Meet Our Speakers | |
|
David is a senior strategic consultant to many of Canada's largest Web sites. His clients include IBM, the International Space Station, the Canadian government, the World Bank, and the Aga Khan Foundation. David is dedicated to realizing the potential of communicators to help improve the human condition and the global environment. He helps audiences align their professional and personal values, recognize their power and stewardship role, and then challenges them to apply their skills to help repair the world. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As president of Brain Traffic, Kristina oversees the agency's three core service offerings: Web content strategy, information architecture, and writing for Web sites. Brain Traffic content experts collaborate closely to make Web site content more useful, usable, consistent, and contextual. Kristina is a past president of the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA), one of the country's largest and most active IMAs. Her professional background includes marketing, sales, public relations, and playwriting. When she's not running around the country trying to annihilate bad Web copy, Kristina can be found in St. Paul, Minnesota, chasing after her two kids and enjoying the weather year-round. |
|
|
|
|
|
Rich is an internationally published author. His book, Photoshop for Video, was the first of its kind to focus on Photoshop's use in the world of video. He is also a contributing author for Producing Video Podcasts, Understanding Adobe Photoshop CS4 and After Effects for Flash | Flash for After Effects. A master's degree in project management fills out Rich's broad spectrum of experience. Rich enjoys traveling and digital photography, as well as teaching his kids the joys of science fiction and comic books. |
|
|
Robert is the author of the Amazon bestseller Designing the Obvious, which focuses on seven guiding principles of great Web-based software and how to leverage them in any real-world project, and Designing the Moment, a collection of stories from real projects that show how to put Web design principles into action. Learn more about Robert through his blog at rhjr.net. |
|
|
His DOM Compatibility Tables are reliably estimated to have saved the global Web developer population about $5 million on hair transplants in 2008 alone. |
|
|
His consulting firm, Advanced Common Sense ("just me and a few well-placed mirrors") is based in Chestnut Hill, MA. He currently spends most of his time teaching, consulting, and working on a new (as yet unnamed) book about do-it-yourself usability testing. |
|
|
Sandra's creative and scientifically inclined family fostered her early fascination with technology and the arts. After discovering computer programming in high school, she balanced college courses in computer science and electronics with orchestra, music theory, and composition. Sandra's music studies took her to France, Hungary, and the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music, resulting in a master's degree in music composition. She complemented these studies with graduate courses in business law, IT management, and, as the Internet emerged into public awareness, multiple Web development languages. She joined Closed Loop Marketing in 2004 after nearly a decade as an independent Web consultant. She resides in Northern California, where she surfs, writes, practices mixed martial arts, and thinks about stuff. |
|
|
|
|
|
Prior to founding Socialized, Joel was the executive vice president of Emerging Media at Eastwick Communications, a Silicon Valley public relations firm, and before that, he had a decade of Fortune 500 corporate communications experience, including leadership roles in executive and internal communications at Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems. Joel lives with his family in the Santa Cruz Mountains. To the extent that he could be said to have grown up, he did so in the Silicon Valley, before the discovery of silicon. He is also an experienced Zamboni driver. |
|
|
|
|
|
Prior to joining Peachpit, Nancy was editor of Wisconsin Business Magazine, started up several internationally recognized magazines, and served as group president for all graphics products, services, new media, and training at Dynamic Graphics (DG). Nancy first joined Dynamic Graphics in 1984 to start Step-By-Step Graphics magazine, the internationally recognized how-to magazine for graphic designers; Step-By-Step Digital Design, the award-winning newsletter for desktop designers; and Dynamic Graphics magazine. Nancy has received many awards throughout her career, including being ranked in the "MDJ Power 25" list for 2004 as one of the most powerful and influential individuals in the Mac community, and receiving a "Woman of Distinction" award in 2005 from the East Bay Business Times. She has served on the boards of international graphics organizations, chaired and presented at graphics and digital design conferences, and judged traditional and digital design and illustration competitions. |
|
|
Dan is an internationally recognized thought leader on design who has spoken at conferences and taught workshops on interaction design all over the world. Dan's writings on design have appeared in BusinessWeek, Vitamin, and Boxes and Arrows. He has a Master's of Design in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon University. |
|
|
