Vision 2009 Speakers

Emcee
Jill Krop, Anchor, News Hour Final, Global BC

Speakers
Ken Schmidt, Former Communications Director at Harley Davidson Motor Company/Leading Fortune 500 Consultant
Richard Bartrem, Vice-President, Culture and Communications, WestJet
Brad Gamble, Senior Director of Marketing, McDonald’s Canada
Brian Scudamore, President & CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Jim Carroll, Futurist & Marketing Trend Consultant to Fortune 500
Kerry Munro, General Manager, Yahoo! Canada
Ken Wong, Highly Acclaimed Business Professor, Author & Strategist
Maggie Fox, CEO and Founder of Social Media Group
Clare Meridew, VP, Creative Director Interactive of GREYcanada Agency

Emcee

Jill Krop Anchor, News Hour Final, Global BC Jill Krop anchors the one hour late night newscast “News Hour Final” on Global BC at 11 p.m.  She started her career, like a lot of fellow B.C. broadcasters, at CKPG in Prince George.  Then it was onto Regina, to be the first anchor at the brand new STV.  She then spent just over a year in Saskatchewan before heading east - to the Maritimes. Jill spent the next six years at ASN (the Atlantic Satellite Network) in Halifax hosting everything from major newscasts to the incredibly popular morning show, Breakfast Television.  Over the years, Jill has had some amazing experiences in a number of cities, and is glad to have worked right across Canada. In addition to loving her job, Jill also found a new passion in travelling around the world.  She is happiest when wandering the world with her backpack and a Lonely Planet travel guide.  She has been to Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Australia, China, Mexico, Guatemala and Belize in the past few years and hopes to continue her travels ... next destination: unknown!

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SPEAKER bios

Ken Schmidt
Former Communications Director at Harley Davidson Motor Company
and Leading Fortune 500 Consultant

Ken Schmidt is one of the most in-demand business speakers and communications consultants in North America.  In 1901, Harley Davidson Motor Company was born from William S. Harley’s big idea to fit an engine onto a bicycle.  After a major downturn in its business in the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, it initiated its next big idea that radically changed its marketing strategy.  By focusing on understanding and harnessing the most basic drivers of human behaviour, it improved its competitiveness in even the most difficult of environments.  It was on a new road to building a fanatically vocal customer base.  Today, Harley Davidson continues its marketing leadership by facilitating the social engagement of its enthusiastic customer communities.

Bio
One of the most in-demand business speakers and communications consultants in America, Ken Schmidt is the former director of communications for Harley-Davidson Motor Company.  Schmidt’s expertise in corporate positioning and media relations played a pivotal role in one of the most celebrated turnarounds in corporate history.  Now an independent consultant, he has specialized in marketing and branding issues for such corporate powerhouses as Coca-Cola and IBM.

An avid motorcyclist, Ken Schmidt discusses in his motivational speeches his struggle to restore Harley-Davidson’s image and re-ignite consumer demand for its motorcycles.  He details how successful corporate cultures must maintain relationships with veteran customers and innovatively pursue new ones.

Richard Bartrem
Vice-President, Culture and Communications, WestJet

In an industry rife with failure and renowned low service standards, WestJet’s Big Idea in 1996 was “Hey let’s start an airline!”  Join Richard Bartrem, WestJet’s Vice-President, Culture and Communications as he takes you through what big ideas WestJet had to make them one of the most commercially successful airlines in the world.  Ultimately, WestJet’s success comes from having the right corporate culture and Richard will share WestJet’s five secrets to success to getting it right.

Bio
Richard Bartrem is the Vice-President, Culture and Communications at WestJet.  His responsibilities include internal communications and external communication and public/media relations, sponsorship and community investment, creative services and corporate culture.  He joined WestJet in 2005 as Director, Brand and Communications.

Richard began his career with Unilever in 1988 where, over the next twelve years, he held a variety of sales and marketing positions in Montréal, Halifax, Calgary and Toronto.  Richard left Unilever in 2000 and spent five years working for Astral Media in television in Toronto and was responsible for marketing for The Movie Network and Mpix brands.

