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Jump to Speaker by Last Name |
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Nimrud Baito - Minister of
Tourism, Kurdistan
Minister for Tourism of Kurdistan and elected general
secretary for the Assyrian Patriotic Party in 2006, of
which he’s be associated with since its 1973 founding, Mr.
Baito represents the autonomous northern Iraqi region of
Kurdistan. During his early involvement in the APP, his
activism on behalf of the Assyrians landed him in charge
of Assyrian student’s activities and the Assyrian Culture
Club in Baghdad, and saw him arrested twice by the
Department of the State Security in 1978-1979. Fluent in
English and trained as an electrical engineer, he spent 10
years as an IT specialist with Hewlett Packard, and now
spends energy on adventure tourism development in the
mountainous, lake-filled, river-flowing region outside the
more visible region of Iraq. More information available at
www.tourismkurdistan.com. |
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Jim Benson - CEO, Benson
Space Company
James William (Jim) Benson is Benson Space Company (BSC)
founder, chairman and president.
Until recently, Jim Benson was the Founding Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of SpaceDev, a publicly traded
space technology development company. Jim started the
trend of successful computer entrepreneurs moving into the
space sector when he founded SpaceDev in 1997. Prior to
founding SpaceDev, Jim was founder and President of
Compusearch Software Systems and ImageFast of McLean,
Virginia.
SpaceDev specializes in affordable, high-performance small
satellites, safe, affordable hybrid-based propulsion
systems, and space mechanisms. SpaceDev has over 200
employees in three states. SpaceDev developed the highly
successful CHIPSat microsatellite for NASA, the rocket
motors for Paul Allen's SpaceShipOne, and has successfully
flown 2,000 mechanisms on over 200 missions.
Jim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the
University of Missouri, where he was 2005 Alumnus of the
Year. Jim founded the non-profit Space Development
Institute, and is a founding Board member of the Personal
Spaceflight Federation. |
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Sandra Carvao - Deputy Head
of the Department of Mercado and Promotion
Techniques of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Sandra joined the UNWTO in 2003 and
her main fields of work, in the area of
market studies, are the statistical
analysis of worldwide and regional
trends of the markets, particularly the
UNWTO’s World Tourism Barometer project,
and investigation into the sending
markets, especially emerging markets
such as China. In the area of promotion
of the tourism, her field of work
includes among other things assessing
the marketing activities of the national
tourism organizations, an area in which
she has run projects in various member
countries of the UNWTO. Before joining
the UNWTO Sandra Carvão held the post of
markets manager in the Portuguese
National Tourism Office based in Lisbon,
where she began her career and where she
was in charge of the external markets,
the United Kingdom and Ireland and the
Central and Eastern European markets.
Sandra has a degree in International
Relations, in the branch of Economics,
from the Instituto de Ciências Sociais e
Políticas of the Universidade Técnica in
Lisbon. Sandra also has a postgraduate
degree in Marketing from the
Complutensian University of Madrid. |
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Benson Cowan - President
and CEO, Butterfield & Robinson
Benson Cowan, the president and CEO of Butterfield &
Robinson, was born and raised in the wilds of Northern
Canada and studied law in Toronto and the West Indies. He
worked in private practice in Toronto and for the United
Nations in the former Yugoslavia before joining
Butterfield & Robinson. He is a devoted, if somewhat slow,
cyclist, an advocate for environmentally sustainable
business and design practices, and a true believer in the
power of travel to change people's lives for the better.
He is often on the road but is happiest at home in Toronto
with his wife, Nathalie, and his two daughters. |
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Thornton May - World Bank
Futurist
Thornton May is one of the world’s most respected and best
connected practitioners of the science of man [a.k.a. -
anthropology] chronicling the frequently pre-hysteric
tribal behaviors of urban cave dwellers as they try to
come to grips with an over-connected, over-caffeinated,
over-accelerated, over-teched, and under-adventured world.
