PRESENTERS

	Scott Abel CEO and Chief Content Strategist The Content Wrangler Known as The Content Wrangler, Scott Abel is an internationally recognized global content strategist who specializes in helping organizations deliver the right content to the right audience, anywhere, anytime, on any device. He writes regularly for business and content industry publications, is frequently selected as a featured presenter at content industry events, and serves on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Information.Scott's message is clear: Content is a business asset worth managing efficiently and effectively. His firm, The Content Wrangler (www.thecontentwrangler.com), exists to help content-heavy organizations adopt the tools, technologies, and techniques they need to connect content to customers.

	Diana Ballard Business Development Manager LOGOS Diana Ballard has been Business Development Manager at LOGOS GROUP (www.logos.net) for 14 years. Previously, Diana was technical publications manager in a Japanese manufacturing environment and worked in business development consulting. An enthusiast and evangelist for language and content strategies.

	Marlowe Sarah Beckley Manager of Content Strategy SapientNitro Marlowe (formerly Sarah) Beckley has spent the last fifteen years championing the customer in various careers, including tech writing and magazine editing. While her eight years of content strategy experience includes projects for HSBC, Allstate, State Farm, and the Options Industry Council, she has also worked in the healthcare, technology, and hospitality industries. Beckley speaks regularly at conferences such as Intelligent Content and STC, and teaches workshops on topics such as content matrix methodology and creating structured, “future-proof” content. After a substantial career in Chicago that included stints at DDB, OgilvyOne, and Razorfish, she high-tailed it to sunny California in late 2013 to join SapientNitro as a Manager of Content Strategy where she is currently focused on a hospitality client’s taxonomy and promoting content strategy education.

	Dr. Deborah Bosley Owner of and Principal The Plain Language Group Deborah S. Bosley is Owner of and Principal in The Plain Language Group and Professor Emerita of Technical Communication at UNC Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, USA. As an international expert in the use of plain language, she has spent the past 20 years working in technical and financial regulatory environments helping attorneys, corporations, government agencies, and non-profits create written information that exceeds compliance standards and that is easy for people to understand and use. Using evidence-based writing and design strategies, training tools, usability testing, and research results, she helps Fortune 100/500 companies and government agencies achieve a number of critical goals including creating consumer-friendly, plain language information, increasing the writing abilities of employees, decreasing call-ins that waste time and dollars, meeting compliance standards, exceeding legal and regulatory requirements and avoiding liability from confused documentation.

	Rebekah Cancino Director of Content Strategy Sitewire Rebekah Cancino is a content strategist and UX specialist at Sitewire, where she leads a team that helps major brands develop human-centered content and delightful digital experiences. Although her background is in marketing and web writing, she's passionate about co-design — from design to development. This has earned Rebekah the reputation as someone who unites departments and disciplines to get things done faster and more efficiently. Besides that, she organizes Phoenix Content Strategy Meetup, ardently advocates use of the Oxford comma, and tries her best to avoid all kinds of cacti.

	Don Day Principal Consultant ContelligenceGroup.com Don is a content engineer with deep experience on innovative authoring solutions and information architectures for structured, semantic content for the Web and across the enterprise. He provides consulting on strategy, technology, and best practices for optimizing the value and usefulness of unstructured data.

	Marc Defigueiredo Director, Internet Sales Verizon Wireless Bio to come.

	Pam Didner Global Content Marketing Strategist Author and Speaker With years of experience in multiple global roles, Pam Didner is an expert at creating successful global marketing plans that meet local marketing needs. As a former Global Integrated Marketing Strategist for Intel, she led Intel’s Enterprise product launches and worldwide marketing campaigns. She also provided strategic guidance on audience development, messaging architecture, editorial planning, content creation, media buys and social media outreach on a global scale. Selected as one of BtoB’s Top Digital Marketers in 2011 and 2012, Pam is also an author, speaker and global content marketing strategist. Her new book, “Global Content Marketing,” is the first content marketing book to offer a complete process to scale content across regions. Pam has given keynotes, presentations, and workshops at conferences in the United States and Europe. She also shares her marketing thoughts on www.pamdidner.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post, Daily Crowd Sourcing, Content Marketing Institute, and other publications.

