Erik Hauser - USA
Founder, Experiential Marketing Forum A recognized thought leader in the field of experience/experiential marketing, Erik Hauser’s thinking assists brands in stretching their thinking so far ahead that the curve isn’t even visible in their rear view mirror. Hauser is a firm believer that a brand is a summation of the experiences that it provides customers. Hauser knows that there are various modalities of experience, but each is integral in understanding the customer brand relationship. After running his extremely successful boutique shop, Swivel Media (http://swivelmedia.com), in San Francisco, Erik moved on to be the VP, Executive Creative Director for a division of Euro RSCG - the world’s largest advertising agency. Currently his primary focus is his commitment to the EMF and its opportunities as well as his responsibilities to the growing community he founded in 2004. Hauser created the online, and soon to be off-line, homes of Experience/Experiential Marketing (The Experiential Marketing Forum - http://experientialforum.com) in April of 2004. It is within that community that Hauser began to lead the way in teaching experiential marketing methodology worldwide. Today the EMF has roughly 12,500 members from every country and sovereign nation recognized by the UN and then some. Since its inception in 2004 it has been the place where thought leaders from around the world go to freely exchange ideas. Erik believes that to properly service clients in contemporary culture an agency must have one foot planted in the physical world and the other planted in the digital world. This strategic approach ensures that brands deliver multi-mediated experiences where and when the audiences will be most receptive to making a lasting connection to the brand experience. Hauser is also the founder of the International Experiential Marketing Association (IXMA – http://ixma.org) and an international speaker, blogger, media commentator and magazine columnist on the subjects of experience branding, experiential strategy, experiential/experience marketing methodology as well as technology and social trends. Specialties Understanding consumer behavior, experience/experiential marketing, live brand experience, experience mapping and understanding the consumer journey, experience design, creation of IP, thought leadership, and understanding that indeed a few good people can change the world. (back to top)
Max Lenderman - Canada
Director of Outer Activity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky A pioneer in the field of experiential marketing, Max Lenderman encourages businesses to look beyond traditional communication to get customers interacting with and living their brands. Max is currently Director of OuterActive, the experiential marketing practice at Crispin Porter + Bogusky. He is the former Executive Creative Director at GMR Marketing, the largest experiential marketing company in North America, where his work has won numerous industry recognitions, the latest including the 2009 Effie Award and the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Ex Awards. After returning from the US Peace Corps where he drilled wells in Chad, Lenderman began his career in New York City as a marketing journalist for a number of leading trade magazines such as Cable World, Beverage World, Impact and Periscope. He also contributed frequently to youth lifestyle magazines such as High Times, Pop Smear and Hemperor. In 1999, he founded and helmed Gearwerx Experiential Marketing, one of the first experiential agencies in Canada, with offices in Montreal and Toronto. Lenderman’s breakthrough publication, Experience the Message: How Experiential Marketing is Changing the Brand World, was a Business Book of the Year Finalist in 2006 and has been cited as “the best book on experiential marketing” available. It was translated into Spanish in 2008. His latest book, Brand New World: How Oligarchs, Paupers and Pirates Are Changing Business, was published by HarperCollins in April 2009. Lenderman is a founding board member of the International Experiential Marketing Association (IXMA) and is a sought-after public speaker, media commentator and blogger on the subjects of strategic branding, experiential marketing and emerging global business trends. He is a former columnist for Strategy Magazine, and is currently a contributor to Promo and Chief Marketer magazines. His popular blog is found at www.experiencethemessage.com. Speaker Agency Links:
http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/speaker.cfm?SpeakerId=6804
http://www.speakers.ca/lenderman_max.aspx (back to top)
Neal M. Burns - USA
