Diane Brisebois
President
Retail Council of Canada
Diane J. Brisebois, CAE, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Retail Council of Canada (RCC). She oversees the largest retail association in Canada serving over 45,000 retail establishments including independent merchants, chain stores, mass merchants, big box and online retailers. RCC’s membership covers all segments of the retail market including general merchandise, grocery and pharmacy.
Additionally Diane serves on several Boards across North America.
She is currently the Chair of the Forum of International Retail Association Executives (FIRAE), based in Washington, DC, which brings together retail associations from more than 35 countries to collaborate on issues affecting the retail sector globally.
She also serves as the Chair of the Fair Factory Clearinghouse (FFC), an organization based in New York City and established to use technology to facilitate the exchange of non-competitive information concerning factory compliance, enabling collaboration in global efforts to asses and improve workplace conditions.
As well, she serves on the Advisory Board of Ryerson University’s School of Retail Management in Toronto, the University of Alberta’s School of Retail in Edmonton, the Board of Stewardship Ontario (Ontario Blue Box Program) and Waste Diversion Ontario.
Diane served on the Board of Covenant House Toronto for 6 years and on the Board of the Traffic Injury Research Foundation and chaired its Board for three consecutive years. After serving on the Board of the Canadian Society of Association Executives, Diane was elected chairman of the Society in 1998-1999.
In 2002, Ms. Brisebois received the Pinnacle Award from the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE), which is the most prestigious designation given to an Association Executive. In 2003, she received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Canadian Office Products Association (COPA). She was the President of COPA from 1980 to 1994.
Ms. Brisebois studied in Quebec and Ontario and now resides in Toronto, Ontario
Eric Collard
Consultant
Intersol Group Ltd.
Eric Collard is a consultant with the Intersol Group Limited, now specializing in stakeholder relations, social media and crowdsourcing. Eric is a seasoned communications professional, with over 10 years’ experience in government, NGO’s and the private sector. He has vast experience in strategic & crisis communications, event management and in media relations. Throughout his young career he has hosted many functions, from small technical briefings to national presentations. He has also been involved with many endeavours as an on-camera talent, commentator, writer, interviewer, and more recently as a speaker. Eric graduated from Mount Allison University’s Commerce program after growing up in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and Ottawa. Eric is a high-energy business owner and is also very active in the fitness industry.
Bernie Colterman
Managing Partner
Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing
As Managing Partner of the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing, Bernie works with a wide range of public, non-profit and association clients to help them take a more strategic approach towards their marketing and revenue generation activities. Bernie is widely recognized for his expertise in corporate partnership development where he has raised over $25 million for various organizations and causes. His sponsorship valuation model has been used by hundreds of organizations to assess the value of their sponsorship properties. His blog can be found at www.berniecolterman.ca.
Jeronimo De Miguel
Assistant Vice-President, External Relations
Manulife Financial Corporation
Jeronimo De Miguel joined Manulife Financial in 2006 after graduating with an MBA in Finance from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. In 2010 he became Assistant Vice-President, External Relations, covering media relations, philanthropy and Manulife’s new Signature Cause of volunteerism. Jeronimo was instrumental in establishing strategic partnerships with CBC and Radio-Canada to launch Canada’s Champions
of Change and Gens de Coeur public engagement programs. Prior to joining Manulife, Jeronimo worked for a number of UN agencies in program development around capacity-building efforts in post-conflict areas such as Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Cyprus and Brazil.
Anil Dilawri
Founder and Managing Director
Save it like Sully
Anil Dilawri is Founder and Managing Director of Save it like Sully – an executive presentation training and coaching company (www.saveitlikesully.com). He has worked with executives, leaders, and groups from various industries including technology, non-profit, oil and gas, financial services, government, engineering, and healthcare. A frequent event speaker, Anil combines his business and technology education with extensive work experience at Cognos (now IBM), March Networks, Hill & Knowlton Canada, and numerous Save it like Sully clients.
Andrea Donlan
Chief Operating Officer
Manifest Communications
As COO of Manifest Communications Inc., Andrea is responsible for managing the company plus leading day-to-day operations. She is a long time marketer who has led the strategic and creative planning for communications products and programs across all media for dozens of Manifest’s private, public and non-profit clients over the past 16 years. She works on national and regional campaigns designed to increase target groups’ awareness, understanding and knowledge of social issues, causes and ideas. Prior to Manifest, Andrea worked on Health Canada’s Child Development Initiative of Brighter Futures. She also coordinated partnerships for Health Canada’s marketing programs and projects. Andrea is fluent in both of Canada’s official languages. She is a member of the Canadian Public Relations Society and the International Association of Business Communicators. Andrea holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Ottawa.
