BJ Gallagher is an inspirational author, speaker, and storyteller. Her books, keynote speeches, and workshops are designed to educate, entertain, and enlighten people – consistently focusing on the "power of positive doing." In addition to A Peacock in the Land of Penguins, she has written fourteen books, including:
• YES Lives in the Land of NO: A Tale of Triumph Over Negativity
• A True Friend … Is Someone Just Like You
• What Would Buddha do at Work?
• Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Other Women

Her client list includes: IBM, Chrysler, Chevron, Southern California Edison, the Los Angeles Times, Phoenix Newspapers Inc., American Press Institute, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Raytheon, John Deere Credit, TRW, Farm Credit Services of America, U.S. Department of Interior, Marathon Realty (Canada), and many others. You may visit her at http://peacockproductions.com or call 323-227-6205 or e-mail PeacockHQ@aol.com.

Bonnie Ross-Parker, a.k.a., America's Connection Diva, is an award wining, multi-dimensional business women/entrepreneur with a background in education, franchise development, publishing, mentorship, network marketing and community development. She combines vision with a unique set of skills. Formerly the Associate Publisher of The Gazette Newspaper/Atlanta, she focuses her energies on supporting women. Awards include the Athena Award – an honor designated to acknowledge women of leadership in cities throughout the United States, The International Toastmaster's annual Communication & Leadership Award and recognition by the Women's Leadership Exchange, a New York based organization, as an Influential Woman of Georgia. Passionate about enriching the lives of business women, in 2002, Bonnie licensed The Joy of Connecting® for professional women, entrepreneurs and business owners to share resources, establish and strengthen relationships and to grow their businesses by networking with one another. Several of her articles on owning one's own business and entrepreneurship have appeared in publications including: Wealth Building, Home Business Magazine, Business to Business and Entrepreneur's Business Start-Ups. You may visit her at http://BonnieRossParker.com, http://TheJOYofConnecting.com.

Brad Dugdale is a veteran financial consultant with over 25 years experience. He is the senior partner on a team that manages over $300 million in assets for clients throughout the United States. Brad is a financial literacy expert, speaker and author of two books. His latest book is titled 'Munny Journey, a Keepsake Journal for Baby's First Money.' It is a keepsake and educational tool showing parents how to start a child on the path to financial security. He believes that people should strive to be financially independent not to be "rich" but to have choice, opportunity and the ability to create a better world through giving. Visit the book at http://munnyjourney.com.

Brian Lawley is the President and Founder of the 280 Group (http://280group.com), former President of the Silicon Valley Product Management Association and author of the books 'Expert Product Management' and 'Expert Product Management Toolkit Bundle'. During his twenty-year career in Product Management he has defined, launched and marketed over fifty successful products. He is the Author of the Book 'Expert Product Management: Advanced Techniques, Tips & Strategies for Product Management & Product Marketing.' In 2008 he won the Product Management Excellence Award for Thought Leadership by the Association of International Product Marketing & Management. Mr. Lawley is a Certified Product Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM). He earned an MBA with honors from San Jose State University and a Bachelors Degree in Management Science from the University of California at San Diego.

Chad Melvin is currently the Manager of Corporate Training at Aflac (http://aflac.com). He has over 14 years' experience in classroom instruction and is certified in Change Management through Prosci. Melvin has served as the Director of Training for Computer Networking Solutions, and worked for seven years as a corporate trainer and courseware developer for US Airways Corporate Training. Melvin holds a Bachelors degree in Organizational Leadership from Fort Hays State University. He is also in the final stages of completing his Masters in Adult Education at The University of Georgia.

Chris Stiehl is an author, teacher and consultant. He has won several awards for his work, including being on the team at Cadillac that won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award in 1990. Chris helps companies understand what their customers want through "Voice of the Customer" projects, and he helps them develop metrics and strategies for success. His client list includes Cisco Systems, the LifeScan Division of Johnson & Johnson, Palm, Pfizer, Flowserve, Zeiss, Meditec and many more. His clients have learned how to focus on what is most important to their customers and deliver the products and services that win in the marketplace. You may visit him at http://stiehlworks.com.

