SOBConNW Presenters

Terry is a native Midwesterner now living in Portland, Oregon, spreading “realistic optimism” through a philosophy he calls “Half-Fullism.” He most recently completed a successful 23 year tenure in the cable television business, and has extensive experience in cable field operations, customer care, call centers, and financial analysis. For the past 5 ½ years he has also published a popular blog on business & leadership, “TerryStarbucker.com”, and with his business partner Liz Strauss, is a co-founder of SOBCon, a biannual business conference and one of the best learning & development forums for small and medium-sized business owners in the US.

Liz Strauss is a brand strategist and social web community builder and is perhaps the most influential “real-ebrity” on the Internet. Liz has over 20 years in print, software, and online publishing, and has strategized with publishers in Europe, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. She was recently a featured speaker at the Cass Business School of City University in London and teaches a Master’s Level class at the CityU School of Publishing. She has been named to the Top 100 Social Media & Internet Marketing Bloggers, The Invesp Top 100 Most Influential Marketers of 2008 and again in 2009, the 50 of the Most Powerful and Influential Women of Social Media, and NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers. The WordPress Plugin Liz Comment Counter by Ozh was named in her honor to celebrate her dedication to responding to the readers of her blog.

Carol Roth helps businesses grow and make more money. An investment banker, business strategist and deal maker, she has helped her clients, ranging from solopreneurs to multinational corporations, raise more than $1 billion in capital, complete hundreds of millions of dollars in M&A transactions, secure high-profile licensing and partnership deals and more. Carol is a frequent radio, television and print media contributor on the topics of business and entrepreneurship, having appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Fox Business, WGN TV Chicago and more. Her Unsolicited Business Advice blog at CarolRoth.com was recently named as one of the Top 10 small business blogs online. The Entrepreneur Equation, Carol’s book on evaluating the realities, risks and rewards of business ownership, is due out Q1 2011.

Jonathan Fields, after establishing the popular New York City studio Sonic Yoga, launched his career as an author with his first book, Career Renegade. He also created an extensive report, The Truth About Book Marketing, that exploded across social media and inspired him to launch TribalAuthor.com in an effort to add a bit of hardcore entrepreneurship and sanity to the process of book marketing.

Glenda Watson Hyatt, author of I’ll Do It Myself, Blog Accessibility, and The POUR Ebook: Standards, Tips, and Techniques for Meeting Web Accessibility Standards. Labeled as nonverbal as a child, now a popular keynote and presenter, the “Left Thumb Blogger” is an innovative leader in blogging, web accessibility, and the social web, teaching the world to open their web doors to everyone. She works with international online companies and governments as a consultant on UX and web accessibility standards.

AJ and Melissa Leon of Twitgift, Poetic Business, Rise of the Cubicle Farmer Road Trip, Global Hope Network International, and The LaC Project. AJ and Melissa travel full-time working on their successful social projects, experiments in “experiential philanthropy,” including their 100 person project to support a village’s projects and business efforts, helping you see the potential in creating a business model based upon social responsibility.

Connie Burke is the Communications Manager for the past 24 years for General Motors, an expert on corporate social responsibility and web communications. She works with the company executives as an adviser, communicating about the company through presentations, speech writing, media relations, internal communications, product communications, grass roots, and community relations.

Dean McBeth is the Senior Digital Strategist and Social Media Community Manager with Wieden+Kennedy, and manager of the popular Old Spice commercials and campaign which revived the 77 year old after shave classic into a modern men’s must for Proctor and Gamble. Dean has over 15 years experience in web and integrated marketing experience, specializing in disruptive marketing strategies. He has been involved in successful branding and re-branding campaigns for sports, entertainment, travel/tourism, consumer packaged goods, and more.

Angel Djambazov is a professional marketing consultant and entrepreneur. He owns Custom Tailored Marketing, an innovative affiliate marketing company that has won awards for affiliate marketing for Jones Soda and PopShops. Born in Bulgaria, Angel is a long time journalist and the founding editor-in-chief of Wyoming Homes and Living Magazine.