Karine Goneau-Lessard
Chief, Marketing
Health Canada
After obtaining her Master’s Degree in Marketing from Concordia University, Karine Goneau-Lessard began her career working as the Communications Director in a non-profit association. She went on to work within the public service where she held various marketing positions at the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canada School of Public Service, Transport Canada and Health Canada, among other Government Departments. As Health Canada’s
Chief of Marketing, Karine has a great deal of experience in the fields of social marketing, social media, advertising and partnerships. Karine is passionate about social marketing, having published numerous papers on social advertising scepticism and social marketing campaigns.
Stéphane Hamel
Director, Strategic Services
Cardinal Path
With nearly twenty five years’ experience empowering individuals and organizations to analyze and optimize their online channels, Stéphane has cemented his position as a leading voice for online analytics and optimization.
A frequent speaker at conferences, such as the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit, and a longtime member of both the Web Analytics Association and International Institute of Business Analysis, he is creator of the Online Analytics Maturity Model; founder of the WASP: Web Analytics Solution Profiler and gaAddons: Google Analytics addons; creator of concepts such as Just-In-Time Tagging; holder of the WAALTER (Web Analytics Association
Leadership and Technical Excellence Recognition) Award and was among the first to receive the Certified Web Analyst title.
Stéphane holds an MBA in eBusiness from Laval University (Québec City) where he teaches a graduate class on web analytics. He also lectures theAward of Achievement in Web Analytics and Fundamentals of Business Analysis classes at the University of British Columbia.
He is Director of Strategic Services at Cardinal Path, where his responsibilities include creating innovative company-wide solutions and digital measurement strategies to deliver maximum value and insight for Cardinal Path clients.
Dale Harley
President
Harley House Consultants Inc.
Dale Harley has over thirty years of experience in marketing and communications management. Prior to forming Harley House Consultants he was Vice-President, Government Communications for Canada’s largest Communications and Public Relations firm. Mr. Harley provides strategic communications advice in the areas of performance measurement, communications
training, and strategic planning. His clients include virtually every federal government department and agency, numerous provincial government ministries and municipal governments.
He holds a B.A. in economics-law from Carleton University. He also served two terms as an elected Municipal Councillor. This dual experience as both an elected politician and communications practitioner has made him a sought-after speaker.
Sharon Jeffers
National Air Quality Outreach Coordinator
Environment Canada
Sharon Jeffers started her career as an environmental technologist, doing air and water quality analyses for various companies in Alberta. She has worked as a meteorologist with Environment Canada since 1988. A self-professed nerd, she finds just about all aspects of data and data analysis fascinating. She loves science and particularly the science of meteorology and has always been willing to share this love with anyone willing to listen. She has spent much of her career trying to see weather forecasting services from the perspective of the public. Sharon has spent the last 8 years working for the Health and Air Quality Health Index Forecasting Program, where the primary target audience is not the public, but the people who are most at risk from the negative effects of air pollution.
David Kardish, APR
Founding Partner and President,
Centre for Excellence in Communications
David Kardish, APR, is a founding partner and the current President of The Centre for Excellence in Communications. Mr. Kardish has over thirty years of experience working in all aspects of communications in Canada and the United Kingdom. He has consulted to federal government departments, non-governmental organizations and private sector companies. He has worked as a communications strategist and practitioner, evaluator, lobbyist, social marketer, and is a highly respected and skilled adult educator, trainer and facilitator.
Mr. Kardish has regularly provided strategic advice to a wide-range of organizations on risk, issues and crisis management and reputation management. Mr. Kardish regularly delivers professional development programs in the following areas:
- Change and Transformation;
- Risk, Issues and Crisis Management;
- Ethno-cultural Communications;
- Measuring Performance and Success Through a Performance Measurement Framework and Strategy;
- Strategic Planning: Critical Steps and Techniques;
- Meeting Management and Facilitation;
- Practical Facilitation Skills;
- Face-to-Face Communications and
- Storytelling: Creating and Communicating Compelling Narratives.
Mr. Kardish is the CEC’s lead consultant, trainer and facilitator with respect to risk, issues and crisis management and communications. During his career, Mr. Kardish has successfully managed many organizational issues that had the potential to adversely affect the organizations in which he worked. He has also provided advice to many of his clients on managing and communicating on risk, issues and crisis situations and reputation management. Among his volunteer activities, Mr. Kardish provides strategic communications advice to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Paediatric Society and is a past Treasurer of the Canadian Public Relations Society’s Ottawa Branch.
Caroline Kealey, B.A. Honours, M.A.
Founder and Principal
Ingenium Communications
Designated as an IABC All Star and internationally recommended speaker, Caroline is an expert marketing and communications strategist, speaker, trainer, facilitator and author. Fluently bilingual, Caroline has over 20 years of experience in her field. An authority in communications strategy design, Caroline has developed over 400 strategies for a range of clients in the public, association/not-for-profit and private sectors. She brings a unique blend of communications, marketing, evaluation and facilitation expertise to all client projects. She recently spearheaded the communications strategy for Canada’s response to the Conficker C computer worm, the most virulent attack in the history of the Internet.
