2013 ADVISORY BOARD

That’s a big promise.

To ensure we deliver it again in 2013, we have assembled an Advisory Board of some of the most knowledgeable digital professionals in Canada. They will provide insight, direction, and advice on what we offer and how it will be delivered in 2013.

Meet the members of our 2013 valued advisory board.

Trained at the legendary Second City, Ron Tite has been an actor, comedian, speaker, host, and award-winning advertising writer and Executive Creative Director.

Named one of the Top 10 Creative Canadians by Marketing Magazine, he has also written for a number of television series, penned a children’s book, and wrote, performed and produced the play, The Canadian Baby Bonus. He has created advertising campaigns for clients including Air France, Evian, Kraft, Intel, Microsoft, Volvo, and many others. His work has been recognized by The London International Advertising Awards, The New York Festivals of Advertising, The Crystals, The Extras, The Canadian Marketing Association, The Marketing Awards and others.

In demand as a speaker on Creativity, Innovation, Personal Branding, Marketing & Advertising, and Corporate Strategy, Ron has spoken to audiences all over North America.

Currently, he is President of The Tite Group, a content marketing agency based in Toronto.

Eric Morris is the head of mobile advertising at Google, where since 2002, he has worked alongside Canada’s top marketers and advertising agencies.

In his current role, Eric leads Google’s mobile search and display advertising business in Canada.

Previously, Eric managed Google’s automotive advertising practice in Canada, leading a sales and operations team focused on online advertising, analytics and research as they relate to the auto industry.

Eric sits on the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada’s board of directors.

Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, Eric is a graduate of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

As the Vice President, E-Commerce and Marketing, James is responsible for overseeing and developing multi-channel strategy and operations at Roots Canada.  Additionally his other responsibilities include leading the marketing efforts at Roots with a focus on partnerships, loyalty, non-traditional and digital marketing and branding efforts. He joined Roots 10+ years ago and has functioned in a number of roles within the organization primarily focused in the areas of ecommerce, marketing and direct to consumer sales.

His role in marketing at Roots and his passion for integrating digital technologies into marketing programs have lead to Roots winning numerous awards and accolades and most recently being nominated as a finalist for a Webby award in a category with brands like Google and Adobe. James has also spoken to audiences worldwide on the topics of social media and online retail.

Matt Hassell has been using new technology and creative insight to build brands for the last 11 years.
Matt is a Toronto-based Chief Creative Officer, Writer and digital thinker and has been successfully delivering digital, mass and CRM solutions to brands like Nissan, Rogers, Absolut, Nivea, VISA and most recently American Express, Cogeco, and Unilever.
 
Matt believes in creating a new narrative for advertising - one that treats innovation, technology and consumer insight as key ingredients in augmenting a brand’s position. As testament to the validity of this approach, Matt has been awarded by several Canadian and International award shows.

Laura Pearce is a seasoned marketing professional with more than 12 years of industry-related experience. Currently the Director of Marketing & Communications at AOL Canada, Pearce is responsible for leading and executing all B2B and B2C marketing initiatives and public relations for the company.  Prior to AOL, Pearce was at CanWest as the Director of Digital Marketing executing deliverables including branding, advertising, SEM/SEO, direct mail/e-mail, promotional and event marketing programs for all digital products for the publishing and broadcast divisions of Canwest. In 2004, Pearce successfully relaunched and managed CanWest's automotive site, driving.ca. Additional marketing experience includes Autotrader.ca and Dell.ca.

Pearce sits on the committee for Digital Day here in Toronto, and is fully bilingual with a Masters degree in French from McMaster University in Hamilton.

Steve is a seasoned executive and successful entrepreneur and is currently a member of the senior leadership team at Facebook Canada.  With a track record of success in the digital and social media marketing industry, he now manages a team at Facebook focused on building trusted advisor relationships with C-level decision makers at some of Canada's largest brands and agencies.