Curtis Arnold is CEO and Founder of CardRatings.com, the most comprehensive source for comparing credit card offers. He is considered a national expert on consumer credit issues and is regularly featured by national media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show (NBC), Good Morning America, The Early Show (CBS), USA Today, PBS, Money and SmartMoney Magazines, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times, Fox Business, Oprah and Friends and The Washington Post. Arnold is also a noted author. In June, 2008, he published How You Can Profit from Credit Cards: Using Credit to Improve Your Financial Life and Bottom Line by FT Press. He is also co-authoring a book on social lending entitled The Complete Idiot's Guide to Person-to-Person Lending (Alpha Books/Pengiun Group USA, April 2009), which will be part of the popular Complete Idiot's Guide to... series of reference books, and is a contributor to The Ultimate Allowance (InnerWealth Publishing, 2008). Finally, Arnold has a particular interest in students and serves as the co-chair of the Arkansas chapter of the Jump$tart Coalition for Financial Literacy, a national non-profit organization that seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of young adults. You may visit him at http://CardRatings.com.

Dianna Booher, MA, CSP, CPAE works with organizations to increase their productivity and effectiveness through better oral, written, interpersonal, and cross-functional communication. As a prolific author of 44 books, she has published with Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books, Warner, Random House, and McGraw-Hill.

Her latest books include 'The Voice of Authority: 10 Communication Strategies Every Leader Needs to Know', 'Booher's Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Way to Correct the Most Common Errors, Speak with Confidence', 'E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication', and 'Communicate with Confidence'. Good Morning America, CNN, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes.com, NPR, CNBC, Investor's Business Daily, and Bloomberg have interviewed her for critical opinions on workplace communication. Executive Excellence Publishing recently named her as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders and one of the Top 100 Minds on Personal Development. You may visit her http://booher.com.

Guy Maddalone is the Founder and CEO of GTM Payroll Services/A New England Nanny and author of 'How to Hire a Nanny.' Guy conducts seminars nationwide on entrepreneurship, household employment, labor, payroll, taxes and human resources; and is a work/life consultant for GE and Textron, among other corporations. Guy founded GTM Payroll Services to provide payroll & tax administration for households; and later expanded services to include business payroll as a complement to the company's core focus. GTM continues to be a leader among national household payroll and tax providers and in 2007 and 2008, GTM was named to INC Magazine's prestigious INC 5000 list. GTM Payroll Services has ranked among Upstate New York's Top 25 Fastest Growing Companies for five consecutive years, and is frequently cited/interviewed/profiled in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Parents' Magazine, NPR and CNN Money. Under Guy's leadership, GTM has been a long-time supporter of The Make A Wish Foundation and other children's charities; which ties into the company's focus of giving back to the community. A graduate of Siena College, Guy serves as a member of the Siena College Associate Board of Trustees. Guy resides in upstate New York with his wife and three children, and is a long-time household employer. You may visit him at http://gtm.com.

Jay Conrad Levinson is the author of the bestselling marketing series in history, 'Guerrilla Marketing,' plus 30 other books. His books have sold 20 million copies worldwide. His guerrilla concepts have influenced marketing so much that today his books appear in 57 languages and are required reading in many MBA programs worldwide.

Jay is the Chairman of Guerrilla Marketing International, a marketing partner of Adobe and Apple. He has served on the Microsoft Small Business Council. His Guerrilla Marketing is a series of books, audiotapes, videotapes, a CD-ROM, an Internet website, and an online marketing advancement called The Guerrilla Marketing Association (http://guerrillamarketingassociation.com) - which is an interactive marketing support system for small business

Dr. Jay P. Granat, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, Author, Lecturer, Coach of Champions, and Founder of StayInTheZone.com is a psychotherapist with 24 years of clinical experience. He has several years of experience with psychology in sports and exercise and has coached thousands of golfers, tennis players, baseball players, basketball players, martial artists, bowlers, fencers, football players, boxers and figure skaters. His clients have included professional athletes, student-athletes, doctors, lawyers, salespeople, traders and some of America's largest corporations. Dr. Granat, has written several mental training in sports books and has lectured extensively on performance enhancement. He is past Vice-President of the New York Society for Ericksonian Psychotherapy and Hypnosis and a university professor. You may visit him at http://StayInTheZone.com.

