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SEEN UP NORTH: Bajan diving into Net marketing
Published on: 2/9/08.

BY TONY BEST

THINK OF LIFE without Microsoft, Yahoo, MySpace, Google, America On Line or Sunbeach and memories of the days of Model T Ford, the horse and buggy or even the carrier pigeon would come rushing back to the mind.

Francesca Harewood, a young Bajan attorney with considerable experience in corporate litigation, entertainment law and intellectual property rights at some of the highest levels in the United States, has just joined one such start-up technology company and she believes it is going to help revolutionise Internet marketing.

As a matter of fact, she is convinced that Brickfish, a two-year-old firm that is really a technology platform;" which leverages the power of social media to connect brands with consumers," is well on its way to becoming an essential player in Internet marketing, a tool that would soon become a household word.

"We are an online marketing company that uses user-generated content to market for clients on the Internet," said Harewood, the daughter of the late Grace Agard-Harewood, who before she died a few years ago in New York helped to establish and ran one of the largest senior citizen operations in the state of New York.

"Our site is a platform and companies, and indeed countries can launch advertising campaigns to reach millions of consumers around the world quite easily."
Harewood, who grew up in both Barbados and New York City is vice-president of legal and general counsel of the rapidly expanding high-tech firm that's based in San Diego, California.

She brings to the position a wealth of experience which she garnered as an attorney in two leading law firms in Los Angeles and the Silicon Valley. She came to New York less than four years ago where she was the attorney for the popular national reality television game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and later the Tony Danza Show, which was broadcast across the country for about two years. Both were produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
"When this opportunity came along, I jumped at it because of the exciting possibilities with a growing company," she said. "It's not very often that you get a chance to be involved in the daily workings of a new company like this and to be able to use your legal knowledge in this way."

Because each advertising campaign involves a contest or a sweepstake in which contestants or their entries can win a prize, Harewood must review all contracts and ensure that the company complies with contest and sweepstakes rules.
"My experience with Millionaire and the Tony DanzaS how gave me a lot of that sweepstakes knowledge that I am now applying here,' she said.

On the two shows she had, among other things to ensure compliance with regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, a watchdog agency in Washington and that certainly including;" beeping out anything naughty before it hit the airwaves."

Along the way too, she advised start-up companies and dealt with general corporate governance and financing issues.
"That comes into play at Brickfish as well," she said.
So, she deals with client contracts and works with teams of moderators who routinely monitor the Internet site to ensure that the material is in keeping with the terms of use.

So, if a firm or individual submits an entry that uses music without having the rights to its use then Brickfish must take it down.
A graduate of the University Of Southern California Gould School Of Law, thius young attorney was admitted to the California Bar a decade ago and the New York Bar in 2005. Before joining Disney-ABC Domestic Television as a production attorney, she served as a corporate and securities lawyer at Wilson Sonsini, Goodrich Risati, a law firm in northern California.
I learnt quite a lot and honed my legal skills in corporate financing agreements, corporate start-ups, mergers and asset acquisitions, she pointed out. I have advised clients on the drafting and filings of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange and NASDQ when it came to complying with federal and institutional regulations.
END

Currently:
Vice President, General Counsel at Brickfish

Past: Production Attorney at Disney / ABC Television (formerly Buena Vista Television); Associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Associate at Jones Day Reavis and Pogue

1Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (production attorney) (2 episodes, 2003-2006)
Episode dated 29 October 2006 (2006) TV episode (production attorney)
Episode #4.98 (2003) TV episode (production attorney)
2.The Tony Danza Show" (attorney) (254 episodes, 2004-2006)
Episode #1.117 (2006) TV episode (attorney)
Episode #1.116 (2006) TV episode (attorney)
Episode #1.115 (2006) TV episode (attorney)
Episode #1.114 (2006) TV episode (attorney)
Episode #1.113 (2006) TV episode (attorney)
(249 more)
3.;Who Wants to Be a Super Millionaire (2004) TV series (production attorney) (unknown episodes)
... aka Super Millionaire (USA)

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