A native of Montreal, Richard now resides in Calgary with his wife and two children.  His favourite WestJet destination is Maui and he loves the free snack mix onboard the plane!

Brad Gamble
Senior Director of Marketing, McDonald’s Canada

McDonald’s founder, Ray Kroc, founded the most successful family restaurant chain in the world today.  The brand is a global institution.  That said, McDonald’s is under constant pressure, internally and externally, to challenge itself to re-examine its business and to engage its customers in new, compelling ways.  For a large corporation striving to keep its entrepreneurial spirit, McDonald’s has been masterful in its ability to clearly articulate its strategy, align its resources, and boldly try new things.  In his presentation, Brad Gamble shares some of the big idea strategies and cutting edge tactics employed to connect with customers, and to renew the love and affinity they have for the brand.

Bio
Brad Gamble possesses over 20 years of marketing experience, the last 14 with McDonald’s.  In his present role as Senior Director, Marketing, Brad leads the strategic direction of all McDonald’s marketing activities for Canada.

A seasoned professional with McDonald’s, Brad has held a variety of marketing positions throughout his tenure including Director of Marketing for Western Canada, followed by Senior Director, National Advertising & Media for Canada.

Recognition for his efforts has been significant, being a past recipient of the Presidents Award, awarded to the top 1% of performers in McDonald’s system worldwide, while also being recognized among the McDonald’s Global system through specific Team Awards for new product and a national value program introductions.

Brad and his team have also been recognized within the McDonald’s Global system winning Global Marketing Awards for: Best Integrated Marketing Program, Best Creative Excellence Award, Best Media Excellence Award and the Marketing Achievement Award for business results achieved.

Brian Scudamore
President & CEO, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?

1-800-GOT-JUNK? Founder and CEO Brian Scudamore started his junk removal business in 1989 with the big idea of professionalizing an entire industry and growing a successful franchised business.  The company has now grown to 250 locations in three countries, and Brian’s new big idea is to build a globally admired brand.  Brian discusses his big ideas on how corporate culture, goal setting, and developing people have translated into explosive growth for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.

Bio
Brian Scudamore is the Founder & CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, a Vancouver-based franchisor dubbed one of the fastest growing companies in North America.

Brian started the company at the age of 18, and later went on to franchise 1-800-GOT-JUNK? as a way to expand operations rapidly across North America.  After several years of hypergrowth, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? now has over 300 locations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

A leading entrepreneur, Brian has received wide recognition in the North American media and business community. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has been featured in over 3,000 news stories, including articles in Fortune Magazine, CNN, Business Week, and The Wall Street Journal.  Crowning media achievements include an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2003, and repeated appearances on the Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray shows.  Brian also contributes a monthly column to PROFIT Magazine.

In 2004, Brian was inducted into the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) and served as a board member for the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (YEO).  Recently Brian was very honored to have been named the 2007 International Franchise Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year.  He has also been recognized with a Fortune Small Business Best Bosses Award; been named a finalist in the past five years for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award; and ranked in the Globe & Mail's 40 Under 40.  For the past three years, BC Business Magazine’s Best Company To Work For ranked 1-800-GOT-JUNK? in the top two, and for two of those three years, the company held the number one spot! 1-800-GOT-JUNK? was most recently honored as the second best workplace in Canada by Great Place to Work® Institute Canada, a list featured in Canadian Business magazine.

As a public speaker, Brian enjoys engaging both large audiences and small groups.  He was a featured speaker at the Fortune Small Business Magazine national conference in 2004.  A strong believer in personal and professional development, Brian graduated from MIT's four-year Birthing of Giants program, and subsequently completed three years of MIT’s BOG’s alumni program, Gathering of Titans. He has also taken part in the first of a nine-year executive education program at Harvard University through YPO Presidents’ University.

Jim Carroll
Futurist & Marketing Trend Consultant to Fortune 500

Jim Carroll is an expert consultant on marketing trends and innovation to the Fortune 500.  His clients include Disney, Microsoft, Nestle, Motorola and KPMG.  In today’s economic climate, marketers are faced with overwhelming challenges.  In times like these, the new leaders that have emerged from recession are the ones that through innovation have changed the competitive landscape.  With this understanding, Jim explains what highly innovative big idea companies do differently from other companies, and what we can learn from them to unlock our potential in this “High Velocity Economy”.

