Featured Keynotes
Presentation
Jon Snoddy
Senior Vice President R&D, Show, Ride & Technology
Presentation: Designing Stories
April 5, 2022
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Bio: As head of Walt Disney Imagineering’s R&D, Ride Engineering, Technology, and Show Systems studios, Jon Snoddy leads the amazing cross-disciplinary team of engineers, artists, and scientists, responsible for the tech behind Disney’s theme parks, resorts, ships, and immersive experiences.
Jon has described his career strategy as “following shiny objects.” He has worked as a machinist, a car mechanic, a recording engineer at NPR, helped launch THX at Lucasfilm, and in his first tour at Disney, he developed the ride system for Disneyland’s Indiana Jones™ Adventure and the Disney VR Studio. He left Disney in 1995 to become a serial entrepreneur, starting multiple companies specializing in videogames and social media experiences. He was a founder at GameWorks LLC, MyTelescope.com, TimePlay Entertainment, and Bigstage Entertainment and led the development for Centum City at Busan, Korea.
Presentation
Sponsored By:
Jeff DeGraff
Dean of Innovation and Founder of Innovatrium
Presentation: The Innovator's Mindset in the New World of Work
April 6, 2022
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Scope: Seeing the future first is worthless. Getting to the future first is priceless.
How did your 2019 strategy for 2020 work out? It looks like the same may be true for 2022. Plagues, supply chain issues, social unrest, and persistent conflicts have made short work of all our plans. So, how do we lead innovation in this new world of work where there are few boundaries and fewer predictable situations?
In this presentation, pressing problems and emergent opportunities for innovation will be explored. How to adopt an innovator’s mindset will be explained. A simple process for harnessing the power of diversity and the creative power of constructive conflict will be introduced. Examples will be given and questions answered.
Bio: Jeff founded the Innovatrium, an innovation consulting firm focusing on creating innovation culture, capability, and community. He earned his nickname, the “Dean of Innovation,” while working as an executive for Domino’s Pizza in his youth, where he accelerated Domino’s growth from a regional success story to an international franchise phenomenon. He is also the author on several books on how teams innovate, his most recent being The Innovation Code: The Creative Power of Constructive Conflict.
Featured Learning Lab Presenter
Presentation
Sponsored By:
Shelly Palmer
Professor of Advanced Media in Residence, Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
CEO, The Palmer Group
Presentation: From Metaverse to Motorverse: A Roadmap
April 7, 2022
11:00 a.m.
Scope: How will the metaverse impact the auto industry? What will consumers expect? How will transportation and mobility adapt? Shelly Palmer will offer his perspective on quickly evolving trends including decentralized finance (DeFi), Web3, crypto, NFTs, and the blockchain-related technologies that are reshaping our world.
Bio: Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Fox 5’s Good Day New York, writes a weekly column for Adweek, and is a regular commentator on CNN and CNBC. He’s the Co-Host of the award-winning podcast Techstream with Shelly Palmer & Seth Everett and he hosts the Shelly Palmer #CryptoWednesday Livestream.
On-Air: Palmer covers tech and business for Fox 5 New York and is well-known for his work on the Emmy-nominated television show, Shelly Palmer Digital Living. He is also a regular technology commentator for CNN and CNBC. He is the co-host of Techstream with Shelly Palmer & Seth Everett.
Technologist/Inventor: He is the patented inventor of the underlying technology for Enhanced Television used by programs such as ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and ESPN’s Monday Night Football and response-based advertising systems.
Creative: An award-winning composer, producer, writer and director, Palmer has worked with hundreds of brands, agencies, broadcasters, publishers and tech platforms on advertising and marketing campaigns such as Meow Mix, Burger King and The City of Las Vegas.
Subject Matter Expert: Palmer is a popular speaker and moderator at technology and media conferences hosted by industry organizations, like: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES), The National Association of Broadcasters Convention (NAB), PromaxBDA, The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE), CTIA – The Wireless Association, and other major trade events. He is a guest lecturer at the MIT Media Lab, Stern Graduate Business School at NYU, The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) at Columbia University, Tsinghua University, Rutgers Business School and other top tier colleges and universities.
Emmy Awards: Palmer is a past president of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Award and the creator of the Advanced Media Emmy Awards held annually at International CES.
Author: Palmer is the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV (Focal Press 2006; 2nd Edition, York House Press, 2008) the seminal book about the technological, economic, and sociological forces that are changing everything, Overcoming The Digital Divide: How to use Social Media and Digital Tools to Reinvent Yourself and Your Career (York House Press, 2011), Digital Wisdom: Thought Leadership for a Connected World (York House Press, 2013), Data-Driven Thinking: A collection of essays on data-driven decision making. (Digital Living Press, 2016) and Blockchain – Cryptocurrency, NFTs & Smart Contracts: An executive guide to the world of decentralized finance. (Digital Living Press, 2021)
Philanthropy: Mr. Palmer is on the board of the ADL, a leading anti-hate organization, and is a co-founder of the Gun Safety Alliance, a network of business leaders and committed individuals from across every industry working together to reduce gun deaths in the US by 50% by 2029. He is chairman of the Lon T. Palmer Music Education Fund which works in cooperation with public school music programs to provide financial assistance for special programming that promotes inclusive, participatory music education.