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Ahmed, Sulemaan
Director of Digital Marketing, Harlequin Enterprises
Creating the Ideal Customer Experience
Sulemaan has long been involved in the digital marketing and e-commerce space, having the good fortune during his career to work in senior online positions with major brands such as Apple, Sears and Air Canada.
Sulemaan currently serves on the Board of Directors for the White Ribbon Campaign, and on the organizing committee for the annual CMA Digital Marketing Conference. He co-chaired the email task force for Sears Canada and has spoken at various Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) and industry e-commerce events.
He served as the Vice-Chair of the CMA Digital Marketing Council where he co-authored the CMA Guide to Email Marketing, second edition, and has been a significant contributor on the CMA blog since its inception.
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Alexander, Jim
Vice President, National Public Sector, Chartwell Inc.
Enterprise Architecture: Aligning Business and IT
Jim Alexander is an Executive Consultant and Chartwell’s Vice President, National Public Sector Program. He is leading the evolution and continued development of Chartwell’s capabilities and service offerings in business and service transformation in the public sector context. Jim’s role as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Treasury Board and Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Government of Canada resulted in a visible and well-acknowledged leadership in developing and communicating broad visions and strategies and then moving these forward to effective implementation in transforming major portions of the federal government operations. He has had extensive inter-jurisdictional experience ranging from co-chair of the Public Sector CIO Council in Canada, to leading Canadian delegations at the Assistant Deputy Minister level in representing Canada in meetings and informal relationships among North American partners (USA and Mexico) as well as on the broader international stage.
B.Sc. (Honours Physics), University of Victoria 1968 – 1972 M.Sc. (Theoretical Nuclear Physics) University of BC 1973 – 1975 Course work complete for PhD (Theoretical Nuclear Physics), University of BC 1975 – 1976
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Antoniades, Robert
Managing Director, RBC Venture Partners
What Venture Capitalists Wished Entrepreneurs Knew Before Coming To See Them
Robert is a Managing Director of RBC Venture Partners and oversees direct investments in a broad range of technology companies ranging from information security, enterprise applications and Enterprise 2.0, to sales and trading applications. Robert also uses his over twelve years of experience in Venture Capital to assist the development and incubation of emerging technologies developed within RBC.
Additionally, Robert serves on the investment committee of the BlackBerry Partners Fund, a fund co-managed by RBC Venture Partners and JLA Ventures, focused investing in mobile applications and services for the BlackBerry platform and other mobile platforms.
Prior to RBC, Robert was a Vice President at BMO Nesbitt Burns Equity Partners and Executive Director of CIBC Capital Partners’ Silicon Valley office in Menlo Park where he collectively made investments in financial services software, internet service providers, enterprise and internet software, e-healthcare, wireless application development, security products, optical networking and semiconductor companies, among others. Robert served as a board member or observer for several of his investee companies.
Additionally, Robert has a broad base of transaction and industry experience as a capital markets professional.
Robert’s charitable activities include being the past Chairman of the Board of the Distress Centres of Toronto. Other professional activities include numerous panel appearances, speaking engagements and advisory board.
Robert has a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute and a Certified Investment Manager.
Robert is on the board of directors of Avolent Software, Placemark Investments, Infobright, Varicent Software and Adaptive Planning.
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Arnold, Jon
Principal, J Arnold & Associates
Mobile Marketing 2.0
Jon Arnold is Principal of J Arnold & Associates, an independent telecom analyst and marketing consultancy based in Toronto, Ontario. JAA's primary focus is on IP communications and disruptive technologies, such as VoIP, mobile broadband, IPTV, telepresence, unified communications, peer-to-peer, social media and Web 2.0. Client base covers the full industry gamut, including startups, mid-market vendors, incumbent vendors, all types of service providers, the financial community and PR/marketing firms.
Previously, Jon was the VoIP Program Leader at Frost & Sullivan, where he was responsible for managing their subscription service for Global VoIP Equipment Markets. In March 2008, Jon - along with fellow consultant Marc Robins - launched IP Communications Insights, an industry portal designed to provide a broader voice for independent analysis and showcase their combined research, consulting and reporting services.
In May 2008, Blogged.com rated Jon's widely-read IP Communications blog #1 among all Telecom blogs, VoIP Now included his blog on their Top 100 Telecom blogs, and VoIP News included Jon on their 2007 Top 25 VoIP Blogs list. In July 2008, Guy Kawasaki's Alltop portal included Jon's blog in their group of top VoIP blogs, and subsequently, Jon has been added to the Editorial Advisory Board of Business Technology Quarterly, and the Advisory Board for the 2009 eComm conference (website not yet updated).
Jon writes a bi-monthly column - Service Provider Views - for TMC, and serves as the Portal Editor of IP Communications TV. He is also a Gerson Lehrman Group Scholar, where his advice is regularly sought out by the finance and investment community, and is an expert contributor to Tech Target's SearchUnifiedCommunications.com portal.
He is a regular speaker at VoIP and telecom conferences, including VON, TMC IT Expo, eComm, NXTcomm, Pacific Telecom Council, NYSSA, IT360 and the Canadian Institute. Jon is frequently quoted in the business and trade press, radio and television, including Business Week, Forbes, Boston Globe, Financial Times, TheDeal.com, TheStreet.com, IT Business Edge, CNET News, Light Reading, IT Business.ca, Globe & Mail, Financial Post, Toronto Star, CBS Radio, Bloomberg Radio and BNN TV. Media archive available on request.
For over two years, he produced a weekly podcast for Pulvermedia, and wrote a monthly newsletter for a well-regarded U.S. investment bank (samples available upon request). Jon is a member of Microsoft Canada's Unified Communications Vision team, is on the Advisory Boards of IT360 and Trender Research, and serves as an Advisor to several emerging companies.
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Audette, Yvon
Partner, KPMG Canada, IT Advisory Services
Outsourcing In Uncertain Economic Times: Maximizing Business Benefits and Managing the Risk
Yvon Audette leads KPMG’s IT Effectiveness Canadian practice within KPMG’s IT Advisory services portfolio and is a member of KPMG’s Global IT Effectiveness Centre of Excellence. Yvon specializes in Governance and Performance, IT Strategy as well as IT Outsourcing advisory services.
Yvon is a key member of KPMG’s Global IT Advisory services team. KPMG’s IT Advisory team is located in a vast number of countries around the world. Yvon meets with the Global IT Advisory team on a regular basis to discuss ways to help clients looking to expand or manage Global operations or outsource services to other countries.
Yvon has many years of experience in the Information Technology field, servicing clients across multiple industries. As a member of KPMG’s Advisory services practice, his technology experience has allowed him to provide value to clients looking to improve and enhance their IT organization.
Yvon provides guidance to clients who are looking to:
- optimize cost;
- evaluate a potential target organization in an acquisition;
- develop an IS Strategy;
- stabilize their IT environment;
- outsource all or portions of their IT services organization;
- improve existing outsourcing agreements;
- assess, refine or define IT processes and supporting Governance frameworks; or
- establish or evolve Technology architecture standards and methods.
Yvon has delivered several IT Effectiveness assignments for KPMG over the past four years and has spent over fourteen years’ in the field including seven years working for IBM Global services. He has published articles on the topic of IT Governance and IT Outsourcing and has presented to several events on IT Advisory related matters.