Professor and Director, Center for Brand Research - University of Texas at Austin Dr. Burns is also the founder and director of the Advertising Department's account planning program and teaches graduate courses in advertising strategy and branding. Professor Burns was senior partner and director of research and account planning at Carmichael Lynch, Inc. from 1990 to 1997. Burns joined the agency in 1986 when Carmichael Lynch and The Burns Group (formed in 1974) combined their resources to become one of the strongest and most respected agencies in the country. Their accounts at that time included Allan Bradley, Harley Davidson, Roller Blade, Sam Adams Beer, Brown Forman Liquors, Mack Truck, Norwest Bank, Gateway Computers, Honeywell Telephony, 3 M Tape and Medical Products, United Health Care, West Law, The Minnesota State Lottery and the Sofitel Hotel chain among others. From 1986 through 1997 - in addition to his duties at Carmichael Lynch - Dr. Burns was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Minnesota teaching classes in consumer behavior and advertising, high technology marketing and ethics. Professor Burns' current research and publications involve the re-branding of established categories suffering diminished interest and support. For example, recent papers and presentations deal with perception of the brand of the United States of America and the use of branding principles in the growth of audience interest in classical music, athletic shoes, state lotteries and computers and servers. Burns has published more than 75 articles and papers and his work had been honored with dozens of advertising awards. He is a frequent invited speaker on issues of branding and advertising. In 2006 Burns was honored by the Austin Ad Federation as “Educator of the Year” and recently developed and chaired the conference “Chaos: New Agendas in Advertising”. (back to top)
Mehmet Bali - Turkey
General Manager of Proximity Istanbul After obtaining his BS degree at the University of Massachusetts and his MBA degree at Bentley College, Mehmet Bali, the General Manager of Proximity Istanbul, headed back to his homeland in order to start a career in emerging media. Initially, as a Board Member and the Vice President of Vodaco, he helped the company to become one of the leading internet consultancy firms of Turkey. During his stay at Vodaco, he started Boyex, the first paint and chemicals portal and B2B e-commerce platform of Turkey. His visionary approach to Boyex's scheme enabled the portal to reach 1,000 member corporations within its first year of operations. Prior to founding Seratonin, Mehmet spent four years as the Group Director of Trafo, the sister company of one of the largest advertising agencies of Turkey. Under his direction, the agency became known as "the creative and daring boys" of the Turkish advertising sector and won numerous awards in the fields of interactive and out-of-home marketing. Most of the projects he directed at Trafo were never-been-done-before type of projects and are still being used as a point of reference in progressive marketing. His passion for experiential marketing led him to take his accumulated experience in advertising and interactive marketing to found Seratonin in 2007, as thefirst agency in Turkey that focuses solely on experiential marketing. Seratonin’s client portfolio included prominent names such as Renault, Dacia, Henkel, Foster’s. Mehmet then merged his agency the Proximity network, one of the most awarded digital and CRM networks with 62 offices and more than 2,000 employees worldwide. In his first two years heading Proximity Istanbul as the General Manager, he realigned the positioning of the agency and completed a total reorganization. With his new focus area and team, Mehmet has already built Proximity Istanbul into a social media powerhouse. During his career, Mehmet worked with clients such as HP, DHL, Renault, Dacia, Avea (GSM operator), all Mey brands (the leading alcoholic beverages company in Turkey), Burger King, Bridgestone, Foster's, Axess (one of the leading credit card issuers in Turkey), Deichmann, Praktiker, Digiturk (the leading interactive TV platform), Microsoft and Wall, along with many other local brands. (back to top)
Rory Brien - South Africa
Experiential, Creative & Strategic Manager
Primedia Face 2 Face Having been introduced to experiential marketing whilst it was still in its infancy in South Africa, Rory developed a passion and built his entire career on creating experiences for consumers. After University Rory joined Rainbow Experiential Marketing where he gained vast experience by working on brands such as; Olay, Pampers and Dunhill to name but a few. Rory then moved to Conceptualise Promotions, where he specialised in creating consumer experiences through competitions and game shows for the likes of MTN and Coca-Cola. Rory then moved to PRIMEDIA@HOME, which falls within media giant's Primedia umbrella and successfully managed the Consumer Promotions and Activation divisions as General Manager: CP. Rory has since been re-assigned to another Primedia company, namely Face 2 Face and grabbed the "bull by the horns" to lead the way in the Experiential, Creative and Strategy departments. Due to Rory's impressive track record in the field, his focus will be to produce tailor made brand specific solutions for each campaign thereby providing a platform which is conducive to the targeted consumer through engagement and interaction. Primedia is a leading South African media group whose vision is to become a world class media company. Primedia's