Jared spends his time working with the research teams at the company, helps clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains to reporters and industry analysts what the current state of design is all about, and is a top-rated speaker at more than 20 conferences every year. He is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute, and manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing time. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Russ tries to actively blog on topics in User Experience Design at UserGlue UserBlog. Russ is currently writing A Project Guide to UX Design with Carolyn Chandler for Peachpit Press. He lives in West Chicago with his wife, Nicolle, and two daughters. |
|
|
Aarron has taught a variety of courses on interactive design at colleges in the United States including Temple University, the University of Georgia, and The Art Institute of Atlanta. He is also a featured speaker at An Event Apart Seattle and Boston. |
|
|
Focusing first on cognitive psychology (how people think, remember, perceive), and making technology more usable, she has recently gone back to her graduate school (Penn State University) neuropsychology roots, studying the newest brain science and research on unconscious processing—decision making, persuasion, and emotion. Dr. Weinschenk is currently Chief of Technical Services at Human Factors International (HFI). She manages the sales, consulting services and training development and delivery for the USA operations of HFI. She is also a well-known, international, public speaker. |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 | ||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
David Berman helps organizations get great things done, through the motivation and techniques he provides for applying strategy, design, ethics, creative branding and communications to business problems. He is the author of 
Carolyn Chandler leads the User Experience practice for Manifest Digital, an interactive marketing and design firm based in Chicago's west loop. Carolyn has worked in the field of User Experience since 1996, alternating between software development and Web site design, each of which bring their own interesting challenges. Areas of focus include usability engineering, information architecture, and interaction design. Carolyn is currently writing 
Curt Cloninger is an artist, designer, writer, and Assistant Professor of Multimedia Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina Asheville. He is the author of seven books, including 
Rafael "RC" Concepcion is an education and curriculum developer for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Photoshop World Dream Team instructor, and co-host of Layers TV. An Adobe certified instructor in Photoshop and Illustrator, he has more than 10 years experience in the information technology, Web, and e-commerce industry. RC has held training seminars in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. His training and technical experience have allowed him to work on projects for IBM Global Services, Buy4Now, Intershop Communications GmbH, Time Warner, Bertlesmann, New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, and Grupo Financiero Banamex. He holds a B.A. in Education and English Literature from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.
Jesse James Garrett has been working in the industry since 1995. He has been involved in almost every aspect of Web development, from interface design and programming to content development and high-level strategy. His experience includes work for companies such as AT&T, Boeing, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, and Ingram Micro. Jesse is one of the founding partners of Adaptive Path, a user experience consulting firm based in San Francisco. In the information architecture community, Jesse is recognized as a leading contributor to the development of this rapidly evolving discipline. The tools and concepts he has developed are currently used by information architects around the world.
Zoe Gillenwater is an experienced Web designer, project manager and technical author, active in the web standards community. She uses her expert knowledge of CSS, XHTML, Dreamweaver, accessibility, and visual design in all aspects of her career. Zoe leads the design and development efforts of dozens of information-rich web sites and applications. Her work has focused on creating web sites that combine beautiful aesthetics with standards compliance, usability, and accessibility best practices.
Kristina Halvorson is widely recognized as one of the country's leading Web content strategists. For more than a decade, Kristina has led content projects for hundreds of websites across dozens of industries. She is a passionate advocate for Web content strategy and speaks regularly on the topic to audiences around the country.
A social media evangelist and strategist (her clients include British Telecom, MTV, and Unilever), Rahaf Harfoush will soon publish 
A certified instructor for Adobe, Apple, and Avid, Rich is a practiced expert in motion graphic design, digital video, and new media. Starting his career out in the world of broadcast journalism, Rich has always had great interest in visual communications. His producing skills were also recognized by AV Video Multimedia Producer Magazine who named him as one of the Top Producers of 2004. Rich is a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals Instructor Dream Team, and a popular speaker on the digital video circuit. He has chaired conferences since 2003 for the National Association of Broadcasters.
Robert Hoekman, Jr., is the founder of Miskeeto, a product development and web design consultancy focused on socially-conscious projects that improve the world. He's an interaction designer, writer, presenter, and user-experience evangelist who has worked with Seth Godin (Squidoo), Adobe, Automattic, United Airlines, DoTheRightThing.com, Go Daddy Software, and countless others to create superior user experiences for a wide range of audiences. 