Bio
When the Walt Disney Corporation went looking for an expert on the topic of innovation and creativity, they went with Jim Carroll!  When the Readers Digest Food & Entertainment Division, the publisher of such innovative magazines as Everyday with Rachel Ray, went looking for a keynote speaker for a New York City based symposium on marketing and advertising trends, they went with Jim Carroll.  And when the US College Board searched for an inspiration futurist who could address the future of education, for an audience that includes the Chancellor's of Harvard, Yale, and 100 other top US universities and colleges, they chose Jim Carroll!

Such high profile events are typical of the many globally recognized organizations who have discovered the bold & inspirational insight on future trends and innovation.  Jim Carroll has proven himself as one of the world's leading futurists, trends and innovation expert, with a client list that includes the Walt Disney Organization, Motorola, Nestle, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Caterpillar, Lincoln Financial, Capitol One, the Swiss Innovation Forum, Toshiba Australia, the World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress, and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, among many others.

Jim has become internationally recognized for his cutting edge insight.  He was named by Business Week as one of four leading sources for insight into creativity and innovation, and was a featured panelist on the CNBC prime-time series, The Future of Innovation, with host Maria Baritoromo.  The global financial powerhouse, Credit Suisse, sought his insight into issues of economic growth for their global publication, Bulletin.  His insight has been covered in ABC News, INC, Fast Company, CNBC, the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), The Age (Sydney, Australia), CAPITAL Magazine (Dubai/United Arab Emirates) and CEO Magazine Hungary.  In addition, he has been a columnist with the Globe & Mail, the National Post, Marketing Magazine, and countless other publications.

As an author, columnist, media commentator, and consultant, Carroll is completely focused on creativity and innovation, insight that is captured in his books, Ready, Set, Done! How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast and What I Learned From Frogs in Texas: Saving Your Skin with Forward Thinking Innovation.

The Yahoo! Big Idea Chair
Kerry Munro
General Manager, Yahoo! Canada

In his role as General Manager, Yahoo! Canada Kerry Munro is responsible for the company’s overall operation and strategic growth.  Since joining the company in 2005 he has significantly increased the size and influence of Yahoo!'s presence in Canada by expanding the operational staff, increasing revenue and making Yahoo! Canada one of the most successful Yahoo! business units worldwide. 

His previous experience includes both corporate and entrepreneurial leadership positions, most recently as a Senior Director at Bell Canada and prior to that as founder and President of KBM Marketing which provided market analysis and business unit turnaround strategy for numerous Canadian corporations.  Mr. Munro is a graduate of the University of Toronto and has an MBA from Queen’s University.  He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and an in-demand media interview on the business of the Internet.

The Yahoo! Big Idea Chair
Ken Wong
Highly Acclaimed Business Professor, Author & Strategist

Ken Wong is a faculty member and the Commerce ’77 Fellow in Marketing at Queen’s School of Business, where he has held both teaching and administrative positions.  He was the principal architect of the first full-time degree program in Canada to operate completely outside of government subsidy: a distinction that earned him the cover of Canadian Business in April 1994. (The new Program has been rated by Business Week as #1 worldwide among non-US MBAs in the last three bi-annual rankings).  Ken is also the Vice President, Knowledge Development for Level 5, a marketing consulting firm focused on brand strategy and execution.

As a teacher, Ken has received numerous awards for his courses in strategic planning, marketing and business strategy.  Most recently, he was named a 2006 Inductee into Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends: the youngest inductee to date.  In 1998, Ken won the Financial Post’s Leaders in Management Education award, a lifetime achievement award for his work in undergraduate, MBA, and Executive Development programs.  Beyond Queen’s, he has also taught in degree programs at Cornell, Carleton University, Radcliffe College and Harvard’s Continuing Education Program and in executive programs at York University, University of Toronto, Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta.