advertising businesses are located principally in South Africa. This broad base of assets, which includes radio broadcasting, outdoor advertising, commuter and other out of home media, spans both the traditional and non-traditional media sectors. This mix strategically positions Primedia well as the advertisers attempt to reach an increasingly fragmented and diverse audience. The businesses enjoy a high degree of exclusivity derived from regulated rights to various delivery platforms, which contributes to their attractive operating margins. Primedia's advertising businesses also have an unparalleled reach across the entire South African consumer spectrum. Primedia Face 2 Face is South Africa's favoured partner in qualified quantifiable interactive communication (entire consumer continuum) and distribution (lower consumer continuum) markets across South Africa. Rory strives to unite the experiential community not only in South Africa but Africa as a whole. He wishes to introduce his international peers to the spirit of Ubuntu, and assist in setting Africa as a serious player within the international experiential community. (back to top)
Anne O. Craig - USA
Creative Director, On-air, AETNInternational Anne O. Craig is On-Air Marketing Creative Director for AETN International, overseeing on-air branding and marketing for The History Channel, The Biography Channel, and the Crime & Investigation Network in their global markets. For 15 years she worked in documentary production as an independent editor, sound editor, and producer. Over the course of her doc career she tracked grizzly bears, talked with chimpanzees, and wrangled prostitutes on projects for NOVA, The American Experience, ITVS, HBO, The Learning Channel, BBC, and Allure Magazine before settling in at AETN where her love of story now motivates her branding and promotional philosophy. (back to top)
Gavin Downes - Ireland
Strategic Planner - ModernGreen - The Experience Agency A self-professed champion of the brand experience/experiential marketing discipline and firm believer in the power of innovative brand engagements, Gavin Downes leads the field of XM in Ireland, encouraging brands to harness the power of new communications models and engage consumers at every opportunity. Downes strongly endorses bringing "your own life experiences into your work", seeing those life experiences gained outside work as valuable, if not more, than those in work. He spent the majority of his youth working, studying, & travelling in the US, Indonesia, Australia, and Europe, before embarking on a professional career that has spanned nearly a decade. This career includes both client & agency side roles across the UK & Ireland, and in Australia. While his own life experiences & travels across the globe - from Mongolia to Bolivia - have taught him a thing or two, one thing is for sure; he is definitely not short on a few good stories. Gavin is currently Strategic Planner at ModernGreen (www.moderngreen.com), where he heads up the ModernThinking planning & insights division, He has most significantly developed cross-platform XM campaigns for Heineken, Telefonica O2, KerryGroup, and PepsiCo. Downes sees great brand experiences as telling a story that can connect brands with consumers through an emotional bond. Over the years with ModernGreen he has developed a team of like-minded individuals who apply their own experiences to their work, while harnessing relevant technology and the power of human emotion in consumer connections. This work is evident in work on brands such as Heineken, O2, Red Bull, Desperados, Tiger, Paulaner, Charleville, Walkers, Brylcreem, and LowLow. Prior professional experience includes: a stint as Senior Project Manager with one of Australia’s leading experiential agencies, OnePartners (www.onepartners.com.au), where Downes worked on award winning Brand Ambassador programs and XM activations for Nokia, Lynx, Sony, and Virgin Mobile; and also invaluable client-side experience in the Brand Management team with O2 Ireland, whereby he learned his trade managing some of Ireland's leading music and sports sponsorship activations, and working on the cross-market European O2 brand guardianship team. As a proponent of the ‘Experience Provider’ model and big supporter of the ‘Phygital’ paradigm - balancing communications between the live/physical and online/digital worlds - Downes and his team have created some of Ireland’s most effective, disruptive, & memorable campaigns. And as founder of the XMI - Experiential Marketing Ireland - www.xmireland.com, his aim is to share, champion, and promote learning’s of the industry while improving the global standards of marketing communications, and create a network of like-minded pioneers in the field. He has a passion for XM that is only as infectious as his zest for life, and he certainly has a lot of time for those that 'love the game', whatever it may be. (back to top)
Robert Gabsa - USA
