Guy Kawasaki

Guy is also a principal innovator behind www.alltop.com an “online magazine rack” of popular topics that brings users stories from the best websites and blogs on the topic. 

Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously, he was an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc. Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. He has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Steve French

Managing Partner, Natural Marketing Institute (NMI)

Ellen Levy, PhD

Emilio Pardo

Executive Vice President & Chief Brand Officer, Brand Management, AARP

Prior to his new appointment, he was the Senior Vice President, Business Development at AARP Services.  At AARP Services, he was responsible for all product development, product licensing, new market channel development, and joint ventures for AARP Services, Inc.  He also managed all strategic alliances and corporate partnerships efforts for AARP, which included working with organizations like The Home Depot, United Health Care, The Hartford Group, Proctor & Gamble and Travelocity.

Miriam Rivera

An attorney and consultant, Miriam currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University. She is also on the Board of Advisors of Virtual Synaptics, DecisionStreet, and Hispanic.Net as well as an informal advisor to other start up companies and entrepreneurs.  In Spring 2008, she team-taught a course on Deals, Vision & Leadership at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University.CA. Miriam received an AB in Sociology, an AM in Spanish from Stanford University, as well as a JD/MBA from Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Michele Ahlman

Michele is President of ClearSounds Communications, a Chicago-based, small WBE that designs, manufactures and distributes high-quality sound enhanced and high dB gain products for the boomer, senior and caregiver market.  ClearSounds is co-owned by Michele and her mom, Maddi Uzuanis.  As a family of “serial entrepreneurs” Michele has seen what it takes to build a small business from an early age.  Richard, her father heads up product development and engineering. As a disabled veteran, he lost a significant amount of his hearing serving in the army as a tank commander and Special Forces officer.  Michael, her brother manages product design and owns patents for several products.  It’s truly a family affair and a business that has focused itself on having Massive Positive Impact.  As a leading provider of niche telephone and communication products, ClearSounds is leading the way in helping people stay connected and involved.  I hear. I connect. I belong.  This is the ClearSounds motto.

Perry Allison

 Perry leads the sales team at Eons, working with major brands to do innovative social marketing programs, reaching and engaging the boomer market. Prior to joining Eons, she was the Vice President, Word of Mouth Marketing at Alloy Media + Marketing . She has been at the forefront of several significant new trends in media- the advent of the internet and online advertising and also the early days of mobile advertising and marketing. She was the first VP, Sales of AltaVista and played a key role in growing revenues for the company.  She was also a founding executive at SkyGo, a mobile marketing company and helped lead the way in evangelizing the new medium of mobile marketing. In that capacity, she also served as the Global Chairperson for the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).  She has held an accomplished record of marketing and sales positions with leading Internet sites and print publications including Alloy, Bolt, NewsPage, Walking Magazine, Sports Illustrated, INC Magazine and SAIL Magazine.

David Bank

A veteran journalist, David was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering the Internet, Microsoft and the software industry. His book, Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Future of Microsoft (Free Press) was named one of the "Best Business Books of 2001" by the Harvard Business Review and Amazon.com. He launched the national philanthropy beat at the Journal and pioneered coverage of West Coast philanthropy, giving-while-living, and the new crop of billionaire advocates. His articles have appeared in major national magazines.  David was a 1996 Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He has an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University and a B.A. in politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Gig Barton

Gig is responsible for developing revenue relationships with advertisers and agencies for the Adult 50+ network, RLTV.  He is also responsible for on-line sales and advises the Erickson corporate marketing team on advertising opportunities for their 1.4 million circulation newspaper- The Erickson Tribune.  As part of his partnership building, Gig works with Programming to develop branded entertainment and product placement opportunities for clients. Gig has also worked on the affiliate relations side of the media business, launching new projects at Dow Jones, including The Wall Street Journal Report.  Gig is a recognized and respected member of the advertising community and has judged the Iris, Effie and Mark Awards. He received his degree from Boston University’s Metropolitan College.

Joe Cannella

Senior Account Manager, Google Media Services

Joe Cannella has spoken at previous Boomer events in Philadelphia, Irvine and San Francisco, and has been working with strategic advertisers at Google since late 2003.  Primarily focused in the retail space, he has most recently been an evangelist within Google for proving the offline impact of online advertising ("clicks to bricks").  He also focuses on improving the way online advertising is measured in general.

