mesh Panelists: Mark Federman
An unconventional, yet strategic thinker, Mark Federman has more than twenty-five years experience in the high-technology industry as executive, manager and consultant, spanning disciplines including research and development, marketing, sales, operations and strategic leadership. Until recently, Mark has played the role of Chief Strategist at the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. He is a regular guest lecturer at Högskölan för Lärande och Kommunikation (Practical School of Education and Communication – equivalent to a polytechnical institute that grants both undergraduate and graduate degrees) in Jönköping Sweden, and has been a visiting professor at the Fachhochschule (same as a högskölan) in Kiel Germany, and elsewhere.
Mark is the co-author, with Derrick de Kerckhove, of McLuhan for Managers — New Tools for New Thinking. Some of his recent explorations have examined “Generation Gap: Why today’s youth are living in tomorrow’s world,†“The Penguinist Discourse: A critical application of open source software project management to organization development,†“Why Johnny and Janey Can’t Read, and Why Mr. and Ms. Smith Can’t Teach,†“Discovering the Passion in Your Work and Your Life,†“The Ephemeral Artefact – Visions of Cultural Experience in 2020,†“How to Know What Business You’re Really In,†“Integral Awareness in the Connected Society,†“The Cultural Paradox of the Internet,†and “Creating a Culture of Innovation.†His recently completed research proposes the notion of “role*†(pronounced “role starâ€) through which people can become aware of the effects of the roles they play, and how to actualize these effects to achieve personal motivation, engagement and passion throughout their lives.
Mark is often called on to provide thought leadership on issues relating to consequences of the seemingly massive changes that are occurring throughout society. Most recently, he has been invited to provide keynote addresses to the senior levels of management in Canada’s Public Service, health care researchers and policy makers, teachers, school administrators, and education policy advisors, and senior executives in the advertising, marketing, branding and public relations industry. Internationally, Mark has been called upon to provide a view into the future for the emergence of culture by UNESCO, and at universities in Germany, Sweden, Austria, the Slovak Republic, and elsewhere. The University of Toronto lists Mark in its “blue book†of experts and he is frequently called by major media outlets, including Canada’s three major television networks, and the major newspapers across the country; a feature interview with Mark specifically on his method of strategic engagement appeared several years ago in the Wall Street Journal.
Mark is currently engaged in Ph.D. research at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, the theme of which is A Valence Theory of Organization. His research strives to re-theorize the concept and consequences of organization, creating an emergent model of the “organization of the future†that is consistent with our present conditions of ubiquitous connectivity and pervasive proximity, or “UCaPP.â€
An internationally sought lecturer, speaker, facilitator and playshop leader, Mark consults to businesses and government agencies as a strategy advisor to help them gain awareness, perception and insight into complex issues in an environment of continual change.
Mark blogs at What is the (Next) Message?.
Tags: Mark Federman, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007
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mesh Panelists: Albert Lai
Albert Lai sold his first internet company, MyDesktop Network, for millions of dollars while still in his teens. After the sale of his first internet company to JupiterMedia (JUPM), Albert has been involved in founding, launching, or funding nearly a dozen technology companies over the past 10 years. Most recently, Albert was the founder and CEO of BubbleShare, an innovative online photo sharing service that attracted the interest of multiple?industry leading companies, that was sold to Kaboose (KAB) this year in a deal worth several million dollars at 28. Albert has passion for seeking out “what’s next,” and help launched the first DemoCamp, a series of “Unconferences” that now takes place around the world. In his spare time, Albert enjoys spending time helping emerging companies and young entrepreneurs avoiding the immeasurable number of mistakes that he’s made in the past, hoping they too one day will “pay it forward.” He blogs about disruptive simplicity and other random thoughts at http://simplyalbert.blogspot.com.
Tags: Albert Lai, Bubbleshare, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007
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mesh Panelists: Leila Boujnane
Leila Boujnane is Co–Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Idée Inc. Leila has been instrumental in making Idée the leader in visual search and image recognition technologies for the digital imaging, media and entertainment industries. She is responsible for all aspects of the company’s strategy and operations.
Leila brings over a decade of experience in the technology sector to her CEO role. Leila is characterized by her peers and colleagues as a passionate and determined entrepreneur with exceptional leadership skills. She regularly speaks at industry conferences and is an active mentor for young women in technology. Leila can be found blogging at hyperbio.net and she is also an avid long distance runner.
Tags: Idee, Leila Boujnane, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Web 2.0
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mesh Panelists: Philip de Vellis
Philip de Vellis is the creator of the “Vote Different” ad, which he posted online under the pseudonym ParkRidge47. The ad, which mashed up Apple’s iconic “1984″ spot with footage from Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign website, has received more than 3 million views on YouTube and was featured on every major US television network, cable news channel, newspaper, and political blog. The San Francisco Chronicle called it “a watershed moment in 21st century media and political advertising.”
De Vellis previously worked as a senior strategist at Blue State Digital, a progressive internet consulting firm. He was director of Internet communications for Sherrod Brown’s successful 2006 U.S. Senate race in Ohio, deputy internet communications director for Wal-Mart Watch, and was deputy field director for Cuyahoga County, Ohio on the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign. Prior to his full-time work in politics, he was a freelance video editor and motion graphics designer in his home town of Los Angeles. De Vellis graduated from UCLA with a BA in history.