VP Strategy/Brand Planning, RedPeg Marketing Robert Gabsa has over 18 years of experience in integrated experiential marketing and promotions, agency management, business development and client services. His expertise resides in combining insight driven strategy with tactical innovation to create meaningful and relevant brand involvement. His primary background is in experiential marketing (methodology development and application across multiple disciplines, strategy, design and execution), event marketing (sponsorships/activation), lifestyle marketing, sports and entertainment, relationship marketing and retail activation strategies. Currently, as a VP Strategy/Brand Planning for RedPeg Marketing, Robert's role is to consult and guide clients with insight driven engagement marketing strategies, collaborating with internal creative, planning and production teams on program architecture and execution to ensure that vision becomes reality. RedPeg is an award winning industry innovator with expertise in experiential marketing based strategies and a variety of amplification fortifiers including digital and social media, brand advocacy and shopper marketing. Prior to joining Euro, Gabsa held senior management positions at various top tier agencies. Early in his career, he was highly instrumental in growing one of the longest running experiential marketing agencies in the country (Innova Marketing) as the agency's Executive Vice President. After a decade of designing and overseeing programs for a list of clients that include P&G, Coca-Cola, Masterfoods/M&M Mars, Kellogg's, Cadbury Schweppes, Ocean Spray, Food Network, HGTV, and J&J/Merk, he took on the lead role of developing and growing the Experiential Marketing and Promotions practice at Campaigners, a premiere field sales and marketing agency offering comprehensive marketing services for Tech Brands, CPG Brands, and Retailers, as the head of the Experiential Marketing and Promotions SBU. There, he worked with clients that included Microsoft, iOmega and Heineken. From Campaigners, Robert joined EMAK Worldwide, one of the nations leading integrated marketing and promotions organizations with clients that included Burger King, Nestle, Macy's, Kellogg's, P&G, Miller and Kraft as the Sr. Director of Marketing. His final step before taking his current post at RedPeg was as a VP, Senior Account Director at Euro RSCG Worldwide, a global marketing and communications company and largest network under the Havas umbrella. Robert holds undergraduate degrees in both Marketing and Finance from California State University, Long Beach and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. He is available for professional seminars and workshops, is an accomplished speaker and graduate level academic guest lecturer. Originally from Redondo Beach, California, Robert now lives the dream and experiences life with his wife and two children in Atlanta, Georgia. (back to top)
Tim Hayden - USA
Chief Marketing Officer, 44Doors Tim Hayden is a marketing advisor to brands in both the B2C and B2B marketplaces. He is a marketing scientist that studies communications behavior and the technologies that reshape it every day. With more than 15 years of experience in interactive marketing, entertainment and media consulting, Tim brings innovative strategies to life through the integration of mainstream media, events, mobile and social media. He is the CMO at 44Doors, a technology services firm that provides agencies and brands such as Jackson Family Wines, Fleishman-Hillard, AEG, Coca-Cola and AT&T with insights and gateways to successful mobile and social engagement. Prior to 44Doors, Tim was partner at Blue Clover Studios, where he led client strategy for national and international marketing efforts for brands such as Hyatt, IBM and Rackspace. From 2003 to 2009, Tim was CEO of GamePlan Marketing, an Austin-based experiential marketing agency where he coined the term "Live-Mobile-Online." In 2004, he produced a guerilla marketing campaign for the Bluetooth SIG heralded as "The Greatest Tradeshow Marketing Stunt Ever" by the editors of MarketingSherpa. In the years since, Tim has overseen production of Bacardi's first social media/event marketing campaign, Dell's first social media widget, and AMD's most-viewed online video, while achieving other innovative accomplishments for clients such as IBM and Nintendo. Tim holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science from Texas State University, and lives in Austin with his wife, Halea, and newborn son, Graeme. When not saving the world from bad mobile experiences, Tim chairs the board of Meals on Wheels and More. (back to top)
Guy Le Compte - Belgium/Luxemburg
