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E-Newsletter > Speakers News: January 2010

Speaker news: January 2010

IN THIS ISSUE:

New speakers: Douglas Merrill, former CIO of Google; Warren Berger, author of Glimmer; Joe Hallinan on why we make mistakes...

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For more information on our speakers, call us at 1-800-265-4870 or email us at info@thelavinagency.com.

NEW EXCLUSIVE SPEAKER

With Kiva, Small Loans Make a Big Difference

Jessica Jackley finds success with a new business model and an old truism: great things can happen when you connect people

Jessica Jackley is the co-founder of Kiva, the world's first peer-to-peer microlending website that has garnered praise from Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and The New York Times. At Kiva.org, users can give microloans to specific developing world entrepreneurs, who use the money to grow their businesses and lift themselves out of poverty. Loans start at just $25. Since 2005, Kiva lenders have loaned over $100 million to the world’s working poor; by 2012, that number is expected to grow to a staggering $1 billion. These are loans, to be repaid, not charity. Kiva is not simply a new type of business model, it's a revolution. On stage, Jackley gives articulated speeches on a variety of issues: innovative business models, unstoppable growth, viral marketing, micro-lending, and economic development. At core, her talks highlight her belief that great things can happen when we connect people in meaningful ways.

Jessica Jackley Speaker Profile

NEW EXCLUSIVE SPEAKER

At Google, He Championed a Culture of Innovation

Douglas Merrill provides a rare look into the innovative practices at one of the world's most admired companies

As Google's former Chief Information Officer, Douglas Merrill championed a relentless -- and relentlessly profitable -- culture of innovation. Innovation as strategy, as culture. One of his projects, Google Checkout, is now a multi-billion dollar project. In his fast-paced talks, Merrill pulls the curtain back at Google, and at other companies he's worked for, to show you how to build your own culture of innovation. How do you foster ideas in their infancy? What corporate and team structures drive innovation? Which ones get in the way? Many companies unknowing crush the innovative ideas that right under their noses, Merrill reminds us. With tips on everything from how to build the right teams to how to incorporate new technologies to boost -- and not detract from -- efficiency, Merrill offers a rare, high-level look at how the world's leading companies conpete.

Douglas Merrill Speaker Profile

NEW EXCLUSIVE SPEAKER

Glimmer: How Design is Reshaping Business and the World

What can great designers teach us about creative problem-solving?

Design is often thought of as nothing more than style. But, as Warren Berger explains, thinking like a designer can help us overcome daunting challenges in business, the environment, and our daily lives. In his new book, Glimmer, Berger shares user-friendly principles that designers use to enliven innovation and the creative process -- principles that can be applied to nearly any business situation. Designers are masters of emphatic research. They unburden themselves from the curse of knowledge. And they see possibilities in the most unlikely of places. In lively, jargon-free prose, Berger recasts our understanding of design, and gives clear voice to a burgeoning and resoundingly hopeful movement. Design is not merely about making things. It's a way of looking at our world -- at business, at society -- with an eye toward changing it.

Warren Berger Speaker Profile

NEW EXCLUSIVE SPEAKER

Why We Make Mistakes. And How To Do a Little Better

Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph Hallinan reports on the captivating science of human error

Human beings are prone to error. It's as simple as that. Many otherwise lucid-thinking individuals make mistakes with alarming frequency. We are easily distracted. We make bad investments. We fail to see what's right in front of our eyes. And we forget things the minute we learn them. But it doesn't have to be this way. In keynotes customized for any audience, Joe Hallinan, author of Why We Make Mistakes, explains that some of the qualities that make us efficient also make us error-prone. How to prevent these errors--how to anticipate and then "outsmart" them--are at the heart of his engaging and interactive talks.

Joe Hallinan Speaker Profile

SUSTAINABILITY IN UNLIKELY PLACES

Scientist Jared Diamond on How Big Business Can Save the Planet

The Guns, Germs and Steel author explores sustainable practices in corporate America

Are corporations such as Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron unfairly criticized? Perhaps so. According to Pulitzer Prize winner Jared Diamond, these three companies, and many more, employ some of the best sustainable thinking on the planet. Wal-Mart uses its influence to reduce packaging among its suppliers. Coca-Cola -- whose survival is tied to fresh water availability -- has embraced water neutrality. And Chevron immaculately cares for its oil fields, preventing spills and boosting morale. In a far-ranging New York Times Op-Ed, Diamond, an initial skeptic of big business, draws out a persuasive argument. "Economic reasons furnish the strongest motives for sustainability, because in the long run (and often in the short run as well) it is much more expensive and difficult to try to fix problems, environmental or otherwise, than to avoid them at the outset." Diamond highlights corporate America's powerful response to the climate crisis in order to broaden -- and to further -- the most important discussion of our time.

To read Dr. Diamond's op-ed, click through to his speaker profile

Jared Diamond Speaker Profile

Welcome to My Catalogues.

We've made it easier than ever to choose speakers for your event. You can now create your personal catalogue of speakers, save it in one convenient place, refer back to it in the future and even send it to colleagues. Start now by clicking “Add to catalogue” next to a speaker's photo.