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Beggs, Robert, CISSP, CISA
CEO, Digital Defence
Virtual Security in the Real World
Robert Beggs is the founder/CEO of DigitalDefence. As leader of Canada's leading incident response and forensics consultancy, he has provided services to clients in the banking, insurance, brokerage, and mortgage industries, as well as several small and medium enterprises from a variety of market verticals. He has been responsible for the technical leadership and project management of more than 250 consulting engagements, including policy development and review, standards compliance attack and penetration testing of wired and wireless networks, third party security assessments, incident response, and other consulting projects. His experience with military, financial, and other systems related to critical infrastructure have prepared him to provide a high degree of practical security.
Robert is a founder and proud sponsor of the Toronto Area Security Klatch, TASK, North America’s largest user group focused solely on security issues. He holds an MBA in Science and Technology from Queen’s University, and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.
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Behr, Albert
President & CEO, Behr & Associatess
Designing for the Liquidity Event
Albert Behr, Behr & Associates, in his 20 years of professional experience, has led both the financing and operational execution of some of North America’s and Asia’s most famous technology companies. Prior to his current work of assisting/funding numerous technology companies at the executive and board-level through his industry-recognized company, Behr & Associates Inc. and acting as Judge for the Canadian Fast 50 Technology Awards, Albert was involved in Investment Banking funding and operationally driving some of the most promising technology firms in Canada. He assisted in the funding and performed the function of Chief Strategy Officer for BorderWare Technologies, a leading vendor of network security products. Also Albert has performed the role of COO of NRG Group, a TSE-listed venture capital firm with assets under management of approximately $20 million. Albert has also held numerous senior product management, marketing, and business development positions in Canada and Tokyo, Japan for AT&T, NCR and Fujitsu Limited.
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Berger, Robert
President and founder, ROSS (Recruitment Solutions)
Recruiting Top Talent Using Multiple Sources
Rob Berger is the President and founder of ROSS, an innovative provider of flexible Recruitment Augmentation and Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) solutions. With a unique service model and flexible approach, ROSS delivers cash flow and efficiency benefits—helping enterprises to Recruit Better and Spend Less. With over ten years of experience in the recruitment industry, Rob Berger has helped many of North America's leading technology firms hire top talent. He has worked extensively with technology companies in Software, Professional Services, Web, Biotechnology and many other industry segments. Rob is active within the community, supporting several technology industry events. He is also the Chair, Talent Management and Career Day for TorontoTechWeek 2008.
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Boyd, Sandra
Principal, Knightsbridge Human Capital Management
Battle of the Generations: How to Successfully Communicate with all Generations
Sandra Boyd is a Principal with Knightsbridge, author of The Hidden Job Market, and co-author of The Flexible Thinker Guide to Extreme Career Performance.
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Buchanan, Peter
Management Transitions Limited
Navigating Potholes 101: CEOs Managing in Challenging Times
Recognized as a pioneer and innovator in the field of
management and leadership development, Peter Buchanan has spent in
excess of 20,000 hours coaching and mentoring hundreds of business owners,CEOs, Presidents and senior executives.
Early in his career, Peter ran a division of Extendicare Canada. Later, as an
entrepreneur, he raised venture capital and established a successful business in the security industry and also owned and operated a store fixture
manufacturing business. In 1984, Peter founded the consulting firm,
Management Transitions Ltd. Which specializes in management and leadership development, group facilitation, team development
and consulting in the area of organizational culture. It designs and delivers “Transitions To Management” (T2M) and “Transitions To Leadership” (T2L);
innovative programs for new managers and leaders in fast-growing
entrepreneurial organizations.
In 1987, Peter launched The Executive Committee (TEC) and has successfully facilitated TEC groups for CEOs and business owners for over twenty years. During this time, he has been the recipient of 4 TEC Chairman Excellence Awards and is currently the Regional Chairman for the greater Toronto area. Recently, at the TEC-Vistage 50th Anniversary International Conference in San Diego, he was celebrated as being one of 50 people who, over the first 50 years, have made the most significant contributions to the organization.
Peter is a life long learner. He has an MBA from UWO. He received his Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation while working in the areas of marketing and general management for Woods Gordon. He has completed training as a psychotherapist as well as specialization requirements for a degree in cultural Anthropology. Peter is associated with the Hudson Institute, one of the pre-eminent coaching development organizations in the world. He is also associated with the Conversant organization and has been trained to deliver The Communication
Catalyst - programs designed to enhance value in organizations through the
power of authentic conversation. He has also taught leadership courses in the
MBA program at Royal Roads University in Victoria, and continues to mentor
MBA students as time permits.
Peter is committed to creating value for his clients by increasing their
leadership effectiveness and helping to improve their organizations and the quality of their lives.
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Bullock, David
Co-Founder and President, LiveHive Systems
Gaming: Going Beyond the Mobile Buzz
Dave Bullock leads LiveHive's strategic direction and drives its market positioning in the digital media world. As President of the market leader in the creation of interactive viewer experiences synchronized to TV, Bullock is a respected expert on multi-platform media consumption and interactive advertising technologies. Bullock brings an extensive background in building technology-based businesses from conception to commercialization in both startup ventures and within larger organizations. This has included successful launches in the retail software and consumer electronics industries. Bullock holds graduate and undergraduate degrees in systems engineering from the University of Guelph.
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Caruso, Richard E.
Head of Telcom Business, TCS, US
Outsourcing In Uncertain Economic Times: Maximizing Business Benefits and Managing the Risk
Established leader in launching and growing product, solutions and consulting, and services businesses globally. Over 20 years of senior management experience at TCS, BearingPoint, Nortel Networks, IBM, Telcordia and AT&T in the Consulting, High-Tech, Communications and Media industries.
- Managing Director/VP of Sales at BearingPoint
- Business Unit President with P&L, Nortel Networks
- General Manager, Global Solutions, IBM
- Corporate Vice President, Telcordia
- Executive Director, Operations Systems Development Lab at AT&T/Bell Labs
Ran Business Unit Strategy; Product/Solutions Development; Consulting and Systems Integration, Global Sales, Marketing and Channels; and General Management/Operations.
Education: New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) MS Engineering Rutgers University BS Engineering
Professional: Board of Directors of two public companies, Globecomm Systems and SL Industries
Activities: Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of several Pre-IPO hi-tech companies
Board of Directors, Garden Savings FCU
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Chebib, Sam
President & CEO, Nightingale Informatrix
Don’t Laugh. They're From the Government and They’re Here to Help
Sam Chebib has been the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nightingale since April 2002. From April 2000 to September 2001 and prior to founding Nightingale, Mr. Chebib was the President and Chief Operating Officer of MedcomSoft Inc., a public healthcare information company listed on the TSX , specializing in physician practice management systems for the Canadian, United States and Australian markets. Mr. Chebib held a number of positions between 1988 and April 2000 with Toromont Industries Ltd., a public company listed on the TSX specializing in construction equipment, energy and industrial equipment. His last position with Toromont Industries Ltd. was as Vice-President & General Manager of Energy Toromont, a division of Toromont Industries Ltd. from January 1996 to April 2000. In 1996, he instrumented the acquisition of the medical and dental assets of Medifirst, a private healthcare delivery company, as part of a family business.
Mr. Chebib holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and became a professional engineer in Ontario in 1992.
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Copcutt, Paul
Personal Brand Strategist, Square Peg Solution
Personal Branding for Job Search & Career Success: Maximizing your Most Important Asset – You!
Paul Copcutt is as one of the top certified personal brand strategists globally and a much sought after national speaker and media resource, often quoted in The Globe & Mail.
