2008 Keynote Presentations

 

Monday Opening Keynote Speaker
Stephen Shapiro

Stephen Shapiro has inspired hundreds of thousands of people in 27 countries with his speeches on creativity and innovation.  His career is based on the core belief that every individual and organization has yet to realize its full, extraordinary potential. Guided by this principle, he teaches clients how to identify and leverage their strengths, root out and overcome their weaknesses, and ultimately capitalize on opportunities they never knew existed.  

During a 15 year tenure with the international consulting firm Accenture, he established and led their Global Process Excellence Practice and developed innovation training that was delivered to 20,000 consultants.  In 2001, Shapiro changed direction and left the management consulting world to promote his first book, 24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change. This highly acclaimed book has been featured in Newsweek, Investor’s Business Daily (four times) and the New York Times. 

In 2003, Shapiro applied the effective innovation and creativity strategy he’d developed for his clients to find even more opportunity. That summer, he set out and drove 12,000 miles around the United States and interviewed 150 people to research and write his next book, Goal-Free Living: How to Have the Life You Want NOW!  This counter-cultural book became the #1 Amazon.com “Business Motivation” and #1 BarnesandNoble.com "Self-Improvement" best-seller, was featured on TomPeters.com, O - The Oprah Magazine, and Entrepreneur Magazine. 

During his career, Shapiro has advised leading organizations around the world and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences such as The Marketing Forum, The Forrester CIO Forum, the Human Resources Council, and the Creative Education Foundation's Creative Problem Solving Institute.  

Tuesday Luncheon Speaker
Steve Cohen 

Steve Cohen, The Millionaires' Magician, gives demonstrations of mind-reading and sleight-of-hand at corporate events throughout the world, for audiences that have included David Rockefeller, Jack Welch, Andy Grove, and Michael Bloomberg.

Cohen's public and private appearances have become a must-see phenomenon. He has performed at a wide variety of gatherings from The White House Correspondent's Dinner to numerous Fortune 500 corporate events, trade shows and private functions.  Cohen has received widespread media recognition, including: The Today Show, CBS Early Show, CNN, Martha Stewart Living, CBS Evening News, The History Channel, The New York Times, New York Post, The London Sunday Times and The Evening Standard.

Cohen earned a degree in psychology from Cornell University and spent a year abroad studying at Waseda University in Tokyo. He has native-level proficiency in Japanese, and previously worked as an interpreter for the Japanese government.

He is the author of the book, Win The Crowd (HarperCollins, 2005), which has been translated into six languages. Cohen holds the esteemed rank of MIMC (Member of the Inner Magic Circle) with Gold Star, awarded by The Magic Circle in London.