Thornton is a trusted advisor assisting organizations as
diverse as Toyota, Mattel, Cisco Systems, Burlington
Northern Railroad, the FBI, the World Bank, Motorola,
Liberty Mutual, General Electric and Dreamworks S.K.G.
figure out ‘what comes after what comes next.’ Thornton
teaches at four business schools – UCLA, UC-Berkeley,
Arizona State and THE Ohio State University. Thornton’s
‘observations’ have appeared in the Harvard Business
Review (on strategy); The Financial Times (on value
creation); The Wall Street Journal (on the future of the
computer industry); the M.I.T. Sloan Management Review (on
the future of marketing), American Demographics (on the
evolving demographics of global consumers), USA Today (on
the future of consumer electronics), Business Week (on the
future of work), Fast Company (on the future of learning)
and on National Public Radio (debating the future practice
of strategy with Professor Michael Porter). Thornton is a
serial entrepreneur being present at the creation of two
ridiculously successful technology start-up companies.
Thornton played polo in high school, cox’ed crew in
college and at 5 foot, seven inches played professional
basketball [in Japan] during graduate school. He now lives
in Maine with his wife Janet and dog – Jackson.
"Thornton May is the real deal. A daring intellectual,
Thornton encourages us--no he FORCES us--to sit up, pay
attention and think hard about the real issues we face
every day."
Seth Godin, Author of Permission Marketing, and Founder
Yoyodyne
"It's not difficult for Thornton May to stay ahead of the
curve, he helped build it"
Max Keiser, Vice-Chairman, Co-Founder; Hollywood Stock
Exchange
"Thornton May is an intellectual speed merchant. He can
think faster than the few people who are smarter than he
is, and he's smarter than the few people who are faster
than he is--and that's a tough combination to top in any
field."
Alan Webber, Founding Editor; Fast Company |
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Fred Reid - CEO, Virgin
America
Fred Reid has held executive roles with four of the
world's biggest airlines over three decades. Twenty-five
years of airline management experience has landed him at
the helm of Virgin America. It is the latest opportunity
with his fifth airline where he is most excited to play a
leading role. As CEO of the U.S. start-up airline Virgin
America, Fred has the rare privilege of starting with a
clean canvas to create a fresh and consumer-driven new
airline. Despite his tenure in a tough business, he knows
that there is fun to be had. He has gathered, and is
leading, a team of 60 dedicated people with the goal of
growing to more than 125 by the airline's launch. His
vision is that together the company will create and
deliver an airline that people love. As a result, he is
overseeing all strategic and operational facets of Virgin
America – everything from the choice of wine or video
games on board to the airline's network, distribution and
tech ops strategies. He also maintains a career-long
commitment to an open-door policy that helps create an
engaged team through frequent, open communications and
information sharing across the organization. He has
long-been an advocate of change and innovation in the
airline industry. Among his recent achievements as
President of Delta, he oversaw the creation of the
airline’s low-fare Song branded airline, and headed Delta
Connection, the world's largest fleet of regional jets. He
was instrumental in building SkyTeam, the world's most
integrated global airline alliance and directed the
successful acquisition of regional carriers ASA and Comair.
Prior to joining Delta, Fred was President and Chief
Operating Officer of Lufthansa German Airlines, where he
was the first U.S. national to lead a major international
airline. He played a main role in developing Lufthansa's
strategic international alliances and contributed
significantly to the airline's privatization and return to
profitability. Between 1976 and 1991, Fred held various
management positions at Pan American World Airways and
American Airlines, based in Western Europe, the Middle
East and South Asia. With Virgin America, his goal is to
launch an airline with low fares with high consumer value
that exemplifies great customer service and that is
professional but doesn't take itself too seriously. He
recognizes that a lot of other airlines don't want to see
Virgin America enter the marketplace and he doesn't "blame
them for being a little worried." Like his new airline,
Fred is native of San Francisco and graduated in 1973 from
the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in
Asian studies. He is a member of the Board of Directors
for AMB Property Corporation, a leading owner and operator
of airport real estate based in San Francisco; and also
serves on the Advisory Board for the Taub Institute for
Research on Alzheimer's disease. |
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Ang Tshering Sherpa -
President, The Nepal Mountaineering Association &
Managing Director, Asian Trekking
Ang Tshering Sherpa is the President of the Nepal
Mountaineering Association, Managing Director of Asian
Trekking of Kathmandu, Nepal, and Honorary Consul of
