Experienced Digital Product Management Executive to Give December 2 Orser Lecture – Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Kristy Young, a digital product management executive with expertise in sports media,
digital marketing, mobile and new business spinoffs, will give a public presentation,
“Thinking Big, Starting Small,” on Tuesday, December 2 from 4:10-5:00 p.m. in Reid
Hall 108, for the fall Montana State University (MSU) Jake Jabs College of Business
& Entrepreneurship (JJCBE)’s David Orser Executive Speakers Forum.

The best business advice also applies to the personal journey your career can take.
Students from small schools and small towns have just as much chance to make it big
as anyone else, in fact—better. Learn how to leverage your education and experience
to set yourself apart.

Kristy will share her lessons learned from a career that started at the University
of Wyoming and ultimately took her to New York City to work for big brands and exciting
new products. She’ll provide her perspective on jobs, internships, networking and
how to position yourself to achieve your goals.

Kristy recently moved to Bozeman, Mont., where she is the managing partner for blaZe
interactive, LLC which partners with a diverse group of businesses to provide guidance through
new product development, business transformations and digital expansion.

Prior to relocation, Kristy spent 11 years in New York City in the Sports Media industry, most recently
as vice president, product management for USA TODAY Sports Media Group where she lead
the digital product initiatives for this newly formed LLC across three divisions: USA
TODAY (sports interests for USA TODAY flagship property and 105 local print/broadcast
sites), USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties (10 Owned & Operated sites, including
For The Win and 400 affiliate publisher sites) and USA TODAY High School Sports.

Before moving to USA TODAY Sports, Kristy served as director of product management
for ESPN Mobile. There she led product management for ESPN’s mobile products including Alerts,
Mobile Web, Apps and on-air Fan engagement including SportsCenter, X Games, Sports
Nation and others. She also worked for US WEST (which became Qwest, which is now CenturyLink)
in Denver on various new ventures including Sales Edge, Your Value Card and Qwest
Wireless.

Kristy received her B.S. in marketing at the University of Wyoming and her MBA at
the University of Denver. She served on the North American Board of Directors for
the Mobile Marketing Association from 2010-2012 and was Mobile Marketer’s inaugural
“Mobile Women to Watch” in 2010.

The MSU JJCBE’s David Orser Executive Speakers Forum is named for David B. Orser,
a 1966 MSU graduate who started funding the program in 1988 in order to inspire MSU
business students to pursue careers as innovative, responsible and ethical business
leaders. For more information about the forum, contact Audrey Capp at 406-994-7026
or [email protected].