As a researcher, Ken has worked with the Strategic Planning Institute (Cambridge, MA) and the Conference Board of Canada.  He has served as a columnist for Strategy magazine, Marketing magazine and the National Post.  He has also written for the Financial Times, Globe and Mail and the Conference Board Review.  His current research focuses on devices that assist organizations in becoming more “market-oriented” and in enhancing their “marketing productivity”.

Private corporations which have used Ken as a marketing and strategic planning consultant include: Armstrong Partnership; Equifax; Baxter Corporation; Bell Canada; Hoffman-LaRoche; Rohm & Haas; Tremco Products; Acklands Grainger; Sprint Canada; Xerox; General Electric (U.S.); Southmedic; QL Systems; Rx Plus and Sherritt-Gordon. He has also served as a Strategic Advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training; on various local, provincial and federal government task forces; and on the Community Editorial Board of the Kingston Whig-Standard.  He often assists on judging panels, most recently for the 2007 Canadian “Best 50” competition (excellence in management) and the 2006 Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year.

He received his B.Comm and MBA degrees from Queen’s University prior to a period of doctoral studies at the Harvard Business School.  He is former Chairman of the Board, PBB Global Logistics Inc and a member of  Advisory Boards/Boards of Directors for Everest Asset Management AG, Equifax, Nature’s Path, Southmedic and the Kingston YMCA.  He is listed in the Canadian Who’s Who and International Who’s Who of Business Professionals.

Ken is a frequent speaker and facilitator in conferences and executive development programs around the world.

The Yahoo! Big Idea Chair
Maggie Fox
CEO and Founder of Social Media Group

Maggie Fox is the founder of Social Media Group, one of the world’s largest independent agencies helping business navigate the new socially engaged Web.

Pioneers in their field, Social Media Group has developed social media strategies for some of the best-known brands in Europe and North America, including Ford Motor Company, SAP Global Marketing, Yamaha Motor, Corbis and Harlequin Publishing. Maggie has also been interviewed about social media by The Washington Post, CBC Radio, The Globe and Mail, CTV News, The Toronto Star and Marketing Magazine, among others.  She was recently included in Women Who Risk, a listing of influential women who head up Internet-based firms, and is a member of both The Social Media Collective, an invite-only group of “the web’s best thinkers on media, marketing and web 2.0” and the Enterprise Irregulars.

Maggie is frequently asked to speak to the media and business groups across North America about Web 2.0, and sits on the Advisory Board for SMToday Media, which operates the Social Media Collective and MyVenturePad sites.

Clare Meridew
VP, Creative Director Interactive of GREYcanada Agency

Clare Meridew, has been at the forefront of digital marketing since the first tech boom in the 90’s, when it mostly meant building Web sites. “The medium is becoming way more ubiquitous: we’re starting to notice it splitting off into areas of expertise. It’s been an incredible transition”, she says. The cyber world, now encompasses everything from product design and iTunes to traditional digital advertising campaigns that include microsites, social networking opportunities and beyond. Interactive is much more than imitation of the offline offering. It is about making strong relationships with clients to develop ideas that look at how people use technology, and making meaningful experiences that resonate.
 
Prior to joining Grey, Clare honed her skills at leading agencies and consultancies, including MacLaren McCann, Organic, IBM's Innovation Centre and Barkley Evergreen. Clare was also an integral part of the online creative leadership teams at Mosaic Group, ICE and Communiqué. Her diverse portfolio includes integrated creative strategies for national and international brands including GM Canada, Chrysler USA, Canadian Tire, Four Seasons Hotels, CIBC, Tridel, Parmalat, Glad, Hostess Frito Lay, Rogers, Toronto International Film Festival, Lee Jeans, Toronto Children’s Aid Society and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
 
Clare loves to share her passion for design and technology, and is a frequent speaker and panelist at conferences all over the world. When she's not setting the advertising world afire with her red-hot creative strategies, Clare unwinds by designing and applying flaming tattoos for friends, riding her Vespa through rush-hour traffic and joining her partner Michelle in carefully supervising their daughter's magnifying glass experiments.