In this conversation, Troy Johnson, President, AALBC, talks with Ruth J. Morrison, CEO and Executive Producer, What's The 411TV, about the upcoming book and literary events in New York City during the latter part of April and May 2017:

• PEN World’s Festival a week-long celebration of authors from all over the world
• Queens Book Festival
• Bronx Book Festival
• BookExpo America, North America’s largest book industry event, May 31 – June 2, 2017
• BookCon immediately follows BEA in New York City on June 3-4, 2017. Kevin Hart is one of the headlining authors scheduled to attend BookCon 2017.

Not one to color inside the lines, Ruth J. Morrison is the CEO and Founder of What’s The 411 Networks, a celebrity-driven integrated media, marketing, and lifestyle events company. She provides marketing and public relations advice to corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, authors, and political candidates. Her company is credentialed to cover the Brooklyn Nets, the New York Knicks, NY Giants, boxing, NBA, and NFL events. She is the author of an upcoming book focused on being an entrepreneur in the sports and entertainment industry. A video streaming pioneer, she developed and launched from conception the City of New York's multi-channel cable television network (NYC TV), which included licensing content for the network. Ms. Morrison is a former Communications Director and Legislative Advisor to a New York Member of the U.S. Congress. As the creator and executive producer of What’s The 411, an award-winning entertainment news and information television show, she became the first African-American independent television producer to distribute a weekly television show on a broadcast channel, WNYC-TV. She also licensed What’s The 411 to a broadcaster in South Africa. With the creation of What’s The 411Sports, she is now one of the very few women in the country to own a sports news media company. She was a public relations consultant for the largest football game held at Giants Stadium; the first African-American woman journalist to cover the New York Knicks as a beat reporter; and, for three years, she worked in Brasil as an entertainment and television licensing consultant for an American company.

Ms. Morrison was also the first Executive Director of the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center (BITDC), New York City’s first and only small business development center whose sole mission was to assist small businesses with selling their products and services to foreign markets. In this capacity, she partnered with the US Commercial Service and the International Trade Administration’s Western Hemisphere Unit. She signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency. She developed a partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and helped to launch the Allied African Nations Chamber of Commerce. She was an active member of committees implementing the U.S. – Brasil Joint Action Plan, which is under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the government of Brasil.

Under Ms. Morrison’s leadership, BITDC promoted and recruited companies to participate in business opportunity missions to many countries around the world, most notably Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Canary Islands, the UK, Brasil, and Haiti following the earthquake. She also created an Emerging Market Seminar Series.

Ms. Morrison earned a master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications from the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, completed her coursework towards a Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University and she was a Communications Fellow at the Annenberg Washington Program of Northwestern University. Ms. Morrison is a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC, and the New York Association of Black Journalists. She has served on many non-profit boards and she has received numerous honors including awards from the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners at an event in London, and Nation to Nation Networking for her work in building bridges among cultures. Ms. Morrison is available to speak at events.

Brooklyn, NY; May 13, 2013-- Ruth J. Morrison, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and a resident of East New York (Twitter: @NYCPol), issued the following statement on the possibility of launching a campaign for Brooklyn Borough President:

"I am exploring the viability of launching a campaign to be elected to the office of Brooklyn Borough President.

I have lived all over Brooklyn: Bedford-Stuyvesant; Brownsville; Crown Heights; East New York including Starrett City; Prospect Lefferts Gardens (Lefferts Manor); Boerum Hill; and Park Slope.

I see and love the vibrant cultural diversity in Brooklyn and the positive changes that Brooklyn is currently experiencing. However, I also see Brooklyn as a city with huge disparities in a number of areas. There are communities such as Brownsville, Coney Island, and East New York that have special needs that are not being addressed by the announced candidate for Brooklyn Borough President and the Mayoral candidates.

Not one to color inside the lines, Ruth J. Morrison is the CEO and Founder of What's The 411 Networks, a media, marketing, and events company. What's The 411 Networks provides marketing and public relations advice to corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, authors, and political candidates.

A video streaming pioneer, she developed and launched from conception the City of New York's multi-channel cable television network, which included licensing content for the network. She also served as a senior telecommunications policy analyst for the New York City's Mayor's Office of Energy and Telecommunications, and directed the design of a nationwide data communications network for AT&T.

Ms. Morrison is a former Communications Director and Legislative Advisor to a New York Member of the U.S. Congress; she was the first African-American independent television producer to have a weekly show on WNYC-TV; the first African-American woman journalist to cover the New York Knicks as a beat reporter; she was a public relations consultant for the largest football game held at Giants Stadium; and, for three years, she worked as an entertainment and television licensing consultant for an American company in Brasil.

Ms. Morrison was also the first Executive Director for the Brooklyn International Trade Development Center (BITDC), New York City's first and only small business development center whose sole mission was to assist small businesses with selling their products and services to foreign markets. In this capacity, she partnered with the US Commercial Service and the International Trade Administration's Western Hemisphere Unit. She signed Memoranda of Understanding with the Export Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency. She developed a partnership with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and helped to launch the Allied African Nations Chamber of Commerce. She is an active member of committees implementing the U.S. – Brasil Joint Action Plan, which is under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the government of Brasil.

Under Ms. Morrison's leadership, BITDC promoted and recruited companies to participate in business opportunity missions to many countries around the world, most notably Dubai, Abu Dhabi, the Canary Islands, the UK, and Haiti following the earthquake. She also created an Emerging Market Seminar Series.

Ms. Morrison earned a master's degree in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University, completed her coursework towards a Ph.D. in political science at Columbia University and she was a Communications Fellow at the Annenberg Washington Program of Northwestern University. Ms. Morrison is a member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of NYC, and the New York Association of Black Journalists. She has served on many non-profit boards including the New York Software Industry Association; Brooklyn Information and Culture (BRIC); and Neighborhood Housing Services of Bedford Stuyvesant. Ms. Morrison has received numerous honors including awards from the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners in London, and Nation to Nation Networking for her work in building bridges among cultures.

Twitter: @NYCPol
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