Prior to joining Facebook, Steve was a co-founder and CEO of 80/20 Solutions, an innovative web-based marketing software company that helped industry-leading brands and agencies build more profitable and loyal consumer relationships through multi-channel 1:1 marketing automation, dynamic campaign management and real-time performance measurement.

Steve was formerly a senior strategic advisor on technology, new media and social marketing to the managing director of IMG, the world's largest entertainment, sports and media company. Steve was also the CEO of Motion Media Interactive, where he worked with large strategic accounts such as Microsoft, Sprint and Sun Media. Steve started his career in the financial sector as a technology analyst and was one of the early champions of the cloud computing model.

Steve is an academic all-Canadian graduate from York University in Toronto.

Martin is the Manager of Online Business Development at Lowe’s Canada. He joined Lowe’s in the summer of 2012 to support the launch and continued development of Lowes.ca by providing strategic planning, UX insight and Omni-channel development.

Prior to Lowe’s Martin was the Manager of eCommerce at Town Shoes Ltd. where we was instrumental in the growth and success of the online channel. He also spearheaded the sourcing and implementation of their eCommerce & mobile platform.

Martin has also managed eCommerce implementations and launches across several divisions of YM Inc. including Stitches, Urban Planet, Bluenotes and Suzy Shier. Martin believes that a transactional retail site isn’t just another store. It’s a lead generating, comprehensive catalogue that complements the in-store experience to help business, drive business, and be a business. His goal is to simply turn eCommerce into Commerce.

Dave Fleet leads Edelman’s Digital practice in Toronto, heading a team providing counsel to clients such as such as RIM, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Pfizer, Kraft, Labatt and Red Bull. Dave merges an understanding of relationships and community building with expertise in communications to provide a range of integrated communications and social media services for clients.

Prior to joining Edelman, Dave developed and executed strategic and social media communications programs on the agency side for some of North America’s largest organizations. He also worked for nearly five years within strategic communications in the public sector.

Dave is a well-known figure in the social media environment, and has appeared in tier one media such as the Globe and Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, TVO’s ‘The Agenda’ and CityNews discussing digital communications. His blog, davefleet.com, is dedicated to exploring the intersection of public relations, social media and marketing.

An award-winning communicator with both public and private sector experience, Dave holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and for several years was a co-organizer of Canada’s largest social media event, PodCamp Toronto. In his spare time, Dave is an avid bookworm, video-gamer and marathon runner.

Elaine Mah is the Director for Canada at Intel Corporation and a seven year veteran with the company. Among her many achievements at Intel, Elaine is especially proud of her work fostering innovation and growth with small businesses through her Canadian small business advisory board. She is a frequent speaker at industry and government conferences on the importance of technology to the Canadian economy, as well as on emerging trends.

As director of social media, Ed explores the exciting social media landscape with clients, guiding them through the use of new technologies, providing innovative ways to engage stakeholders online and spreading social creativity. A leading blogger in the Canadian PR, social media and marketing space, Ed is fascinated with all new and online media channels and their application to communications and marketing.

In 2009, Ed was recognized by Marketing magazine as one of the “One’s to Watch,” a list which encourages and celebrates the accomplishments of talented young professionals, ages 30 and under, working in marketing, advertising or media.

A frequent speaker and commentator on the online marketing industry, he regularly writes articles for trade and business media and appears on BNN as an expert in social media. Ed hails from London, England, and like all good Englishmen, loves to play football and watch his favourite team, Liverpool FC, on the telly. A political film buff, Ed founded the Oxford Brookes Political Film Society, to help promote political consciousness at Oxford Brookes University.

Chris was one of the initiators of Interactive Marketing in Canada. His experience spans client strategy, creative at agencies such as Media Contacts, Arnold Advertising and BBDO Canada. He has developed strong integrated strategic and creative solutions for such clients as Bank of Montreal, Canadian Tourism Commission, Monster.ca, Harris Bank, Excite.ca, Kanetix.ca, Pepsi, Miller Brewing (US), Chrysler, Apple, Bell Canada, Fedex and Chapters.ca. Awards include John Caples Awards, Marketing Magazine Awards and CDMA RSVP Awards. Chris is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada.