Caroline is the developer of the Results Map™, an innovative program designed to engineer communications and marketing strategies to deliver measurable results. Her experience and insights into professional communications has led to an extensive practice in the area of training and workshop facilitation, including major joint Canada-U.S. sessions. Caroline is a core trainer and curriculum designer for the Canada School of Public Service, including
the School’s crisis and risk communication course. She also delivers customized workshops, presentations and retreats across Canada. She has taught at the University of Ottawa, the Canadian Institute, the Canadian Public Relations Society and the National Communicators Conference. Author of IABC’s Web Strategy Template, she has also published nationally and internationally on topics such as measurement, social media and results-based strategic communications planning. Prior to opening her consultancy in 2001, Caroline served in a variety of senior communications roles at Nortel Networks, Ottawa Economic Development, the Canadian Medical Association as well as several federal government departments.
Caroline is a winner of a Top 40 Under 40 Award as well as several provincial and national awards for communications and marketing strategies including a first place Hygeia Award for Excellence in Health Communications and a 2010 IABC Excel Award for Crisis Communications. Caroline was honoured to be a finalist in the Sara Kirke Award for Women Entrepreneurship and is a Board Member of Canadian Women in Technology. In addition to her extensive specialized training in organizational development, coaching, evaluation and Web communications, Caroline holds a B.A. with Highest Honours in Communications and an M.A. in Canadian Politics and Political Philosophy.
Mike Kujawski
Vice-President, Strategic Marketing and Digital Engagement
Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing
Mike Kujawski is a passionate consultant, trainer and speaker, on the topic of strategic marketing and digital engagement. His specific niche and personal mission is to help governments, non-profits and associations excel in the modern social media landscape through careful, strategic planning. In 2005, Mike helped launch the Centre of
Excellence for Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM), where he currently leads a team of strategists responsible for all major digital client initiatives in Canada and abroad.
Mike’s recent consulting work includes the development of comprehensive strategic social media engagement plans, guidelines and/or audits for the Office of the Auditor General, Canadian Museum of Nature, Canada Health Infoway, Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission, Baycrest, Public Safety Canada and Ontario 211. Mike has also recently worked on social marketing/behaviour change communications plans for the
Government of Tanzania, the Canadian Department of National Defence and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
Over and above his consulting work, Mike is a distinguished international speaker, engaging blogger and highly sought out trainer in his field. He created Canada’s first national workshop and comprehensive workbook on how
to develop a social media engagement strategy in a public sector setting. He has trained public servants and non-profit workers in numerous countries spanning across 4 continents.
Mike is frequently quoted by the media and has been invited to keynote and/or speak at hundreds of public sector and non-profit conferences, panels and events all around the globe on the topics of new marketing, modern communications, social media, government 2.0 and the importance of developing a strategy before executing tactics. He has been asked to provide strategic digital engagement advice to central government agencies in Canada such as the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privy Council Office and the Senate.
In addition to his work with CEPSM clients, Mike is part of the faculty of the Professional Certificate in Public Sector Marketing Program at Carleton University and occasionally lectures at Ottawa University in the B.Com program.
Janet LeBlanc
President
Janet LeBlanc + Associates
Janet LeBlanc is internationally recognized for her expertise in customer value and experience management with award winning results in driving transformational change. She works with organizations to improve performance by transforming how they interact with clients to deliver a branded customer experience. Janet integrates customer expectations into strategic planning, employee performance management, and process improvement initiatives with the goal to link customer strategies to business and financial results. Janet was awarded the prestigious Stevie Award (Best Executive for a Government Sector) and joined a world-wide community of 1 to 1 Customer Champions recognized for their passion and expertise in bringing the customer to the forefront of a business.
A sought-after guest speaker, Janet regularly presents at events all over the world including the Chief Service Officer Summit, the Customer Experience and Engagement Summit, and the European Market Research Event. She was the main conference chair for the 9th Annual North American Conference on Customer Management.
Graham Machacek
Director, Marketing Communications and Business Development
Volunteer Canada
With more than 10 years’ experience related to integrated communications, Graham is currently Director of Marketing Communications and Business Development with Volunteer Canada. A graduate from the University of Waterloo’s co-op program with an honours bachelor degree in psychology, and a recipient of the PR certification at Humber College in Toronto, Graham has also held such posts as Communications Manager for CTV’s Much MTV Group in Toronto and Vice-President of Awards for the International Association of Business Communicators in Ottawa. Graham lectures regularly to PR students and is renowned in Canada as an overall marketing and communications expert.
Jim Mintz
Managing Partner
Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing
After completing her MBA with a specialization in marketing and a short stint with Decima Research, Jane began working at Health Canada in the Marketing Division and managed key social marketing initiatives, including the anti-tobacco, Sudden Infant Health Syndrome, and the Fetal Alcohol campaigns.