Mirroring the sentiments of many advertisers, this year's theme at Google is "Do More With Less".  Joe will bring to the discussion how to use Google's latest technologies and strategies to do just that.

Joe has a degree in Finance from Santa Clara University, and was born and raised at the site of this year's Summit, Las Vegas, NV.

Ron Cates

Regional Development Director, Constant Contact

A nationally renowned email marketing expert and award-winning business leader, Ron has developed a broad range of solutions for marketing professionals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations; helping strengthen their customer and donor relationships. Ron is a popular speaker and educator on topics including developing email marketing strategies, designing effective email communications, and maintaining powerful relationships with stakeholders.

Sarah Christian

Director, Strategic Partnerships, VolunteerMatch

Andy Cohen

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Caring.com

Tim Connelly

Tim joined Home Instead Senior Care in 2003 and has been Director of Franchise Development since 2004.  Since that time, Home Instead Senior Care has grown from approximately 350 franchises to 592 franchises in the United States and Canada.  In February 2009, Franchise Business Review announced the results of their national owner satisfaction survey and named Home Instead Senior Care #2 overall among the 116 companies which participated in the survey and #1 in the Senior Care category.

Bruce Cryer

Bruce brings more than 25 years of experience in business management, human performance and organizational change to HeartMath LLC. Bruce successfully guided HeartMath programs into the global corporate arena, with projects at Motorola, CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce), McKinsey, Shell, LifeScan (a Johnson & Johnson company), Cathay Pacific Airways, and the World Bank. In 2007, He was named one of the Top 50 Thought Leaders in Personal Excellence by Leadership Excellence magazine. Mr. Cryer is a prolific author of both books and articles. Some of his work includes co-authoring the book From Chaos to Coherence: The Power to Change Performance” and co-author of “An Inner Quality Approach to Reducing Stress and Improving Physical and Emotional Wellbeing at Work”, published in the journal Stress Medicine (1997).

Sam Decker

Sam Decker is a recognized expert in eCommerce, word of mouth marketing, and direct marketing. A frequent speaker at marketing and eCommerce events and author of an award-winning marketing blog (www.deckermarketing.com), Sam brings more than 15 years of marketing and online retailing experience to Bazaarvoice. As Chief Marketing Officer, Decker is responsible for leading Bazaarvoice’s corporate marketing and PR.

Before joining Bazaarvoice, Sam spent seven years of leadership at Dell, Inc. in marketing, eBusiness, CRM, and customer-centricity. From 1999-2003, he led Dell's consumer web site, building Dell.com into the largest consumer eCommerce site at $3.5B in annual sales, and established global best practices in merchandising, analytics, product management, and operations. Sam pioneered Dell's customer-centricity strategy and customer segmentation using Six Sigma methodology. Later he directed marketing for Dell's $1B+ installed-based marketing division, responsible for eBusiness, marketing communications and brand management. Before Dell, Sam spent more than six years leading marketing at B2C and B2B startups and became a pioneer in online community building.  

Amy Goyer

Erika Hall

Erika is a founding partner at Mule Design Studio. Her specialties include audience-centered strategy, content development, branding, and information architecture.  She has spoken internationally on copy and content development for online applications. Her clients have included Dow Jones, PBS, MedicAlert, the United Nations, Better Homes & Gardens, and a variety of Web 2.0 application developers such as Ning, Jotspot, Sphere, and Plinky.  She began her career in Web design on the technical side, developing websites for IDG, a global leader in technology publishing.  Erika received her BA in Philosophy from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Kathleen Hall

Founder and CEO, The Stress Institute

Jeff Hasen

Jeff Hasen builds, strengthens and protects brands that impact people near and far. He has led results-driven programs for the world’s largest food company, the globe’s unifying sports showcase and the worldwide leader in Internet security technology. In recent years, he has made a dramatic impact on companies in the mobile/wireless industry.

For Nestlé, he directed product launches and reinvigorations. For the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002, his work as project director for the “look and feel” program raised community awareness and involvement and introduced the Games’ theme, logo and mascots. For Symantec, he helped consumers and businesses through debilitating computer virus outbreaks.

For InfoSpace. he drove a repositioning of the 10-year old company from 1-percent share player in online search to the pioneer in mobile media and to No. 20 on the prestigious Wired 40 list of most innovative companies on Earth.