Dave first joined Rogers in August 1990. In his current role as Vice President, Emerging Business, Dave identifies, evaluates, plans and executes new business concepts that are currently outside the scope of Rogers’ existing operations.

Dave and his team have lead Rogers’ mobile commerce initiatives, including a leading role in the GSM Association’s “Pay-Buy-Mobile” initiative.  This brings together the financial and mobile industries to provide a clear pathway to globally scalable mobile Near Field Communications (“NFC”) payment services.

Dave is also a founder of Enstream, a mobile commerce joint-venture company owned by Bell Canada, Rogers Communications, and TELUS Corporation. Enstream’s “Zoompass” product is a mobile person-to-person money transfer service that uses a stored value account to send/receive/request money quickly and securely for all 21 million mobile phone users on the Bell, Fido, PC Mobile, Rogers, Solo Mobile, or TELUS networks. Recently, Enstream announced a strategic alliance with Western Union that will allow Zoompass users to send domestic and cross-border money transfers from their mobile phones to more than 380,000 Western Union Agent locations in 200 countries and territories, as well as directly to subscribers of mobile phone companies with whom Western Union has launched the Mobile Money Transfer service.

He brings a unique insight into the future of mobile financial, mobile commercial and retail enterprise solutions to the Dx3 Canada advisory board.

Doug Stephens is thought by many to be one of the world’s only retail futurists.
His intellectual work and thinking have influenced many of North America’s bestknown retailers and brands including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Hudson’s Bay Company, Disney, Loblaw, Air Miles and Benjamin Moore.

Prior to founding Retail Prophet Consulting, Doug spent 20 years in retail holding senior international roles, including the leadership of one of New York City’s most iconic retail chains.

He is also founder of the Retail Prophet Network – a unique online community that is shaping the future of retail by bringing thousands of retail students together with progressive industry professionals worldwide to share trends, innovations and opportunities.

Additionally, Doug is a regular guest expert on CTV’s acclaimed consumer technology series App Central TV. He also sits on the advisory boards of the Location-Based Marketing Association and a mobile application development company.

When not speaking, Doug is a highly sought after adviser, writer and opinion leader for business media on trends and changes in retailing and consumerism and author of the soon to be released book, The Retail Revival: Thriving in a new era of consumerism

Tracy Hackett is Vice President of Marketing, RBC Royal Bank. She has responsibility for overall design, direction, and execution of marketing initiatives across all lines of business who serve the Canadian-based client.  In addition to directly supporting business objectives, she led the 2010 Vancouver Olympic activation, the introduction of RBC’s new iconic brand figure, and most recently the introduction of new digital products and channels including the RBC Advice Centre.

Ms. Hackett began her career with RBC in the retail branch and administrative area and expanded her retail experience to include roles in lending and branch management within the banking network. Later, she joined the training department where she was responsible for the sales training programs for Ontario.

Following that, she was a member of RBC Banking’s national retail sales department in which she focused on the design and implementation of sales practices. Ms. Hackett then became the Sales & Market Manager for Southern Saskatchewan where she held leadership responsibilities that included personal and business markets, before becoming head of Sales Effectiveness for RBC Banking’s Atlantic region.

From there, she was appointed Vice-President, Sales Effectiveness for RBI Financial Planning, a brand new business shared by both RBC Banking and RBC Investments. She was subsequently named Vice-President & Director for the newly created RBC Investments Sales Effectiveness group. In this role, she had responsibilities for sales and sales management practices for RBC Financial Group’s wealth management businesses, both domestically and internationally, while also continuing to play a key role in co-ordinating leadership activity between RBCI and RBC Banking via the Integrated Client Service initiative.  Before joining the marketing team, she was responsible for clients, sales forces, and the bottom line revenue in Calgary, Alberta.

Ms. Hackett holds an MBA through St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  She is a fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers, and holds both a Personal Financial Planning designation and a Canadian Financial Planning diploma.