Events Manager BMW After completing a marketing degree in 1988, Guy Le Compte started his career in 1989 as Special Events Officer for Tabacofina, at that time the largest and main tobacco manufacturer in Belgium and Luxemburg and part of the Rothmans Group. Over many years he developed and organised events for local and international tobacco brands such as Belga, Peter Stuyvesant, Dunhill, Rothmans, among others. In 1996, he became International Sponsoring & Events Project Manager for Rothmans International, where he was responsible for many international sponsored & organised events, especially in Motorsports environment such as Formula 1, World Championship Motocross and World Championship Rally. In 2000, after the merge between Rothmans & British American Tobacco (BAT), he managed an Australian International Rally Project for the Winfield brand. Between 2001 and 2005, he worked as Interim Sponsoring and Events Manager for diverse local and international companies such as Creo(scitex) EMEA and Belgacom Mobile. Since 2005 Guy is working as Events Manager for BMW Belgium/Luxemburg, one of the most important "Premium" car manufacturers in the World. After having worked for almost 20 years in the Sponsoring & Events PR and marketing environment, Guy has developed an extensive experience in B to C as well as B to B events project management. (back to top)
Esther Loewy - Israel
Creator of Marketing Brewery & Co-Founder of Boot Camp Ventures Esther Loewy's strategic marketing, creative branding and investor relations achievements span more than a decade and have produced results for an extraordinary range of clients, from multinational corporations to emerging growth companies to political figures and global non-profit organizations. She has directed the communications effort leading up to one of the world's most successful IPOs, strategized with clients in Israel, Central Europe and Asia, and worked closely with a former Israeli Prime Minister. Before co-founding her current enterprise, Boot Camp Ventures, Esther was recruited to build the investor relations department at Alvarion, a leader in the WiMAX technology sector. Prior to that, she co-founded The Loewy David Group, a boutique strategic communications firm which represented clients in a wide range of sectors; from advertising, company, The Martin Agency to technology start-up Power Paper. Her creative campaigns yielded new business for her clients and global brand awareness. Esther was head of corporate communications for theglobe.com, where she directed creative positioning strategies, active media outreach, investor relations initiatives and crisis communications deployment. Her work spurred theglobe.com's growth from a privately financed venture to a publicly held company through one of the world's most successful and well-publicized initial public offerings. Earlier in her career, Loewy provided strategic counseling to several new media and emerging growth technology companies, including one of the first Internet cafés, a company developing digital currency, and a medical start-up. Working in Israel for an Edelman Public Relations affiliate, she also developed corporate communications strategies and positioning for companies throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the United States. Her clients included SmithKline Beecham, Teuza (a Fairchild Technology Venture, Ltd) and Ahava, a premier cosmetics line. She also created a network of public relations affiliates in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia. Today, Esther consults for innovative technology companies in Israel. She is also co-founder of Boot Camp Ventures, a new series of events enabling start-ups to meet their marketing and investment goals. (back to top)
Andrew Loos - USA
Chief Experience Officer (CXO) of Attack! “Do what you love” isn’t a cliché for Andrew Loos, it’s a way of life at home and at work. Even before he co-founded Attack! 11 years ago, Andrew was fascinated by the consumer experience. As a kid, it was the music of an ice cream truck and the resulting exaltation. As an adult, it’s the sound of the gourmet Korean taco truck followed by a heavenly culinary experience. Andrew, now Attack!’s Chief Experience Officer (CXO), loves how brands connected us in the past and how those connections are still part of our cultural consumption today. For over a decade now, Andrew has applied his passion for brands and his respect for the customer into the production and management of strategic marketing experiences for Attack! and its clients. Whether it’s a leading telecom provider or an up-and-coming indie band, he connects the client to their audience and keeps them connected long after the campaign has wrapped. Even if haven’t met Andrew in person, it is possible you’ve known him through his speaking engagements at events like ForumCon at Google SF 2011, interviews in Event Marketer, or by reading EMF’s highest-viewed article of the year, “Heart of the Matter” where he encourages brands to tap into the consumer’s hearts and memories. When he’s not writing or working in Los Angeles, Andrew enjoys hiking with his wife and two dogs, and focusing on the best experience of his life: being a father to his infant son. (back to top)
Adam Mortimer - Australia
