Featured - Big Idea Speakers

Gordon Chang

14 September 2018

Robert Adams

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Categories: Featured, speakers

There are speakers who can talk about the Chinese economy…but then, there is Forbes Magazine contributor and columnist at The Daily Beast, Gordon Chang.

Gordon lived in China for 20 years and is the author of the book, “The Coming Collapse of China”. If you want to know what’s in store for China’s future( Politically, socially, and economically ), and how it might affect us in the West, then Gordon Chang is a must hear.

His writings on China and North Korea have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the International Herald Tribune, Commentary, The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Barron’s. Gordon once wrote in a Forbes column:

“Chinese leaders do not distrust us because they have insufficient contact with us. They distrust us because they see themselves as the protector of a political system threatened by free societies and their vibrant economies. The mistrust is inherent in their one-party state. It can never be relieved as long as the Communist Party remains in power. As Ronald Reagan taught us, the nature of regimes matters.”

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Biography

Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China (Random House, August 2001), and Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World, released by Random House in January 2006, and is an expert on China and Chinese-US Relations.

He lived and worked in China and Hong Kong for almost two decades, most recently in Shanghai, as Counsel to the American law firm Paul Weiss and earlier in Hong Kong as Partner in the international law firm Baker & McKenzie.

His writings on China and North Korea have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the International Herald Tribune, The Weekly Standard, and the South China Morning Post.

He has spoken at Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, and other universities and at The Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, RAND, the American Enterprise Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, and other institutions. He has given briefings at the National Intelligence Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the Pentagon. He has also spoken before industry and investor groups including Sanford Bernstein and Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia. Chang has appeared before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and has delivered to the Commission a report on the future of China’s economy.

He has appeared on CNN, Fox News Channel, CNBC, MSNBC, and Bloomberg Television. Outside the United States he has spoken in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, The Hague, Vancouver, and Taipei.

He has served two terms as a trustee of Cornell University.

China on the Edge: What It Means for Us

The dominant narrative of our era is that this is “China’s century.”

China, however, has already passed certain inflection points. The economy is stumbling, in fact growing only in the low single digits and on the edge of an historic debt crisis; the political system is in distress, with the military gaining influence; and the populace is volatile. China is on the edge.

The motor of the country’s rise will also be the engine of its failure. Even if official gross domestic product numbers are accurate—and they almost certainly overstate economic output by a wide margin—China is creating debt at least two times faster than it is growing. So the country is in an impossible situation.

And why are China’s severe economic problems relevant to us? Because for more than three decades the Communist Party has primarily based its legitimacy on the continual delivery of prosperity. And without prosperity, the only remaining basis of legitimacy is nationalism. China’s militant nationalism is creating friction in an arc of nations from India in the south to South Korea in the north.

Unfortunately, because of problems inside the Communist Party’s political system, China cannot compromise or maintain good relations with its neighbors, the international community, or us. These days, Beijing is lashing out, a sign its leaders are now acting according to a logic the rest of the world is not familiar with.

J.J. McCullough

15 June 2018

Robert Adams

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Categories: Featured, speakers

One look at that hair tells you this guy is not your father’s “un-left” quasi-conservative type. J.J. McCullough is an ex-pundit turned youtuber (with over 775k subscribers!) who defies all the stereotypes about what it means to be a… quasi-conservative Canadian Youtuber with a hip and decidedly funky edge.

J.J.’s unique west-coast perspective, unobstructed by the conventional wisdom of the country’s eastern “media elites”, J.J. calls Canada as he sees it, and what he sees is a nation often in denial about its unique problems. From discriminatory bilingualism to a broken parliamentary system to the strange cult of Canadian anti-Americanism, immigration, Covid Policy and more, J.J. isn’t afraid to tackle the sacred cows too often deemed immune from criticism in Canada. Because really, as J.J. says… someone’s got to. Politics aside though, J.J.’s success lies in the fact there are a myriad of topics that he speaks about, and he has a sense of fun that separates him from other speakers, pundits and journalists. Over the past year, JJ has been speaking out against the Canadian Governments new Bill, Bill C-11. In fact, his expertise on the subject of this Bill is profound; so much so that he was invited to, and then delivered, his testimony at a Canadian Senate Hearing on the effects Bill C-11 will have, and why it will have a deleterious effect on all Canadians – not just those of us engaged on Social Media.

