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Managing Business: Stuart Crawford | Leadership: Mark Ruddock | Tutorials: Roberta Fox | Security: Brian Bourne | Mobility: Krista Napier
Managing Business Advisor |
Stuart Crawford, president and chief marketing officers, Ulistic Inc.
After a 9 year military career which saw Stuart rapidly accelerate through the ranks finishing as a Master Corporal in the Canadian Signal Corp Stuart went to work putting into practice the leadership and character traits he learned through his time with the Canadian Forces. Stuart owned his own MSP business called IT Matters from 2001 to 2008 in the city of Calgary where he refined his marketing and sales skills. Stuart started and retains his MCSE but shifted to business development and eventually using the Internet and effective networking to build a legion of small business professionals who can serve his clients and also help him grow his business. In 2009, Stuart worked with the team at Bulletproof InfoTech as they merged with CompuConsult.com and started working in Calgary. Stuart’s role with ULISTIC provides full services Internet consulting services, specializing in helping business in Calgary and throughout the MSP and VAR community. |
Leadership Advisor |
Mark Ruddock, serial entrepreneur
Serial entrepreneur with two successful exits and over 10 years of experience at the helm of VC backed technology startups. Became the CEO of Viigo (formerly Virtual Reach) in August 2007 after having worked with the company for eight months as EIR at Ventures West. Raised funding from both Ventures West, and RBC Venture Partners, and initiated a rapid expansion of people, partners and products. By 2010, when Vigo was acquired by RIM (makers of the BlackBerry) the company had added hundreds of partners, won numerous awards, including “PC Magazine’s Editors Choice“, “WES Best of Show”. the “Most Promising New Company of the Year” from the CNMA, and the “Wireless Leadership Award” from RIM, had signed marquee enterprise customers such as Oppenheimer, UBS, BAT and Scotts and had been downloaded over 3MM times, becoming one of the most popular BlackBerry applications of all time. As Founder and CEO of INEA, a software company focused on the Financial Services Industry, led a fast growing organization that became a key strategic partner to many of the world’s leading financial institutions. By 2005 INEA had deployments in over 44 countries worldwide, and was backed by RBC Venture partners, Ventures West, APAX Partners and Edgestone Capital. After the acquisition in June 2005, by the Cartesis Group, joined the Paris-based management team as Chief Product Officer, and led the successful integration of the two companies. Cartesis was subsequently acquired by Business Objects in 2007. |
Tutorials Advisor |
Roberta J. Fox, president & senior partners, Fox Group
Roberta Fox is one of the top telecommunications industry analysts, thought-leaders and senior-level conference speaker. She regularly appears on BNN, ROB, CBC TV, CTV, CBC Radio. She provides guidance and interpretation on the current and future trends in telecommunications and technology. She is respected for her innovative, creative methods in de-mystifying complex technology into real world business language. Roberta is a Board of Governor to the Telecom Hall of Fame Foundation, supports the Canadian Telecommunication Consultants Association (CTCA), is the former Vice-Chairman of the Canadian Business Telecommunications Alliance, former chair of the Telecoms Committee and Information Highway Advisory Task Force of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). |
Security Advisor |
Brian Bourne, president, CMS Consulting Inc. and co-founder of SecTor
Brian brings over 17 years of IT experience and his expertise is grounded in systems integration work with large, complex, multi-platform networks. Brian is very active in the Toronto IT industry. He is a regular speaker at SecTor, InfoSecurity, TechNet and many other industry events. He is the co-founder and current executive of the TASK, the Toronto Area Security Klatch (www.task.to), which has grown to what is now the second largest user group in Canada and is entering its 5th year. He is also a co-founder of SecTor, the Security Education Conference held annually in Toronto. Brian’s current focus is building the strongest team of Microsoft Infrastructure and Collaboration Experts in Canada. Brian maintains his technical edge through consulting and participation on with numerous technology related events. He maintains the latest certifications (such as CISSP and MCITP) and leverages his past experiences to provide leadership to the growing team of CMS Consultants. |
Mobility Advisor Read Krista’s blog posts |
Krista Napier, senior analyst of emerging technology and digital media at IDC Canada
As a Senior Analyst, Krista leads IDC’s Digital Media practice, developing research and insight around media tablets, eReaders, and digital content. In this role Krista is forecasting the size of the market in Canada, following trends, new products, and vendor strategies. Krista also tracks emerging Canadian headquartered ICT companies, from pre-revenue up to $20 million, and closely follows their growth. In IDC’s report series, Canadian Technology Innovation Watch, Krista provides insight into the most promising Canadian companies across a selection of ICT sub-markets, and delivers guidance on what makes these companies successful, and how others can emulate that success. This research is sought-after by investors, large and small ICT companies and government organizations. Krista holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, and an Honors Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University. She graduated from both her MBA and BBA with distinction. |