At HipCricket, he conceived and led the execution of an accelerated rebranding effort in advance of the mobile marketing software and services company going public and being named "the early leader in the mobile marketing space in the U.S." by Frost & Sullivan. HipCricket has also won consecutive annual Pioneer awards from CTIA -- The Wireless Association.

He is a frequent speaker and author on mobile marketing as well as the importance of integrity in business and what he calls the “Moments of Trust” that make or break brands and dramatically impact loyalty and sales.

Mark Hines

Mark is responsible for the 55+ segment for Verizon and Verizon Wireless generating products and services that best meet the needs of this segment.  He acts as the “voice of the customer” understanding customer needs and wants and translating these into products and services. He uses both primary and secondary research to generate this insight and works with the product and device groups to provide the best products to satisfy these customer needs.  Mark is also responsible for the singles and couples segment.  Prior to joining Verizon and Verizon Wireless, he spent 24 yeas with GM working in all functional areas including sales, product development and planning, pricing and distribution.  He has a BA from Western Illinois University and MBA from the University of Florida.

Jody Holtzman

Senior Vice President, Research & Strategic Analysis, AARP

Jody has more than two decades of experience helping companies develop and implement competitive strategies and achieve their strategic market goals.  At AARP he oversees the organization's research, competitive intelligence and strategic analysis functions.  A central focus of his team's work is to understand the needs, wants and preferences of AARP members and prospective members, their intent to join and renew their memberships, as well as their views regarding AARP's social mission and policy goals.  Jody is a member of AARP's Leadership Team and Strategy Council.

 Previously, Jody was president of Strategy Dynamics Group where he worked with executives to develop competitive business strategies and understand the business implications of changing market dynamics. Jody also served as Director and Project Leader of the Market Intelligence Network of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

 Jody is a frequent speaker on aligning strategy and research, and on organizational performance. He has a graduate degree in international relations and political economy from the University of Chicago.

Barton Johnson

Barton Johnson is President & CEO of Life Stages Financial, Inc., a reverse mortgage company evolving into a ’50+’ financial and lifestyle services company.  Bart was most recently President of Financial Freedom, the largest reverse mortgage company in the world. During his 4-year leadership tenure there he drove 7X growth in unit volume (7,000 loans in 2002 to 49,000 in 2006) and 12X growth in dollar volume ($415.7 million in 2002 to $5 billion in 2006), converted a net loss in 2002 to a $52+ million profit in 2006, and increased market value by $650 million.  Bart assumed an industry leadership role in 2007, continues to serve as Co-Chairman of NRMLA (the Reverse Mortgage industry trade group), and served as well as Chairman of the Reverse Mortgage Working Group of MBA’s Residential Loan Production Committee.  Prior to Financial Freedom he enjoyed a 30+ year career as an ‘intrapreneur’ driving ventures within a series of mega-mortgage companies (Manufacturers Hanover, Mellon, GE Capital).  

Lorraine Larson

Lorraine Larson is the Director of Marketing and Communications at the Council on Aging Silicon Valley.  She has been one of the leading social entrepreneurs in the field of aging and caregiving for the last 11 years. She also manages the operations of 4 direct service programs at COA that include unique models of revenue generation. After spending 16 years in high-tech and international marketing, Lorraine decided to use her skills for work that was more rewarding.  Her local Silicon Valley initiatives have received national awards and acclaim for innovation, and serve as models for what is needed in the future if service organizations are to thrive. Lorraine has degrees in Sociology and Psychology from San Jose State University.

Bill Leake

A former McKinsey consultant and Dell veteran, Bill Leake draws on a deep expertise in both business and marketing to help increase revenues for a wide range of clients. He has been involved in driving provable revenues through Internet marketing techniques since the early 1990s when, as part of the management team at Power Computing, he built the first company to sell $1 million of product over the internet. Bill has guided Apogee Search from inception to its current position as the largest search engine marketing firm in the Southwest, one of the 20 largest in North America, and one of the fastest growing companies on the Inc. 500 list.  

In addition to leading Apogee Search, Bill also serves as the president of the Austin Interactive Marketing Association, and as the chairman of the SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) committee heading up their local and regional initiatives.  Bill received an MBA with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. from Yale University.