Also, you can now find J.J. writing about Canada in the Washington Post, as a global opinion contributing columnist. To see more of J.J.’s youtube videos, you can check out a number of his videos below, or go to his amazing Youtube channel, where he covers topics as “Speaking English” to the “History of American Ice Cream” to the Queen of England, and much, much more!

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Biography

Videos

Biography

J.J. McCullough is a conservative political commentator and columnist who’s been sharing his thoughts across the North American media landscape for over a decade.

J.J. McCullough writes in the Global Opinions section of the Washington Post, writing about Canadian politics and culture for a global audience, and he was formerly a conservative columnist for the National Review Online. He lives in Vancouver and has been a longtime contributor to various Canadian publications including the National Post and Toronto Sun, and is a former political commentator for Sun News and CTV. A fan of multiple mediums, he is also a freelance political cartoonist, an active Twitter personality, and the host of his own popular YouTube channel, which has grown huge – he now has over 850k + subscribers as of December 2022; and his expertise and social media popularity brought him an invitation to Ottawa in 2022 to testify against Canada’s Bill C-11, essentially a censorship bill that will prevent Canadians from viewing, more or less, what they want.

His specializes in commentary about Canadian politics, US-Canadian relations, media accountability and of course, social media. To learn more click here.

Speech Topics:

J.J. will customize his talk to suit your audience. Topics range from Pop Culture to Politics and Current Events. Whatever you want, actually. Seriously. You name it.

Sharyl Attkisson

14 June 2018

Robert Adams

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Categories: Featured, speakers

Sharyl Attkisson is an Emmy award winning investigative journalist, host of the Sunday morning news program “Full Measure,” who tries to give you information others don’t want you to have. She says: “ What you do with it (the information) is your own business. Do your own research. Seek advice from those you trust. Make up your own mind”

Sharyl is the author of the New York Time’s Bestseller, “Stonewalled: My Fight For the Truth Against the Forces of Obstruction, Intimidation and Harassment in Obama’s Washington” From the back of the book cover -…”Sharyl Attkisson fought tirelessly to uncover wrongdoing by those in power, whether major corporations, government officials, or presidential administrations of both parties. But when she started looking into stories involving the Obama administration’s mistakes and misjudgments in a series of high-profile cases—stories few in mainstream journalism would touch—she was confronted with the administration’s use of hardball tactics to discourage, block, and actively suppress her investigative work.”

This is a keynote speech you do not want to miss.

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Biography

Videos

Biography

EMMY AWARD-WINNING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, NYT BEST SELLING AUTHOR

Sharyl Attkisson is a nonpartisan investigative journalist, five-time Emmy Award winner, and recipient of the Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting. She is the NYT bestselling author of Slanted: How the news media taught us to love censorship and hate journalism; The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think and How You Vote, and Stonewalled. She is host, investigative reporter, and managing editor of the Sunday morning national TV news program, Sinclair’s “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson,” which feeds to 43+ million US households each week and focuses on investigative and accountability reporting.

For thirty years, Attkisson was a correspondent and anchor at CBS News, PBS, CNN and in local news.

In 2013, she received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism for her reporting on :The Business of Congress,” which included an undercover investigation into fundraising by Republican freshmen. She received two other Emmy nominations in 2013 for “Benghazi: Dying for Security” and “Green Energy Going Red.” Additionally, Attkisson received a 2013 Daytime Emmy Award as part of the CBS Sunday Morning team’s entry for Outstanding Morning Program for her report: “Washington Lobbying: K-Street Behind Closed Doors.”

In September 2012, Attkisson received the Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism and the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting for the “Gunwalker: Fast and Furious” story.

Attkisson received an Investigative Emmy Award in 2009 for her exclusive investigations into TARP and the bank bailout. She received an Investigative Emmy Award in 2002 for her series of exclusive reports about mismanagement at the Red Cross.

Attkisson also received Emmy nominations for her investigations into Firestone tires (2001), prescription drug and vaccine dangers (2003), investigating aid to Haiti earthquake victims (2011) and Follow the Money (2011).

Attkisson is one of the few journalists to have flown in a B-52 on a combat mission (over Kosovo) and in an F-15 fighter jet Combat Air Patrol flight. She is a fifth degree black belt Master in TaeKwonDo.

