Speakers

James Surowiecki

Author, The Wisdom of Crowds; Columnist, The New Yorker

Jim is the foremost authority on how to harness the collective wisdom of your organization for competitive advantage. In his well-received book, The Wisdom of Crowds: Why The Many Are Smarter Than The Few And How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies And Nations, Jim explores how under the right conditions groups can be remarkably intelligent and effective problem solvers--potentially smarter than the smartest person in the group or any so-called experts. The Wisdom of Crowds describes systematic ways to organize and aggregate the intelligence available in your organization to arrive at superior decisions and teaches you to leverage your knowledge resources to your collective advantage.

Jim writes a twice-monthly financial column for The New Yorker that is typically pegged to current events and incorporates the kind of insights from economics, sociology, and business history that makes The Wisdom of Crowds so valuable. He has written for a broad range of other publications on a wide variety of topics. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Wired, and The Wall Street Journal and other major publications. He wrote "The Bottom Line" column for New York magazine, and was a contributing editor at Fortune.

E. Kinney Zalesne

Co-author, Microtrends

As co-author with Mark Penn of Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes, Kinney is an authority on the dozens of emerging communities whose tastes and lifestyles are shaping our future. She has deep experience with social entrepreneurship, the application of entrepreneurial principles to solve social problems and effect social change. Microtrends shows that the most important trends in the world today are the smallest ones, the under-the-radar forces that can involve as little as one percent of the population. A groundbreaking book about the way people think and how they act, Microtrends explores the practical implications of these trends for business and society, and shows how to refine your own trend-spotting skill and identify the microtrends that can transform a business enterprise or spark a movement.

Kinney first worked with Mark Penn on the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, for which he was chief pollster and strategist, and she returned to work with him in 2005 on Microtrends. She was a White House Fellow in 1995-1996, serving in Vice President Al Gore's office, where she focused on domestic policy and education technology. She also served as Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno from 1996 to 1999. Kinney left the Justice Department to become President of College Summit, a nonprofit that helps low-income school districts send more kids to college. She graduated cum laude from both Yale University and Harvard Law School, clerked for a senior judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and was an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia.

Patti Freeman Evans

Research Director, JupiterResearch

Patti Freeman Evans is a Research Director with JupiterResearch, focusing on multi-channel retail strategy, with nineteen years of diversified experience, expertise in creating customer-centric ecommerce sites, integrating channels effectively, developing innovative marketing initiatives and ensuring high-standard customer service and order fulfillment operations. Before joining JupiterResearch, Patti held leadership positions with leading internationally known companies like Bloomingdale's and Godiva Chocolatier. Most recently, she was Director of Shopping Services with Bloomingdales.com where she touched on all aspects of the multi-channel retail business. Brought on board to create and launch Bloomingdale's Bridal Registry website with WeddingChannel.com, Patti directed all aspects of the business, from concept to implementation, including backend, customer service and store integration issues. In her previous capacities at Bloomingdale's she led the International Marketing Department and implemented award-winning multiple-media marketing and retention programs. Further, Patti has done project work to develop interactive educational products for adults and children.

Freeman Evans holds a B.A. in Business Administration and Studio Art from Franklin and Marshall. In addition to her duties with Jupiter Research, she has taught E-commerce at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Freeman Evans is also the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for shop.org, a membership organization that serves the online and multichannel retail community and a division of the National Retail Federation.