What Works & Why in Digital Advertising

Alexa Christon has worked on brands such as Pepsi, Yahoo! and Time Warner Cable during her 10+ career in advertising and marketing. Currently at GE, as the head of global media innovations, Alexa focuses on discovering new and innovative media territories for the brand to live. Most recently with GE’s chart-topping fictional podcast, The Message, partnership with The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Fallonventions and Focus Forward Films program.

Laurie is a Consumer Campaigns Manager for the Americas Marketing Group at Intel. With 25 years of marketing experience, Laurie has worked on both business-to-business and consumer campaigns. From industry leading corporations like Tektronix, Nike, and Intel…to boutique companies in the fields of coffee roasters, healthcare and software services, her #1 goal is to consistently break boundaries and break through with never-been-done-before campaigns. Whether delivering programs for retail, product marketing, event activation, media, or online executions, it’s always about focusing on the customer. In addition to creating award winning marketing programs on-the-job, Laurie is an Adjunct Professor at George Fox University teaching Principles of Marketing, Business Management, and Consumer Engagement/Social Networking, as well as co-teaching graduate and MBA classes.

As Global Chief Creative Officer, Nick is responsible for the creative vision of R/GA, the New York-based agency for the digital age. He guides teams of visual designers, copywriters and experience designers as they create award-winning work for a many of Fortune 500 companies. He also ensures that R/GA stays true to the company’s unique legacy of collaboration between world-class creative and groundbreaking technology.

Nick’s background is extensive and diverse, spanning multiple marketing disciplines during 20 years at agencies in the United States and abroad. He began his career in branding and corporate identity and design before switching to advertising, and then ultimately, focusing on digital marketing.

Nick has won every major industry awards, including a Titanium Lion and Grand Prix Cyber Lion at Cannes, and a prestigious Black Pencil from D&AD. Three times he has been named in Creativity Magazine’s “Creativity 50”, a list of the world’s most influential creatives.

Michael is Founder and CEO of Big Spaceship, a globally-recognized digital creative agency. Since launching the agency in 2000, he has defined the strategy and vision for Big Spaceship’s growth and culture as well as working closely with Big Spaceship’s clients, including BMW, Google Play, Google Maps, Ken Burns, Nestle-Purina, Organic Valley, Samsung and YouTube.

Over the past decade, Michael has led Big Spaceship to attain countless awards of high distinction. This includes a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the agency’s work with HBO Voyeur, Cannes Lions, Clios and One Show Interactive Pencils, as well as numerous Webby, FWA, Communication Arts, W3 and Pixel Awards. Michael was also named among the 2010 Creativity 50 and the 2008 OMMA Online All-Stars.

Michael is a member of Procter & Gamble’s Design Advisory Board and the Chairman of the IAB Agency Advisory Board. He is also a founder and was an inaugural board member of SoDA, the Society of Digital Agencies, and membership in the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and AIGA’s Visionary Design Council.

Speaking on creativity, innovation and the evolution of business, Michael participates in and leads seminars across the globe and has engaged audiences at AIGA, SXSW, Click:NY, Click:London, ad:tech and CaT: Creativity and Technology, to name a few. He frequently chairs and sits on juries for creative awards, including the ANDY Awards, Cannes Lions, Hive Awards, One Show Interactive Awards, Effie Awards, ADC Interactive Awards, Communication Arts Awards and more.