Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers, Big Picture Media

💭 Thoughts on AI publicity campaigns, Emo Nite, and brilliant books to help navigate life.

Dayna Ghiraldi-Travers started Big Picture Media in 2007 and feels lucky every day to be able to represent some of her favorite artists in music. Dayna is a New Yorker, loves bagels, loves her kids and dogs (well all dogs really) and if she had the opportunity, she would have a farm filled with animals and acres of gardens. She would love to be able to provide fresh fruit and vegetables to those in need and also have a small rescue shelter to foster animals on death row. 

🎯 Current focus

I am working on the final Sum 41 album titled Heaven :x: Hell as well as Deryck Whibley’s first memoir Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven And Hell (out October 8th) that he wrote himself. I have been the biggest Sum 41 fan since the start of the band and interned at their management company during my time in college. I happened to be on the red carpet of the APMA’s in 2015 when Sum 41 was making their big return and introduced myself to their new management and a few months later I was taking meetings with the band and team and have been the band's publicist ever since. It is a real full circle moment for me to be here from the beginning until the end. The entire band and team are such wonderful people and Deryck has become a very close friend. 

📚 Brilliant books to help navigate life

I am reading two books at the moment to help with the unexpected loss of my Mom in February. One is called Bearing The Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore, Ph.D and the second  by Sherrie Dillard called I’m Still With You. Both books have helped me discover exercises and meditations for healing grief through real life case studies. My Mom was my inspiration in life, my best friend and a truly remarkable woman who shaped me to be who I am today. Her loss has been the hardest thing I have ever had to navigate. We just hit the 6 month mark of her passing and with the support of therapy and my family, I am finally able to accept and move through the grieving process in a healthy way for myself.

I am also reading the Anxious Generation because my daughter is 11 years old and we have zero intentions of getting her a smart phone or social media any time soon and the book is brilliant. Every single parent or phone addicted adult should read it. 

🕉️ Mantra of the moment

I continuously find myself sharing the concept of “You will only know true freedom once you stop caring about what others think of you, and you live for you and only you.” This is the mantra I try to live by. 

I’m also focused on growing Big Picture Media (BPM). I am still so passionate about owning this company and making it the best it can possibly be. I love learning and adapting and being able to apply that to BPM to see where it takes us. I never thought I would be where I am today when I had this vision 18 years ago.  My incredible staff inspires me every day to keep pushing boundaries in our ever evolving industry.

I want to live as much life as I can. I want every single nook and cranny of my life to be filled with something that enriches me in some way. Outside of BPM I get really stagnant doing the same things and become very inspired when my senses are stimulated, be that taste, touch, sight, smell, etc. I have figured myself out enough to know when this is coming and when it is time to shake things up.  

🙅🏻‍♀️ AI publicity campaigns

When thinking about someone in my industry that I look up to – it's not necessarily who, but those. Those publicists and journalists who are still using their own talents and creativity to write – as opposed to relying on ChatGPT to write for you. There is so much happening in our field where tech heads are trying to create complete AI publicity campaigns for artists with an app or bot and that is frightening to me. Listening to an album and being able to write a pitch or press release from it is something I cherish and will never let a computer disrespect all the work the artist put into making the music by having some tech code write it for me. 

🗳️ November 5th

In the last few weeks I have been filled with hope that the future of our country could possibly be headed in the right direction. I want to be able to sleep at night knowing that my kids' fundamental rights will not be in jeopardy. I just got my first ever lawn sign to show my support for Harris/Walz and it makes me really proud and emotional when I look at it. 

🪦 Emo Nite

I am so excited to be working on the 10 year anniversary of Emo Nite. When I was living in LA I went to the 2nd ever event they hosted and had such a great evening. I met the founders for coffee later that week and have been working with them ever since. We have together accomplished so much in the last decade and I am so proud of them. We have the 10 year event happening in December 8th + 9th. They are true visionaries and bring ideas to fruition better than most. 

Follow Dayna on Linkedin and check out her company here.

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