Joe Pine (keynote)
Joe Pine is an internationally acclaimed author, speaker and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike. He is co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking 
studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. Mr. Pine and his partner James H. Gilmore recently wrote Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want, which recognizes that in a world of increasingly paid-for experiences, people no longer accept the fake from the phony, but want the real from the genuine. This book, named one of the top ten business books of the year by Amazon.com and featured in a cover story in TIME Magazine on “10 Ideas that Are Changing the World”, provides a way of thinking about authenticity in business plus a set of tools and techniques for rendering authenticity in any company.
Cynthia Lesher
Cynthia Lesher most recently served as president of the Minnesota host committee for the Republican National Convention as a loaned executive to the convention organization. Lesher retired as president and CEO of Northern States Power Company-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy company.
Shawna Suckow
Shawna Suckow, CMP, was a corporate planner for seven years with one of the world's top five commercial real estate companies before starting her own company, COMPASS Events, in 1999. The boutique conference planning firm has since evolved into COMPASS Sponsorships, a strategic provider of custom sponsorship campaigns for conferences. Shawna is the founder of SPIN (Senior Planners industry Network, a nationwide group on LinkedIn). She also is a frequent columnist for ONE+, The MPI magazine, and is writing a book on conference sponsorship strategies.
Joel Schettler
Joel Schettler is the editor for Meetings: Minnesota’s Hospitality Journal. Joel will host an interactive presentation of the latest results from our fifth annual award-winning State of the Industry Survey.
Sheri Brezinka
Sheri Brezinka is director of marketing for Weis Builders, Inc., a general contractor with revenues of $466 million and six offices. Sheri is a certified professional services marketer with a BS in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She has been marketing professional services for 14 years and held positions at various levels of responsibility. Sheri is responsible for corporate marketing at Weis Builders on a national level. She has successfully completed two CRM implementations for national, multi-office firms. Sheri is a member and past board member of SMPS Twin Cities Chapter and currently serves as president on the board of the U.S. Green Building Council—Mississippi Headwaters Chapter.
Autumn Salamac
Manager of outreach and education at Aveda.
Zach Hansen
Creator and project manger for GreenGatherings. Hansen also serves as environmental health director for Ramsey County.
