The Leading Speakers Bureau

Entrepreneur & Former Global Marketing/Innovation Director at Diageo, Coca-Cola & Walt Disney

Rafe Offer is a marketeer with a track record of generating profitable new growth for some of the best known brands on the planet. He was on the team at Walt Disney that launched what became a billion dollar licensing product business for grown-ups in the 1990s. Recently, Rafe was instrumental in the development of the world’s fastest growing Recruitment Business – a business that was last month profiled by The London Business School as a model for an innovative start-up. He is also a serial seed funder and entrepreneur, for example he founded sofarsounds.com, an underground movement supporting new music via secret gigs in people’s living rooms.

“A Marketing Genius and incredibly inspirational speaker”

[expand title=”In detail”] Rafe has a wealth of experience to tap into from working on the inside at Director level for Walt Disney, Coca-Cola and Diageo. He has also served as an independent consultant with a diverse and impressive range of companies – from online companies such as Moneysupermarket.com, Amazon and Findaproperty.com to the more traditional (AXA Insurance, Aviva Insurance, the Daily Mail Media Group and Reed Elsevier). Rafe’s experience as board member and investor for start ups gives him a pragmatic and cutting edge balance to the big company world. He is also a recognized social media expert who speaks regularly about digital innovation at the London Business School.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]A peak into the inner workings of some of the most exciting brands and companies today….a rare blend of creativity and commercial acumen….direct experience helping start-ups grow quickly and profitable (and how to apply that knowledge to bigger companies) ….how to build a company culture that add immediately value to your bottom line….. What’s more, Rafe’s experience building a valuable Global network of music fans via Sofarsounds.com with literally no money offers cutting edge lessons on the right ways to use social media to build a brand.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]With passion for what he does– and an engaging, relaxed interactive style that leaves audiences inspired.[/expand]
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Political Economist

Marvin Zonis is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, where he teaches courses on International Political Economy, Leadership and Business Strategy. He is also a best-selling author, has appeared on numerous network television news programmes, and he has also published articles in leading international newspaper around the world.

A true world authority on risk management and world economic growth

[expand title=”In detail”] He heads Marvin Zonis & Associates Inc, one of the most respected political risk consultancies. He is working with corporations and professional asset management firms throughout the world to help them identify, assess and manage their political risks in the constantly changing global environment.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With an acute awareness of politics, economics and emerging technologies, he offers decision makers the tools to be able to decide what they must do to stay competitive in the global market. He explains and analyses the transformations in the social, political and economic environment worldwide and the implications for business and public policy.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]He is a stimulating and magnetic speaker whose qualities are best illustrated through examples of his speeches and presentations and the feedback from the numerous business executives who have heard him speak.[/expand]
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Leading Expert on Financial Markets

Jeremy Siegel is the Russell E. Palmer Professor of Finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as Senior Investment Strategy Advisor of Wisdom Tree Investments, Inc., consulting the firm on its proprietary stock indexes. He is also a member of the company’s board of directors. In 1994, he received the highest teaching rating in a worldwide ranking of business school professors conducted by Business Week magazine.

“Jeremy Siegel is a wise man and an astute observer of the ever changing investment universe”

[expand title=”In detail”] Prof. Siegel has written and lectured extensively about the economy and financial markets, has appeared frequently on TV. He is a regular columnist for Kiplinger’s and Yahoo! Finance and has contributed articles to The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The Financial Times and other national and international news media. Prof. Siegel served for 15 years as head of economics training at JP Morgan and is currently the academic director of the U.S. Securities Industry Institute.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Dr. Siegel is consistently one of the highest rated speakers at professional and investor conferences and seminars arranged by major brokerage firms, mutual funds, and other financial organizations around the world.. He has spoken to hundreds of different groups, from experts to novices on topics relating to current financial markets and portfolio planning. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]In his well researched presentations Jeremy Siegel clearly explains current market trends and offers useful pointers to the stocks that investors should acquire to build long-term wealth.[/expand]
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Author and Former editor of the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday Express

Eve Pollard is a journalist and media commentator and was only the second woman ever to edit a national newspaper. Eve is a regular reporter on BBC1’s The One Show. She also frequently appears on radio and TV from The News Quiz to You and Yours, This Morning, Have I Got News For You, Loose Women. Eve is also a published novelist and biographer.