An active member of the communities where she works and lives, Ms Hackett supports an urban women’s shelter and Toronto’s hospital for the treatment of cance

Blake Jarrett, founder of Blake Jarrett & Company has a true passion for marketing products at the retail level. Understanding consumer behaviour, retail/operations design in conjunction with a passion for creative development and engineering has allowed Blake to be involved with hundreds of successful store level executions. Blake's passion for the creative comes from a long and distinguished education in Industrial Design, seeing him graduate from Ontario College of Art & Design and Syracuse University. Retail was added into the mix from years of experience as a Retail Designer at the "University of Don Watt" aka the Watt Group. Being in the business for as long as he has, has not depleted his enthusiasm in the least, in fact the rapidly changing consumer behaviour driven by the digital influence has Blake more engaged than ever.

As President, Content Marketing at WPP specialist communications agency Spafax, Raymond and his team help major travel and lifestyle brands connect with their customers using story (content) across digital and traditional media platforms. He’s helped develop media platforms in Canada for the likes of Air Canada, Mercedes and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts – as well as award winning work for DirecTV in Latin America and over 20 airlines around the world.
 

When Google wanted to explain online marketing to the top brands in the world, they brought Mitch Joel to the Googleplex in Mountain View, California. Marketing Magazine dubbed him the "Rock Star of Digital Marketing" and called him, "one of North America's leading digital visionaries." In 2006 he was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. Mitch Joel is President of Twist Image - an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communications agency (although he prefers the title, Media Hacker). He has been called a marketing and communications visionary, interactive expert and community leader. He is also a Blogger, Podcaster, passionate entrepreneur and speaker who connects with people worldwide by sharing his marketing insights on digital marketing and new media. In 2008, Mitch was named Canada's Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and was awarded the highly prestigious Canada's Top 40 Under 40. Most recently, Mitch was named one of iMedia's 25 Internet Marketing Leaders and Innovators in the world. Marketing Magazine has named Twist Image one of the Top 10 agencies in Canada for two years running (and the only digital marketing pure-play to make the list).

Joel is the Vice-Chair and Board Member of the Canadian Marketing Association and an executive for the National Advertising Benevolent Society of Quebec. He is also a former Board Member of the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. He sits on the content committee for both Shop.org and the Web Analytics Association, and is on the advisory council for many businesses and charitable organizations.

Joel speaks frequently to diverse groups like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, Microsoft, Procter and Gamble, Hewlett Packard, Unilever and has shared the stage with former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, Sir Richard Branson, Malcolm Gladwell, Anthony Robbins, Tom Peters and Dr. Phil. As a professional speaker, Mitch is represented exclusively by Greater Talent Network in the U.S. and by Speaker's Spotlight in Canada.

He co-launched Distort Entertainment, the only hard music label in Canada to have major label distribution (Universal Music) and whose roster features the platinum-plus, Juno Award and MuchMusic Video Award-winning acts, Alexisonfire and City And Colour.

Joel is frequently called upon to be a subject matter expert for Huffington Post, BusinessWeek, Fast Company, Marketing Magazine, Profit, Strategy, Money, The Globe & Mail and many other media outlets. His newspaper business column, New Business - Six Pixels of Separation, runs bi-monthly in both The Montreal Gazette and Vancouver Sun. His first book, Six Pixels of Separation (published by Grand Central Publishing - Hachette Book Group), named after his successful Blog and Podcast is a business and marketing bestseller.

Brent Bernie has almost 29 years of information services marketing experience.  He leads a rapidly expanding team of account people who service and support over 155 customers in Canada. comScore Media Metrix is the only Canadian company that maintains a panel of Canadians for the purposes of reporting and evaluating their actual online behaviour.  With a current panel of 35,000 people per month, comScore has the ability to benchmark sites vs. their category, evaluate demographic delivery, and monitor the growth of the online market across many different business sectors. Brent has most recently been intimately involved in the development of comScore’s Unified Digital Measurement transition and ensuring Canada is at the forefront of this digital measurement enhancement.