His own experience is in a variety of industries including biotech, medical devices, professional services and consumer goods and several years in executive recruitment both in North America and Europe where he sourced talent for a variety of global corporations at all levels.
He first recognized the personal branding term after reading Tom Peters 'Brand You 50" in the late 90's and soon realized that many of the actions and suggestions that Peters wrote about were exactly what he had been doing through a corporate career that started in banking and ended in biotech - ironically two subjects that he would not place at the top of his academic achievements - his biology teacher even had him labeled as an idiot!
One of the world’s first five Certified Personal Brand Strategist’s and the worlds first Certified OnLine Brand Strategist, he is a regular contributor and specialist for several leading on line resources.
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Cork, Tim
President, NEXCareer
Networking to Netgiving … Make the Connection
Tim Cork is a world-class speaker, bestselling author, and the President of NEXCareer, an international provider of career transition, outplacement, and executive coaching services. He blends corporate knowledge with entrepreneurial flare to create high-impact presentations that must be experienced. He uses his name, TIM, as an acronym for his purpose in life: to Touch, Inspire, and Move people to act on their passions and goals. Known as the networking and career guru, he educates, entertains, and shares his wisdom with thousands of people every year.
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Curry, Michael
Managing Partner, Investeco Capital Corp.
What Venture Capitalists Wished Entrepreneurs Knew Before Coming To See Them
Michael's focus at Investeco is identifying investment targets, conducting research and due diligence, and helping drive company growth strategies once an investment is made. He is Vice Chair of the board at Organic Meadow and is on its audit committee, and chairman of the board of Rowe Farms. Previously, Michael was co-owner/operator of a successful building materials distribution company and spent seven years in the reforestation industry. Michael became focused on the environmental economy in 2001 when he began researching environmental companies for the E2 Venture Fund.
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DesBrisay, Caren
Vice President, Human Resources, Intelliware Development Inc.
Is There Hope Beyond Dilbert?
Caren leads the human resources function for Intelliware Development Inc, a software development services company. She is responsible for HR planning, staffing, recruitment and all aspects of creating, growing and maintaining a sustainable company culture. Caren joined Intelliware in 1997, initially working in a project management and business analyst capacity.
Prior to joining Intelliware, Caren worked for a variety of consulting and manufacturing companies as a project engineer. She has a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and has been a registered Professional Engineer since 1989.
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Dodo, Lara
Vice President, Robert Half Technology
Recruiting Top Talent Using Multiple Sources
Lara Dodo is a vice-president for Robert Half Technology. Her area of responsibility currently includes managing the daily operations of Robert Half offices in the Greater Toronto Area. Lara has spent more than nine years of her professional life in the recruitment industry and has experienced all phases of the job market cycle first-hand.
Lara is thoroughly familiar with the staffing skills that are currently in demand and is an expert in information technology employment trends. Under Lara’s direction, Robert Half has achieved great success in establishing itself as a leading provider of highly skilled IT professionals.
Prior to joining the organization, Lara worked within the accounting and foreign exchange arenas in South Africa. Lara is a spokesperson for Robert Half and has been featured in national print, radio and television segments discussing career management and employment trends. Lara holds a bachelor of commerce, wherein she majored in Economics and Law.
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Edwards, Bill
Strategic Alliance Director, Telus
The Art of Negotiation
Bill Edwards is a Strategic Alliance Director, responsible for the Consultant Liaison Program for TELUS Communications, with over 20 years of combined Telecommunication and IT background. After graduating from Bishop’s University with a degree in Marketing and Personnel, Mr. Edwards joined IBM as a Marketing Specialist. For seven years at Avaya Canada Corp., Bill was responsible for directing a team of Product Managers and was the liaison for Canada and North East US Consultants and Systems Integrators. Bill has been a member of the Canadian Consultant Telecommunications Association.
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Faktor, Candice
Managing Director, Corporate Development and Innovation, Torstar Digital
The Future of Social Media In Canada
An innovator and strategist in the Canadian online media industry, Candice is passionate about where the web is headed.
Most recently, Candice was promoted to Managing Director, Corporate Development and Innovation where she is charged with fuelling innovation in the company and exploring acquisitions and partnerships to drive Torstar Digital’s growth and leadership in the industry. Prior to this, Candice held the role of GM, toronto.com, one of Torstar Digital’s most prominent and trafficked consumer websites.
Candice has also distinguished herself as founder of ourfaves.com, a site that harnesses the power of user-generated content, city search and social networking, allowing users to share and discover local favourites on a citywide scale. Since its launch in May 2007, traffic has grown tremendously and the site will launch in other cities across North America soon.
Candice was instrumental in the 2005 creation of Torstar Digital. She played a key role in the foundation of several start-up ventures and partnerships including Olive Canada Network, which has become one of Canada’s most successful premium online ad networks.
Before joining Torstar, Candice spent four years with the Monitor Group, a top tier strategy consulting firm, acting as consultant to a range of international organizations.
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Fleming, Tracy
Director of Emerging Technology, Avaya Canada
VoIP - Where do we go from here?
Tracy Fleming is Director of Emerging Technology, Avaya Canada, focusing on driving thought leadership around Avaya IP Telephony solutions and helping customers create a long-term strategy for their IP deployments. In addition, Tracy is the executive briefer in Canada, charged with articulating the Avaya value proposition to customers and Business Partners. Previously, Tracy held a position as a senior technical consultant, Avaya Canada. Prior to Avaya, Tracy was Director of IT for a subsidiary of Bell Canada with various large scale IT projects to his credit. Tracy's educational background is in Business Administration with a major in marketing.
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Fox, Maggie
Founder and CEO, Social Media Group
The Future of Social Media In Canada
Tracy Fleming is Director of Emerging Technology, Avaya Canada, focusing on driving thought leadership around Avaya IP Telephony solutions and helping customers create a long-term strategy for their IP deployments. In addition, Tracy is the executive briefer in Canada, charged with articulating the Avaya value proposition to customers and Business Partners. Previously, Tracy held a position as a senior technical consultant, Avaya Canada. Prior to Avaya, Tracy was Director of IT for a subsidiary of Bell Canada with various large scale IT projects to his credit. Tracy's educational background is in Business Administration with a major in marketing.
Maggie is a communications and content expert who has never met a medium she didn't like. Over the course of her career, she has led teams that have marketed, written and produced television and web content for some of the biggest and best-known brands in North America, including Sears, Deloitte and Disney. Maggie is often asked to speak to the press and business groups about the importance and use of social media in the enterprise.
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Hardisty, John
Professor, Faculty of Business, Sheridan College
Is there hope beyond Dilbert?
John is a Professor in the Faculty of Business at Sheridan College and is coordinator of Human Resources Management Programs at Sheridan. He teaches graduate level courses in Sheridan's highly successful Post-Graduate HR Co-op Program which prepares university graduates for professional careers in HR. He specializes in teaching recruitment and selection, compensation, and training and development and has recently developed courses in Leadership Development for both HR professionals and for a degree program in International Business. In addition to his academic activities John consults in the recruitment and training fields.
John has worked in North America, the UK, Europe and the Middle East. He has held senior human resources management positions with two major Canadian banks and has also managed training and development activities for large retail and financial services institutions.
John has an MBA from York University with a specialty in Organization Behaviour. He is an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Human Resources Professionals Association.