Jeff Lee

Distributive Networks is a leading provider of mobile content and technology solutions.  Prior to joining Distributive Networks, Jeff spearheaded the North American roll-out for iO Global, a British Telecom company specializing in mobile/ converged content delivery. Until 2007, Jeff served as CEO of the mobile content distributor and wireless solutions provider Proteus Inc., directing the company’s enterprise strategy and planning. During his tenure, Jeff oversaw Proteus’s development of an elite roster of clients (including AT&T, Sprint, MasterCard, ABC, Discovery, HBO and Fox), its groundbreaking expansion into Latin America, and the sale of the company in 2006 to 2ergo Ltd. Before joining Proteus in 1999, Jeff was a Senior Manager of Consulting Services for Ernst & Young. Jeff is a member of the Mobile Marketing Association and is actively involved in the Consumer Best Practices committee, which defines industry standards relating to consumer mobile interactions.  His thought leadership is frequently featured at wireless industry events and in the press (Business 2.0, Wired, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TechTV), and he is an active member of the Mobile Marketing Association. Jeff received his Masters of International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management - Thunderbird and his B.A. from Bucknell University.

Scott Leeb

Scott is responsible for leading Prudential Retirement’s research, customer analytics, and data strategy functions in support of the CMO and senior leadership team.  Prudential Retirement delivers retirement plan solutions for public, private, and non-profit organizations.  Prior to this, Scott created and managed the global competitive intelligence programs at The McGraw-Hill Companies (a publishing and media company), KPMG (a professional services firm) and Ingram Micro (a Fortune 100 technology firm). He began his career as a senior intelligence analyst for the US Army, specializing in East Asian political-military affairs.  Scott holds MAs from The Australian National University and Columbia University, a BA from Yale University and a language certificate from Beijing University.  Scott currently serves on the Board of Directors for SCIP (Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals) and is a Trustee of the Competitive Intelligence Foundation.

Matthew Lees

Matthew brings over 15 years of experience in helping organizations leverage technology to build stronger relationships with customers. As an Analyst in the group’s Customers.com Research Service, his focus is on social media and customer communities. He specializes in the business impact of social media and the related organizational challenges, as well as the technology platforms that support social initiatives both inside and outside the organization.

Bud Myers

Mr. Myers has varied experience in consumer electronics as VP Sales & Marketing for Marantz, Frox Interactive, Craig Consumer Electronics, Remington, Unical (Northwestern Bell),Casio, and Rayovac. Bud has been responsible for product positioning, development, and launch at JBL, THX, Dolby Labs, and while at firstSTREET, has launched several boomer products like the Jitterbug cellphone, TV Ears, Presto, Celery,and exclusive models for firstSTREET.  He has been a speaker at the Consumer Electronics Show and has been a member of the Forbes Technology Panel. Since 1996, he has been seen regularly on WTVR-TV, a CBS affiliate.

Jennifer Keating Magee

CEO, Keating Magee

Jennifer’s philosophy has always been to develop strategic marketing programs designed to maximize return per dollar spent by clients. 

Jennifer has experience in a wide variety of industries, from hospitality and entertainment to health care and social marketing. The agency counts among its clients, Cox Communications, United Healthcare, The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, and The Emeril Lagasse Foundation, to name a few. Aside from her extensive advertising background, Jennifer has handled many successful local, regional and national public relations programs.

Jeff Maltz

Jeff is the CEO of SilverRide, LLC and founded the company with Susan Steiner Saal in 2006.  Since the company’s launch in January 2007, SilverRide has completed over 9,000 rides, excursions, and events for seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area and services a client base of over 350 clients – proving that there is a huge need for this population to be able to be mobile and to enjoy the community and people around them.  As a former sales executive and management consultant with Texas Instruments and Accenture respectively, Jeff decided to change career paths and focus his energies on helping a population in an area that was not being properly served.  Seeing the difficulties his own grandparents faced and via significant volunteer work with other seniors, he felt the motivation to try to do something to help. Joining with Susan Steiner Saal, SilverRide was born with a mission to change the status quo and enable older adults to enjoy life after their “driving retirement”.  Jeff holds a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at U.C. Berkeley.

Mark Miller
Assistant Producer

He was the founding editor of Satisfaction, a groundbreaking lifestyle magazine and companion Web site addressing the concerns and interests of the Baby Boomer generation, and has written extensively on Boomer business, marketing and economic trends for newspapers, magazines and Web sites. Miller is the former editor of Crain’s Chicago Business and Sunday editor of the Chicago Sun-Times, and wrote op-ed columns for both publications on business and economic affairs.

