About

Black and white image of Andy Batkin

Mr. Batkin is currently the CEO of Duration Media.

He is also the host of an original podcast series sponsored, by Duration Media, called, The Net OGs. This series asks and answers the question, “what was the internet like before the internet was a thing, and who were the original players?” Each week Andy is joined by an OG – not an old guy or gal, but the true “original gangsters” of the Internet. Available on www.thenetogs.com, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your audio. 

Prior to Duration Media, Andy was CEO of Webspectator Corporation, a company that was focused on creating high viewability inventory and providing a set of tools for agencies, brands & publishers to measure, verify, serve and monetize, Time and Attention……the next currency for digital media.

Since 2011, Mr. Batkin has also been the CEO of Social Summits, LLC., a strategic consulting company that specializes in digital and social media, with a focus on revenue generation. Mr. Batkin’s focus has been on SSL’s interactive publishing as well as a conference division that facilitates the growth of Digital/Social Media and Social TV, Online, and in-person through events such as; The Conference on Time and Attention, The Time and Attention Roadshow, The Social TV Summits, The Social TV Thought Leadership Roadshow, and The Social TV Awards.

More About Andy

In 1996, Mr. Batkin founded Softbank Interactive Marketing Inc. (SIM) after his company, Interactive Marketing, Inc. (IMI) was bought by Softbank Corporation in Japan. Under his guidance as Chairman and CEO, the company sold $50 million of interactive media in its first twelve months and grew to be the world’s largest interactive media rep firm.

In early 1995 under Mr. Batkin’s leadership, IMI became the Interactive Marketing Agency of Record for Yahoo!, and developed the branding and media strategy to create Yahoo! into a powerhouse Internet media company with a multi-billion dollar valuation. IMI was also the exclusive digital media advertising sales organization for Yahoo! for the first two years of Yahoo’s young life and handed over 1700 sales relationships to the new sales team that was developed by Mr. Batkin. In this time frame, IMI performed similar work for Netscape, ZDNet, Playboy, the National Football League, where Mr. Batkin created SuperBowl.com; NBC, MapQuest, Hollywood.com, and many others.

In 1991, he founded The Creative Services Group and was its president and creative director. A year later, the firm was renamed Interactive Marketing Inc. (IMI). During this period, he began to focus the firm’s operations in three core areas: interactive marketing and promotions, interactive advertising sales, and publishing industry-leading magazines, and organizing conferences such as; The Conference on Interactive Marketing East & West, Camp Internet, and Web Innovation conferences.

Mr. Batkin is recognized as one of the founders of the interactive industry back in 1983 and has over 30 years of experience in creating innovative integrated marketing, digital media, and promotional campaigns for Fortune 500 and Media and Entertainment companies. 

He has a well-known track record of vision of “what’s next” in the digital media space and has great long-term relationships with cable/broadcast television networks and advertising/digital agencies.

Andy has also created and executive produced a made-for-TV golf event called People vs. the Pros. This program was broadcast on ESPN for five years. Additionally, in 2006 Mr. Batkin created The Trump Million Dollar Invitational. He was also the Executive Producer and sold the title sponsorship to Donald Trump, who served as the on-air host.

Mr. Batkin has received numerous digital media awards and speaks at many industry conferences. He has been quoted in major publications such as; The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Brandweek, Mediapost, Business 2.0, and many others, on the evolution of digital and social media.

Andy is a graduate of Boston University with a B.S. in Public Communications. He has served as treasurer of the National Association of Interactive Services and on the board of directors of the ISA (Interactive Services Association). He was also a founding member of the Internet Advertising Bureau (the IAB). Mr. Batkin was the Chairman of the Interactive Promotion Marketing Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the Promotion Marketing Association. He also served on the Board of Directors for the OVAB (now the Digital Place-based Advertising Association) and was co-Chair of the Conference Committee and Chair of the Media Operations Committee.

Mr. Batkin currently sits on the Advisory Board for IZEA (NASDAQ: IZEA) – Connecting Influential Content Creators With the World’s Biggest Brands

Andy resides in Scottsdale, AZ with his wife of 29 years, Bridget. Mr. Batkin is the proud father of two daughters, Lia who resides in Miami, Florida, and Samantha, who resides in Los Angeles, CA.