Previously, Attkisson hosted a medical news magazine on PBS called “HealthWeek,” anchored and reported for CNN, and reported at several local news stations. She is a graduate of the University of Florida School of Journalism and Communications. To learn more click here.

Joel Cohen

25 April 2018

sezar

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Categories: Featured, speakers

Emmy-winning Writer/Producer of The Simpsons.
Enlightening, and funny, Joel takes you inside the innovation process and team dynamics that have made this the most successful TV show in history. In his fascinating and wonderfully humorous presentations, he provides vibrant stories and key lessons to the show’s sustained creative process, group dynamics and culture of innovation. A hilarious speaker, Cohen draws links between running a business and keeping a hit show fresh. This most certainly will be the best time you will ever have at a speech.

As the Emmy award-winning writer and producer for The Simpsons, the longest-running American scripted primetime television series in history, Joel has been a key part of the show’s success. Since its debut on December 17, 1989, The Simpsons has broadcast more than 600 episodes, and was named by Time as “The greatest TV show of the 20th century.”

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Biography

As the Emmy award-winning writer and producer for The Simpsons, the longest-running American scripted primetime television series in history, Joel has been a key part of the show’s success. Since its debut on December 17, 1989, The Simpsons has broadcast more than 600 episodes, and was named by Time as “The greatest TV show of the 20th century.” It has won dozens of awards, including 31 Primetime Emmy Awards, 30 Annie Awards, and a Peabody Award.

A graduate of the University of Alberta (B.Sc.) and York University (M.B.A.), Joel Cohen found success in the corporate world before making a completely illogical career move into comedy writing. Cohen’s experience as both a “creative” and a “suit” has not only left him with a puzzling resume, it also gives him a unique perspective to discuss innovation and its place in business. “The same factors that allow creativity to arise, to live or to die for writers are also present and relevant in corporations and even individuals.”

In addition to writing for several movies, TV and online projects, Joel is also the author of the new book How to Lose a Marathon: A Starter’s Guide to Finishing in 26.2 Chapters. This hilariously chronicles Joel Cohen’s step-by-step journey from being a couch potato to being whatever type of potato can finish a marathon.

In his fascinating and wonderfully humorous presentations, he provides vibrant stories and key lessons to the show’s sustained creative process, group dynamics and culture of innovation. A hilarious speaker, Cohen draws links between running a business and keeping a hit show fresh. This most certainly will be the best time you will ever have at a speech.

Joel has been invited to keynote more than a hundred events worldwide, including Merrill Lynch, AOL, Oklahoma State University, International Interior Design Assn., Accenture, Canadian Home Builders Assn., Colorado State University, Red Hat, Training Magazine, InnoTown, Illinois State University, Communique, Brightworks, Savannah College of Art and Design, Eli Lilly, Desire2Learn, Colorado State University, CropLife Canada, DDB Group Asia Pacific, Envirotec, Beckman Coulter, Arido, Google, Canadian Produce Marketing Assn., Institute of Communication Agencies, Chick-fil-A, Mexico Corporate Leaders Summit, Compass Group, Canadian Construction Assn., Aptean, The Economic Club of Grand Rapids, …and many more.

Speech Topics

The Simpsons: There’s no “I” in “Innovation” (oh wait, there’s actually two of them)…Lessons in innovation from the most successful show in TV history.

Joel Cohen is an absolutely hilarious, deadpan, quick-on-his feet speaker…perfect for any group that needs to enhance their innovation culture, but who prefer to laugh a little (okay, a lot) while learning how. Armed with inspired anecdotes and clips, he takes you into the fabled writer’s room at The Simpsons to draw the links – and there are many – between maintaining a hit show and running a successful company. He asks, and then brilliantly answers, questions essential to the success of any industry. How do you manage group dynamics to get the best from your talent? How do you find, evaluate, implement, and even discard, new ideas? How do you chart a renewable path to innovation? And how do you overcome creative log jams? (Note: for actual, literal logjams, Cohen recommends a chainsaw…or even better, hiring a guy with a chainsaw).