Jim Muehlhausen CPA, JD is President of CEO Focus (http://ceofocus.com) and author of 'The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them.' After graduating from college, Jim became the youngest franchisee in Meineke Discount Muffler history (1987-1991). He sold that business and founded an automotive aftermarket manufacturing concern. During his 9-year tenure, the company achieved recognition from Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School and Inc. Magazine in the IC 100 Fastest Growing Businesses.

Over the past eight years, Jim has personally coached hundreds of business owners in over 3500 face-to-face coaching sessions and has clients in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He serves on several non-profit and company boards of directors as well as serving as an adjunct professor of business at the University of Indianapolis. He has had articles feature in numerous publications including Businessweek.com, Entrepreneur, Inc., Indianapolis Business Journal, The Small Business Report, Undercar Digest, Digitrends and NAICC Legal Journal.

JoAnn Mills Laing is Group President Of First Advantage's Employer Service Group. As President of Information Strategies, Inc., JoAnn put together an information company (http://hsafinder.com) serving more than seven million monthly readers in healthcare, HR, functional and sector areas as well as small and medium size business leaders. The author of two books on HSAs, she is a nationally known authority on HSAs.

JoAnn has global work and living experience with four public companies including managing billion plus P&Ls, as well as driving smaller enterprises to liquidity events. She is an active member of international boards. As Chairman of a premier online Audience Development Company, she took the company from idea to profitability and its purchase/IPO. She is a graduate of Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management and holds an MBA from The Harvard Business School.

John Honeycutt is an accomplished management consultant, entrepreneur and marketing professional. With over 20 total years of know-how, he has counseled Fortune 500 executives across all major industries in both the U.S. and abroad – including 18 years of combined experience with Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte, and as a partner with CSC Consulting Group. With post-graduate credentials from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and a Master of Science in Management, Computers and Systems, Honeycutt weaves a rich foundation of scholarly insight into his practical on-the-ground approach. When not consulting, he composes and performs music and has contributed his talent to noble causes including Texas Women in Film and the Flight 93 Memorial. He lives in Flower Mound, Texas, with his wife, Jennifer, and teenage children, Danielle and James. You may visit him at http://xbig6.com.

Joyce Schwarz is a futurist, new company launch consultant and Hollywood strategist. Best-selling author of several of the earliest books on new media/multimedia and other books including 'Successful Recareering: When Just Another Job Is Not Enough' and Tech TV's 'Cutting the Cord: Guide to Going Wireless'. You may visit her work
http://joycecom.com, http://hollywood2020.net, http://ihaveavision.org.

Judith E. Glaser is one of the most innovative and pioneering change agents in the consulting industry. She is the world's leading authority on WE-centric Leadership, and refers to herself as an Organizational Anthropologist. Through her dynamic, interactive and provocative keynotes and leadership summits, she has introduced her powerful transformative technologies to CEO's and their teams at major Fortune 500 companies. In 2007 Benchmark launched the Creating WE Institute to offer new partnering and research opportunities to enable clients to expand WE-centric thinking in their organizations. You may visit her at http://benchmarkcommunicationsinc.com.

Laura Lowell, Executive Editor of the 42 Rules Series (http://42rules.com), is passionate about helping companies be heard; to get the right message to the right customer at the right time. As a sought after consultant, author, and speaker in Silicon Valley, Laura has shared her pragmatic approach to marketing with hundreds of individuals and companies. Prior to launching Impact Marketing Group, Laura held executive positions with Hewlett-Packard, Intel and IBM. Her degree in International Relations prepared her for work assignments in Hong Kong and London. She received her MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business, with an emphasis on marketing and entrepreneurship. She lives in Los Gatos, California, with her husband Rick, their two daughters, and their dog.