Matt Edlen is the Director of Marketing and Sales at Gerding Edlen Development Company, a family-owned ultra-sustainable development company in Portland, Oregon, which serves as a national leader in LEEDS buildings. The company is dedicated to create vibrant, sustainable, and inspiring places where people can work, learn, and live.

Rick Turoczy is the founder of the Silicon Florist, a Portland tech news blog, and PIE (Portland Incubator Experiment), a Portland-based startup incubator in partnership with Google, Coca Cola, Target, Nike, and Wieden+Kennedy providing mentors in this innovative collaboration center.

Emily Harris, formerly host of Oregon Public Radio’s Think Out Loud, traveled the world as a Public Radio correspondent, talk host, and producer, covering the news in Russia, Berlin, and around the world. She is currently developing a new show and book.

Kent is President of Anvil Media, a digital marketing agency, and Formic Media, a digital marketing and website development company specializing in small business. He is co-founder and past president of the emarketing agency eROI, SEMpdx, an SEM professional trade association, and pdxMindShare, a networking group and online career community designed to help Portland employees and employers connect. A long time marketing and public relations professional, Kent has been a leader in advising and developing emerging companies like ABCInvesting, NeutralSpace, Nozzle Media, and Public Marketspace. He is the 2004 recipient of the Portland Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 Award as well as many other professional accolades. He is also the co-host of the Dads Unplugged podcast.

Victor is the accessibility manager and founder of the accessibility team at Yahoo! Born in the Ukraine, He was instrumental in developing the Accessibility Lab at Yahoo! to help developers and key decision-makers work on accessibility and user experience issues with their products and services. Called a visionary, his expertise in Screen Reader technology from the user experience, as well as a technician, has helped change not just Yahoo! but web development. Victor is also a jazz musician and composer, using the computer to write his music. His latest release is called Vanilla Fields.

Justin is President and founder of FMYI [For My Innovation], a collaboration software company focused on sustainability. In 2004 after a successful career at Nike managing corporate sustainable development. His accomplishments there included creating organizational change programs, collaboration tools, the business case for sustainability, and global employee engagement efforts. Justin started FMYI due to his passion for sustainability, an interest in how advances in technology can help lessen our impact on the planet while positively affecting society, and how social media spurs innovation. He currently serves on the boards of the Portland Parks Foundation, Northwest Earth Institute, The National Crittenton Foundation, Multnomah County Advisory Committee on Sustainability and Innovation, Portland State University’s Center for Global Leadership in Sustainability, The Natural Step Network, Portland State University’s Implementing Sustainability Program, and Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. He holds a degree in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University.

Angela is a co-founder of the Portland Seed Fund, an innovative investment and fund management firm specializing in “seeding” growth and innovation in Portland. Along with her partner, Jim Huston, over a two-year period they are implementing a proprietary, milestone-based system of capital and coaching in capital-efficient, highly-scalable businesses across a variety of industries within the Portland area. Angela has been involved in seed funding and venture investments for dozens of companies, on both sides of the business development. She is an expert in helping portfolio companies achieve scalable and sustainable growth. She has also served as Chair of OEN’s Angel Oregon.

Brett is the Directory of the International Programs and Emergency Response of Direct Relief International, a non-profit medical assistance project dedicated to improving the quality of life for people affected by poverty, disaster, and civil unrest. Established in 1948, DRI believes in helping people to help themselves by improving their health and welfare. Brett has been among the first in the door to aid disaster victims, most recently in Haiti, Pakistan, and Japan, as well as here in the United States. He has been the primary coordinator for DRI’s Haiti response, called the largest humanitarian effort in the company’s history. Much of his time has been spent managing on ground efforts and collaborating with more than 100 Haitian health facilities and government agencies, allocating more than USD $58 million in medical aid.

Jeff is the US Partner Development Director for Global Hope Network International. He and his team mobile people and resources from across the United States that serve, support, and accelerate the world-wide projects. His life of service began early as a youth worker then church pastor. GHNI provides disaster relief and sustainable and transformational assistance to communities in Afghanistan, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Turkey, and many other countries with communities in need.