Testimonials

“Just a brief note to again thank you for a great presentation at IBM’S IMPACT Conference in Orlando. All of the feedback’s been extremely positive. It was great to work with you and I hope to do it again soon. Thanks again for a job well done.” IBM & Drury Design Dynamics

“Joel was great and better still he is a lovely guy. His presentation was to an audience of about 800 people and he was well received. So much so that I believe he was considered the best speaker of the two day event…which meant DDB was also shown in a good light.” DDB Group Asia Pacific

“Everyone had a great time and very much enjoyed your time with us. Thank you for making an otherwise boring sales meeting very much brighter. ” AOL

Kevin O’Leary

24 April 2018

sezar

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Categories: Featured, speakers

Top Business Speaker, Respected Investor, Author, Venture Capitalist, and Judge on ABC’s Shark Tank and CNBC’s Money Court Reality Show

Kevin O’Leary, aka “Mr. Wonderful” on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank”, is one of the most dynamic speakers in the world – especially when it comes to money and the markets.

Money and marriage; money and entrepreneurship, money and investing; talking to your kids about money; money and taxes; money and why capitalism works. And most importantly, what it takes to Make Money.

What many don’t see on Shark Tank is that Kevin is also an expert commentator on the global financial markets. His latest venture, “O’Shares Investments” reflects his investing DNA: Buy stocks that pay dividends. Although – he has been known to discuss cryptocurrencies as of late, having as much as 20% of his portfolio invested in them!

Entertaining, fun, brutally honest and brilliant – Kevin’s keynote speeches are always a hit. Plus he’ll take the time to customize his keynote to suit your industry or organization. Call us to book Kevin for your next event – you will not be disappointed!

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Biography

Videos

Biography

Kevin O’Leary was born on July 9 th , 1954. As the son of a United Nations ILO official, he had the opportunity to live and be educated in Cambodia, Cyprus, Tunisia, Ethiopia, France and Switzerland.

Kevin attended the University of Waterloo where in 1977 he received an Honors bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and Psychology. He attended the Ivey Business School where he received his MBA in 1980.After working briefly as an assistant product manager at Nabisco Brands, he left to pursue a career in television production and became a founding partner in Special Event

Television, an independent production company that produced original sports programming such as “The Original Six”, “Don Cherry’s Grapevine” and “Bobby Orr and the Hockey Legends”.

Kevin co-founded SoftKey Software in 1986. SoftKey was the first software company to apply the principles of consumer goods marketing to the software industry. SoftKey grew quickly as the price of personal computers declined and millions of North American families began to buy software for family education and entertainment.

In January of 1994, SoftKey became a catalyst of consolidation in the software industry, raising over $ 1 billion in a series of debt and equity financings and completing the first trans-border three-way pooling, merging with Spinnaker Software and WordStar International. As a result of this merger the company moved its headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts. In late 1995, SoftKey acquired Compton’s New Media and The Learning Company. In early 1996, SoftKey completed the acquisition of the Minnesota Educational Computer Company. In late 1997 and early 1998, the company acquired three more of its competitors, Creative Wonders, Mindscape and Broderbund making SoftKey the world leader in the development of educational, reference and home productivity software and the world’s second largest consumer software company with annual sales over $800 million, two thousand employees and subsidiaries in 15 countries.

In 1996 SoftKey changed its name to The Learning Company. In early May 1999, The Mattel Toy Company acquired The Learning Company for $4.2 billion. In 2003 he became co-investor and a director in Storage Now, a leading developer of climate-controlled storage facilities. Through a series of development projects and acquisitions, Storage Now became an owner/operator of storage services with facilities located in eleven cities serving such companies as Merck and Pfizer when it was acquired by the In-Storage REIT in March 2007 for $110 million.

In July of 2007 Kevin became a founding SPAC investor and Director of Stream Global Services Inc., focused on the growing outsourcing business services market.

Kevin O’Leary is the Chairman of O’Shares ETF Investments and Beanstox an automated internet-based investment advisory service. He also holds investments in over 30 private venture companies across a wide range of sectors. He is a member of Boston’s 120-year-old Hamilton Trust, the oldest investment club in the US. He is a contributor to CNBC, ABC News and Good Morning America and an entrepreneur/investor co-host for the Discovery Channels Project Earth series that explores innovative ways man could reverse global warming implementing large scale geo-engineering infrastructure projects. He is also an investor/host of ABC Television’s four-time Emmy Award winning venture capital reality programs “Shark Tank” and “Beyond the Tank” produced by MGM/Sony/ABC.