Tags: mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Philip de Vellis, video, Web 2.0, YouTube
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mesh Panelists: Nancy Peterson
Nancy Peterson is the founder of HomeStars.ca, where consumers can read other people’s home improvement stories or write their own.
Nancy started HomeStars in Toronto after living through several lengthy home renovation projects. She saw an opportunity to vastly improve the decision making process for homeowners when searching and selecting home improvement companies, by harnessing the power of word-of-mouth in an online medium. The team is currently working on HomeStars 2.0 to build out a stronger community of user content.
Prior to HomeStars, Nancy spent her career in marketing at Kraft Foods in Toronto and Procter & Gamble in The Netherlands. She has an International MBA from RSM Erasmus University in Rotterdam and a BA from University of Western Ontario.
Tags: Homestars, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Nancy Peterson, Web 2.0
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mesh Panelists: Scott Feschuk
Scott Feschuk wrote this bio himself – let’s just come right out and say that. He doesn’t have “people” to do that kind of thing for him. So why is he using the third person? Hmm. That’s a good question. Hey! Look over there – Bigfoot! [sounds of footsteps running off]
Aww, screw it: I’ve worked as chief speechwriter to Paul Martin and as a writer on This Hour Has 22 Minutes (though not, alas, simultaneously). I’ve written a couple books (which sold tens of copies — combined) and worked for the Globe and Mail and National Post. I’m a partner in a speechwriting firm, Feschuk.Reid, which is based in Ottawa and Toronto. And I write a column and blog for Maclean’s.
There. Whew. I think Scott Feschuk pulled that off okay.
Tags: mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Scott Feschuk, Web 2.0
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mesh Panelists: Michael Masnick
Mike is the visionary behind Techdirt, building up the core idea into reality and recruiting the management team. In addition to providing the strategic direction for the company, Mike oversees all editorial aspects of the Techdirt’s public and customer sites. Mike’s insight into the realms of business and technology are the basis for his frequent posts to the award winning Techdirt blog. The widely followed, often quoted blog was launched in 1997.
Prior to founding Techdirt Inc., Mike worked in business development and marketing at Release Software, an e-commerce startup, and in marketing at Intel. Mike has a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations and an MBA — both from Cornell University.
[Editorial note: Congratulations to Mike and the rest of the Techdirt crew for being nominated for a 2007 Webby in the Business Blog category.]
Tags: mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Mike Masnick, Techdirt, Web 2.0, Webby
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mesh Panelists: Christine Herron
Christine Herron is a director at Omidyar Network, where she invests in both participatory content and communications infrastructure. Prior to Omidyar Network, Christine held operational roles with Mission Research, NetObjects, and Microsoft, and co-founded both Cycle Partners and Mercury2.
Christine started as an investor with Geocapital Partners, where she funded early Internet and network infrastructure businesses such as Netcom and AXON Networks. Her current board participation includes Backfence, Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD), Common Sense Media, Digg, Nickel Tour Productions, and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. Christine was ranked among the Top 20 Women in Technology in 2000 by AltaVista and holds degrees from Stanford University and Columbia University.
Tags: Christine Herron, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Omidyar Network, Web 2.0
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mesh 2007 Meetup, Part Two – This Time, It’s Political
Come out with the mesh guys and get your political blog on, Toronto!
We had a great time at the first mesh meetup, but there are still a few weeks left to mesh ‘07 and we’d like to get together again. And this time, it’s political.
Blogger and National Post columnist Andrew Coyne, blogging M.P. Garth Turner, former Paul Martin speechwriter (and of late writer, humourist and blogger) Scott Feschuk and Phil de Vellis, the creator of the “Vote Different” Hillary ‘08 YouTube sensation, will be doing a panel at mesh ‘07 on what’s happening now with Politics and the Web, but let’s get the conversation started early!
Whether you’re a political blogger, party stalwart, consultant or media observer, or like us just plain fascinated by the impact that the Web is having on the way we discuss, organize and create political change, come on out and join us and folks from the Toronto Web 2.0 community on May 9 for snacks and libations at The Charlotte Room – details and signup at the Upcoming site, and please help to get the word out by forwarding this post to someone you can beat at eight-ball. Worst case, you can settle your political differences the way we were meant to – over libations and pool tables.
Tags: Andrew Coyne, conference, Garth Turner, meetup, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, Paul Martin, Phil de Vellis, Scott Feschuk, Toronto, Web 2.0
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mesh Panelists: Loren Feldman
Loren Feldman, one of the Web’s leading video bloggers, is president of 1938 Media where he is responsible for directing the overall operations of the company as well as corporate development and strategic planning. Prior to founding 1938 Media, he founded and published NY Hotshot magazine. and was a creative director with MusicVision, an interactive advertising agency, where he developed online advertising campaigns for companies such as Nokia and Scion.
Tags: 1938 media, conference, Loren Feldman, mesh, mesh07, mesh2007, video, Web 2.0
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