Christie Nordhielm is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan Business School. She is a recognized academic and educator, marketing consultant and business strategist, and has worked for a variety of organizations globally.

Her key points will include:

• Critical Need for Marketing Innovation - It all starts with the brand.

• Brand Quality...What is it and how to build it.

• Marketing and Branding...how your customer "perceives" you and your products

Professor Nordhielm’s research interests include consumer behavior, customer satisfaction, and the application of systems thinking to marketing strategy. Professor Nordhielm’s marketing strategy work is presented in her book, Marketing Management: The Big Picture, published by Wiley & Sons. Other recent publications include “Creative Benchmarking” published by Harvard Business Review, November 2000. She has consulted for many recognized organizations including American Express, W.J. Wrigley, Sprint, Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Johnson & Johnson, ABN AMRO Bank, as well as numerous mid-sized businesses in the US, Asia, and Latin America. Professor Nordhielm’s expertise on a variety of marketing issues is often sought by publications and media outlets including CBS, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, Business Week, and National Public Radio.

Professor Nordhielm received her Ph.D. in Marketing and Behavioral Science from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1998. She also holds an M.B.A. and a Bachelors’ degree from the University of Chicago.

Robert B. Tucker is an internationally recognized leader in the field of innovation.

His key points will include:

• Best practices of the Innovation vanguard

• How to upgrade our ability to conceive and introduce new products

• Making innovation an embedded process in your organization

• Developing a system to ensure that good ideas are not lost

Tucker has assisted a wide range of clients including such globally-recognized powerhouses as IBM, Nokia and Citigroup, in making innovation an imbedded, systematic process that drives growth, profitability and competitive advantage.

A skilled innovation architect and brand strategist, Steve brings a rare balance of design sensibility and strategic thinking to clients with complex projects and demanding project teams. Steve has led the development of meaning-rich brand experience and innovation programs for a range of clients, including Xerox, Black & Decker, Whirlpool, Umpqua, FedEx, McDonald’s, Coleman, Kenwood and Compaq. Steve is the founding director of ZIBA’s award winning Design Research and Planning practice group. Steve frequently speaks on the subject of design, creativity and innovation and has published several articles on these subjects. Steve has worked for Richard Meier and Partners Architects, Office K/Amerika Furniture and Hak Sik Son Architects.

Steve holds a Master’s of Science in Architecture and Building Design from Columbia University, and a Bachelor’s in Architecture from California Polytech. He has also studied at the University of Copenhagen and UCLA and has taught at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and Texas A&M University.

Erik Peterson is Senior Vice President at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a nonpartisan and nonprofit Washington, D.C.-based think tank established in 1962. He is also Director of the CSIS Global Strategy Institute, which is dedicated to research on long-range strategic issues and to developing innovative educational programs geared to leaders in government, business, and other fields.

His key points will include:

• Identifying and projecting the driving forces that will transform the planet by 2025

• Be strategic today to prepare for the predictable challenge to come

• How to navigate your business effectively against the "crush" of information and ever increasing time frame

As part of the Seven Institute’s research, Peterson heads the “Seven Revolutions Initiative,” an internationally recognized effort to identify and project global trends out to the year 2025. Peterson holds an MBA degree in international finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He received an MA degree in international law and economics from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS). Peterson co-authored Geopolitical Tectonics: The Major Global Forces Changing our World. Currently, he is working on another book on global strategic trends and their effects on governance structures in societies across the world.

Peterson has been quoted/interview in/on BBC, CNBC, NPR, Italian Television News, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and several foreign newspapers and various magazines.