Lisa DiTullio is a leading force in project and business management. She is the principal of Lisa DiTullio & Associates, a training and consulting practice dedicated to introducing project management as a business competency, enabling organizations to improve decision-making, instill accountability and enhance communications. Lisa is a recognized international speaker in her field – scores of organizations from college campuses to governmental agencies to Fortune 100 companies - have gained from Lisa's insights and tell-it-like-it-is keynotes and workshops. She is the editor of ProjectBestPractices, a quarterly newsletter from ProjectWorld, a regular blogger for the Silicon ValleyPM and ProjectConnections sites, and a contributor to PM Network Magazine.She's also the author of 'Simple Solutions: How Enterprise Project Management Supported Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's Journey from Near Collapse to #1.' Lisa is currently writing her next book. You may visit her at http://lisaditullio.com.

Liz Goodgold is a fiery redhead with a world-renown reputation for delivering whip smart branding strategies to thousands of entrepreneurs and executives each year. She consistently delivers bullet-tested strategies to audiences around the globe based upon her work with Quaker Oats, Univision, Sharp HealthCare, ProFlowers.com, and MusicMatch. An often-quoted expert, Liz has appeared in over 500 media outlets including ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. She was also the branding columnist for Entrepreneur magazine and is the author of DUH! Marketing: 99 Monstrous Missteps You Can Use to Learn, Laugh, and Grow Your Business and Red Fire Branding: Creating a Hot Personal Brand so that You have Customers for Life. You may visit her at http://redfirebranding.com.

Marc Joseph is President of Dollardays.com (http://dollardays.com) and author of the book 'The Secrets of Retailing.' With more than 30 years in the retail and wholesale industry, Marc Joseph is one of the founders of DollarDays International, a premiere online wholesaler that helps small businesses compete against larger enterprises by offering more than 25,000 high-quality goods at closeout and wholesale prices. Joseph' has helped to build some of America's most well known retail stores including Federated Department Stores, Crown Books, and Bills, a chain of variety stores in Jackson, Mississippi. He also helped ignite the dollar store trend as the General Merchandise Manager in Everything's A Dollar stores based in Milwaukee. Most recently Joseph started a chain of hair salons in Arizona and built it up to 11 stores before selling them to devote himself full time to DollarDays.

Mark Amtower, Founding Partner at Amtower & Company, is anauthor, consultant, speaker, CEO coach and radio host focusing on one market for the last twenty-five years – Global One - doing Business with Government. Known in Washington, DC, for his all-black attire and extreme candor, Amtower is by far the most influential and candid voice in business-to-government marketing, quoted in over 200 publications, doing interviews on business-talk radio around the country, speaking at 15 conferences and seminars each year. You may visit him at http://FederalDirect.com, http://GovernmentMarketingBestPractices.com.

Marsha Petrie Sue, MBA, Certified Speaking Professional, is the Muhammad Ali of conflict-free communications, leadership excellence, and managing change. She dares people to take personal responsibility for their choices, success, and life. She is original, unique, and a one-of-a-kind professional speaker and author. Whether dealing with employee relationships, increasing productivity or pumping up sales, her guiding principles bring energy and fun to any meeting or event. You may visit her at http://MarshaPetrieSue.com, http://DecontaminateToxicPeople.com.

Marshall Goldsmith is one of the world's foremost authorities in helping leaders achieve positive, measurable change in behavior and has been ranked by the Wall Street Journal as one of the "Top 10" consultants in the field of executive development. Marshall's latest book, 'What Got You Here Wont Get You There,' is a New York Times bestseller, Wall Street Journal #1 business book and winner of the Harold Longman Award as the Best Business Book of 2007. He has a Ph.D. from UCLA, teaches executive education at Dartmouths Tuck School and frequently speaks at leading business schools. His work has been recognized by almost every professional organization in his field. In 2006, Alliant International University honored Marshall by naming their schools of business and organizational studies the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management. Visit him at http://marshallgoldsmith.com.