Brent began the Media Metrix service in Canada in late 1999 as its first and only president. Media Metrixs’ North American operations were acquired by comScore in spring 2002. Prior to initiating the Media Metrix service in Canada as its leader, Brent was President of Harris Media Systems, a major Canadian software builder of advertising planning tools across all media.

Brent is the Chairman of the board of NABS (The National Advertising Benevolent Society of Canada), and he was active on the board of the IAB for seven years serving as Chairman of the organization from 2004 to June 2006. Brent was very involved in the creation of the IAB’s CMOST (Canadian Media Optimization Program) and is one of Canada’s leading digital minds, having been voted one of the 100 most influential people in Canadian communications. We are delighted that he has chosen to bring his experience, insights, knowledge and research of Canadian digital consumer behavior, (which are without match) to Dx3 Canada’s Advisory Board.

Kathryn Easter is one of the founding partners of Mom Central Consulting in Canada. As part of the Mom Central team Kathryn is responsible for overseeing client strategy, social media measurement and research initiatives to better understand mom behaviours.  Over the past 3 years she’s helped many clients take their first steps into developing online conversations with moms.  
Current client roster includes General Mills, Fisher-Price, Barbie, Kinder, Astral Media, Reckitt Beckniser, Loblaw and savvy media/digital agencies.
 

Tanbir Grover is the Director of eCommerce for Lowe's Canada.  He joined Lowe's in the summer of 2012, to lead and establish Lowes.ca as a comprehensive destination for home improvement products and inspiration.   Prior to joining Lowe's, Tanbir was the Director of eCommerce at The Hudson’s Bay Company where he successfully launched the site and was instrumental in its growth and success.  Tanbir has also worked for Sears Canada in managing their online business and has a diverse set of experiences through his work with Coca-Cola and Bombardier.  With an Honours Degree in Commerce from McMaster University and an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Tanbir is a well-known and well respected advocate of Canada’s emerging eCommerce industry.

In order to truly stand-out in today’s media landscape requires that a certain dedication to sourcing industry-changing and innovative concepts. Sean has made a career of doing exactly that across a number of verticals and clients in the Digital arena, and has been evidenced most notably in 2011 across the Media industry in Canada. His digital experience targeting young and technically ‘aware’ males in Canada extends from brands like Visa, Hewlett-Packard, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, FedEx, and even into the Online Dating arena as well as examples of his past work.

As noted above, Sean brings a unique element to Digital planning which has been fostered from 8+ years in the Digital Industry. His cumulative experience led up to what was a year to remember in 2011 where Sean was recognized publicly for his efforts, winning the ‘Ad Club of Toronto’s 2011 Digital Planner of the Year’ award, while also being named by Marketing Magazine at the 2011 Digital Marketing Awards (DMAs) as being in the Top-10 most influential people in the Digital Media industry in Canada.

A graduate of both Ryerson University and Seneca College, Sean is well known in the Canadian media community. He currently sits on the Curriculum development panels for both Seneca College and Loyalist College, having also presented to the graduate class at Seneca College regarding career paths in digital for 4 successive years.  In addition, his digital experience has also covered Technical Architecture, CRM, Creative Development and Paid Search, in addition to the work he has been recognized for in the Digital Media space.

Now a Digital Director at MediaVest working on brands like CapitalOne, Dyson, and the internal SMG Private Exchange, Sean's footprint on the Digital Media landscape in Canada is only continuing to expand.

A business minded, results oriented advertising professional who believes that consumer data drives insight, which leads to great creative, across all channels. Matt has worked on Tier 1 clients ranging from Volvo, Dell, Sprint Canada, Canadian Tire to Fidelity Investments, TD Canada Trust, GSK, New Balance, Hankook Tire and Samsung Electronics.

