Magazine in the Research Department in the mid 90’s . When I finished at Teachers College, I intended on becoming a teacher but there was a hiring freeze. So, I ended up getting an offer from Vibe Magazine to become the Research Chief. I took it because I did not have another option and I really enjoyed writing, reporting and all of that. From Vibe Research, I went to Seventeen Magazine and became the Music Editor. Then I went to Blaze Magazine, which was a young rap magazine and became the Managing Editor. Then I went back to Vibe and became the Special Project Editor then the Executive Editor when Emil Wilbekin was the Editor In Chief. Then I left magazine publishing to start an internet company to develop websites and I have been doing that since 2002. I was brought on by Mimi Valdes who I worked with for many years at Vibe to construct and general manage the Kidult website.


Waheedah: What an extensive background. Kudos to you on all of your hard work on the website.

OJ: Thank you! Thank you!

Waheedah: What exactly do you do at Kidult.com


OJ: I have a pretty wide skill set. I helped do design of the site in terms the graphics. I just spearheaded putting together of all of the site. I have a team and we worked together to actually code and build the content management of the site on the back end as well as what it looks like on the front end. I helped find the people to work on the site. Now, I general manage the site so I oversee everything that’s on the site from publicity requests, editorial staff, and technology. The website launched in the beginning of the year.


Waheedah: What is Kidult.com?

OJ: Originally, it was Pharrell’s idea. He and Mimi Valdes had been discussing wanting to do a youth based website. It popped into Pharrell’s head and he said it like this: “I wish I had a news and information source when I was in high school that spoke to me like a grown up instead of like a child”. Mimi has an extensive background in magazine publishing and media in general. They came to me and told me the idea and we figured out how to build the site. So now, what we devised is a website that has news in 12 different areas such as headlines, politics, games, sports, green technology, science, business, health, tech, random and entertainment. Everyday there are 4-6 news articles that are published.

It has an interview section that includes cool jobs and celebrity based interviews. The celeb-based interviews are with artists, actors, actress and entertainers. We have most recently interviewed Iyaz who has a real fun song, President Clinton, and DJ Vajra, who is the best turntable dj on the planet. The cool job section is for a person that has a cool job and wants to give information on how to get a job like that. We’ve interviewed publicists, writers, professors and film makers. This section is really a lot of fun and the questions are about how did you get to where you are and they give good advice to young people. Click here to visit Kidult.com's interview section: http://www.kidult.com/interviews


There is a blog section just starting up. Right now we have a few bloggers but we have about 50 blogger applications. We are just finishing up the technology to it stream line it. In about a week or so we will have 10 bloggers to start then 20 the next week and 30 the next. We want a large community of young people talking back and forth about issues that are important to them.


In the video section, we find different videos from all over the internet on different topics it could be on education, political speeches and music. Right now, we have one up that is crazy. These kids from Tokyo took these Nike free shoes and ran an algorithm to make a keyboard. By bending the shoes, they can make a symphony. We have a whole lot of fun information on the site. Click here to visit Kidult.com to view the video: http://www.kidult.com/videos/nikes-musical-shoes#date-bar-anchor

The main thing is we want teenagers to be able to get unbiased news information as well as different and other sorts of fun stuff from the site they will enjoy.


Waheedah: That's wonderful and the website provides a lot of interesting information and I enjoy visiting the website. What is the Kidult Youth Leadership Conference?


OJ: The conference is June 26th in NYC at the Sheraton Towers and Hotel. There are 500 spots for kidults ages 14-20 years old and spots are almost filled. But, I really have to give credit to Pharrell for this. One of the things I enjoy about working with him is that is a visionary in terms of how he thinks about executing ideas. In that he comes up with an idea he thinks is interesting and or useful and he says “alright I am actually going to make this thing and were going to let it go”. I have worked for many media companies and they do not do that. They say hey what will the profit potential be at the end of this. Pharrell decided that he wanted to be able to have a conference where he could gather a lot of people he knew from various industries. He wants to have them talk to kids about different skills they would need to go to college or succeed in the work place. So, it’s really a conference to teach a select group of kids things they are going to need to know to be successful at the next level.


Waheedah: What is the purpose of the Conference?


OJ: Its really going be excellent opportunity. Again, this was Pharrell’s idea. He reaches a lot of people especially a lot of his fans. He really wanted to try to do something a little smaller, more impactful and more directed towards a specific group of people. He wants to continue to do them year in and year out. (The purpose is to gather professionals from different areas and provide to kids in a whole day a lot of information. To help them improve everything they want to do be it education, start a business, or go in to entertainment. To give them interesting and legitimate information about how to start, how to finish, how to dress professionally and how to act. To prepare them to open their minds about what is success and how to be successful. The wonderful thing is that’s just Pharrell’s attitude not just about the conference but everything we are doing with the website also. We have tons of different media programs we are working on with the website. Pharrell has been tremendously supportive about allowing us to be free wheeling and come up with great things we think are going to work and putting them out there and in to play.


Waheedah: I want to thank you for your time and providing us with so many details on the website on the conference. What is also exciting that according to @Kidultnews that if you register for the Kidult Youth Leadership Conference, you could win a dinner for two at Planet Hollywood in NYC. You can follow Kidult.com on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/Kidultnews
Could you mention the website address one more time for our listeners OJ and thank you again.


OJ: My pleasure its Kidult.com. Definitely check it out if you are a young person in high school or beginning college. I think you will find it interesting. If you are a teacher or parent and you have teenage kids and you want to see what kind of information they are looking at or what kind of media they are ingesting it’s a good place to look at to see type of news you might want to be up on and discuss with your kids.

Here are more details on the Kidult Youth Leadership Conference

Saturday, June 26th 2010 7:30am-8:00pm Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers New York City


The 2010 Kidult Youth Leadership Conference Hosted by Pharrell Williams and Executive Produced By Mimi Valdes is themed: "Feed Your Curiosity" - is designed to help young people develop lifelong skills so they can become visionary leaders of the future.

In attending, conference participants can expect a day of sharing new ideas, developing new leadership skills for college and beyond, learning about global citizenry and networking with leaders in a variety of interest areas.

This year's conference promises to be a one-of-a-kind experience.

Sponsorship & Advertising Opportunities are available!

Sponsorship of the 2010 Kidult Youth Leadership Conference offers exclusive branding, marketing, advertising and networking opportunities. Hurry! Opportunities are limited.

For questions, or to receive more information, contact:

Kidult Youth Leadership Conference
info@kidultleadershipconference.com
Subject Line: Sponsorships/Advertising

Click here to learn more, for press and media inquires and to register!
http://www.kidultleadershipconference.com/