Edward De Bono

Edward De Bono has been called ‘the father of thinking about thinking’.

He is ranked amongst the world’s leading Management Gurus and Thought Leaders, in the same league as Bill Gates, Michael Porter, Tom Peters, Philip Kotler, Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey, Gary Hamel, C; K, Pralahad,

He has written over 80 books with translations into over 42 languages.

He is on the Accenture (formerly Anderson Consulting) list of the fifty most influential business thinkers in the world.

His methods are taught in thousands of schools around the world and are mandatory on the curriculum in many countries.

His instruction in thinking has been sought by many business organisations over the years, including: IBM, Prudential, Shell, Exxon, NTT, Nokia, Bank of America, Union Bank of Switzerland, GM etc.

Unusual clients include the Australian national cricket team.

Dr. Edward De Bono is the world’s leading authority on conceptual thinking as the driver of organizational innovation, strategic leadership, individual creativity, and problem solving. Since 1970 his exclusive tools and methods have brought astonishing results to organizations large and small worldwide and to individuals from a wide range of cultures, educational backgrounds, occupations, and age groups.

Dr. De Bono has been credited with producing thinking techniques that are simple, practical, and powerful. His Six Thinking Hats®, Lateral Thinking™, DATT™ (Direct Attention Thinking Tools) Simplicity™ and training courses are now being implemented in organizations of all sizes because of their simplicity and their power to change thinking behaviour, increase

Damian Blackden

With 19 years in the media industry, of which 12 have been in digital marcoms, Damian has a deep understanding of how to integrate digital and non-digital marcoms channels and techniques. He's launched two digital agency businesses in the UK (Zenith Interactive Solutions and Universal McCann Interactive) - and developed breakthrough work for the likes of Microsoft, HP, BMW, MasterCard and Sky. Later on, he broadened his channel mix again, as well as his geography with positions at UM as UK CEO and Director of Digital for the EMEA region.

In 2008 he joined Omnicom Media Group as President, OMG Digital EMEA to lead the networks' digital development as they create initiatives for clients such as Apple, Sony, Vodafone, Intel, Nissan, Virgin Atlantic and Mercedes.

Campaign Magazine said that "the term early adopter could have been invented for Blackden". And he was valued by Microsoft enough to be invited to speak at their European Digital Conference on interactive marcoms strategy, immediately prior to Bill Gates.

Ronan Harris

As Director of Online Sales and Operations, Ronan drives Google's online sales and account management for advertisers across EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). Based at our EMEA headquarters in Dublin, Ronan joined Google in 2005 and has focused on growing the online sales channel for new and existing markets and also launched online operations for Google Checkout.

Ronan began his career by earning a degree in electronic engineering at University College Dublin, from where he was recruited by Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation to work at their Information Storage Products division in Japan. He went on to spend 9 years in Japan working in consulting and technology, and returned to Ireland in 2001 to work in private equity before joining Google.

Jakob Nielsen

Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Lead, Western Europe Microsoft Advertising

As APS Lead for Western Europe, Jakob Nielsen is responsible for the development of Microsoft's display advertising, search and publisher sales in the region. Specifically, he is tasked with setting the overall business strategy and direction for the Western European markets to deliver revenue growth, increase market share and ensure advertiser and publisher customer satisfaction and retention.

Prior to taking on this new position, Nielsen was Regional Sales Director for Microsoft Advertising, responsible for sales efforts in France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands. During this time, under Nielsen's leadership the region achieved 159% YOY growth and doubled the size of the sales force in just 12 months.

Nielsen joined Microsoft in 2002 as Sales and Trade Marketing Manager for MSN Denmark. In this role he was responsible for maintaining MSN's number one position as the country's internet service of choice, whilst contributing to the overall growth of the Danish online advertising market.

Nielsen is a regular speaker at industry conferences and events around Europe. He graduated from the Copenhagen Business School with a Bachelor of Science in Economy and Business Administration.

Simon Heyes

bigmouthmedia Head of Sales Operations

An International Management graduate from Hull University and the University of North Carolina, Simon joined bigmouthmedia in 2004 in the role of Business Developer, quickly moving up through sales to the position of Head of Sales Operations. A keen sportsman, Simon was lured by Bigmouthmedia's reputation as a young company with tremendous opportunities and a "work hard, play hard" culture. Simon is a great fit with bigmouthmedia's 'gentlemanly' sales approach and his current remit includes direct sales, pitches and marketing planning.

Dave McEvoy

Marketing Director - JC Decaux

David McEvoy is Marketing Director of JCDecaux, the UK's market-leading outdoor advertising company. David's career in outdoor began in 1992 at Mills & Allen where he was Marketing Manager.

David's early media life was in the TV advertising market. In 1984 he was Marketing Assistant at Ulster TV. In 1990 he was appointed Planning Manager of TSMS, the company that sold media on behalf of Central, Anglia and Ulster TV.

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Kay McCarthy

MD - MCCP
Kay has 20 years of experience in building brands, insights and communications strategy. Kay is passionate about great ideas, consumer insight and communications that engage consumers in new and relevant ways.

Kay’s experience includes senior brand management and consumer planning role at Diageo, establishing a strategic planning team at McCann Erickson Dublin, heading up Connections Comms Planning at Universal McCann EMEA based in London as well as senior management roles including Deputy MD for McCann Erickson Dublin and Global Board member of UM board, New York.

Kay’s thinking has led to the successful wins of the following business throughout her eight year period there; Coca Cola Ireland, Tourism Ireland International, Fáilte Ireland, BT, Energia, Boru, SuperValu, Office of Tobacco Control, Bank of Ireland, Delta Index, Tullamore Dew (International). Kay’s strategic contributions has led to contributing to consumer demand programmes for almost all of these clients Kay has won 4 Adfx awards, 2 Euro Effies and 2 AIM awards.

Kay has also developed strategic planning tools including Band Engage, a way of identifying relevant connections for brands so as to build enduring and compelling relationships with consumers.

In 2008, Kay started her own company MCCP, an independent Communications Planning and Research company.
Kay is currently Chairperson of the Marketing Society. She was voted top speaker at the Insight Conference in the UK in 2006 & 2007. She spoke at In Store Conference in London in May 2008. Kay regularly contributes to key strategic papers and discussions.

Dr Jon Dodd DPhil

Jon escaped the safety of academia in 1999 to co-found Bunnyfoot Ltd. – a business focussed online customer experience and usability company. His academic studies and research were focussed on how we perceive objects in the real world, and it was only a short leap to apply some of the concepts and techniques to how we interact and communicate in a virtual one.
Jon pioneered the use of eyetracking for web usability testing and has been the on-call design ‘Guru’ for a wide range of companies including Virgin, Yell, Dyson and the BBC. He is also a leading web accessibility expert and has written guidelines and standards for the National Disability Authority in Ireland, the GB and Northern Ireland governments and several commercial organisations.