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Henderson, Dawna
President & CEO, henderson bas
State of the Nation
A pioneer in digital marketing, Dawna Henderson has led henderson bas since 1999 and turned it into one of the most successful interactive agencies in the world. Her innovative thinking and deep understanding of the medium has attracted a client list that includes Coca-Cola Ltd., Capital One, Levis Strauss & Co., Molson Coors Brewing Company, eBay, Nintendo, and Nike.
Dawna brings over 24 years of creative and business knowledge to her role as President & CEO of henderson bas. Her wealth of experience started in photojournalism, where Dawna was an international photo editor for The Associated Press. Her photojournalist background allowed her to propel into video production, where she became an award-winning producer for her work with the world’s largest multiple screen video walls at Expo ’86. From there, Dawna joined Ogilvy and garnered the fundamental agency experience required to one day run her own shop. In 1989, Dawna began to realize that her innate talent and true passion lay within the technology sector, and she quickly absorbed herself in the fast-paced world of the Internet, becoming one of the first people in Canada to have an email address.
Her current responsibilities include leading henderson bas’ strategic direction as well as overseeing dynamic campaigns that have produced unsurpassed results and recognition throughout the industry. As the most awarded interactive agency in Canada, henderson bas has been identified as a digital leader at global award shows such as Cannes, the London International Awards, Marketing Magazine’s Digital Marketing Awards and the One Show Interactive Awards.
Dawna has also repeatedly given back to the industry by dedicating her time to many boards and committees. She has served as both a judge and the co-chair of Marketing Magazine’s Digital Marketing Awards, and is on the Curriculum Committee of New Media at Sheridan College as well as a board member of IAB Canada.
Dawna has also been recognized by Profit Magazine four years running as one of Canada’s top 100 women entrepreneurs and most recently recognized by Strategy Magazine as one of the industry ‘s marketing “Wonder Women”.
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Herold, Malia
Vice-President, Production, Thindata
Winning the Battle for Talent
For the past five years, Malia Herold has played a pivotal role in creating a company culture that attracts and retains innovative, skilled, and highly-sought-after technical staff for ThinData.
As Vice President, Production, Malia Herold oversees ThinData’s growing team of professionals, including project managers, programmers, coders, designers, and customer support staff.
Malia has applied her passion for continuous improvement to developing, implementing, and monitoring human resource programs at ThinData and has seen ThinData win awards for being an exceptional employer, including Market Yourself Smarter’s ranking among the Top 10 Companies who know how to walk the talk and the Canadian New Media Award as Employer of the Year.
Malia holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and is an Honors graduate of Ryerson University’s School of Image Arts in New Media.
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Hicks, Don
Senior Director, Outsourcing Management, Systems and Technology, Bell Canada
Outsourcing In Uncertain Economic Times: Maximizing Business Benefits and Managing the Risk
Don manages outsourcing relationships between Bell and its technology suppliers. Previously, he practiced law as a Partner with Gowling Lafleur Henderson. Throughout his varied career, he has been involved in the design, implementation, and governance of joint ventures, strategic alliances, and outsourcing relationships. He has published numerous articles on privacy, technology law, outsourcing, and related business transactions, and was an International Editor for the Computer Law Association Bulletin
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Husar, Les
Enterprise Performance Management, ASR, Oracle
The Convergence of BI and EPM: Driving Management Excellence
Leslie Husar is the Application Sales Manager for Oracle’s Hyperion Performance Management Applications in the Mississauga office of Oracle Corporation Canada. He has held this position with Hyperion/Oracle since January 2002. Leslie has overall responsibility for Enterprise Performance Management coverage of Named Canadian entities including EPM leaders such as Four Seasons, Magna International Inc. and Barrick Gold Corporation.
Previously, he has implemented financial systems at Canadian hospitals and health care facilities for a North American Healthcare ERP company. Leslie spent several years selling enterprise software applications for reporting, analysis and statistical modeling to Canadian financial institutions while with a global enterprise software company.
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Khan, Asif
Director of Sales, Octopz
Agency 2.0: Changing the Way We Work
A veteran sales and business-development executive with an outstanding track record, Asif Khan is charged with developing and successfully implementing a sales strategy for Octopz that will result in top-line growth and bottom-line profitability. This includes the development of channel and direct sales strategies and the creation of an effective sales infrastructure to capitalize on the industry buzz generated by the launch of Octopz. To this assignment, Asif brings a wealth of international experience producing outstanding results for leading high-tech companies as well as private, public and not-for-profit organizations.
Prior to joining Octopz, Asif held senior positions in Sales and Business Development at HelpCaster Technologies Inc. and Borderware Technologies where his responsibilities included international market development, securing strategic alliances and reseller agreements, and the creation of competitive intelligence programs and improved pricing models. Asif was a founding partner of Whodunet Inc., a network security and supply chain management business and has also held permanent and consulting positions at range of industry-leading organizations that include IBM, Oracle, Netcom, SAP, Royal Bank of Canada, and many others.
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Knechtel, Jeff
President, CIPS Toronto Section
Recruiting Top Talent Using Multiple Sources
Jeff Knechtel, I.S.P, CDSP is the President of the Toronto Section of the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) and a certified member of the IEEE Computer Society. Jeff is a software development professional who is passionate about the industry and whose twelve-year career has involved him in every aspect of the software development process. In addition to his volunteer career on the CIPS Toronto Board, Jeff is presently a Technology Solution Architect at Exchange Solutions Inc.
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Ladner, Sam
Lecturer, McMaster University
Balancing Work and Life in the New Economy: High-Tech Work and Work/Life Conflict
Sam Ladner is a sociologist who specializes in technology and organizations. She has been a speaker at industry and academic conferences including MESH 2008, the Information Architecture Summit, and has even presented in Second Life, a virtual world. She has completed research studies on online media workers, the foundations of innovation in Ontario, technology adoption among non-profit workers, information needs of policy makers in government and non-profits, and time-use among interactive agency workers. She is a lecturer in the Labour Studies department at McMaster University and holds a PhD in sociology from York University.
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Lee, Tim
Senior Vice President of Investments, GrowthWorks Capital Designing for the Liquidity Event
Tim Lee is the Senior Vice President of Investments at GrowthWorks Capital and is based in Toronto. Tim oversees two of GrowthWorks' funds: GrowthWorks Canadian Fund Ltd. and GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund Ltd. Tim joined GrowthWorks in 2005 and brings over 12 years of corporate finance and venture capital experience. Prior to joining GrowthWorks, Tim was a General Partner with VenGrowth Capital, where he was involved with a number of notable exits. Tim has a BA from the University of Toronto, an MBA from York University and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
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Lockhart, Kathryn
Consultant, Knightsbridge Human Capital Management
Battle of the Generations: How to Successfully Communicate with all Generations
Kathryn is a recent Harvard MBA graduate and enthusiastic Millenial.
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Lowe-Bernie, Brent
President, comScore Media Metrix Canada
Breakfast Keynote - Competing Priorities for IT
With over 27 years of information services marketing experience, Brent began his career at the Global Television Network in Toronto in 1977. Following Global, Brent began a 12 year career at Nielsen Media Research–eventually becoming a Vice President of A.C. Nielsen. Heavily involved in the launch of the People Meter in Canada
After Nielsen, Brent joined Compusearch Micromarketing Data and Systems (a major provider of geo-demographic consumer and business information) ultimately becoming Vice President of Sales.
