Bloomberg overhauls conference business, hires Fortune’s Mehta

Bloomberg Media chief operating officer Jacki Kelley sent out the following announcement on Thursday about Bloomberg Link:

Josh Tyrangiel and I are excited to announce the reinvention of Bloomberg’s conference business, formerly called Bloomberg LINK.

Bloomberg has a history of producing lively events, and we aim to build upon that model in 2015 under the new name Bloomberg LIVE. We plan to convene fewer but more high-impact events that will leverage Bloomberg’s media platforms and global reach to bring together influencers, generate news, and provide compelling opportunities for advertisers.

Our top priority will be the transformation of our three major conferences – The Year Ahead and the technology and financial conferences. We plan to replicate these benchmark franchise events in APAC and EMEA to create a global first-class experience. Additionally, in partnership with terminal sales, we will produce four economic summits in high-growth areas for Bloomberg around the globe.

We are pleased to announce that Stephanie Mehta has joined us from Fortune to help lead the reinvigorated effort behind Bloomberg events alongside Stacy Kennedy. Stephanie will oversee the editorial direction of the live events business and serve as an editor-at-large for Bloomberg Businessweek. Formerly the deputy editor of Fortune Stephanie served as editorial co-chair of some of the title’s most lucrative conferences, including its Most Powerful Women Summit and its recent Global Forum in China.

We also are excited to announce the promotion of Stacy Kennedy to lead the business aspects of Bloomberg LIVE globally. Stacy truly brings multiplatform experience to her new role, having held management roles in print, digital and television production. She has a proven balance in both our editorial standards and the commercial aspects of the business.

We are grateful for Jason Kelly‘s hard work in leading LINK in the interim period. He will now move into a cross-platform role, serving as reporter-at-large on the finance team in Bloomberg News, finishing his second book for Bloomberg Press, and continuing to work closely with the events team, co-chairing four economic summits around the world.

In addition to our major conferences we will produce locally relevant summits in APAC and EMEA in conjunction with regional event leads Nick West and Charlotte Gooch, respectively.

Global advertising sales efforts will be integrated into the business led by Viktoria Degtar, who joined us late last year from the Huffington Post where she managed global sales.

Please join Josh and me in welcoming and congratulating all on their new roles. 2015 is sure to be the best year yet for Bloomberg conferences!