Keynotes

Designer, photographer, filmmaker, respected author and sought-after public speaker Marc Gobé focuses on connecting brands emotionally with people in a positive way. As President of Emotional Branding LLC, an experimental think tank, Marc offers insight into the trends that move consumers and ideas that inspire marketers. Clients such as Coca-Cola, Air France, AOL, Estée Lauder, Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, Victoria's Secret, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Hy-Vee, Telefonica, Bath and Body Works, Danone, Gillette, Procter and Gamble, Fauchon, Unilever, Samsung and many others have employed Marc Gobé's integrated design approach to help foster their brand's emotional relationship with consumers.

Science magazine has dubbed James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis, the co-authors of Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives, the "dynamic duo." Connected is the winner of a "Books for a Better Life Award" and has been translated into nearly twenty languages. It was named an Editor's Choice by the New York Times Book Review, and was featured in Wired, Oprah's Reading Guide, Business Week's Best Books of the Year, GOOD's 15 Books You Must Read, and featured as a cover story in the New York Times Magazine.

Harvard PhD and professor at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. James Fowler's research interests and expertise include social networks, behavioral economics, evolutionary game theory, political participation, the evolution of cooperation, and the genetic basis of political behavior. A new kind of political scientist, Dr. Fowler melds the social with the biological, pushing the boundaries of his field to discover, for example, that smoking, obesity, and happiness spread within social networks.

Scott Stratten is the President of Un-Marketing. He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. It's all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you. He has been running his "UnAgency" for 8 years which has become the place companies come to when they need help guiding their way through the viral/social media and relationship marketing landscape. He now has over 70,000 people follow his daily rantings on Twitter and was voted one of the top influencers on the site with over 150 million users. His book, UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging became a national best-seller before it was released, and recently a Globe and Mail #1 Business best-seller, and an Amazon.com best-seller.

Michael Tchong is the founder of Ubercool Inc. and a trend-tracking inspirational speaker who helps transform audiences worldwide.Throughout his career, Michael has been riding the latest waves. As the founder of five start-ups, he helped pioneer such sweeping changes as desktop publishing, personal information management, Internet research and online marketing. Michael's ability to identify emerging trends early was refined during a career that began at some of Madison Avenue's most prestigious ad agencies. A reinvention specialist, Michael leverages his expertise in marketing, media and technology to help audiences grasp how massive waves, dubbed "Ubertrends," are reshaping society, while illustrating the opportunities these societal upheavals present. Michael motivates by exploring innovative cross-disciplinary products and services that successfully leverage market waves. His market insight was developed during a distinguished career that spanned such advertising agency icons as Chiat/Day and Doyle Dane & Bernbach.