Erick is the founder of the New Agency. He is a marketer and entrepreneur with a passion for the social web. He helps senior executives and organizations across a wide range of industries get social in the Google Era by better understanding and navigating the ever-changing media landscape. He brings artistic and practical sensibilities to building brands, developing and executing integrated media strategies and establishing unique partnerships.

Mark is a branding expert. He blends creative skill with business savvy and knows how to incubate and bring brands to life. He was a global marketer at The Coca-Cola Company where he ran Sprite advertising worldwide and all the advertising for all of Company’s brands in Latin America. Mark ran the West Coast office of groundbreaking ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, has been a messaging consultant for the Bill & Melinda gates Foundation and for Al gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, and is the founder of social venture, USELESS, a consumer brand dedicated to helping use less and give more. Mark is co-author of business books Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (Collins, 2007) and, together with rock musician Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), of The Business Playground: Where Creativity and Commerce Collide (Pearson, 2010).

David is a life-long entrepreneur who has started many companies from scratch, taking 6 of them public.  Among his startups are YouBet.com – which he grew to managing over $8 Billion a year in gaming transactions, and EliteXC – a mixed martial arts organization developed with Showtime and CBS.  David also created Santa Monica Capital Partners  - an entrepreneurial merchant bank, which raises capital and funds emerging growth companies.

In 1984, Kurt Brendlinger started a fourteen-year career in the television production business producing over 350 episodes of programming for distributors including Warner Brothers Television, Telepictures, USA Network, Disney Channel, Fox Network, NBC network, TNT, and national syndication.  In June 1998, he was the co-founder and partner in AFA Management Partners, an asset management firm and hedge fund managing $800 million in assets in the telecommunications, Internet, media and entertainment sectors.  Currently, he is partner of Santa Monica Capital Partners, LLC, an entrepreneurial merchant bank, where he is responsible for corporate and business development and strategy, capital raising, and seeking investment opportunities.  In addition, he serves as Senior Adviser to 3 Ball Productions– one of the most successful and sought after reality television production companies in Hollywood with a track record of over 561 hours of programming produced and delivering a combined audience of 26.2 million viewers a week. Their shows include The Biggest Loser, For Love or Money, Unanimous, Beauty and the Geek, etc.

Michael is the founder of Media Needle, a New Agency partner. Media Needle is a social media, word-of-mouth agency using the social web to help clients engage with current and future customers. Michael has helped best in breed companies such as Perrier, adidas, Hyundai USA, The Venetian, Ziff Davis, Bertolli, the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, and Atlantic Records, among many others engage in effective digital word of mouth and viral marketing efforts. Michael also pioneered online ticket sales as head of Business Development for TicketWeb, helping to generate revenues of $20 million per year.

Rob is an entrepreneur, journalist, and marketer with 15 years of experience in publishing, alternative energy, and web technology. He served as Vice President of Marketing and Government Relations for Zumbox, a web-based platform for the delivery of postal mail. His experience with Zumbox as a location-based platform coupled with the revolution in smartphone technology inspired him to start MomentFeed which bridges the divide between marketers and the location-based services (LBS) industry through a mix of strategy, technology, and creative vision. Listed twice among the Top 100 Social Media and Internet Marketing Bloggers (#32), Rob is also the founder of Max Gladwell, a leading independent blog covering social media, sustainability, and entrepreneurship.

Dawn Sinko is a Producer, Art director, Artist and Activist. In addition to numerous commercials for top brand clients such as McDonalds, Albertson’s and Dish, Dawn has produced several syndicated and network syndicated television shows including Las Vegas on Ice and fall previews for ABC. As a live event producer, she created several large scale outdoor events such as The Ford Festival Concert Series, Earth Day Festivals and she even shut down Times Square for a cattle drive to promote the Hallmark Channel. As an emmy and ADG nominated art director she has designed sets for Fox, Bravo, MTV, CBS, NBC, ABC, HGTV, SyFy, ITV and E! She has also created image campaigns for HGTV, Disney and TBS. As the co-founder of Youth to Everest, she led several environmental expeditions to the Khumbu region of Mt. Everest.

Mike is the author of GameChangers – Improvisation for Business in the Networked World, published in 2008, and the co-founder of GameChangers, LLC. Mike has consistently been at the forefront of the media and communications business. Beginning with a job as the publicist on the gamechanging motion picture, TRON, Bonifer’s work as a writer, director, producer and creative executive can be characterized by an exploration of new technologies, new business models and relevant, emotionally resonant storytelling. Past and present clients include The Walt Disney Company, United Airlines, Pandora, Credant Technologies, Diversey, DreamWorks, Frito-Lay, Merrill Lynch-Japan, Mountain Dew, Franklin-Covey, Hot Topic, Smithsonian Online, The News Corporation, CIT, and a host of smaller, innovative companies. He has conducted GameChangers workshops at the University of Notre Dame Executive MBA Program, NYU’s Stern School of Business, USC’s Annenberg School of Journalism, and the University of California-Irvine. His mission in creating GameChangers is to help individuals and organizations communicate effectively and to champion improvisation as a vital skill for business in the networked world.