Prior to initiating the Media Metrix service in Canada as its leader, Brent was President of Harris Media Systems, a major Canadian software builder of advertising planning tools across all media.
Brent began the Media Metrix service in Canada in late 1999 as it’s first and only president. Media Metrix’ s North American operations were acquired by comScore in spring 2002.
Brent was active on the board of the IAB for seven years and served as Chairman of the organization from 2004 to June 2006. Brent was very involved in the creation of the IAB’s CMOST (Canadian Media Optimization Program) and is currently on the Board of CARF (Canadian Advertising Research Association.
In late 2005 Brent was named to Marketing Magazine’s Power List of the 100 Most Influential People in Canadian Communications. All 100 were recognized for their leadership, innovation and clout.
Brent currently leads a rapidly expanding team of a dozen account people who service and support over 145 customers in Canada. comScore Media Metrix is the only Canadian company that maintains a panel of Canadians for the purposes of reporting and evaluating their actual online behaviour. With a current panel of ~25,000 people per month, comScore has the ability to benchmark sites vs. their category, evaluate demographic delivery and monitor the growth of the online market across many different business sectors.
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Mandala, Conrad
Vice President SAP Business One, North America,
Vice President Indirect Channels, SAP Canada
Why ERP Isn’t Just for Big Business Anymore
As Vice President of Business One for North America, Conrad is responsible for accelerating momentum and building a thriving multi-channel ecosystem to fully realize the SME market potential across North America. In this role he is driving greater value to SAP’s channel network and is leveraging synergies and resources throughout North America.
Conrad Mandala is also the Vice President of Indirect Channels for SAP Canada Inc. In this role, Conrad leads the indirect sales channels for SAP Canada, including reseller operations and partner development. He is responsible for SAP Canada’s indirect go-to-market strategy.
Conrad has worked in the North American IT industry for the last 20 years. Prior to his appointment in 2006, he held a number of high-level executive positions, including Vice President, General Manager, and Director for a variety of companies, ranging from large brand name public companies such as Xerox Canada Limited and Ernst & Young, to small successful companies such as MarketBridge. Through this, and in combination with his experience as a consultant, he has acquired the conceptual understanding of alternate channels.
Conrad has an undergraduate degree from Queen’s University and is a member of the Queen’s Football Hall of Fame. Conrad has also volunteered with organizations such as the Toronto Symphony, The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Junior Achievement.
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Mast, Steve
Vice President, Managing Director, Delvinia Interactive
Internet 2010: Creating the Ideal Customer Experience
Steve has been refered to as a "digital architect". His keen eye for design, innovative thinking and understanding of technology stem from a uniquely diverse background. Steve was educated as an architect and started his career as a Game Producer, developing video games. Prior to that he directed and produced TV spots, music videos, special effects and 3D animation for full length feature films.
Steve currently holds the position of Vice President-Managing Director for Delvinia Interactive. Delvinia is a Toronto-based interactive design and digital marketing firm focusing on understanding the customer first and implementing integrated digital customer experiences. His commitment to superior service and focus on strategy has been pivotal in creating Delvinia’s current list of distinguished clientele.
Steve has always been an active member of the interactive and digital marketing industry. When Steve has a minute or two away from his busy life he can be found contributing to blogs, participating on committees and attending various events. Currently he is the Vice-Chair of the Integrated Marketing and Customer Experience Council for the Canadian Marketing Association and is the Co-Chair of the Digital Marketing Conference which is Canada’s largest digital conference.
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McCarragher, Charles
Associate, Gowlings, Toronto
Designing for the Liquidity Event
Charles McCarragher is an associate in the firm’s Business Law Group in Toronto. He is also a member of the firm’s Technology Law Group and the Life Sciences Industry Group.
Charles practices corporate and commercial law, with an emphasis on advising technology companies, including telecommunications, software, biotechnology, alternative energy and medical device companies, on a broad range of corporate and technology-related transactions.
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McDerment, Michael
CEO and Co-Founder, Freshbooks
CEO-Founder Frustrations
Co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, Mike and his team at FreshBooks are putting the “Service” back in “Software as a Service”. An entrepreneur with two successful start-ups to his name, Mike talks faster than he writes and can deftly juggle and keep his eye on hundreds of balls at one time. Mike is a founder of the mesh conference, lecturer at Humber College and a frequent speaker at Internet conferences. See what Mike's up to by reading his blog or catching his latest Twitter updates. Mike loves his work, and would rather be outdoors than inside.
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McKenzie, Ron
President, Octopz
The Art of Negotiation
Ron McKenzie oversees all aspects of the Company and is chartered with leading the strategic development and growth of Octopz in the marketplace.
Ron has extensive experience in leading high growth technology companies in both Canada and the United States. He has held leadership roles in the computing and communications sector with companies such as Hewlett Packard, SGI, FORE Systems and most recently as Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development, of MTS/Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada). Ron led all product generation, lifecycle management and marketing activities, as well as directing strategic business development and acquisitions. Prior to Allstream, he was Managing Director of Whitecap Venture Partners where, among other responsibilities, he took an active role in building investee companies.
His experience in the computing, software and service provider sectors brings crucial knowledge and impetus to Octopz as the company moves into the next important phase of growth.
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Moszynski, Mike
Senior Manager, KPMG LLP
The Art of Negotiation
Mike Moszynski is a Senior Manager in the Advisory Services Practice of KPMG. Educated at the University of Toronto, Mr. Moszynski has been involved in information technology (IT) and telecommunications since 1984. He has led the project management of the acquisition and implementation of over 200 information technology and telecommunications systems in the last fifteen years, including extensive use of Requests for Proposals and many price and contract negotiations. Mr. Moszynski has lectured for the past fifteen years in the Information Technology Management Program at Toronto's Ryerson University. Mr. Moszynski is past-President of the Canadian Telecommunications Consultants Association (CTCA).
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Nunes, Andrew
Barrister and Solicitor, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Software as a Service: Real Life Experiences in Transformation
Andrew is a lawyer with the law firm of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, where he is a member of the Business Law Department and the Technology and Intellectual Property Group. Andrew's practice has involved numerous aspects of corporate/commercial law, including the establishment and financing of businesses, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and various commercial transactions. Andrew's practice has a particular emphasis on technology-related issues. He regularly advises in respect of a wide range of technology arrangements relating to the development, protection and exploitation of technology products and services, such as development, consulting, licensing, distribution, maintenance and support, outsourcing, internet and e-commerce arrangements.
Andrew has authored a number of publications, including contributions to Outsourcing Transactions: A Practical Guide (Canada Law Book, 2006) and regular contributions to a bi-weekly publication providing information on developments in e-business and technology law. Andrew currently serves on the Executive of the Technology and E-Commerce Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Prior to law school, Andrew graduated with a degree in Physics and Computer Science.
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O'Brien, Brendan
VP & General Manager, EyeWonder (Instream Division)
Does New Media Mean New Metrics?
An online advertising veteran, Brendan O’Brien is Vice President and General Manager of EyeWonder's Instream video advertising solutions. EyeWonder, Inc. is rich media and digital video’s fastest-growing innovator, empowering brands and advertisers to leverage the industry’s most comprehensive creative capabilities for online campaigns that are proven to deliver richer results.
Most recently Brendan led all Digital Advertising and Business Development efforts for Akimbo, a cutting-edge Internet video start-up. Prior to Akimbo, Brendan Managed West Coast sales efforts across Tribune’s 24 broadcast TV and cable network websites (WGN, KTLA, WPIX and 11 newspaper websites: latimes.com, chicagotribune.com, newsday.com). A visionary and founder of Hollywood Interactive, Brendan launched a unique concept that integrated "clickable" online advertising with product placement.
