Rikki Decker is Head of Partnerships, Blockthrough. She joined with 7 years of adtech experience in campaign and account management leadership on the platform side, including AOL, AAX and The Media Trust. We asked who her digital hero is.
Who is your digital hero?
There are so many inspiring people to choose from—I will limit myself to a few. Marty Kratky Katz, the founder and CEO at Blockthrough and Cory Schnurr, Global Head of Innovation at The Media Trust
What have they done to win hero status in your eyes?
Marty leads a mighty team at Blockthrough. He is an innovative and resourceful leader, he is deeply thoughtful in leveraging the advice of his leadership team as well, and learnings from the larger industry. His thirst for knowledge is infectious among the team.
Cory Schnurr has made his way through multiple facets of the industry and I had the privilege of partnering with him at The Media Trust. He was a natural mentor and leveraged his deep knowledge of programmatic auction mechanics to educate his team and inform innovative product strategy
How has their heroism helped drive digital?
Both Marty and Cory are committed to optimizing the ad experience for users. Whether that be providing a facility in which users can better customize their ad experience, or protecting users from malware and other digital threats.
The value exchange between users and the online advertising ecosystem is coming to the forefront with a growing concern around the collection and use of personal data from the general public and user privacy policies on the rise.
Marty is working to provide users with a wider array of options as it relates to this value exchange and Cory is educating publishers and AdTech platforms on emerging policy and helping to ensure their compliance
What are the biggest challenges in digital we need another hero to solve?
In the same vein, there is little education on the digital advertising ecosystem and the manner in which data is leveraged, available to the general public and regulating bodies. I believe this is the next step to optimizing the relationship between advertisers, content creators, and end users
What is your most heroic personal achievement so far in digital?
My most heroic personal achievement is the work I’ve done to educate and coach up and comers. The adtech space is still maturing and I think it’s crucial to empower new comers to think critically and drive innovative solutions to the current and emerging challenges we are all facing.