Gary Moulton

K. Francesca Nisco

Francesca orchestrates strategy, risk management, and conducts internal outreach for business groups across the company to ensure products and services uphold Microsoft’s privacy, online safety, geopolitical and accessibility policies, controls and best practices.

Prior to working with Microsoft, Francesca spent over twenty years in marketing and leadership positions in a variety of industries including Wireless, Emerging Technologies/Free Space Optics, Cellular/Telecommunications, Financial Services and Non-Profit; where she achieved breakthrough results at Terabeam, AT&T Wireless, McCaw Cellular and Bank of America.

Miles Orkin
 

At the American Cancer Society, Miles directs strategy and implementation of all direct-to-constituent (non-Special Event) online fundraising for the organization. Miles also guides American Cancer Society presence and investment in emerging online tools and markets for electronic revenue. Miles has been with the American Cancer Society for over five years. Prior to joining the Society, Miles worked for over 15 years in digital and traditional media strategy, marketing and publishing at companies including San Francisco State University, IconMedialab Barcelona, ThirdAge Media, CNet, Ziff Davis, Time Inc., and Thrasher Skateboard Magazine.

Laurie Orlov

Stuart Orr

CEO, connect2need

Stuart is the founder of a new software and services company which provides a web-based application for nonprofits that personalizes the funding and connection between its needs and donor base.  He led the product development and implementation of the original software for Opportunity International.  Stuart was founder and CEO of an enterprise software development and services company which was later acquired by Computer Associates.  In between entrepreneurial ventures, Stuart has consulted to CEOs of dozens of for-profits and non-profits, many times serving as their CIO on an acting or interim basis.  Clients have included: American Red Cross, Good Samaritan Hospital, Callaway Golf, Hydril Oil, and Alaris Medical.

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D.

Senior Strategist, VibrantNation.com

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., is VibrantNation.com’s Senior Strategist and Inside the Nation blogger.  Carol, along with being a Vibrant Woman, is an internationally renowned author, public relations veteran and thought leader on issues related to marketing to boomer women, adult development and quality of life.

Carol co-founded Fleishman-Hillard’s FH Boom in 2006 -- the first initiative by a global public relations firm dedicated to internal and external communications targeting the Boomer generation. She has provided counsel to more than 100 leading companies in a broad array of industries.

Carol is the author of 15 books on generation-based issues in work and life. She has spoken and led training and retreats at numerous professional gatherings. Carol received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University and has served on the faculties of several well-known universities.

Elisa Camahort Page

A blogging pioneer and marketing executive with over 18 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Elisa Camahort Page leads all events, marketing and public relations for BlogHer while working as COO to ensure that all company operations deliver on the company’s vision. Elisa was at the vanguard of professional and business blogging. Among the seven blogs she writes are blogs with personal, professional and political focus areas. Elisa opened her own high-tech marketing consultancy, Worker Bees, after a successful career as a marketing executive in the cable broadband sector. Her most recent corporate position was Senior Director of Product Marketing at Terayon Communication Systems, where she managed multiple product lines, senior product management staff, and multi-million dollar budgets. In addition to her many personal blogs, Elisa is a frequent public speaker and is widely read as BlogHer's conference leader and reality television editor.

Stephen Reily

Stephen Reily, entrepreneur and marketing expert, founded VibrantNation.com after researching the lack of media geared toward women 50+ and spending years listening to women themselves identify their interests and needs.  Inspired by the powerful women in his own life, Stephen recognized what the marketplace frequently ignores…what women really yearn for is a platform where they can tap into the knowledge and wisdom of women like them when and where the need arises. 

As a marketing professional Stephen built IMC Licensing, a brand-licensing agency and is responsible for overseeing licensing strategy and relationships with IMC’s clients, like Kraft Foods, S.C. Johnson and Anheuser Busch. He writes and speaks frequently about marketing issues.

Stephen is a graduate of Yale College, summa cum laude, and Stanford Law School, after which he clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. He lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife and three children.