“The First Lady of Fleet Street”

[expand title=”In detail”] Starting out in women’s magazines, Eve rose to edit the Sunday Mirror and Sunday Express, as well as magazine supplements for many of the national Sunday papers. Returning to women’s titles she also launched Elle magazine in the US as its first editor-in-chief. Eve has had a varied and colourful career that has seen her rise from junior reporter to editor in the male-dominated world of old-school newspaper journalism. A respected commentator on the media, its future, and its effects, Eve is a member of the Competition Commission’s Newspaper Takeover Panel.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]The all-round talent that is Eve Pollard has a wealth of experience in the corporate field and is especially interesting as an after dinner speaker. Eve is also an experienced and accomplished host and facilitator.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Eve is an extremely funny, interesting and insightful after dinner speaker and always well received by audiences around the country.[/expand]
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Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Clayton Christensen is the architect of and the world’s foremost authority on disruptive innovation, a framework which describes the process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves ‘up market’, eventually displacing established competitors. Consistently acknowledged in rankings and surveys as one of the world’s leading thinkers on innovation, Christensen is widely sought after as a speaker, advisor and board member. His research has been applied to national economies, start-up and Fortune 50 companies, as well as to early and late stage investing.

In 2011 Thinkers 50, the global ranking of management gurus, placed him 1st in the list of most influential thinkers.

[expand title=”In detail”] An advisor to numerous countries and companies, including the government of Singapore, he is a board member at India’s Tata Consultancy Services (NYSE: TCS), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC), W.R. Hambrecht, and Vanu. Christensen also applies his frameworks via management consultancy Innosight which he co-founded in 2000, and Rose Park Advisors, an investment firm he founded in 2007. Prof. Christensen holds a B.A. with highest honours in economics from Brigham Young University. He received an MBA with High Distinction from the Harvard Business School. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Prof. Christensen’s research and teaching interests centre on the management issues related to the development and commercialisation of technological and business model innovation. He provides business leaders with tools and insights for managing innovation gleaned from his experience.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Comprehensive in his vision, astute in his diagnosis and clear in his guidance Prof. Christensen’s presentations are invaluable for business leaders around the world.[/expand]
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Leading Authority in Post Conflict Reconstruction

Stefan Wolff specialises in post-conflict reconstruction of deeply divided and war-torn societies. He has extensive expertise in Northern Ireland, the Balkans and the Middle East, and has also worked on a wide range of other conflicts elsewhere, including Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Bridging the divide between academia and policy-making, Stefan advises national and international governmental and non-governmental organisations and the private sector. He is part of a small team of experts studying and developing complex institutional design solutions for self-determination conflicts. He is also coordinating a research group examining the influence of external factors on the development and stability of ethnic autonomy regimes.

[expand title=”In detail”] Stefan is a Reader in the Department of European Studies at the University of Bath. He holds a Masters Degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

As convener of the Ethnopolitics Specialist Group an international team of scholars and practitioners working on issues related to the prevention, management and settlement of ethnic and religious conflicts and sponsored by the UK’s Political Studies Association, Stefan has built a global network of professionals with a wide range of geographic and topical expertise.

He is currently working on the development of a comprehensive strategy to involve the private sector into peace-building in the Middle East. For the past two years, he has also been instrumental in developing and implementing a multiyear institutional reform and training programme for the Western Balkan countries aimed at government officials, journalists and leaders from the private and non-profit sectors the programme focuses on the significance of regional and European integration and provides participants with the skills and knowledge to prepare for eventual accession to the European Union while simultaneously fostering closer links between them in order to better address problems of a regional dimension and establish mechanisms of non-violent conflict regulation.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]He is frequently invited as plenary speaker to conferences and workshops throughout the world as well as advising and speaking at private company gatherings. Stefan is highly regarding as a leading expert in his field and is in constant demand by corporations and governments eager to exploit his expertise.[/expand]
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Explorer, Writer, Amazon Man – Inspirational Figure

Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the entire length of the Amazon River in August 2010. His adventure has been described as one of the most dangerous and difficult expeditions ever undertaken encountering venomous snakes, severe floods, electric eels, jaguars and hostile local tribes, one of whom held him for questioning about the murder of one of their tribesman. Since returning home to the UK his story has featured in over 300 articles around the globe.