Brendan held Management positions at AT&T and Lucent Technologies and began his Internet advertising career in 1999 at Excite.com. Brendan has a degree from USC, a technical designation from UCLA and an MBA from Pepperdine. He speaks conversational Spanish and Japanese.
Brendan has presented at multiple media conferences including Ad:Tech, SFBig and Digital Hollywood.
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Odoardi, Maria
VP, People, Softchoice Corporation
Is There Hope Beyond Dilbert?
Ms. Odoardi is responsible for the Company’s Human Resources and Organizational Development departments and maintaining Softchoice’s standing as a North American employer of choice. Ms. Odoardi started her career at Softchoice in 1995 in the Company’s finance department and progressed through a variety of increasingly senior assignments to become Director of Financial Administration. In 2004, Ms. Odoardi was appointed Director of Operations. In this capacity, Ms. Odoardi assumed responsibility for restructuring the Company’s Operations Departments, providing the foundation to support Softchoice’s future growth while creating new avenues for career progression within the organization.
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Payne, Joseph
CEO, Eloqua
Software as a Service
Joseph Payne is CEO of Eloqua, a Software as a Service (SaaS) company and leading provider of demand generation applications and best-practice expertise for business marketers. Hundreds of companies worldwide rely on Eloqua’s products and services to execute, automate and measure programs that generate revenue.
Mr. Payne brings more than 15 years of leadership and a proven track record with high growth software companies to Eloqua. His broad experience base in delivering SaaS solutions for marketers gives him a unique perspective of today’s most pressing technology trends.
Prior to joining Eloqua, Joseph Payne was President and COO of iDefense, a VeriSign company. Previously, he was President and CEO of eSecurity Inc., and President and CEO of eGrail. He also served as Chief Marketing Officer at MicroStrategy Inc.
Mr. Payne was recently a speaker at Pacific Crest’s 2nd Annual On-Demand Conference, and Canaccord Adams On-Demand Software Conference. He is also featured on BtoB Magazine's "Who's Who in B-to-B 2008" list.
A Fuqua Scholar, Payne received his M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Duke University and is on the adjunct faculty at the Kogod School of Business at American University.
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Philp, Brett
IT Architect, IBM Canada
The Greening of IT
Brett Philp is an IT architect with national responsibility for educating IT leaders on energy efficiency topics including business vs. IT issues as well as products and services for solving energy problems. Brett holds a diploma in electrical engineering, a bachelor of science in computer science and certifications in software development and service management. He has spent the last 10 years focusing on systems design in the IT industry.
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Plant, Charles
Managing Director, MaRS
CEO-Founder Frustrations
Charles Plant is a Managing Director at MaRS, responsible for the Market Readiness Program. He is an unreformed entrepreneur having acted as CEO or CFO of several successful software companies including Synamics Inc, a telecommunications software firm that he co-founded. Synamics provided mass calling platforms to telcos such as Bell Canada, Rogers, Cingular, and Verizon, along with such partners as Nortel, Lucent, and Cable and Wireless. As a management consultant, investment banker, auditor and now at MaRS, Charles has worked closely with over 100 companies and brings a multi-disciplinary perspective to solving business and technology problems. Charles is also on the faculty of York University’s Schulich School of Business and is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA in marketing.
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Pollack, Stephen
CEO and Chief Strategist, PlateSpin ULC
Knowledge Management and Transfer
Stephen Pollack is the Founder and CEO of Toronto-based PlateSpin, a globally recognized leader in advanced software solutions to optimize the virtualized data center. Stephen has many years of success in the technology industry and has held a variety of technical and business leadership positions with companies such as Fulcrum Technologies, NCR, FloNetwork and now Novell, which recently acquired PlateSpin. Stephen has a proven track record in understanding how to address the needs of the customer with pragmatic solutions that deliver real value.
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Pratt, Courtney
CEO, Toronto Region Research Alliance
State of the Nation
Courtney Pratt was appointed Chairman, Toronto Region Research Alliance in September 2007, and assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer in October 2007. Previously, he served as Chairman of Stelco Inc. from April 2006 to October 2007, and as President and Chief Executive Officer of Stelco Inc. from January 2004 to March 2006. He also held leadership positions with Toronto Hydro Corporation, Hydro One Networks Inc., The Caldwell Partners, and Noranda Inc. Mr. Pratt is Chairman of Knightsbridge Human Capital, and a Director of Moosehead Breweries Limited and 407ETR. He also is a member of the Ontario Advisory Council of Telus.
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Rashid, Omar Ahmad
Industry Manager – Government, Microsoft Canada
Reducing your Environmental Impact and Software
As the Industry Manager for Government, Omar is responsible for leading Microsoft Canada's strategic engagement with local and regional governments across Canada. Omar is also the lead for Microsoft Canada's solutions efforts in Emergency Response and Public Safety.
Previously, Omar held the role of Senior Solution Specialist for Municipal government in Ontario. As Solution Specialist, Omar worked with local and regional governments to transform their service delivery to citizens. He also worked extensively with Canadian police services to develop innovative solutions for enterprise collaboration and content management.
Omar holds an Honours Bachelor Degree in Science from the University of Waterloo and has been with Microsoft Canada Co. for 13 years. Omar and his wife Zarina live in Thornhill, Ontario and are the proud parents of two boys.
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Segal, Bryan
Vice President, comScore, Inc
Does New Media Mean New Metrics?
Presently, working at comScore Inc. as a Vice President, Bryan has a pulse on electronic media, the future of the Internet and its full spectrum. His love of statistics and Sociology at McGill University allow Bryan a broad knowledge base. His work in theatre as well as teaching in South Korea added to his rich global views and helped him to develop a creative mindset. Bryan's creativity, energy, and a pervasive work ethic have helped him to become enriched and knowledgeable in his industry. Bryan works with prestigious clients such as MSN, Bell Canada, Astral Media, Yellow Pages Group, Rogers Communications, Telus Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Google Canada, Quebecor, The Weather Network, and Canada Post, as well as many major Canadian agencies. In addition, Bryan is a dedicated member of the Internet Advertising Bureau Board of Directors, where he works actively to enhance the Digital Media universe in Canada.
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Shih, Clara
Director, Force.com AppExchange Product Marketing, Salesforce.com
SaaS: Making a Successful Transformation
Clara Shih joined Salesforce.com in 2006 and is currently the product line director for the Force.com AppExchange, an online marketplace for software-as-a-service business applications. In this role, Clara oversees product marketing, product management, and product strategy functions for the site, described by Forbes Magazine as the "iTunes of business software" and one of the top innovations of the year.
Independently, Clara is the creator of Faceforce, the first enterprise social networking application built on Facebook which integrates Salesforce CRM and Facebook. Previously, Clara worked in strategy and business operations at Google and as a software developer at Microsoft. She is the founder and serves on the board of directors of Camp Amelia Technology Literacy Group, an East Palo Alto, California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops and distributes open source education software and curriculum to developing countries. Clara is also a United States Presidential Scholar, Merage Fellow for the American Dream, IEEE Merwin Scholar, Society of Women Engineers Fellow, Terman Engineering Fellow, Mayfield Fellow in Entrepreneurship, and Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society National Laureate.