Julia Casale lives at the epicenter of where digital media, technology and conversations all converge. As chief marketing officer at Casale Media, Canada’s largest independent online media and technology company, she advises clients on how to build meaningful connections with their customers through the use of digital media. Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in the digital marketing space, Julia pilots all aspects of Casale Media’s corporate brand and communications strategy from product planning and market research, to insights engineering and creative design. She contributes frequently to industry publications on the topic of digital media and is active in prominent trade associations. Julia grew up in Toronto, ON and is a Ryerson alumni.

Currently, as the SVP, General Manager at Critical Mass, Matt brings to this newly created role, his passion for innovation & entrepreneurship and over 16 years of agency experience in communications & marketing. In this role, he oversees the Research & Insights, Business Sciences, Comms Planning, Content Strategy and Digital & Emerging Media teams and is actively ensuring digital is at the core of the company’s vision.
He began his career in P.R. & event marketing before making the switch to interactive in 1998 as director of emarketing at Devlin Applied Design working on MAC Cosmetics, MSN & CIBC. Following Devlin, Matt led the VISA business at Leo Burnett, as well as driving integrated campaigns for AOL & Wrigley.?From 2002-2007, Matt went to Tribal DDB to help re-build their Toronto office. Over 5 years, Matt led national accounts and award-winning integrated work for clients such as BMO InvestorLine, Canadian Tourism Commission, and Gatorade. During his tenure, the Toronto office grew 200%, and won Digital Agency of the year in 2005.

Following Tribal, Matt went to Proximity Canada with a proven track record in integration and innovation. From 2007 to 2011, Proximity grew from 40 people to over 200 and secured digital & CRM AOR relationships with global blue chip clients like Gillette & HP plus Canadian-specific clients like Mars, Campbell’s, Pepsi-QTG, Frito-Lay, & RBC amongst others. 2008-11 were also years of creative recognition with 3 Cannes Lions, Best in Shows at the CMAs and FAB awards and wins at the Digital Marketing Awards, DMA Echos, Bessies, Applied Arts, Caples, Communications Arts, AdWeek's Buzz Awards, Webbies, & One Show.

Matt sits on the Advisory Board for nextMedia, and has presented on the topic of branded entertainment at nextMedia and at SXSW in 2011. Most recently, he was Executive Producer of the off broadway play, "Quake" in NYC and wrote, directed & produced "The Grind" in 2001's Toronto Fringe Festival.?

Wilf Dinnick is Founding Editor and CEO of OpenFile, a network of local online news sites. OpenFile is delivering the service of local journalism faster, easier and more effectively to communities. It is a collaborative news site. Your story is the news on OpenFile. You suggest a story, we assign the reporter and together we shape local news.

As a foreign correspondent, Wilf had the good fortune to report from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe and all over the Middle East. He covered the war in Iraq, Afghanistan's first democratic elections, the South Asia tsunami, the death of Pope John Paul II and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine

Wilf is an award-winning journalist and has worked for all three Canadian networks. He was also an International Correspondent for CNN and the Middle East Correspondent for ABC News. Wilf has had some amazing experiences, but co-founding OpenFile is far and away the greatest highlight so far.  

As an entrepreneur and strategic business consultant, Albert has built his career on helping and advising tech, software and internet companies on their strategic partnership/alliances strategies, objectives and methods of distribution since the mid 90s. Strategic Partnerships, Alliances, Partnership development, Sales & Marketing Partnerships and Canadian Business are all part of Albert’s DNA. He is a staunch supporter and promoter of Canadian business, Canadian Startups and the Canadian Software & Internet Industry.