Michael Soon Lee, MBA, is an expert in marketing and selling to multicultural customers. He is a professional speaker and the author of eight books on diversity. Michael's clients include: Coca-Cola, General Motors, Boeing, Coldwell Banker, Centex Homes, Virginia Tech University, State Farm Insurance, Cedars Sinai Hospital and hundreds of others. You may visit him at http://EthnoConnect.com or by calling 800-417-7325.

Michelle Dunn has over 20 years experience in credit and debt collection.
She is Founder and President of her Credit & Collections Association, Never Dunn Publishing, LLC, and is a writer, publisher, and consultant. She was recently nominated as one of the Top 5 Women in Collections by Source Media out of NY for 2007 & 2008, won a 2007 Business Excellence Award from the NH Business Review and has been named one of the Top 50 Collection Professionals of 2007. Her second edition of 'Starting a Collection Agency' won first place in the 2007 New York Book Festival Award in the "How to" category. She has since published a 3rd edition that is a consistent best seller in its category. You may visit her at http://michelledunn.com.

Mike Brooks is president of Mr. Inside Sales, a Los Angeles based inside sales consulting and training firm that teaches companies and sales reps how to become Top 20% producers. Mike specializes in working with business owners who have under performing outbound or inbound inside sales teams either business-to-business or business to consumer. A published author, executive coach and sales trainer, Mike has been teaching the skills, techniques and strategies of Top 20% sales performance for over 25 years. You may visit him at http://MrInsideSales.com.

Mitchell Levy is CEO and publisher of Happy About (http://www.happyabout.com), a quick2publish book publisher you should know about if you're an author or are responsible for marketing for your firm. His overarching goal in life has been to put tools in the hands of corporations and individuals to help them be successful.

Author of 8 business books, he is also a partner in CXOnetworking and sits on the Board of Directors of Rainmaker Systems (NASDAQ: RMKR). He was the former Chair of four conferences at Comdex; creator of the world-renown E-Commerce Management Program at San Jose State University; and managed the e-commerce component of Sun Microsystem's $3.5 billion supply chain during his nine years there.

Patrick Snow is the best-selling author of Creating Your Own Destiny, an international speaker, and publishing coach. He has been called the "Dean of Destiny" by high achievers nationwide. His destiny message has been featured numerous national publications including a cover story in USA Today. Each year Snow speaks in person to tens of thousands of people and influences the lives of many more through his seminars and coaching programs. Patrick lives with his wife and two sons in Bainbridge Island, WA. You may visit him at http://createyourowndestiny.com.

Paul Travis, an interim marketing executive and partner with OneAccord, co-authored the book 'Leadership on Demand: How Smart CEO's Tap Interim Management to Drive Revenue'. After his primary roles being father and husband, Paul's quest over 25 years of marketing, management, technology, and consulting has been driven by this question: After building customer value and brand loyalty, how can we most effectively scale this business? He is one of the few people who has launched software products at Microsoft as well as launched natural foods restaurants! Paul is an interim marketing executive and consultant with OneAccord, a national firm based in Seattle. You can find the book he co-authored at http://Leadership-On-Demand.com and follow his blog at http://60-Second-Marketing.com.

Paula Jablon and Ellen Vacco have taught English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education for over twenty years in a variety of academic, workplace and vocational settings. They have conducted workplace needs analyses, developed programs, written material, designed curriculum and trained teachers. They also have presented programs on workplace education to local chambers of commerce, work sites and learning centers as well as to regional, state and national organizations, including a committee of representatives from the Massachusetts and United States Departments of Labor. Their workplace program, conducted in collaboration with the Hudson/Maynard (MA) Chamber of Commerce, received the Adult Education Award in Business/Labor. In addition, they participated in the Massachusetts Frameworks Initiative, the Workplace Education Collaborative (WEC) of the Metro South/West Regional Employment Board (MA), and a workplace study for the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. Following the publication of their books, 'At Work in the U.S.' and 'Conversations for Work,' Paula and Ellen started a business, ESL Work Solutions (http://eslworksolutions.com). In addition to offering their materials, they conduct workshops for schools, organizations and businesses.