Ed’s Amazon accomplishment has been described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as being “..in the top league of expeditions past and present”

[expand title=”In detail”] On April 2nd 2008, Ed Stafford began his quest to walk the entire length of the Amazon River from source to sea. In 2009 he began writing a fortnightly blog for the Prince’s Rainforests Project. After leaving the military in 2002 he led expeditions in Belize and then supervised the building of a BBC base camp in Guyana.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Ed Stafford’s experiences of surviving adversity in some of the world’s most remote locations are simply unforgettable and highly inspiring. He uses his experiences to inspire and motivate audiences to achieve their own personal goals and shows that it is possible to succeed even when faced with seemingly insurmountable hardship.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Ed Stafford aims to motivate others to believe they can achieve their dreams and his laid back, humorous style educates and enthrals. His presentations are a mix of narrative and pictorial anecdotes with documentary footage filmed by Ed himself in the jungle. He takes the audience with him back to the jungle via his presentation and helps to inspire them to see life ahead as an adventure ready to begin.[/expand]
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Former Chairman of Microsoft India

Ravi Venkatesan is a Director on the Board of AB Volvo and Infosys Ltd. and a member of the Advisory Boards of Harvard Business School and Purdue University. He is the former Chairman of Microsoft India. Under his leadership from 2004-2011, India became Microsoft’s second largest and one of its fastest growing geographies. He was recently voted the Most Influential MNC CEO for 2011 by the Economic Times.

“One of the most influential pioneers of the Indian technology Industry”

[expand title=”In detail”] Prior to joining Microsoft, Ravi worked for over sixteen years with Cummins Inc, the world leader in engines and related technologies. As Chairman of Cummins India Limited, he oversaw the transformation of Cummins into the leading provider of power solutions and the largest manufacturer of automotive engines in the country. He is an Advisor to Raymond Ltd. and Bunge Inc. He has contributed frequently to the Harvard Business Review; some of his articles include, “Strategic Sourcing – to Make or Not to Make” and “Cummins Engine Flexes its Factories. Ravi was awarded Purdue University’s Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award for the year 2011.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Ravi takes a highly customised approach to each presentation he delivers, ensuring a topical focus for each client that is unique, conversational and an excellent tie-in with the overall event. He advises audiences on a wide range of business topics especially the emergence of new technologies.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Ravis’ highly personalised, unforgettable presentations are memorable insights into his unique viewpoint of the technology industry. A fascinating speaker, he talks in detail about the challenges and successes of Microsoft India and inspires audiences around the globe.[/expand]
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Italian Tenor and Communication speaker

Vittorio Grigolo is a tenor who has developed a reputation as one of the most talented tenors of his generation. With a gold and platinum-selling solo album, a Grammy-nominated recording of Bernstein’s West Side Story and his last album The Italian Tenor reaching the number one position in the US Billboard Classical Album chart, Vittorio is already established as a successful recording artist. His second album Arrivederci released in autumn 2011, includes Vittorio’s personal selection of the most beloved Italian songs and opera arias ever written for the tenor voice.

“Vittorio’s exceptional dramatic and vocal talents have been widely praised by the world’s press”

[expand title=”In detail”] Having made his debut as the Shepherd in Tosca at the age of thirteen, at twenty-three he became the youngest tenor ever to perform at Teatro alla Scala. As one of the leading tenors of his generation, he now performs worldwide, and is renowned for his star quality as both a singer and actor. Vittorio has been honored with awards that include the European Border Breakers award and France’s 2010 Discovery of the Year award in recognition of his latest album The Italian Tenor. He has also won the Best Tenor category in L’Opera Magazine’s 2011 Opera awards.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Vittorio’s amazing voice has ensured him a place within the pantheon of great singers, and his drive and determination is virtually impossible to ignore with several hit albums and hundreds of concert appearances behind him.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Vittorio’s extraordinary “pure” voice has attracted the attention of many established artists from the worlds of pop and classical alike.[/expand]
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Europe’s only Professor for Computer Gaming

Prof. Linda Breitlauch is Europe’s only Professor for Computer Gaming. She is currently the Head of the Game Design Program at the MediaDesign Hochschule, Düsseldorf teaching media theory, design and multimedia dramaturgy. She has helped pioneer work into the combination in a novel way of two gaming traditions, which have been mutual exclusive till now: outdoor games and computer games.

“Linda Breitlauch gives a very realistic overview of modern game development practices”

[expand title=”In detail”] Prof. Linda Breitlauch became a games enthusiast in the days of the early consoles. She has pioneered the framework of her study screenplay and dramaturgy in the Film and Television College in Potsdam. Among other things in the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences she studied “Interactive Storytelling” at great length. [/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Prof. Breitlauch offers insights into the developments in the computer games industry. Her realistic overview opens audience’s minds to realistic conflicts, witty challenges, many-sided strategies and varied game contents.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Linda Breitlauch’s fascinating presentations are filled with ideas on her passions – adventures, strategy games and role plays. She also looks at the new challenges game design is facing and into the role of women in games, their emotional effects and the thought processes behind the active rolls from feminine figures in the games.[/expand]
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