Elaine Welteroth Dishes on Teen Vogue’s First Summit
Teen Vogue is dipping into the events business.
The Condé Nast-owned title will launch the first “Teen Vogue Summit” on Dec. 1 and 2 at 72andSunny’s Playa Vista campus in Los Angeles. The event’s theme is filtered through the lens of “changing the world,” according to Teen Vogue editor in chief Elaine Welteroth. She told WWD that speakers are innovators, creators and activists, adding that it’s been her desire to create a live event for the brand for some time.
“When I started back at Teen Vogue five years ago, I had something like this in an edit test,” the 29-year-old said. “It’s the right moment for this. We have this incredible, civic-minded, motivated community. They are hungry to connect with the brand.”
Welteroth offered that Teen Vogue’s success in recent years has been linked to the fact that the media has largely “underestimated how sophisticated and intellectual younger people are [today].”
Teen Vogue has been able to weave in political and cultural stories into its fashion and beauty coverage in a way few in the women’s lifestyle media sphere have been able to do.
In hopes of reflecting the brand’s newly sprung activist roots, sessions during the summit will be offered on topics such as civic leadership, grassroots organizing, STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] careers and socially conscious brand-building.
In order to make it less “convention-like,” Welteroth said the event, which is sponsored by 72andSunny, LifeWtr, PBteen and Toms, will feature keynotes, hands-on workshops and mentoring experiences.
For instance, Dec. 1 will kick off with @Werk immersions in what Teen Vogue deems as L.A.’s more forward-thinking companies, such as Girlboss Media hosted by Sophia Amoruso, Giphy Studios hosted by chief executive officer Samantha Scharff, Instagram, One Love + Media Arts Lab, Toms hosted by founder Blake Mycoskie, United Talent Agency and YouTube Space LA.
On Dec. 2, summit attendees will hear talks from activist, filmmaker Amandla Stenberg, director and writer Ava DuVernay, actress and activist Rowan Blanchard and artist and poet Cleo Wade. There will also be mentor sessions led by Compton Mayor Aja Brown, Bumble founder ceo Whitney Wolfe, Stephanie Simons of YCombinator and Uber’s chief brand officer Bozoma Saint John. Performances will include one by Alex Belle and Isis V. of the band St. Beauty.
Before the actual summit, it will kick off this fall with a series of Meetups across the country in various cities, such as New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, Austin and L.A., which will take place at Toms Community Hubs.
The summit, which will be the first brand project to come out of Condé’s 23 Stories’ live events unit, will coincide with the release of Teen Vogue’s quarterly print issue.
Tickets to the summit are on sale now at summit.TeenVogue.com, and guests will be able to purchase tickets à la carte: Friday @Werk Immersions cost $299, Saturday Summit, $399. Or All-Access: Friday @Werk Immersions & Saturday Summit ($549). Tickets to Meetup events cost $35.
There are 350 tickets for the first day of the summit and 500 for the second. In order to increase accessibility to the event, Teen Vogue is working with corporate partners to underwrite the cost of Summit attendance and necessary travel for up to 50 attendees, who will be chosen based on a short application. These attendees will be selected in collaboration with Step Up, a mentorship organization aimed at girls.
For More:
Teen Vogue Makes It Official, Appoints Elaine Welteroth Editor in Chief
Amid Election Turmoil, Teen Vogue Finds a Viral Voice
Teen Vogue to Change Frequency, Publisher
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