Clara holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer science from Stanford University where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and top of her graduating class in computer science, as well as a Master's Degree in nonprofit administration from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Marshall Scholar.
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Silverberg, Aaron
Vice President, Marketing, Timeplay
Gaming: Beyond the Mobile Buzz
Mr. Silverberg brings diverse experience over his 18-year career, leading several well-known brands spanning consumer packaged goods, retail, entertainment and gaming. In addition to overseeing all facetsof Marketing, Mr. Silverberg has gained a bigger picture approach through roles in Sales and General Management and working with global brands. Mr. Silverberg possesses a unique combination of strategic thinking and intimate consumer understanding which has led to exceptional growth of progressively larger businesses.
After starting his career at Loblaw Companies, Mr. Silverberg moved to
Unilever in Canada and the US, overseeing several brands, including the $350 million hair care portfolio. While at Unilever, Mr. Silverberg drove Unilever's flagship Dove brand to the highest growth in its 40-year history. In 2003, Mr. Silverberg moved to the gaming industry to help launch the billion-dollar Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. In his role as Senior Director of Marketing, Mr. Silverberg championed development of the brand promise, from vision and organizational values to the brand experience. In its second year, Mr. Silverberg drove Fallsview revenue by +23% in a flat and highly competitive market.
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Spence, Rick
Canadian Entrepreneur Communications, Former editor/publisher, Advisory Services, PROFIT Magazine
- What Venture Capitalists Wished Entrepreneurs Knew Before Coming to See Them
- Entrepreneurial Summit: Start It Up (… and Keep it Going)
Rick Spence is a Toronto-based business writer, speaker and marketing consultant dedicated to helping businesses grow.
Rick is the former editor and publisher of PROFIT, The Magazine for Canadian Entrepreneurs. He currently writes regular columns on entrepreneurship issues for the National Post and PROFIT and MoneySense magazines.
He wrote the first Canadian book on growth business (Secrets of Success from Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies, 1997). He is now working on the much-requested sequel.
Rick has taught “New Venture Startup” at Ryerson University and sits on the board of directors of a Toronto-based geophysical software company.
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Stevens, Dave
General Manager, MySpace Canada
The Future of Social Media In Canada
Dave Stevens is the newly appointed General Manager of MySpace Canada. In this role, Stevens is responsible for overseeing strategy and operations for the MySpace Canada community.
Based at MySpace headquarters in Toronto, Stevens leads the development of content, product and marketing programs, creating innovative advertising solutions for brand partners, building out strategies for driving user engagement, and strengthening brand awareness of MySpace Canada.
Stevens has more than 15 years of experience in radio, television and interactive media and most recently served as Vice President of Product Management and Strategy at CanWest Digital Media. There he was responsible for strategy and operations for canada.com and CanWest’s youth brand, dose.ca. He also led business development for emerging media platforms including mobile, IPTV and digital outdoor display and worked with the marketing, sales and content teams to create unique monetization solutions for advertisers. Before joining CanWest, Stevens spent nearly four years at AOL Canada as a senior manager of content and sales strategy. There, he helped build the entertainment and music channels by bringing world exclusives to Canada.
Stevens has an impressive background in television – at Rogers Television he was responsible for programming throughout Ontario, and built out flagship programming for OHL Hockey. Prior to joining Rogers, Stevens was involved in the start up of Country Music Television (CMT) in Canada where he produced more than 20 concerts and live programs, including CMT’s first live nationwide event.
Stevens received a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University. He is an avid hockey fan and a self proclaimed pop culture aficionado. He and his wife reside in Ajax with their three children.
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Sullivan, Patrick
President, Workopolis
Recruiting Top Talent Using Multiple Sources
As President of Workopolis, Patrick Sullivan is responsible for the vision and business strategy behind Workopolis, Canada's leading provider of recruitment and job-search solutions including workopolis.com, Canada's Biggest Job Site, workopolisCampus.com, Canada's biggest job site for students and recent graduates and CorporateWorks, the applicant tracking system that puts the power and functionality of workopolis.com behind corporate career sites. Patrick also provides advice to jobseekers and employers on Canada’s favourite career television show, Workopolis TV, which is seen three evenings a week on Report on Business Television.
Workopolis is a partnership of the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper, The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national daily business newspaper and Gesca Ltee., a group of seven French language dailies in Quebec and Ontario. Workopolis is five times bigger than it’s next closest competitor, a US based job site with Canadian operations and is the leader in the online recruitment category in Canada.
Mr. Sullivan has held executive and brand management positions with companies including Procter & Gamble, Moosehead Breweries Ltd. and Indigo Books, Music and Café. Pat has an extensive national and international marketing background and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Mount Saint Vincent University.
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Thompson, Ronald
Corporate Angels
What Venture Capitalists Wished Entrepreneurs Knew Before Coming to See Them
Mr. Thompson is a founder of the Corporate Angels (an Angel network) and CAIL (a software company).
With an extensive background in technology, business and investing, Ron’s ability to provide funding, experience and a network of contacts assists founders in moving their companies forward. Mr. Thompson’s focus is on companies with a significant market opportunity, a compelling value proposition, a lucrative business model, intellectual property, and a results-oriented operations team.
Being an active Angel since 2000, Ron maintains a portfolio of 15 to 20 venture investments (in both the US and Canada), is a Board member of several companies and has participated in raising extensive funding for the businesses of tomorrow. In addition, Ron participates in venture industry events to provide insights to entrepreneurs on preparing their business for investment.
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Toner, Bruce
Partner, Audit, Information, Communications, and Entertainment, KPMG LLP
Software as a Service
Bruce is an audit partner in KPMG’s Information, Communications, and Entertainment (ICE) practice and has over 18 years of experience in working with both public and early-stage technology companies. In addition to providing auditing services, Bruce assists companies in planning for and dealing with complex accounting matters such as revenue recognition, stock-based compensation, business acquisitions, and certifications of internal controls. Through involvement in several technology company IPOs and his work on both US and Canadian public companies, Bruce has gained a strong knowledge of both regulatory and accounting requirements, north and south of the border. He also has international experience obtained through foreign work term arrangements in the United Kingdom and Australia. Bruce is a frequent speaker at business seminars discussing topical accounting and reporting issues as they relate to technology companies. He has provided services to a wide spectrum of companies — private, public, startup and international — including 724 Solutions, ImagicTV, Triversity, Oasis Technologies, SAP, and EDS.
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Tsiolis, George
Founder, AGORACOM.com
CEO/Founder Frustrations
George Tsiolis is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and the Founder of AGORACOM, a second-generation financial community that has successfully eliminated epidemic levels of spam, bashing and profanity that plagued first-generation communities.
AGORACOM accomplished this by rejecting the traditional advertising model, which sacrifices quality for page views. Rather, it created an ASP model for public companies to create a community of shareholders, as well as, a wiki-powered “freemium” model for shareholders of non-clients.
The results have crushed the status quo model for financial discussion forums and significantly disrupting the models of advertising supported encumbents. AGORACOM is generating 7-digit annual revenues and profits from over 85 clients. Most importantly, both clients and members are extremely happy. Currently, approximately 140,000 unique visitors read 10,000,000 + pages of information every month.
George is proud to say he attended the inaugural Mesh Conference as a Web 2.0 newbie, applied valuable lessons learned to his business and returns to share his lessons with others.
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Tuerk, Miriam G.
