Ypulse reader Cari Gelber volunteered to brave the swarms of youth marketers at this year's Mega Event and report back on the latest trends as well as share her insights and epiphanies from the little conference in Huntington Beach. I asked her to write a bio in order to introduce herself. I'll post her coverage as soon as I get it.

Cari's bio:

Born and raised in New York City, my life in the music industry began when I was a sophomore in High School, at the Red Hot Organization, a non-profit music company that raises money for various AIDS charities. After just a couple of weeks, I knew that the music business was my calling. I wanted to get initiated in all aspects of the industry so I worked in the promotions department at a Top-40 radio station, became the NYC college promotions rep for Elektra Records, and did freelance writing for MTV.com. I’ve worked at a booking agency and recruited a street team of over three-hundred college students for a music internet startup. From my parent’s Lower Manhattan apartment, I started a full service booking and management company. For the past five years I have been managing the pop-rock Cincinnati, OH band Oval Opus.

After graduating from Pace University with a Business degree in 2002, I worked full time at an independent record label and management company, running the tour marketing and event production division.

I recently left the record label to pursue my own company, DecentXposure, a music marketing company that helps emerging artist spread their music through digital downloads, ringtones, print publications, and compilation CDs. In November 2004, I published Xposure Magazine, a music magazine that was distributed nationally. To date, I have produced a series of seven compilation CDs that include major label artists.

I was recently selected as a finalist in the Women for Hire competition, chosen out of hundreds of young women to spend the day with a mentor in my field. In addition, I was awarded with the chance to shadow an A&R representative at a major label, through the Inside Sessions/Universal Music Group contest.

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