	Steve Farnsworth Chief Marketing Officer The @Steveology Group With over 14 years as a senior marketing executive, Steve Farnsworth is a Demand Generation Content Marketing Strategist for the @Steveology Group, a content marketing agency serving high tech B2B organizations. As @Steveology on Twitter he has more than 115,000 followers, and has been noted by Forbes magazine Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers in the world twice, LinkedIn's Top 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know, AdWeek's Top 50 People Re-Tweeted By SMB Marketing Leaders, The American Genius’s top 50 industry influencers. He consults with funded start-ups, mid-sized, and large companies to develop and implements flexible media content marketing programs that increase inbound leads and grows brand reputation. These programs integrate into existing activities, or can form a foundation to launch new content programs. They're strategically designed to generate brand awareness, establish thought-leadership, and build customer loyalty. Steve has moderated panels, spoken at, or managed industry events at Google, Intel, Yahoo!, Cisco, Adobe, Electronic Arts, HP, SAP, Wells Fargo, TEDx, Applied Materials, Symantec, NetApp and Stanford.

	Barry Feldman Owner Feldman Creative Barry Feldman operates Feldman Creative and provides clients content marketing strategies that rock and creative that rolls. Barry authors "Content Marketing Minds" here at Social Media Today and has recently been named a Top 40 Digital Strategist by Online Marketing Institute and one of 25 Social Media Marketing Experts You Need to Know by LinkedIn. Barry recently released a comprehensive strategic workbook "The Planner for Growing Your Business with Effective Online Marketing." If you would like a piece of his mind, visit Feldman Creative and his blog, The Point.

	Melinda Flores Associate Director of Content Strategy VSA Melinda Flores knows there's nothing more important than saying the right thing to the right people at the right time. That's why she's spent over ten years working as a brand and content strategist for agencies like VSA Partners, Atmosphere Proximity, Havas, frog design and Interbrand. As Content Strategy Lead, Melinda is responsible for creating and executing digital strategy for the Enablement discipline at IBM's new Marketing Experience Lab in Tokyo. Melinda loves designing and optimizing content, as well as working with users to understand how they interact with the stories her clients are trying to tell. Melinda has managed every aspect of content creation—including editorial and cultural calendars, content matrices and CMS upload—for all her clients' digital properties. As a Certified Scrum Product Owner, Melinda is responsible for representing the voice of the customer in an Agile work environment. She is skilled at working with stakeholders to remove impediments to the work and deliver value for her clients. Melinda's previous client experience includes IBM, Emirates, Visa, Dos Equis, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum, Gatorade, Thomson Reuters, AT&T, John Deere, Ally Bank, Feeding America, Syfy, Ben and Jerry's, Enterprise, McKesson, Covidien, Aon, Humana, Girl Scouts of the USA, Microsoft and GE.

	Janet Fouts CEO Tatu Digital Media Janet Fouts is Founder and CEO of Tatu Digital Media, a San Jose Digital Marketing Agency. Founded in 1996, Tatu Digital works with a range of clients from tiny non-profits to Fortune 50 corporations to manage brand reputation, create effective social business strategies, manage campaigns, search engine optimization and social pay per click marketing. Janet is a frequently requested speaker on the topics of digital marketing and social business at conferences and within corporations around the world. She has written 4 books on social media and blogs at JanetFouts.com and Tatudigital.com with actionable business advice for today's social business.

	Adam Helweh Founder and CEO Secret Sushi Creative Adam is the CEO and founder of Secret Sushi Creative, a Silicon Valley strategic design and digital marketing agency. He specializes in the convergence of design, social and technology to provide businesses with more intelligent and interactive ways to connect with customers. Adam is also the co-host The Friday Hangout, an entertaining discussion about digital marketing with a weekly guest experts.