President & CEO, Infobright
Navigating Potholes 101: Ceos Managing in Challenging Times
Miriam Tuerk became CEO of Infobright in January of 2006. Infobright is a technology leader in the data warehousing market, developing and marketing a highly innovative analytic data warehouse solution. A formidable business visionary, Miriam is a tireless leader. She possesses a proven track record of building high-growth businesses in the emerging technology arena.
Prior to joining Infobright, Miriam spent 11 years with BCE Emergis and its predecessors, Newstar Technologies and Bryker Data Systems. Starting as a sales executive, Miriam finished her tenure at Emergis as President of the eBusiness division. Her distinct expertise in strategy, sales, profitability, team building, and large-scale program implementation was material in helping Emergis grow from $7 million to $660 million in revenues over a nine-year period.
Miriam's 20 years of experience includes work in both the consulting and telecommunications sectors covering Canadian as well as the U.S., European, and Asian markets.
Miriam holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Waterloo.
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Wallace, Dave
Chief Information Officer, City of Toronto
Transforming Toronto Services with Strategic I&T
Dave Wallace became the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the City of Toronto as of May 14, 2007. As Toronto’s CIO, he has the responsibility for overseeing the City’s Information and Technology (I&T) services, working closely with the City’s Divisions in support of their services to the public. He is also focusing on establishing the new organizational structure in concert with the I&T Governance and Transformation Project Office with an emphasis on the strategies and business services functional responsibility. The result will be a new level of I&T services in the City that will transform the way I&T is delivered to meet both the City strategic and program specific needs now and into the future.
Prior to joining the City, Mr. Wallace was the Vice-President of the National Public Sector Program at Chartwell Inc., where as a member of the senior management team, he provided advisory services, leadership and support to all three levels of government. He has completed many successful projects across the country in the areas of Enterprise Architecture, Project Portfolio Management, Applications Development Life Cycle, IT Service Catalogue and Business Architecture.
Mr. Wallace also held many key roles in his over 20 years of service with the Ontario Government. He served for three years as the first Corporate Chief Technology Officer (CTO) within the OPS, reporting to the Office of the Corporate Chief Information Officer. In establishing the mandate of the CTO’s Office, defining its functions and assembling the right level of expertise, Mr. Wallace created a flexible, agile team that provided strategic guidance to business areas on: technology and information management trends, architecture methods, and standards.
Prior to the CTO role, Mr. Wallace served as Head Architect in the Office of the Corporate Chief Strategist, where he provided leadership in the development and implementation of the Enterprise Architecture and standards for the Ontario Government and established the Corporate Architecture Branch, which now reports to the CTO. He also held the positions of: Manager of the Technology Architecture Management Office at the Ministry of Transportation (MTO); Co-ordinator of the Information Technology Office for MTO's Central Region; and Senior Business Analyst in the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations.
Mr. Wallace has a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Business Management from Ryerson University (Computer Science and Accounting/Finance majors). He has been a member of the Canadian Information Processing Society and received the Information Systems Professional (ISP) designation.
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Wallace, Tracey
Senior Manager, Deloitte, Human Capital
Mass Career Customization: From Corporate Ladder to Corporate Lattice
Tracey Wallace is a senior member of the Human Capital Group in the Deloitte Consulting Toronto practice. Tracey has an extensive track record designing talent management strategies for Fortune 100 companies. Her experience includes work for numerous technology, multi-media and telecommunications providers, public sector organizations and financial institutions.
Prior to joining Deloitte, Tracey was owner of The Wallace Hall Group, a talent management and organizational wellness consulting firm. Tracey’s experience also includes senior positions with two global high-tech firms including Vonage, where she served as Vice-President Employee Care and Aemulus Corporation where she served as Chief Operating Officer.
Tracey is a frequent speaker on Talent Management. She holds an MBA in Human Resources Management and is a Certified Human Resources Professional.
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Weigelt, John
National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada Co.
Reducing your Environmental Impact and Software
As the National Technology Officer for Microsoft Canada, John Weigelt is responsible for driving Microsoft Canada’s strategic policy and technology efforts. In this role, Mr. Weigelt is the lead public advocate within the company on key issues such as the development of national technology policy and the use of technology by government, education and academia. Mr. Weigelt is also responsible for the development and implementation of strategies which strengthen the company’s relationships with the Canadian technology industry at large.
Previously, Mr. Weigelt held the role of Chief Security Advisor. As Chief Security Advisor, Mr. Weigelt was responsible for the development and communication of Microsoft Canada’s security and privacy strategies for organizations within the private and public sector.
Prior to joining Microsoft, John held the position of Senior Director of Architecture, Standards and Engineering at the Chief Information Officer Branch of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. In this role, he was responsible for the development of the Government of Canada Enterprise architecture, Treasury Board IM and IT standards, and provided support for Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Policy. John holds a Master’s Degree in computer and communications security from the Royal Military College of Canada and is both a certified information systems security professional as well as a certified information security manager.
John is an automobile aficionado and keeps a North American road map handy whenever he takes to the open road with his family. He continues to try to convince his Bernese mountain dog, Yukon, that there is enough room in his Mini for both of them.
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Weiss, David, Dr.
President & CEO, Weiss International Limited
Discovering HR’s Strategic Value and HR Strategies to Bridge the Leadership Gap
Dr. David Weiss is President and CEO of Weiss International Ltd. David and his team of organizational consultants lead innovative consulting projects that generate effective strategy, leadership, and HR solutions for Boards, executives and senior leaders throughout Canada, USA, and Europe. David also is an Affiliate Professor of Rotman School Of Management, “Senior Research Fellow” of Queen's University, and Faculty Member of Technion Institute of Management.
David received his Doctorate from the University of Toronto and has three Masters Degrees. He is an Institute Certified Director (ICD.D) with the Institute of Corporate Directors. He has been honoured internationally by the following organizations:
- Recipient of the “HR Leadership Award” by the Asia-Pacific HR Management Association
- Recipient of the “HR Distinction Award” by the Israel Human Resources Association
- Honoured as a lifetime “Fellow” Canadian HR Professional by the HRPAO
David is a sought after executive consultant and conference keynote speaker. He has written over 35 journal and trade articles. He has written four business books: “Leadership Solutions” (Jossey-Bass, co-authored, 2007), “The Leadership Gap” (Wiley, 2005, co-authored), “High Performance HR” (Wiley, 2000), and “Beyond the Walls of Conflict” (McGraw Hill, 1996). For free downloads of Dr. Weiss’ articles see www.weissinternational.ca.
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Williams, Michael
Senior Vice-President, Toronto Region Research Alliance
Don’t Laugh. They're From the Government and They’re Here to Help
Mike Williams is responsible for TRRA's program to grow and attract research-intensive companies, with a special emphasis on tech companies, to the region. Formerly a highly respected management consultant and business manager, he conducted comprehensive economic development projects for an impressive portfolio of government, non-profit and private sector clients. Mike was previously Senior Vice President, International with RL Polk & Co (a marketing and information company with a special emphasis on the auto industry) based in the UK, responsible for developing a worldwide operation with offices in 15 countries on four continents. Earlier in his career he was president of a Canadian market information company, principal at a large management consulting firm and assistant regional director at Statistics Canada.
He has served on the governing council of the Toronto Board of Trade and as past co-chair of the Metropolitan Toronto Advisory Committee on Economic Development and past president of the Board of Dixon Hall. He holds a BA (Hons) degree and Masters degree in Urban Geography from Queen's Universit | | | |