Stuart Rosenthal

Stuart Rosenthal founded The Beacon newspapers 20 years ago, and continues to publish two monthlies targeting the 50+ market in Greater Washington, D.C. and Greater Baltimore, Md. Readership exceeds 300,000. www.theBeaconNewspapers.com

Stuart also chairs the Maryland Commission on Aging, which advises Governor O’Malley and Maryland's Department of Aging on issues concerning our aging population.  He is also president of the North American Mature Publishers Association (NAMPA), the trade association representing publications for boomers and older adults throughout the country. www.maturepublishers.com

Laura Weber Rossman

Laura heads insurance and retirement lifestyle services for variPhase Financial Partners LLC specializing in long-term care and Medicare insurance solutions and assisting clients with their elder care needs and retirement planning. Laura is also President of OutsideInsite, a consulting firm that helps companies develop and deliver business strategies for baby boomers and beyond.  She is co-producer of the 2009 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit.  Laura has worked with the 50+ market for over 20 years.  She was a founding member of the executive management team for AARP Services Inc., serving as vice president of the marketing and new product development group.  She recently served as Chief Marketing Officer for Longevity Alliance.  She blogs about money issues facing baby boomers at www.moneyinthemiddle.com.  Laura has a BA from Portland State University and an MS in Marketing from University of Maryland University college School of Management and Technology.

Tricia Roth

Tricia joined ReadHowYouWant in January of 2008 as Director of Global Sales and Marketing and was promoted to her current position in December of 2008. Prior to joining ReadHowYouWant, Tricia was an independent consultant, advising clients in the education and entertainment industries on marketing and operational solutions. For 10 years she was President and COO of Direct Language Communications (DLC), a pioneer in the multilingual communications field. She led the company through 10 years of rapid growth, global expansion and acquisition. The business serviced Fortune 500 companies including United Airlines, Sun Microsystems and Hewlett Packard. Prior to DLC, she was the Associate Publisher of City Sports Magazine, where she expanded the company’s footprint in California to New York and Boston. Tricia’s career has been involved in integrating technological innovation with global business solutions. A native New Yorker, she currently divides her time between Australia, California, and New York. She is a graduate of Vassar College. Tricia is a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of ReadHowYouWant.

Jerry Shereshewsky

Jerry may be the only marketing executive in the burgeoning digital technology field who's invented a new brand of soda pop.

He helped make Yoyodyne the premier direct marketing promotion company online and made them soooo attractive to Yahoo! that they bought them.  After almost 9 years running marketing for Yahoo’s Media Sales Group, both in the US and internationally, he joined grandparents.com;  a lifestyle website for the baby boomer grandparents of today and tomorrow.   

Jake Sigal

At age 27, Jake has already established himself as an innovator and a visionary in the world of consumer electronics by launching more than 16 successful products into the market. Working for Cumberland, R.I.'s ION Audio®, Jake invented the original USB turntable, the first product designed to facilitate the conversion of vinyl records to CD or MP3 format. Jake is also listed as the co-inventor of the iDJ, an iPod-based mixing console. As a product line manager for Delphi's Consumer Electronics group, Jake was responsible for producing XM-brand satellite radio products for markets in the United States and Canada, including the company's SKYFi3® XM® Satellite Radio. Jake holds a master's degree in engineering from Ohio University and currently sits on the University's Russ College of Engineering Board of Advisors.

Sandy Timmermann

Sandy is responsible for research, education and consultation on aging and the 50+ market for MetLife and its business partners.  The Institute informs product development, enables MetLife associates to better understand and engage mature customers, and informs and influences public opinion. Sandy is a nationally recognized gerontologist with over 30 years of experience in the field of aging.  Sandy writes for professional publications and is the Financial Gerontology columnist for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals.  She is a frequent speaker on aging issues at national conferences and seminars, and has been interviewed by major media including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and USA Today. Sandy received a B.A. degree from the University of Colorado and M.A. and Ed.D degrees from Columbia University.

Dan Tobin, MD

Founder and CEO Your Support Nurse

Dan Tobin, MD is a nationally recognized leader in advanced illness care coordination and health counseling.  He is the founder and CEO of Care Support of America’s Your Support Nurse, a national nurse care manager service.  Dr. Tobin is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Health Psychology) at Dartmouth Medical School and principal investigator of demonstration projects evaluating innovations in care coordination.  He recently collaborated with Sesame Street to create the educational DVD entitled, “Here For You: Helping Children with Serious Illness” which was released in May 2008.  Dan is the author of several books, articles and training manuals focused on the practical aspects of family caregiving including “That Silver-Haired Daddy of Mine: Family Caregiving Solutions With a Nurse Care-Manager Approach (Life institute Books, 2008). 