	Kim Higdon Content Marketing Manager Off Madison Ave Kim Higdon is the social media and content marketing manager at Off Madison Ave. She works with brands such as the Arizona Office of Tourism, CVS Caremark and the Phoenix Art Museum on social media and content marketing campaigns rooted in performance.

	Amy Higgins Content Marketing & Social Media Manager – SMB Concur Amy Higgins is the Content and Social Media Manager for Concur SMB where she enjoys engaging with small and mid-market businesses on social media and writing great tips about productivity, innovations and ways to simplify your life. Amy has more than 7 years in the tech industry where she continually helps companies understand and engage their customers. She has experiencing working for large companies such as Google to the smaller startups just as LA-based TextPlus and even volunteering for the San Francisco Opera. When she's not online, you can find her at the opera, listening to jazz, hiking the tallest mountain or on the hunt for the latest foodie craze.

	Matt Hobbs Senior User Experience Manager National Builder Supply Matt Hobbs is a Senior User Experience Manager and lead ecommerce product manager for National Builder Supply down in Atlanta, Georgia. After spending a few years working in content strategy for a digital agency in Atlanta, Matt jumped ship in 2012 and swam ashore in the world of ecommerce. Today, Matt’s team focuses on building and maintaining the NBS product catalog, optimizing shopping / accounts experiences, and producing supporting content. Outside of work, Matt is an active musician and songwriter in the Atlanta area.

	Alex Hunter Sr. Content Designer PayPal For more than a decade, Alex has helped brands produce content that engages customers, across news, sport, finance, gambling and the creative industries. Prior to PayPal, he worked as Head of Content and then Creative Director at IG.com, one of the world’s largest derivatives trading firms, before launching a content strategy start-up, Angry Young Men. Alex is interested in the ‘thinking behind the words’. His aim is to produce the cleanest content in the fewest words possible, and to build strategies for repeated success. Humor has been noted. But is rare.

	Carrie Hunter Founder CMHunter Content Management Inc. Carrie Hunter is the Founder of CMHunter Content Management Inc., a content strategy consultancy that helps global brands in the financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, technology and not-for-profit verticals maximize the value of their content assets. With over 15 years’ experience in digital content communications and information management, she positions content as a business asset that aligns with both organizational objectives and user needs. Prior to launching her consultancy in 2003, Carrie worked client-side, honing her ability to be a pragmatic, result-focused, empathetic and strategic advisor, focused on untangling organizational complexities to deliver measurable results. Recently, she launched the Calgary Content Strategy Meetup.

	Karin Ikavalko Content Strategist PayPal From tech docs to marketing: you name it, I’ve written it. For the past 8 years at PayPal, I’ve been writing, editing, crafting style guides, and evangelizing standards and terminology. Most recently, I’ve been leading our consumer content team and designing content for the new PayPal web experience. I’m passionate about and inspired by empathetic and empowering customer experiences and the strategic thinking that helps us get there.

	Colleen Jones Principal Content Science As principal of the consultancy Content Science, Colleen has led strategic initiatives for clients ranging from Dell to Equifax to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She regularly consults with executives and practitioners to improve their strategy and processes for digital content. Colleen shares content insights in her top-selling book, "Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web Content" (New Riders). Her newly released second book, "Does Your Content Work?" (New Riders), explains how to start evaluating whether your content is effective. Colleen also is the co-founder of ContentWRX, a platform that evaluates your content's effectiveness.

	Arnie Kuenn CEO Vertical Measures Arnie Kuenn is the founder and CEO of Vertical Measures and the author of Accelerate! Move Your Business Forward through the Convergence of Search, Social & Content Marketing. More professional history on Arnie can be found in his Executive Team Bio. He was named 2013 Interactive Person of the Year by AZIMA (Arizona Interactive Marketing Association) and continues to be a thought leader in the realm of content marketing and strategy. Arnie is a frequent content marketing instructor and trainer at numerous conferences, workshops, and seminars such as those listed below and is available for your event upon request.

	Dave Lippman Vice President and Executive Creative Director of Design, Commerce Experience eBay Marketplaces Dave Lippman is Vice President and Executive Creative Director of Design, Commerce Experience, at eBay Marketplaces. He is responsible for building out a unified creative vision, and delivering world-class designs that provide eBay customers with elegant, seamless multiscreen customer experiences.

