Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Elizabeth Gilbert
Best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love
Elizabeth Gilbert is most famous for her recent book Eat, Pray, Love (Viking, 2006) – the story of the year she spent traveling around the world in search of personal restoration after a difficult divorce. After graduating from New York University, she used money earned at a Philadelphia diner to travel, as she says, “to create experiences to write about, gather landscapes and voices.” Gilbert’s journalism over the years has been published in Harper’s Bazaar, Spin, The New York Times Magazine, and GQ. Gilbert’s keynote will speak on the topic of nurturing creativity, discussing the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses and sharing the radical idea that, instead of the rare person “being” a genius, all of us “have” a genius.
Peter Shankman
Founder, Help A Reporter Out (HARO) and Founder & CEO, The Geek Factory
An entrepreneur, author, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, creativity, and customer service. Peter is perhaps best known for founding Help A Reporter Out, (HARO), currently the largest free source repository in the world, sending out over 1,200 queries from worldwide media each week. Peter is also the founder and CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc. (www.geekfactory.com). Peter’s PR and Social Media clients have included the Snapple Beverage Group, NASA, The US Department of Defense, Walt Disney World, The Ad Council, American Express, Discovery Networks, New Frontier Media, Napster, Juno, Dream Catcher Destinations Club, and Harrah’s Hotels.
Jane McGonigal
Director of Game Research and Development, Institute for the Future
Jane McGonigal, Director of Game Research and Development at the Institute for the Future, leads the field of game design for future forecasting and problem solving. One of Fast Company’s 100 most creative people for 2009, her projects include collaborative crowd-sourcing platforms, Superstruct and Signtific, as well as designing marketing game platforms for Microsoft and Halo 2, McDonalds’ and the 2008 Olympics. Jane McGonigal will speak on the topic of “Inventing the Future with Game Design.” She will discuss how games optimize human ability and will demonstrate how games can harness the power of collective intelligence to solve real-world problems.
Randall Kempner
Executive Director, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)
Randall Kempner is Executive Director of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), a new initiative of the world-renowned Aspen Institute. ANDE seeks to dramatically increase the amount and effectiveness of capital, technical, and business assistance for entrepreneurs in developing countries. ANDE’s founding funders and members include The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Creative Leadership, Google.org, Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Skoll Foundation, and McKinsey & Company. Randall Kempner will present “The Global Promise of Entrepreneurship,” highlighting the ability of entrepreneurs to find opportunities in the face of challenges and exploring ways to leverage the power of entrepreneurship throughout the globe.