Then she moved over to set up a Division of Public Opinion Research and Evaluation whose main responsibility is to ensure the Department has accurate, up-to-date public opinion research to assess citizens’ needs, perceptions, expectations and behaviours related to health, to evaluate services, and to measure success in achieving health promotion and protection objectives.
Currently working as the Director General of the Marketing and Communications Services Directorate, Jane directs all of the Health Department’s internal communications, social marketing, research, web, public enquiries, and creative services to support Canadians being among the healthiest populations in the world.
Christopher Penn
Director of Inbound Marketing
WhatCounts
Christopher S. Penn has been featured as a recognized authority in many books, publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, BusinessWeek and US News & World Report, and television networks such as PBS, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, and ABC News for his leadership in new media and marketing. He has been called upon for expert information by researchers for the Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and many other state and federal agencies.
Mr. Penn has spoken before diverse audiences ranging from executives of major venture capital firms, to multiple state and federal agencies, to aspiring college students looking to make their mark on the world. Each of his talks is tailored to the audience’s needs and level of understanding, with a focus on giving audiences down to earth understanding of new media and practical tools & advice they can use immediately.
Mr. Penn is the Director of Strategy at WhatCounts, an email marketing company based in Atlanta, as well as co-founder of the ground breaking PodCamp New Media Community Conference, and co-host of the Marketing Over Coffee marketing podcast. He is an adjunct professor of Internet marketing and the lead subject matter expert and professor of Advanced Social Media at the University of San Francisco. He’s also the author of Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer.
Mr. Penn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Franklin & Marshall College and a Master’s degree in Information Systems from Boston University’s School of Management.
Learn more about him at ChristopherSPenn.com, and find him online at @cspenn on Twitter,facebook.com/christopherspenn, and many other places.
Sally Radisic, MASc, BASc, BSc, CPHI(C)
Health Hazards Specialist, Health Protection Division,
City of Hamilton Public Health Services
Sally is a Health Hazards Specialist with the City of Hamilton Public Health Services. She has spent over 10 years working in the Environmental Health field. In 1994 she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at McMaster University. She continued her studies at Ryerson’s School of Occupational and Public Health and received her Certification in Public Health Inspection (Canada) in 1997. In 2003 she completed her Masters in Environmental Applied Science and Management and is currently a part-time PhD student at McMaster University focusing her studies in the Earth and Environmental Sciences program. She has an interest in risk communication theory and application in public health.
Gary Schwartz
CEO, Impact Mobile
Chair of MEF North America
Author of THE IMPULSE ECONOMY
Over the past nine years, Gary has played a leadership role in the mobile industry, founded Impact Mobile in 2002 running the first cross-carrier short code campaign in North America and chairing the CWTA mobile content committee.
In 2006, Gary founded the mobile committee for the US Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) (www.iab.net) (for which he received an IAB award for industry excellence in 2009).
In 2010, Gary was elected as the Chair of MEF North America (www.m-e-f.org) with a remit to develop mobile commerce best practices and advance commerce security and privacy (for which he received a MEF award for industry excellence). In 2011, in partnership with MEF and a number of industry groups including the X9.org security standards body, Gary is working to develop m-commerce security and privacy guidelines.
Gary it the recipient of the Asia and Japan Foundation Fellowship as well as the Macromedia People Choice Award and Dodge Foundation award for innovation. Gary is the author of the mobile industry book, The Impulse Economy, published by Simon & Schuster, Aria Imprint. www.theimpulseeconomy.com
Scott Stratten
President
UnMarketing
He is an expert in Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing which he calls Un-Marketing. It’s all about positioning yourself as a trusted expert in front of your target market, so when they have the need, they choose you.
Formerly a music industry marketer, national sales training manager and a Professor at the Sheridan College School of Business, he has been running his “UnAgency” for a decade, which has become the place companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross, Cirque du Soleil and Fidelity Investments come to when they need help guiding their way through the viral/social media and relationship marketing landscape.
He now has over 108,000 people follow his daily rantings on Twitter and was just named one of the top 10 social media influencers in the world on Forbes.com. It’s the only time he’s felt comfortable being compared to Ashton Kutcher, P Diddy and Justin Bieber.
His book “UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging” became a national best-seller before it was released, and recently a Globe and Mail #1 Business best-seller, National Post, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca and Amazon UK best-seller. It was also just named one of the top business books of the year by 1-800-CEO READ and one of the top 10 books by Under30CEO.com. The paperback version is set for a February release to be followed by his second book
in the Fall of 2012.
His passion comes out most when speaking on stage, preaching engagement and becoming one of the most sought-out speakers on the subject.


