Eric Vengroff

Vice President & General Manager of CARP 

As President and CEO of Fifty-Plus.Net Inc. (FPN) since 2005, Eric led the Company to five successive quarters of increasing sales. He also served as Executive Vice President at ZoomerMedia Limited, an amalgamated continuation of FPN and other companies. 

He has been involved in driving CARP membership numbers through strategic advertising and marketing initiatives. Additionally, Eric continues to be actively involved in CARP’s advocacy efforts and benefits development.

 In August of 2008, Eric and two of his colleagues launched Zoomers.ca, a new social network for people over 45. The site is now the second largest website in the ZoomerMedia portfolio, with no promotional or media budget. 

Prior to joining CARP and FPN, Eric enjoyed a successful, diversified career in manufacturing, marketing, energy, and real estate investment and development. Eric is the father of three.  He has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a B.A. (Econ.) from the University of Toronto.

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is the #1 Reverse Mortgage originator in the country.  Pat is the market development manager for reverse mortgages for the Western U.S.  He has worked for Wells Fargo for 25 years. During his career he has held various production and leadership roles with the company. In his current role he is responsible for the growth and development of the Reverse Mortgage business line. He resides in Omaha, Nebraska.

Susan Walker

Susan is a leading edge boomer, and a freelance technology journalist. Her articles have appeared in AARP, ACM, EETimes, MIT Insider, American Society on Aging Newsletter and other industry journals. She is a nationally known speaker; she has appeared on NBC, and CBS, and participated in a variety of radio talk shows. She is co-founder of the SmartSilvers Alliance with a mission to foster the application of technology into the home that will assist our independence and decision making as we age. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) she co-produces the Silvers Summit of technology panels and roundtables that focuses on the consumer, technology and healthcare applications.

David Weigelt

Marketing Strategist and Partner, Immersion Active

 David Weigelt is the partner and chief marketing strategist with Immersion Active, the only Internet marketing agency in the United States focused solely on the 50-plus markets. Working with clients like AARP, Del Webb, and Home Instead Senior Care, Immersion Active helps companies leverage the Internet to create authentic, engaging and profitable online relationships with baby boomers and seniors.

This spring, David, along with Immersion Active partner Jonathan Boehman, released Dot Boom: Marketing to Baby Boomers Online Through Meaningful Online Engagement. This book combines a developmental marketing approach with a new definition of online engagement specific to boomer consumers to provide an actionable framework for effectively connecting with these consumers online.

Dennis Wengert

Dennis has served as the Deputy District Director since March 2006.  As Deputy District Director, Dennis assists the Director in administering all SBA programs and services including lender relations, marketing, outreach, promotion, counseling, training and small business advocacy.

He is the author of several published articles on managed health care, and Business Vision: Beyond the Horizon – Visionary Leadership for Small Business Owners.

Jenna Woodul

LiveWorld, Inc., a social marketing agency that has over 20 years of experience creating, operating, and moderating online communities for companies like Apple, eBay, AOL, MINI, HBO, QVC, Campbell's Soup, and many others. As an executive sponsor and consultant for company clients, Jenna works closely with clients to envision and plan online social venues. Then she oversees the LiveWorld community management and moderation teams as they implement and manage growing communities. She began her online career in 1984 as part of AppleLink (Apple's business communications service) and AppleLink Personal Edition (which later became America Online), and later headed up community for eWorld and Talk City. 

Jeff Zimman

Co-founder and Chariman, Posit Science 

Jeff Zimman is co-founder and Chairman of Posit Science and from 2003 to 2008 served as President and CEO of the company. He now chairs the Board of Directors and focuses his full-time efforts at the company on our strategic relationships and corporate development.

For the past two decades, Jeff has been involved with healthcare, information technology, and consumer products companies in implementing strategies leading to successful funding, high growth, and liquidity. Jeff is a former Venture Partner of VSP Capital, a former Managing Director of Lazard, where he founded and ran the investment bank's early stage advisory business, and a former partner of Cooley Godward, where he headed the corporate and securities practice in the law firm's San Francisco office.

In addition to running these high-growth service businesses, he has served on the boards of several start-up companies. Earlier in his career, Jeff was an award-winning newspaper reporter, covering business and technology. He earned his AB degree at Bowdoin College and his JD and MBA degrees at Stanford University.