Managing Director 2Fish Adam is a live communications specialist. A blend of architecture, environment design, live theatre performer and producer, inspired cook, motor cyclist, writer and strategist - a believer in big ideas impacting on commerce: strategic creativity with a purpose. Qualifications in Economics and Business - a love of food, cultural diversity and brands ~ the audience, the message, the Art and Science of effective communication: relevant, engaging, motivating thought provoking and interactive. Adam has partnered with many of the worlds leading Brands, Governments and Organizations to design and deliver complex messages in ways that engage and deliver true meaning and understanding. Brands brought to life. Communications delivered face to face. Stories told. Insightful: he's been known to ask a lot of questions and knows how to listen… Widely traveled and proudly calling Australia home, Adam believes in the power of experiential story telling as the most impactful and effective means of connecting with audiences both internal and external. Entertain. Inform. Educate. Inspire. Keeping it honest and authentic. Breathing life into brand stories…. (back to top)
Luke Nathans - Singapore
Managing Director Iris Experience Luke is currently Managing Director of Iris Experience. Based in Singapore his role is overseeing the development of the experiential offer in the Asia Pacific Region. Before joining iris experience, Luke spent three and half years at global brand agency The One Centre as managing partner, working with Clients such as The Coca Cola Company, Arnotts, McDonalds, Woolworths, Audi , Tiger Beer, Bombay Sapphire and Grey Goose Vodka on large scale brand experience projects across Australia, China, Singapore and the Middle East. Luke has a diverse background and has worked in most disciplines including Advertising (Ogilvy & Mather, Belgiovane Williams Mackay) Direct (OgilvyOne), Sales Promotion & Shopper marketing (G2) Branding (The One Centre) and Digital (TBWA Tequila UK). He also has mis-spent much of his youth (and later years) running underground club nights and music events. (back to top)
Mohammad Salary - Iran
Directror of XM - TMBA Mohammad Salary was born in 1959 in Tehran / Iran. He was graduated from high school in mathematics and got B.A in Translation (English /Farsi). He gained his business experiences at factories near Tehran as procurement, sales and Export manager. It was 1994 when he established and run his own company as CEO in the field of International Transportation for 12 years. He was 45 when he changed the whole way and concentrated on studying Marketing. TMBA (www.tmba.ir), is a Marketing Company in Tehran where Mohammad is cooperating with. He is now running the newly established Experiential Marketing Department of TMBA. He is also a marketing consultant for SMEs. His weblog in Farsi is a source for MBA university students and marketing and sales managers (www.salary.persianblog.ir). He has translated into Farsi and published books such as: - Marketing without Advertising (translation)
- Management Information Systems(translation not published yet)
- Managerial Models for Starting and Running a Business (written in Farsi with cooperation of Mr.P.Dargi)
- Experiential Marketing by Shaz Smilansky (Translation)
- Means – End Theory (Translation to be published within next months)
(back to top)
Troy L. Scheer - USA
President/Founding Partner of Trance Marketing Group Troy Scheer, president and founding partner of Trance Marketing Group, brings extensive knowledge in brand building and sustainability. Simply put, Troy works hand-in-hand with clients making sure objectives, strategies, and tactics are congruent with the client's brand promise. He understands that the main goal of each client is to attract, nurture, and retain quality customers. Troy is the strategic and emotional leader for TRANCE Marketing Group as well as a number of close business partnerships. He is the person responsible for having a vision of success and communicating that vision to employees, partners, and clients. He is a relationship focused marketing executive infusing solid marketing principles and strategies with evolving technologies to energize brands with the resources they need to attract and maintain quality customers. Troy brings extensive experience in brand strategy, experiential marketing, SEO, public relations, advertising, interactive and neuro-marketing in the business-to-consumer and business-to-business arenas. Working with local, national, and international clients, he has led the effort in profitable marketing campaigns while building solid relationships for and with clients. Troy developed a marketing/PR initiative for Jani-King International, a global franchise company with more than $500 million in annual sales. The PR program contributed to a doubling of the company's revenue growth forecasts. The results of these efforts helped Troy secure a relationship with The Cruising Club, a fractional boat ownership franchisor with franchises in Australia, North America, and Asia. Troy provides the ability to integrate strategic planning with tactical implementation, making sure that no areas of a marketing initiative are overlooked. Holding to a strong sense of fundamentals while always exploring new ideas and innovations, Troy has established numerous long-term client relationships during his nearly 15 years in the industry. Some of those relationships include Rightway Partners, The Right Step, Lamborghini Houston, Motorcars International, National Health Administrators, Jani-King International, Wyndham Jade, Value Added Services, The Cruising Club - USA, FastSigns International, U.S. Global Nanospace, Dynamex, The United Way, and YMCA. Troy is also an advisory board member for the Experiential Marketing Forum, a marketing committee member for the Boy Scouts of America, a member of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce's Social Media Committee, a published author via The Power of Leadership - Being the Leader Producing Results, a Certified Inbound Marketing Professional, and recently presented a 12 hour Internet Marketing MBA course for the Moscow Business School in Moscow, Russia. (back to top)
