Speaker Profiles
Getting to Know the Personalities Involved in the Solutions Summit
Dean MacDonald
President and CEO, Tuckamore Capital
Mr. MacDonald is President & Chief Executive Officer of Tuckamore Capital, a publicly traded diversified company that invests in successful Canadian private businesses. He is also CEO of Deacon Investments Ltd., a privately held company which invests in commercial real estate.
He has had a successful career as an operating executive and an entrepreneur having served as Chief Operating Officer of Rogers Cable and Chief Executive Officer of Persona Communications.
Mr. MacDonald is currently a Director on the boards of Unitek, CommerceTel, Clearstream Energy Services, Quantum Murray Environmental Services and Airborne Mobile. He has also served as Chairman of Newfoundland and Labrador Energy Corporation, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro Corporation, Churchill Falls Labrador Corporation, Canadian Cable Television Association and has previously served as a director on various other boards.
Mr. MacDonald's accomplishments have been recognized through awards such as; Frederick T. Metcalf award for innovation in marketing, 1996 Alumnus of the year award for Gonzaga, 1997 Financial Post as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40 award, 1998 Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries Leadership Award, 1998 Memorial University Faculty of Business Alumnus of the year, and in 2007 was selected by Birch Hill Capital Partners as CEO of the year.
Sarah Prevette
Sarah Prevette represents a whole new generation of entrepreneurs. She has captured attention as a passionate and pioneering web entrepreneur — an exciting voice from inside the online community revolution. Her untraditional and multi-faceted approach to branding and promotion provides actionable insight to those looking to build communities, truly engage their audiences and leverage the full power of the web. A true entrepreneur, she has experienced growth, flame-out and recovery. Sarah is founder and Managing Director of Sprouter.com which enables collaboration and networking between entrepreneurs globally. The company has just been acquired by Postmedia Network Inc., a traditional paper and ink media chain. Sarah continues to manage the business and is responsible for setting the overall direction and strategy for the company. She leads the design of Sprouter's service and oversees the development of its core technology and infrastructure. She directs the team with a special focus on delivering exceptional user experiences, continuous innovation, and highly relevant, accountable, and untraditional marketing.
Lyle Wetsch
Mr. Wetsch has been an Associate Professor of Marketing at Memorial University of Newfoundland since July of 2003. With over 70 presentations and publications in the past 10 years, his research has been published in the Marketing Education Review, the Journal of Advertising, the Journal of Virtual World Research, the Journal of Relationship Marketing and the International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing.
He is actively involved in providing presentations and consulting with businesses on various elements of Internet Marketing, especially Social Media and Social Networks. He has assisted businesses and organizations with the development, design and implementation of their Social and Digital Media Strategies.
Through the Gardiner Centre at the Faculty of Business Administration he has designed and offers three certificates as part of the Digital Marketing Program: Website and Direct E-Marketing, Social Media and E-Marketing, and the Advanced Social Media Certificate. He serves on several Advisory Boards including the Memorial University Social Networking Committee and has recently been recognized by Social Media Marketing Magazine as one of the Top 100 Marketing Professors in the world on Twitter (#81 Globally, #6 in Canada). He is also featured in a book to be published in 2012 entitled "8 Mandates for Social Media Marketing Success; Insights and Success Stories from 85 of the World's Most Innovative Marketing Practitioners, Authors, and Professors."
Craig Tucker
As a senior executive specializing in the area of corporate counsel, marketing and business growth, Craig Tucker is well known as an industry leader throughout the region. In his current capacity as Managing Partner with Group M5; Atlantic Canada's largest Communications firm, Craig continues to guide clients. Craig's strength comes from his extensive marketing experience, industry knowledge and political acumen. However, his true focus is in his ability to lead clients, strategically.
As Past President of KeyCorp Inc. and MC2 Communications Inc. as well as his tenure with Olivetti Systems and Network Canada where he received three consecutive Presidents' Awards, Craig also brings tremendous political savvy having Co-Chaired two election Campaigns for past Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams and assisted with past New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord. Craig has also been instrumental in guiding many other political interests.
As a past Board of Director with Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (now Nalcor), Craig was actively involved in a number of key files including the restructuring and transformation of the organization into a global energy corporation. He has also held a number of board appointments on both a corporate and volunteer level.
Craig continues to lead the growth of Group M5 and holds strategic counsel with a number Atlantic Canadian CEO's and Executive teams.