Rajesh Setty is a serial entrepreneur, investor and author based in Silicon Valley. Rajesh serves as the President and CEO of Suggestica where they build private and public discovery engines using Rawsugar technology. He also serves as the executive chairman of Jiffle where they help solve scheduling problems across companies. Rajesh is involved in several other technology businesses in the US, Europe and India in some combination of investor, founder, advisor and/or an executive. He is a member of the Band of Angels, an angel network in Silicon Valley and Vistage, a worldwide networking organization for CEOs. His last book, 'Beyond Code: Learn to distinguish yourself in 9 simple steps!' (foreword by Tom Peters), was published in late 2005. You may visit him at http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com.

Robert Van Arlen is the author of 'Focused Synergy: Orchestrating Your Purpose, Path and Performanc.,' His book provides specific guidance on vision and values alignment for individuals and organizations, both of which are critical for unifying and driving successful organizations today. Robert is renowned for his highly engaging speeches and his motivational training and team building programs. He believes that great leaders constantly evolve and that passion is the foundation for contagious success. You can visit him at http://robertvanarlen.com.

Sharon Armstrong is the founder of Sharon Armstrong and Associates and author of three books: 'The Essential HR Handbook,' published in 2008 by Career Press and co-authored by Barbara Mitchell; 'Stress-free Performance Appraisals,' co-authored by Madelyn Appelbaum and published by Career Press in 2003; and 'Healing the Canine Within: A Dog's Self-Help Companion,' published by Ballantine Books in 1998. In 2000, she founded Sharon Armstrong and Associates, a human resources company that works with individuals and organizations to initiate or complete HR projects and conduct training sessions, develop and implement career management plans, and broker HR consultants, coaches, trainers and keynote speakers. You may visit her at http://TheEssentialHRHandbook.com.

Shel Horowitz is a copywriter and award-winning author whose latest books are 'Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers' (http://grassrootsmarketingforauthors.com) and 'Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First' (http://principledprofit.com). Shel specializes in affordable, ethical, and effective marketing for authors and publishers, small businesses, and nonprofits. He is a popular speaker who has addressed writer and publisher groups around the country. Shel also walks writers through the process of becoming published authors, starting by figuring out which publishing model makes sense and continuing until finished books are in your hand.You may reach him through the contact form at http://frugalmarketing.com or at 413-586-2388.

Steven Wiley is an entrepreneur, author, and acclaimed international speaker who in 1991 founded The Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg, an organization that has helped thousands of executives from Fortune 500 companies improve their sales and leadership techniques by using the lessons learned at the Battle of Gettysburg. Wiley also travels around the world delivering a motivational speech that is based on his first book, 'The Human Side of High Performance.' The second book in a three-part series will arrive in bookstores in 2009. You may visit him at http://lincolnleadershipinstitute.com.

Thomas G. Martin is the former supervisory federal agent of the U.S. Department of Justice and has over 35 years of professional experience in corporate security and as a private investigator. With his extensive public and private investigation background and a Masters degree in Public Management, Martin is recognized as an expert detective in federal, state, and local courts. He works closely with the legal community throughout Southern California where his services have been respected and relied upon for decades.
 
Martin has helped locate hundreds of missing persons and runaways for their families and loved ones, and has worked with executives at Fortune 500 and large private companies on matters of fraud, electronic eavesdropping, and security risk analysis. You may visit him at http://martinpi.com.

Vicki Kunkel is an award-winning social anthropologist who has been recognized as an expert in mass appeal and persuasive communication by several media outlets – including MSNBC, Entrepreneur, Success and AP Network News. She is a former television news anchor, talk show host, current personal branding expert, and freelance social science writer. She has created "sticky" personal brands for national politicians (several Congressional representatives, senators and prominent governors), Fortune 100 CEOs, and lawyers. She has also been called upon to write trial case themes that appeal to our subconscious and activate primal persuasion triggers. You may visit her at http://beapowerplayer.com.