More recently, Albert has become one of the leading voices and authorities in the Deals and Local Commerce industry in Canada. As president of the Canadian Deals Association, Albert is driven to organize and provide growth opportunities for the country’s deals community. The Canadian Deals Association is the leading voice and only association in Canada focused on the entire spectrum of the deals industry (daily deals, flash sales, couponing, savings cards, deal portals, etc)
This industry, like most, needs strategic thought and much needed insight and support is provided to entrepreneurs, VCs, investors, deal executives, CEOs, media companies, retail executives and local commerce executives across the country. Albert is always seeking beneficial relationships or partnerships for the Deals and Local Commerce Industries; be they in the form of mergers and acquisitions, marketing synergies, content partnerships, retail and brand partnerships or sales distribution methods. Do get in touch. www.canadiandealsassociation.com

Simon’s lifelong dedication to digital and mobile media has allowed him to be part of the meteoric rise of this platform. When Simon is conceiving, planning and producing successful, integrated advertising or mobile campaigns, his infectious energy coupled with his experience and creative, strategic mindset make him a valuable Executive Production Consultant and Visionary Guide, or as some like to call him, a Digital Sherpa.  

As Canada's first official Digital Strategist, Simon’s professional experience includes working in Europe and North America as a freelance producer and creative digital strategist for over 15 years, applying creative and strategic production methods to digital media campaigns for agencies and brands. His talent in conceptualizing new creative campaigns and his ability to cultivate relationships and alliances among developers, designers and agencies is globally recognized.

Simon is generally renowned as a digital industry connector, having served as Ambassador of FITC events for over 10 years. FITC is a global design and technology event company which originated in Toronto. Simon has been integral in building FITC since its inception back in 2001 as well as helping FITC become the globally recognized industry event and award show that it is today. He was also instrumental in growing the world’s largest Adobe Flash user group based right here in Toronto during his role as Executive Director of FlashinTO.
 
Simon originally hails from England where at age 8, he started interacting with a ZX80 computer using BASIC. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife and two children and is Senior Digital Producer at Saatchi & Saatchi Canada. More information may be found at www.simonconlin.com.
 

Jennifer Evans has been a pioneer and leader in the digital space for over a decade.
She founded Sequentia Communications in 2002 and transitioned into the role of CEO and Chief Strategist when Sequentia joined the Environics family of companies in 2008.
Jen is a globally sought-after digital strategist with patents pending on many of her methodologies including The Sequence, Sequentia’s groundbreaking approach to community engagement, and the company’s content measurement framework.
Along with her roles at Sequentia, Jen has also written for The Globe and Mail and PCWorld.ca and recently coauthored an article with Environics co-founder Michael Adams on social media and employee engagement. She regularly appears on BNN and other media outlets to discuss the current state of technology. Represented by the Brickenden Speaker’s Bureau, she’s been a keynote speaker at various conferences and events across North America and guest lectures at a variety of colleges and universities.

An avid volunteer, Jen was the co-chair of the White Ribbon Campaign for six years and was recently appointed the Chair of ITAC. She is also an advisor for DigitalJournal.

Chris began his marketing career as a summer intern at Nabisco Grocery Division.  Upon completion of his MBA from Dalhousie University in 1990 Chris knew he had found his calling in food marketing when he got recipes for Del Monte printed on the back labels.

Chris moved to Quaker Oats in Peterborough for 5 years where he launched the Fruit and Oatmeal bars and led the repositioning of the granola snack business and the RTE cereal business.

In 1988, Chris rejoined Nabisco as Director of Marketing first on grocery products and then on cookies fulfilling his dream of becoming Mr. Christie.

In search of new challenges Chris joined Kraft Canada as Director of Strategy working through various categories until becoming VP of Snacks, Marketing.

In late 2005 Chris and his family were transferred to Australia as the Managing Director for Kraft Foods, Australia/New Zealand.  A wonderful country and challenging business environment created a tremendous learning opportunity.

In early 2008 the Bells were sent to Chicago where Chris took on the role of VP International Strategy.

In mid-2008 the Bells returned to Toronto with Chris returning to Kraft Canada as VP Snacks.  Since mid-2011, Chris has been leading the Grocery and Beverages sector.

Chris brings over 20 years’ experience in the food marketing industry both in Canada and abroad.  His areas of emphasis include marketing, strategy and general management.

Chris is married to Carol, a teacher.  They have two kids 17 and 15, who are now bigger than they are.