Bill Carr
Bill Carr is a humorist and an award-winning writer, stage actor and journalist. Born in Atlantic Canada, he travels throughout North America and is famous with convention audiences for his offbeat characters and custom-tailored performances. Bill's insightful perspective on the world takes aim at politics, people, business, sport and systems, as well as the mundane absurdities of life that often go unnoticed. He leaves nothing unscathed and prides himself on being a slave to all, but mastered by none.
Marc Saltzman
Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognizable and trusted tech experts, specializing in consumer electronics, small business technologies, Internet trends and interactive entertainment. Marc has authored 15 books since 1996 and currently contributes to nearly 50 high-profile publications in North America, including USA Today/Gannett, AARP, MSN, Yahoo!, Costco Connection, Toronto Star, Postmedia, Media Planet and Sympatico. Marc hosts various video segments, including "Games and Gadgets" (a weekly spot on CNN), "Gear Guide" (seen at Cineplex movie theatres and sister chains across Canada) and is a regular guest on CNN International and CTV's Canada AM. Marc also hosts "Tech Talk," a syndicated radio spot across Canada. Marc lives in Toronto with his wife Kellie and three young children. Follow Marc on Twitter: @marc_saltzman
Victoria Lennox
Victoria Lennox is the lead do-er of Startup Canada, a non-profit set to launch in March 2012 as the centrepiece of Canada's entrepreneurship community.
Victoria is the first Canadian and one of the youngest recipients of a Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion on the recommendation of the British Prime Minister. Victoria won the award for having pioneered a grassroots youth entrepreneurship movement both in the UK and globally that has taken on a momentum of its own with a membership of more than 45,000 enterprising students across over 80 universities within 12 months. As the Founder and Chair of the National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), Co-founder and Chair of ICUE, Co-founder of Enterprise Alliance UK, Entrepreneur in Residence at London Metropolitan Business School and former President of Oxford Entrepreneurs, Victoria has built enterprise networks, stimulated public discourse and developed meaningful political and policy inroads to further the entrepreneurship agenda.
On the global stage, Victoria supports and mentors the development of youth enterprise organizations in more than 20 countries; provides advisory support to international organizations in the areas of entrepreneurship networks, education and policy development; and supports colleges and universities in enhancing their entrepreneurial activities.
In 2009 Victoria was awarded the SFEDI 'Enterprise Support Network Builder Award' and 'Overall Enterprise Champion of the Year Award', was recognized as a 'Champion of Entrepreneurial Britain' and 'Top 30 Under 30'by Real Business Magazine and was noted as 'One to Watch' by Spectator Business.
Victoria moved back to Ottawa in January 2010 where, after having spent a year with Industry Canada's Small Business Policy Group, she is now working on fostering a more entrepreneurial and prosperous Canada through Startup Canada.
Gerry Pond
Gerry Pond has over 45 years of experience in the Information & Communications Technology sector. He is currently the Chairman of Mariner Partners Inc., a company he co-founded in 2003. Mariner, with a staff of over 130 professionals, provides IPTV software products globally and broad range professional IT services from offices in Saint John (HQ), Moncton, Fredericton, Halifax, Calgary, and Regina.
As the former CEO of telecom services provider NBTel (now part of Bell Aliant) and the former CEO of software start-up ImagicTV Inc. (acquired by Alcatel in 2003), Gerry has always had a passion for innovation. The Canadian Information Productivity Association named him Innovator of the Year in 1997 and inducted him in their Hall of Fame (www.cipa.com). Gerry has co-founded 10 technology start-up companies in the past 10 years.
He currently chairs the Boards of Mariner Partners Inc, Brovada Technologies Inc., and Shift Energy Inc. He sits on the Advisory Boards of Medrunner Health Solutions Inc., Smart Skin Technologies Inc., and Enovex. He is a Co-Founder and Past Chairman of Radian6 (acquired by Salesforce.com in 2011)
A graduate of the University of New Brunswick (BA'66), he received an honorary Doctor of Letters from UNB (SJ) in 2005.
Very active in community and economic affairs, he is a Director of Propel ICT, the Atlantic Cancer Research Institute, the NB Business Council, the NB Innovation Foundation, and is a co-chair of New Brunswick's Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation focused on poverty reduction. He is a fellow of the Wallace McCain Institute and a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.
He is a past Chairman of the NB Business Council, a past Vice-Chairman of the Board of Governors of UNB, and a past Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. In 2007, he was inducted in the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame.
He resides in Rothesay N.B. with his wife Anne. They have 2 children; Suzanne and Gregory, both graduates of UNB's Engineering Faculty.