Yashesh Shethia - India
chlorophyll experience consulting Yashesh Shethia, stepped out of college after three years with a Commerce degree in 1993, realising that he needed a respite from numbers and deciphering balance sheets. He then joined a Rock n Roll band, went on to becoming a sound engineer then DJ'ed and managed a night club. In his mid 20's he formed All that Jazz, an entertainment management company. In the late nineties, All that Jazz merged with Kaleidoscope Events, where he was a director on the board. 2002 saw him go boutique with an experiential marketing company called Tpot, consulting in realm of experiential marketing by creating unique propositions that combined brand speak and live experiences. For over a year now he is the creative heavy weight ( pun intended ) behind chlorophyll experience consulting (cec) which assists brands come alive through unique experiences. cec is a part of chlorophyll, India's leading brand & communication consultancy. He thinks BIG and atypical. His ideas are often fuelled by his wide repertoire of passions like technology, timepieces, good food, gadgets and fast machines combined with his years in the entertainment and events industry. Yashesh has worked with brands like the Radisson, ABN AMRO, J&J, Standard Chartered, Pepsi, Shaw Wallace, Diageo, Tata Steel, E&Y, The Oberoi Hotels, GM, British Airways, Hindustan Unilever... (back to top)
Shaz Smilansky - United Kingdom
Marketing Director at Blazinstar Experiential Shaz Smilansky is a co-founder of Blazinstar Experiential (whose clients include AXA, Calvin Klein, Palm, British Airways, and Unilever). With over eight years experience in live events and experiential marketing, Shaz is an expert in interactive and engaging marketing communications. Confident, capable, and determined, she has overseen and successfully executed over seven-hundred innovative campaigns. In her free time, Shaz loves to go horse riding and shopping, but also dedicates much of her time to visiting interactive displays, art installations and museums. In February 2009 Kogan Page, Europe's leading independent business publishers, will be releasing Shaz's book, Experiential Marketing, globally, to markets including UK, US and Asia. (back to top)
Ron Tonini - USA
CEO, Picture Marketing, Inc. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Ron grew his direct mail marketing firm, Don Ton Associates; into one of the nation’s most well respected luxury cruise marketing firms. In 1995, he became an early entrant into the Internet foot race: He repositioned his firm for Internet success by launching the CruiseNet®, CruiseBid and CruiseWatch web sites, which were subsequently purchased by American Express. In 1998, Ron merged Don Ton with Golden Bear Travel, creating the nation’s largest luxury cruise marketing firm, with an annual volume of near sixty million dollars. Ron served as Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration, before departing the company in November 1999 and starting Picture Marketing, Inc. A long-time fan of XM, he founded Picture Marketing with the intent of using photography to preserve the consumer brand experience. Ron holds a BS in Marketing and a MBA in Management from San Diego State University. (back to top)
Kristin Weitzel - USA
Director of Business Development, MKG With over 14 years of industry experience, Kristin began her career in the beverage industry pioneering brands like Stella Artois, Red Bull and the Moet-Hennessy portfolio. Projects for luxury spirits, electronics and media soon ensued. Leading roles on both client and agency side sparked the opening of her own boutique agency focusing on new, evolving brands and as an operational director for international agencies. With an extensive background in sales, marketing and event production, this strategic leader and developer keeps her current clients brands fresh and at the forefront of the consumer mindset. If you haven’t met with her to discuss the latest and greatest in marketing mix uprisings yet; it’s only a matter of time. Though building business opportunities is Kristin’s primary area of expertise, she is also a Certified Yoga Instructor, enjoys volunteering her time on multiple festival projects and strives to bring people together from all walks of life in an effort to foster positive solutions and ideas between connections. http://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinweitzel (back to top) | 