	Miguel Lunaparra Creative Director, Global Experience Design Sony Corporation of America Miguel Lunaparra is a Creative Director, Global Experience Design at Sony, where he leads the Global Web UX team responsible for the strategy and design of Sony's consumer web ecosystem. Miguel has over 18 years of experience guiding multi-disciplinary teams to deliver new experiences across devices and environments. With a background in user-centered design, information architecture, interaction design, industrial design, and experience research, Miguel’s passion lies in understanding human behavior to create value through design. As a consultant, Miguel has worked with many Fortune 500 companies across the following industries: Consumer Electronics, Telecommunications, Financial Services, Automotive, Retail, CPG, Travel, Health Care, and Education. Miguel holds a Master of Design degree from the Institute of Design in Chicago, where he studied the planning and management of design and innovation.

	John Maeda Partner (KPCB) / Chair of Design Advisory Council (eBay) John Maeda is Design Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he works with KPCB’s entrepreneurs and portfolio companies to build design into their company cultures. He served as 16th president of Rhode Island School of Design from 2008-2013 and spent 13 years at MIT Media Lab as a professor and head of research. His career bridging the intersections of graphic design, computer science, art, education, and leadership earned him the distinction of being named one of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century by Esquire. Maeda chairs the eBay Design Advisory Council, serves on the boards of Sonos and Wieden+Kennedy, and is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on New Growth Models. His books include The Laws of Simplicity, Creative Code, and Redesigning Leadership, which expands on his Twitter feed @johnmaeda, one of TIME Magazine’s 140 Best Twitter Feeds. He has received a variety of international awards for his creative work, including induction to the Art Director's Club Hall of Fame and the White House's National Design Award.

	Keri Maijala Brand Content Strategist Financial Engines Keri is a brand content strategist at Financial Engines in Sunnyvale, California. She’s been working in user experience since 1998, helping companies like eBay, PayPal, and Intuit find and use their voices. You can usually find her on Twitter as @clamhead, but if she’s not there, check the line for Space Mountain.

	Hilary Marsh Chief Strategist Content Company, Inc. A leading content strategist since 1999, Hilary specializes in helping nonprofit organizations and corporations get better results from their content by improving and streamlining their content creation, governance, management, editorial practices/processes, and promotions. From 2005 to 2011 she was managing director of REALTOR.org, the member website for the National Association of Realtors. She is Chief Strategist and President of Content Company, a content strategy consultancy in Chicago, whose clients have included the Cal State University, the American Bar Association, CompTIA, FINRA, the Florida Association of Realtors, and Oswego School District 308. In addition to consulting, Hilary teaches content strategy courses for Kent State University’s online masters program in user experience design.

	Marli Mesibov Content Strategist and UX Consultant Freelance As a freelance content strategist and UX consultant, I have a passion for education and user experience. Clients hire me for every piece of the UX design process. I conduct usability reports, brainstorm user flows, create editorial and brand guidelines, develop editorial calendars and schedules, build copy decks, lead consulting sessions, build wireframes, and manage teams of designers and copywriters. It’s a huge job, and I relish every minute of it! I also serve as the managing editor at UX Booth, a publication by and for the UX community. You can usually find me in the Boston area, or at UX and content strategy conferences in the US and around the world.

	Lauren Moler Content Strategist PayPal Lauren is a full-time content strategist and part-time seamstress in Austin, TX. She believes knowing how things work “under the hood” is the best way to approach a problem creatively. That’s why, in addition to her work as a content strategist at PayPal, she puts her sewing skills to use in a blog called Rosie Wednesday where she creates practical tutorials on replicating vintage fashions. Before PayPal, Lauren worked at a multinational high-tech B2B, where she experimented with putting mental models in context to make content strategy more accessible to business managers. Follow Lauren’s adventures in untangling content strategy on Twitter @merrymoler.

