Speakers

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• Deirdre Breakenridge, Pure Performance Communications

  Deirdre Breakenridge has been working with PR and marketing for over 20 years, helping senior executives in midsize to large organizations communicate to their stakeholders. She’s a PR strategist and has worked together with her clients on many different types of communications programs, including thought leadership, image and reputation management, crisis communications, media relations, PR 2.0 and social media programs. Her goal is to use her knowledge and experience, and give it back to the PR industry by writing books, speaking on the topic, and teaching on the college and university level.

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• Arnt Eriksen, DDB

  Arnt Eriksen is the Chief Innovation Officer at DDB, he is a Curator, Speaker, Writer, Hubby, Dad, Loves music, innovation and design. Arnt has been working as a creative for more than 20 years, with special focus on digital- and social media marketing the past 7. Described by his clients and colleagues as the “missing link” – the hybrid –  with extensive knowledge of both the world of storytelling and communication and the new media landscape.

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• Tom Foremski, Silicon Valley Watcher

  Tom Foremski is the founder and Editor of the popular and top-ranked news site Silicon Valley Watcher, reporting on the business and culture of innovation. In May 2004, Tom became the first journalist to leave a major newspaper, the Financial Times, to make a living as a full-time journalist blogger. Tom has been reporting on Silicon Valley and the U.S. tech industry since 1984. His current focus is on the convergence of media and technology—the fuel for a new era for Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley has become Media Valley, and this is affecting businesses worldwide. For more information please visit http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com. 

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• Shel Holtz, Holtz Communication + Technology

  Shel Holtz is Principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, which has counseled companies about online communications since 1996. Shel brings 35 years of organizational communication experience to his client engagements. A regular speaker at conferences and corporate events, Shel is the author or co-author of six communications-focused books. He has blogged since 2004 and co-hosts the first and longest-running communications podcast, For Immediate Release, which debuted in January 2005.

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• Patrick Kampmann, Volontaire

  Patrick Kampmann is one of the co-founders of Volontaire. He has worked as both Creative Director and Strategic Planner at agencies such as Grey and Publicis. His work has been awarded with creative awards, such as The Grand Prix and 2 Silver Lions in Cannes, a golden CLIO, various national awards, and efficiency awards, such as a Gold Euro-EFFIE.

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• Ryan Penagos, Marvel Entertainment's Digital Media Group.

  Ryan Penagos is the Executive Editorial Director for Marvel Entertainment's Digital Media Group. With a background in journalism, he worked as an Editor for the pop-culture magazine Wizard where he forged a relationship with Marvel Comics. In 2006, he was brought on to create an editorial voice and direction for Marvel.com that would support the brand's numerous lines of business as well as entertain, educate and inform the company's millions of fans.

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• Mark Ragan, Ragan Communications

  Mark Ragan is the CEO of Ragan Communications in Chicago. He arrived at Ragan after working for 15 years as an award-winning political and investigative reporter for newspapers throughout the United States. He ended his career as a journalist in 1992 after covering three presidential elections, including Ronald Reagan's landslide victory over Jimmy Carter in 1980. Today, Mark is back into the journalistic swing of things at the company his father founded in 1968. In addition to overseeing new product development and the day-to-day operations of the company, Mark acts as Editor-in-Chief for the daily Ragan.com news site, the MyRaganTV video platform and the MyRagan social network.

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• Christian J. Porter-Schultz, COWI

  Christian J. Porter-Schultz is recognized as one of the global thought leaders in branding and communication. Throughout his international career he has worked with some of the world’s leading brands, from strategy development and launch strategies to issues management and executive positioning. Today Christian is the Vice President of COWI, the leading global consultancy group.

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• Peter von Satzger, Viacom International Media Networks Youth & Music

  Peter von Satzger is PR Director, Youth and Music at Viacom International Media Networks Youth & Music. MTV is carried by more European operators than any other channel. North Europe includes 14 Countries and is the biggest European cluster for Viacom International.
  As PR director Peter is responsible for strategic positioning and operative launch of all communication regarding VIMN Youth and Music TV-channels. He handles Press internationally for the MTV Galas (VMA, EMA, Movie Awards etc). In his spare time Peter is a lecturer internationally on PR.

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• Lars Silberbauer, LEGO Group

  Lars Silberbauer holds the position of Head of Social Media at the LEGO Group and is responsible for driving the strategic development and implementation of all major social media initiatives for the LEGO brand. He comes from a background in digital and broadcast media from his previous position at the Danish Broadcast Corporation.
  Besides working on numerous social media projects and with digital media, Lars has been working as Creative Project Manager for the light projections at the new DR Concert House in DR Byen.

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• Loren Becker, Zappos.com

  Loren Becker is the Downtown Coordinator and Zappos Experience & Community Team Manager at Zappos.com and works directly with CEO Tony Hsieh on the culture for which the company has become known around the world. Loren started at Zappos in July 2004 on the Customer Loyalty Team. By January, 2005 he was training new employees. Once the Training Department was established in May 2005, Loren and the 4 initial members of the Training Team developed new-hire training that not only taught Zappos newies to be Customer Loyalty Representatives, but also inculcated the Zappos culture in them.

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• Scott Monty, Ford Motor Company

  Scott Monty is Head of Social Media for Ford Motor Company. He is ranked by Forbes as one of the top 10 influencers in social media, Scott Monty has been called "an unstoppable force of nature," "the best corporate social media lead on the planet”, and Alan Mulally, the CEO of Ford Motor Company, called him "a visionary."

• At Ford, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital &Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.
• Prior to joining Ford in 2008, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon, a strategic marketing firm, and with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency.

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• Cindy Penders, ING

  Here is the long copy: Cindy Penders holds the position of Manager of External Communications at ING Netherlands. She is an advisor on media- PR and stakeholder activities for the company in the Netherlands, which includes media relations, PR events, crisis communications, stakeholder dialogues and social media activities aimed at improving the ING reputation. Prior to working for ING she was responsible for the communication strategy and activities of the Dutch branded goods manufacturer’s association and worked as a financial journalist for different Dutch media.