Keynote Speakers

Bob Johansen

Bob Johansen has been doing ten-year forecasting for more than thirty-five years now, with remarkable accuracy. In this talk and interactive discussion, he returns from the future and shares the leadership skills that will be needed to thrive in a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—but still a world of great hope. This interactive presentation will draw from Bob’s new book Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World, but he will also provide an experience that will help you sort out what these leadership skills mean for you. Foresight can provoke insight and lead to better decisions—and better leadership—in the present. Bob is a social scientist by training, with an interdisciplinary background: he holds a BS degree from the University of Illinois, where he also played varsity basketball, and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Bob also has a Master of Divinity degree, with a focus on world religions.

Tara Hunt

Tara Hunt is a leading authority on online communities—how they are changing our culture and how businesses must behave in order to succeed in the participatory web economy. She is one of the most respected and cited thought leaders in community marketing—how to delight and enchant the people in the communities your company serves with products, experiences and communications that honor an all-new set of expectations. The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business is Tara’s new breakthrough book on community marketing. It provides the strategic map and specific tactics for success in the new economy and its elusive, lucrative world of online communities.

Russ Roberts

Russ Roberts assists clients in developing and implementing winning business strategies: clarifying future direction; identifying critical priorities; and building core competencies, effective organizations and strong cultures. Russ works with organizations ranging from respected Fortune 100 companies to relatively unknown start-ups. He has served with distinction across a broad range of industries including financial and professional services, technology, consumer products, insurance, pharmaceuticals and life sciences and manufacturing. He also has assisted educational institutions, state and local government, non-profit, service and professional sports organizations. Russ is Adjunct Professor in the Management and Organizations Department at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, where he teaches “Consulting Frameworks and Practice”, a popular course of his own creation. He has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Journal of Business Strategy and elsewhere. Professor Roberts has been a speaker and lecturer for clients, industry groups and graduate business schools. He was a contributing author to The Strategic Management Handbook and The Future of Human Resource Management. Russ has written numerous articles on leadership, change, sales force performance and human resources (see Publications).