	Kevin Nichols Director, Global Practice Lead, Content Strategy Sapient/Nitro Kevin Nichols is the Director and Global Lead of Content Strategy for one of the largest digital and interactive agencies in the world, Sapient. For over seventeen years, Kevin has worked in Internet and web technologies. In 1995, while completing his graduate studies at Harvard, he interned at the Sabre Foundation. He went on to work in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where he conducted media relations and acted as Webmaster for the Physicians for Human Rights website. Returning to America, Kevin worked as a contract consultant, before taking a position at Sapient. Kevin then went on to play a key role in launching MITOpenCourseWare, where he designed a substantial part of the publication process and managed the production team. Later, as a senior consultant at Molecular, Kevin was responsible for 1MM+ accounts of Fortune 100 global brands like HP. During this time, he worked with marketing and communications groups to structure and stream-line their content and content life cycles. In 2007, Kevin started his own consulting firm. He is currently a Director and the Practice Lead for Content Strategy at SapientNitro. When he is not gracing United Airline 757 cabins or Hilton's queen-size beds with his presence, Kevin likes to spend his time on Cape Cod, writing the next 'Great American Novel'. Kevin is committed to international human rights especially those of refugees and victims of war. You can learn more about him at kevinpnichols.com.

	Laurie Paleczny President Dash Digital Group Laurie Paleczny drives the overall strategic direction and operational results for Dash Digital Group. Laurie brings more than 25 years of experience developing and delivering business strategy, projects and technology solutions in various capacities and for multiple industries. In addition to working with several small to medium sized companies, Laurie spent 15 years in leadership roles managing systems, projects, mergers and acquisitions for Manulife Financial.

	Jessica Pease Content Strategist PayPal When mankind shot into cyberspace, we gained a lot. You can now get almost everything you want instantly. It’s magical. But there’s also a lot of toxic UI out there and Jessica believes it’s the leading cause of modern living syndrome. MLS is that worn-out, irritable feeling you have at the end of a long day using sub-par apps. You can’t stop thinking “I thought life was supposed to be easier with computers in it.” Turns out, there’s no cure for MLS. But clean design, sweet information architecture, and kind words can be the metaphorical cup of hot tea. Jessica has brewed and served it in the interest of the common good for more than 15 years at dot.com darlings, B2Bs and now PayPal. Her dad is really proud.

	Marissa Phillips Content Strategy Manager Facebook Marissa is a content strategy manager at Facebook, where she leads a team focused on registration and overall growth, internationalization, feature phone experiences and more. She wrote all the content for the new Messenger app before it launched last year, and she continues to help develop its voice and brand. Before joining Facebook, Marissa worked at eBay and StubHub.

	Rebecca Schneider President Azzard Consulting, Inc. Rebecca Schneider has extensive experience in librarianship, knowledge management, and information technology. She formed Azzard Consulting, a content strategy services and staffing firm, with the conviction that there are better ways to manage content. Rebecca has worked in a variety of industries including retail, education, international development, and financial services.

	Catherine Walker Design Lead PayPal I love creating compelling customer experiences and empowering others to think differently. After cutting my teeth at a digital agency, I joined PayPal as a Content Strategist, bringing design thinking and customer advocacy to every challenge. Now, I lead a cross-functional team of designers to solve problems and seize opportunities for North America and LATAM.

	DeAnn Wright Manager, Geo Expansion and Help Content eBay A nine-year eBay veteran, DeAnn creates content strategies for a variety of global projects. She also mentors other content strategists on creating information hierarchies and messaging strategies. In addition, DeAnn also works with the eBay Brand team to hone voice and tone guidelines. As the Manager of the Geo Expansion content team, she is working to take commerce to the next level and connect customers to global markets; enabling them to discover what they need and love. DeAnn also manages the US Help team and is working to overhaul the Seller Center to better meet the needs of eBay sellers. DeAnn’s roots include managing content strategy for both the semiconductor and networking software industries.

	Rick Yagodich Principal Consultant Excolo Content management consultant, specialising in ensuring the content authoring interfaces are fit for purpose within the businesses process models.