Kevin O’Leary is an active photographer, watch collector, guitarist and author of three number #1 best selling books “Cold Hard Truth”, “Men, Women and Money” and “Family Kids and Money”.

Conrad Black

24 April 2018

sezar

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Categories: Featured, speakers

Author. Historian. Columnist. Investor. Intellectual Force. Founder of the National Post. Television Host. Member of the British House of Lords. There is only one man who could possibly fit all these descriptions, and it is one of Canada’s most distinguished figures: The iconic Lord Conrad Black.

Having just published his most recent books, “The Political & Strategic History of The World, Vol.1” in 2023, as well as “Forgotten History – Civil Rights in Canada”, “The Canadian Manifesto” in 2019, “Donald J. Trump: A president like no other” in 2018 and in 2016, “Backward Glances”, a collection of his articles and essays spanning his entire career, – on topics such as politics, culture, economics, and more – Lord Black is a must hear keynote speaker.

Whether the topic is judicial reform, geopolitics, or overcoming adversity in business and life, Lord Black is sure to inspire, educate and yes, entertain. He says exactly what he thinks, does not mince words, pulls no punches, and will defend his opinions with tenacity. A keynote or Fireside Chat with Lord Black could best be described as a talk about current events that blends in geopolitics mixed with historical perspectives, infused with a global point of view.

His latest endeavor in this regard is the “Scholars & Sense” show, a brand new bi-weekly podcast where he shares the mic with legendary conservative voices Victor Davis Hanson and Bill Bennett.

UPDATE! Lord Black is now available for live and in person events in the United States.

Videos

Biography

CONRAD BLACK is a financier and author and columnist in a large number of publications in Canada, the US, and the UK, including the National Post and National Review Online (New York). He is the author of biographies of Maurice Duplessis, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Richard M. Nixon, a strategic history of the United States (Flight of the Eagle), and Rise to Greatness, the History of Canada from the Vikings to the Present. His most recent books are “Forgotten History: Civil Rights in Canada” and “The Political & Strategic History of the World, Vol.1” both just released in 2023, “The Canadian Manifesto” in 2019, “Donald J. Trump: A president like no other” in 2018, and before that, a collection of his columns and essays titled Backward Glances, just published by Random House-McCLelland & Stewart. He was the publisher of the London (UK) Telegraph newspapers and Spectator from 1987 to 2004, and controlled many other newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Jerusalem Post and the National Post, which he founded. He is honorary chairman of Conrad Black Capital Corporation and has been a member of the British House of Lords as Lord Black of Crossharbour since 2001, and is a Knight of the Holy See. Lord Black has also recently become the “Historian in Residence” at The Democracy Fund in Canada.

You can find Lord Black’s columns in the National Post, The New York Sun, The National Review Online, American Greatness, The Epoch Times, The Hill, The Brussels Signal in Europe, and his writings are often syndicated in other publications around the world. He continues to be a guest on a number of news outlets offering commentary, and has appeared on the BBC, CTV, FOX News, CBC, Rebel News and countless podcasts. He is a regular guest on America First with Sebastian Gorka, and participates in a monthly podcast called “Scholars & Sense” with two legends of American conservatism, Bill Bennett and Victor Davis Hanson, where they try to make sense of the news of the day. To learn more click here.

Speech Topics

The Criminalization of Addiction and Poverty

Drawing on his experiences in Florida as a three year “Guest of the US government”, Lord Black uses statistics and analysis to break down how drug laws are making this problem worse; and how the “war on drugs” has been a massive failure. He says the focus must move away from criminalization towards rehabilitation, and he says – all drugs must be legalized! Find out why in this hard hitting and eye opening presentation. Lord Black is a judicial reformer and helped his other federal “Guests” matriculate while working to clear his name. This is as moving a presentation as it is eye opening.

Call us here to find out about other topics; Lord Black can customize his talk to suit your event or industry. UK clients, please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out when Lord Black might find himself back in London, or what we can do arrange a live presentation in the UK when possible. Lord Black is now available to do live events in the United States, and loves to discuss US politics, geopolitics, American History, as well as current events.