Belgium to Nepal. With more than 30 years experience in
the travel trade, he serves as (executive) chairman of
numerous respected travel, hotel and transportation
organizations. Among his many accomplishments, he’s served
as Vice President of Trekking Agents Association of Nepal,
as advisor of the Sherpa Association of Nepal, earned
lifetime membership of the of Human Rights Organization of
Nepal, served as the Honorary Leader of China Tibet
Expedition to All 14 Peaks of above 8000m to Mt. Lhotse
and as Chairman of Poverty Focus Tourism Development
Programme –Nepal, as Advisor of Trekking Agents
Association of Nepal (2002 - 2005), as Leader of
Nepal-China Golden Jubilee Friendship Expedition 2005
organized by The Government of Nepal & China, as a Member
of High Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Deputy
Prime Minister of Nepal for the Golden Jubilee
Celebration(2006) of establishment of Diplomatic relation
between Nepal & Japan, and as Leader of NMA Delegation to
UAAA general Assembly in Beijing, China 2006. Among his
many awards, Ang Tshering Sherpa was decorated “The mark
of honour of knight in the Order of Leopold” by Majesty
the King of Belgium, and “Suprabal Gorkhadakshin Bahu” by
His Majesty the King of Nepal. Additionally, he earned the
life time achievement Award for the highest contribution
in the field of Tourism on the Occasion of Nepal
Unification day 2058 BS, the “MAN OF THE YEAR 2002” by the
American Biographical Institute Board of International
Research, USA, and the “2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of
the 21st Century” Nominated and Declared by International
Geographical Center Cambridge. |
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Veronica Stoddart - Deputy
Managing Editor/Travel, USA TODAY
Veronica Stoddart is USA TODAY's Deputy Managing Editor
for Travel. Previously, she was founding editor of
Caribbean Travel & Life magazine, which she edited for 10
years. She has worked as a contract editor for the
National Geographic Society, as travel editor of Americas
magazine, and has contributed to numerous publications
during 25 years in travel journalism. She has received the
Marcia Vickery-Wallace Award for Excellence in Travel
Journalism, the Westin Award from the North American
Travel Journalists Association, and seven Lowell Thomas
Awards from the Society of American Travel Writers. She is
a graduate of Wellesley College. |
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Richard Wiese - President,
The Explorers Club
In 2002, Richard Wiese became the
youngest president in The Explorers Club’s
hundred-year history. He currently hosts a
nationally syndicated television show, Exploration
with Richard Wiese, which can be viewed in over 200
cities across the United States. As an explorer,
Richard has traveled to all seven continents. He has
tagged jaguars in the Yucatan jungles, captured
crocodiles and handled venomous snakes in Australia,
participated in medical research on Mt. Everest,
achieved the first ascent of an unclimbed mountain
in Alaska and discovered 29 new life forms on Mt.
Kilimanjaro in Africa and cross country skied to the
North Pole. By invitation of King Mohammad VI,
Richard was the U.S. representative to the Moussem
de Tan Tan, a gathering of 45,000 nomadic Arabs in
Morocco, and was honored at the 2005 Boy Scout
National Jamboree, where he addressed 90,000 people
and had a camp named after him. As a journalist, he
has received numerous honors, including an Emmy, a
Genesis Award, an Associated Press Folio Award and a
Golden Halo Award. His articles have appeared in
many national publications.
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Edward Wilson - President & CEO, Earthwatch
Institute
Edward Wilson is the President and CEO of Earthwatch
Institute and brings over 15 years international
management experience in the non-profit sector as well as
hands-on experience in conservation and research
expeditions. As Earthwatch's former Executive Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Wilson served
as interim CEO after the retirement of Roger Bergen in
2005. Mr. Wilson is a graduate of Kings College London,
where he majored in geography, specializing in African
Studies and Third World Development. After serving as an
officer in the British Army, he began his career with
Earthwatch in 1993. In 1998 he moved to the USA office as
Vice President of Marketing and Communications. A Fellow
of the Royal Geographic Society, and a participant on
several Earthwatch research expeditions, most recently to
Central Asia and Inner Mongolia, Mr. Wilson has lived in
Pakistan, Hong Kong, and has traveled extensively in
Africa. Mr. Wilson also worked for nature reserves and
eco-tourism operations in Southern and East Africa,
including The Wilderness Foundation and Conservation
Direct. Mr. Wilson was a former UK Trustee of Rhino Ark,
partnering with Kenya Wildlife Service to protect Aberdare
National Park. |
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Hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association |
601 Union Street, Suite 4200 | Seattle, WA 98101 | 360-805-3131 |
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