Peter-Paul Koch is a freelance front-end consultant, agent, and trainer in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has won international renown with his browser compatibility research, frequently speaks at conferences, has founded Fronteers, the Dutch association of front-end professionals, and advises browser vendors on their implementation of Web standards.
Steve Krug (pronounced "kroog") is best known as the author of 
As VP User Experience and Creative Director of Closed Loop Marketing, Sandra heads up the company's usability and conversion optimization projects. She is co-author of the book 
Marty Neumeier is president of Neutron, a design think tank in San Francisco. He is the author of a series of "whiteboard overview" books, including 
Joel Postman is the principal of Socialized, a consultancy that helps companies make effective use of social media in corporate communications, marketing and public relations. He's the author of 
Greg Rewis is the Worldwide Senior Evangelist for Web Tools for Adobe and spends over 200 days a year on the road, talking with customers, giving product demonstrations at trade shows and seminars, speaking at industry conferences, and leading specialized advanced training sessions featuring Adobe's Web Tools product line. 
Nancy Aldrich-Ruenzel is vice-president of Pearson Technology Group and publisher of Berkeley-based Peachpit Publishing Group. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a master's from Indiana University-Bloomington, Nancy got her start in graphics as a night-shift typesetter and proofreader at UW's Daily Cardinal.
Dan Saffer, a founder and principal designer at Kicker Studio, has designed interactive products since 1995 that are currently used by millions every day. A speaker and author, his acclaimed book 
Jared M. Spool is the founder of User Interface Engineering, the largest usability research organization of its kind in the world. He's been working in the field of usability and design since 1978, before the term "usability" was ever associated with computers. 
Stephanie Sullivan is a Dreamweaver, accessibility, CSS and XHTML expert. She's the top gun that companies go to for troubleshooting problems, or to work behind-the-scenes transforming their in-house designs into functioning standard-based Web sites. Passionate about the Web, Stephanie is a leader who inspires others to strive for higher standards in their work. She serves as a member of the influential Web Standards Project (WaSP) Dreamweaver Task Force, sits on the International Advisory Board for the Web Developer's and Designer's Journal and is a partner at Community MX, a site offering over 2000 tutorials to web developers seeking to increase their skills. Recent clients include Adobe, NY Magazine, MacWorld Magazine, POPstick, California State University Fresno, WebAssist, and Kosmix, a new health-related search engine.
Jason Cranford Teague is the Director of Web Design Standards for AOL Global Programming, overseeing the design and development of one of the largest sites on the Web. Before assuming that position, he worked as the Creative Director for the top youth culture Web site, AOL RED. He is also a member of the W3C's CSS Working Group, the advisory board for Sessions.edu, and regularly contributes software reviews to Macworld Magazine. As if that wasn't enough to keep him busy, he is also the Internet Strategist for Yuri's Night the World Space Party and keeps a Web designer's blog at webbedENVIRONMENTS.com. Jason writes books (mostly so he can remember how to do all of this stuff), including the best-selling 
Russ has been working on Web sites since 1993—when there was only Notepad to code with and Mosaic was the only browser around. That was when he found his interest in User Experience Design and Information Architecture began to flourish. Since then, he has worked with a number of major brands on large scale intranet and extranet applications, biometric (fingerprint reader) applications, and interfaces for mobile applications. He has also taught courses in Web and Interactive/Flash Design.
Aarron is the author of 
Susan Weinschenk has a Ph.D. in psychology and a 30 year career in applying principles of psychology to the design of technology interfaces. Her experience includes user experience consulting and training for Fortune 1000 companies, designing the user interface of software, intranets, Web sites, Aweb applications, and even copiers, microwaves and medical devices.
Christina has been bringing products to market on the Web for 12 years now, in a variety of roles from design to entrepreneur to product manager. Her specialty is taking a product from concept to reality. At LinkedIn, she led the team that took LinkedIn Events from idea to launch. Before that, she founded Cucina Media, and created a (perhaps too) innovative CMS and founded the IAI, a thriving nonprofit, as well as Boxes and Arrows, an independent publication on design. At Yahoo, she led the design teams that reinvented Yahoo Search, Shopping and Local. In her spare time she gives talks on human behavior in digital spaces, and wrote