Meet The Staff

Ryan Borba

Managing Editor

DREAM CONCERT: The Who, circa 1970

Ryan joins VenuesNow after starting at sister publication Pollstar as a copy editor while still in college at Fresno State in 2005, where he briefly hosted a music program at the university’s KFSR radio station.

Ryan grew up in rural central California with a steady diet of classic rock, attending concerts from a young age with his parents, die-hard Springsteen fanatics who would drive up and down California to see the Boss.

An avid guitar hobbyist and amateur coffee roaster, Ryan enjoys attending festivals, rooting for the Oakland Athletics and brainwashing his 8-year-old son Harrison, who loves Black Sabbath and Van Halen.

Ryan can be reached at [email protected]

DON MURET

SENIOR EDITOR

Dream Concert: “Frank Zappa with Led Zeppelin, the Allman Brothers, Stones and the original Grateful Dead.”

Don Muret has been a reporter for 35 years, including 25 years in trade journalism at SportsBusiness Journal and the old Amusement Business magazine before joining VenuesNow in December 2017. Previously, he worked 10 years as a sports writer for multiple daily and weekly newspapers. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa native has a journalism degree from Drake University and attended graduate school at the University of Iowa. He’s a diehard Chicago Cubs fan and loves live music. Muret lives in Charlotte with his wife, Dana, and their two teenage daughters, Madeline and Carolyn.

Don can be reached at (704) 877-7399 or [email protected]

JAMES ZOLTAK

REPORTER/EDITOR

Dream Concert: “The 1973 Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, put on by Jim Koplik and Shelly Finkel, featuring The Band, Allman Brothers and Grateful Dead.”

His mother refused to let him attend because he was 12. He has been in journalism for more than 30 years and was most recently on the police beat for L.A.-based City News Service. He has also been a staffer at Amusement Business, Adweek and the Associated Press. He started his career in New Jersey, where he attended Rutgers University and is a long-suffering fan of Scarlet Knights athletics. He has been in Southern California since 1993 and now lives near Thousand Oaks in Ventura County with his wife, Lissa, college-age twins, Miles and Olivia, and a tree-climbing cattle dog named Pokey.

James can be reached at (805) 907-3328 or [email protected].

SAMANTHA LE

MARKETING DIRECTOR

Dream Concert: “DePeche Mode, Chicago Theatre or Théâtre des Célestins, Lyon, France.”

Samantha has been with VenuesNow since 2009. She strives to strengthen the international presence of Venues Today and promote the magazine through various marketing efforts. Whether it’s creating marketing collateral, planning for the next tradeshow and award reception or handling production issues, she enjoys having fun at work. Prior to joining VenuesNow, she spent nine years in the action sports industry and GES Expo Services. “It’s a treat to check out the cool and creative ads submitted before everyone else sees it — it’s a new surprise every month!“

Samantha can be reached at (213) 632-6816 or [email protected]

AKI KANEKO

VP OF SALES, OVG MEDIA & CONFERENCES

Dream Concert: “Freddie Mercury, James Brown and Prince all on one stage singing “We Are The Champions.””

Veteran industry trade sales and sponsorships executive Aki Kaneko comes to OVG after nearly 20 years at Billboard, most recently as executive director of entertainment for the Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group. Aki is steering international advertising and sponsorship across all OVG media platforms and conferences, including Pollstar, Pollstar.com, Pollstar Daily Pulse, VenuesNow, VenuesNow.com, VenuesNow Pulse, and SportTechie. He is also steering sponsorships sales for the PollstarLive! Conference & Awards, which will mark its 30th anniversary in 2019, and the VenuesNow Conference, which ran June 19-20, 2018.

Aki can be reached at [email protected]

RICH DIGIACOMO

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE — US, CANADA, MEXICO AND INTERNATIONAL

Dream Concert: “The Killers, Train and and a bottle of 2006 Bond Cabernet Sauvignon at Greek Theatre in beautiful Griffith Park.”

Rich is continuing to push the global brand of VenuesNow forward. After creating successful regional spotlights for Colorado, California and much of the Midwest, Rich has been instrumental in facilitating VenuesNow’s growth overseas, signing the magazine’s first spotlight in Shanghai.

Rich can be reached at (310) 429-3678 or [email protected]

Brij Gosai

Director of Sales & Marketing International

Dream Concert: Nirvana supporting The Beatles

Brij represents the international division of VenuesNow/ OVG Media & Conferences. He is also looking after Pollstar international and looks forward to building the international brand for VenuesNow globally.

Brij can be reached at [email protected]