UsabilityNJ
The New Jersey UPA Chapter
World Usability Day - Speaker Bios
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Below are brief biographies and background information on the speakers for the World Usability Day Celebration in NJ on November 8, 2007.
Laura Keller - Keynote Speaker
Laura develops user experience strategies that allow clients to maximize return on IT investments through greater adoption and utilization. She ensures that all user experiences are considered holistically, including business context, and all relevant online and offline elements, training and communications. Her user research studies – including interviews, contextual observations, design workshops, performance testing - are aligned with the business objectives and produce actionable findings. Laura is particularly interested in the expansion of user experience beyond technology to space, industrial and service design industries.
Prior to recently joining MISI, Laura spent almost 6 years at Rosetta Marketing translating customer insights into marketing program recommendations and validating them through research. As Director, Use & Usability at Rosetta, Laura represented the customer's voice to ensure all marketing materials satisfied the needs, behaviors and expectations of their target. Laura was integral to the success of Pfizer's Clear Health Communications user experience guidelines initiative and Botox Cosmetic's integrated channel campaigns. Her clients included Allergan, Pfizer, Roche, TAP, Merrill Lynch, J&J, Sprint, and Viking River Cruises. Laura received an MS in Web and Information Design from Northeastern and a BA in English from Salisbury University.
Mark A. McConaghy - Keynote Speaker
Mark is an interactive marketing strategist for the healthcare industry with a focus on online measurement and analytics. Specifically, he establishes learning, measurement and marketing operation plans for online applications such as eCRM, media, and web-sites. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring that all necessary technology is in place to support program operations and the back-end analysis. Once in place, Mark works with marketers and business intelligence specialists to analyze the results and formulate plans for program optimization.
Mark is currently employed as a Strategy Director with imc² in Conshohocken, PA. Prior to joining imc², Mark spent 4 years with Rosetta Marketing where he managed the Measurement and Analytics group developing and implementing measurement plans for various online and offline applications. Prior to that, Mark worked for Medco Health Solutions and Harte-Hanks direct in their Marketing Operations and Analytics departments, where his focus was on program strategy and analytics. Mark received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University and is currently completing his MBA at LaSalle University.
Judith E. Deutsch - Keynote Speaker
Judith E. Deutsch, PhD, PT, received her BA in Human Biology from Stanford, her MS in Physical Therapy from USC and her PhD in Pathokinesiology from NYU. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Rehabilitation Research at UMDNJ. Dr. Deutsch is Professor and Director of the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences Lab (RIVERS) in the Doctoral Programs in Physical Therapy at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ. She contributes to the advancement of rehabilitation for individuals post-stroke through her scholarship of teaching and research. Her current research includes the development and testing of virtual reality rehabilitation systems to improve functional mobility. She is the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Neural Engineering Research. She is a member of the Master Educator Guild at UMDNJ.
James C. Barrood - Panel Moderator
Jim Barrood is the Executive Director of the Rothman Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies at Silberman College of Business-Fairleigh Dickinson University.
James has developed and managed many of the Institute’s innovative academic and outreach programs since 1997. He is active in the regional entrepreneurial and business communities and was recently recognized as among the state's 'Forty Under 40 Business Achievers' by NJBIZ business journal. James frequently lectures/moderates at FDU and business events statewide on innovation, entrepreneurship and family business topics. He is currently writing a book on innovation leadership.
He sits on several boards, including the Silberman College of Business, the Franklin Foundation for Educational Excellence, the National Association of Corporate Directors-NJ (Advisory Committee), and the Billion Minds Foundation. He is also a member of the Council on Competitiveness and Rotary International. James is a columnist for NJBIZ and has written articles for Entrepreneur and GSW magazines and local newspapers, including the Star-Ledger. James holds an MBA from Texas A & M and a BA in Economics from Rutgers College.
Bill Jensen - Panelist
Harvard Business Review, CNBC and Fast Company have called Bill Jensen today's foremost expert on work complexity, helping people to do less and accomplish more.
He has spent the past two decades studying how work gets done. (And much of what he's found horrifies him!)
He is an internationally-acclaimed author and speaker who is known for extremely useful content, and his passion for working smarter, not harder.
He is CEO of The Jensen Group (www.simplerwork.com), whose mission is: To make it easier to get stuff done.
Among the Jensen Group's clients are Bank of America, Merck, Pfizer, GE, Genentech, NASA, The World Bank, Walt Disney World, American Express, British Petroleum, the US Navy SEALS, the government of Ontario, Singapore Institute of Management, Guangzhou China Development District, and the Swedish Post Office.
Charles B. Kreitzberg - Panelist
Charles B. Kreitzberg, PhD is founder and CEO of Cognetics Corporation, a company that, since 1982, has created award-winning interactive designs that synthesize computer technology with human cognition. Dr. Kreitzberg has designed the user interfaces for such diverse products as automated teller machines, medical software, and knowledge systems. He developed a pre-web browser, is author of LUCID - the a widely used interaction design framework, and most recently In the Know!™ -- a software knowledge and communications tool for teams and their leaders.
Dr. Kreitzberg has lectured and consulted at corporations and universities worldwide. He has served as an expert witness in software interface patent disputes. He is Founding Editor of User Experience magazine; he has authored numerous articles and has served on the national boards of the Usability Professionals Association and the Society for Information Management. He holds advanced degrees in computer science and psychology. Dr. Kreitzberg also serves as the Technology Director for Einstein's Alley, a New Jersey economic development initiative.
Elizabeth Avery Gomez - Panelist
Elizabeth Avery Gomez, PhD conducts research in crisis management focusing on ways to adapt communication protocols in support of today's mobile technologies for improved response readiness (www.ereadiness.org). Special emphasis is placed on serving communities of need, especially diverse populations with individual health needs. Her initial focus has been on plain language training adapted for communication with SMS text-messaging for crisis responders. Liz has been specializing in technical communications and information systems development for over 20 years in major pharmaceuticals, retail, and telecommunications, concentrating on system integration and an improved user experience.
At present, Liz is the Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Program Manager at the City University of New York (CUNY) and an Adjunct Professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). She is also the student chapter president for the Society for Technical Communicators (STC) at NJIT and the vice president for the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society at NJIT. Liz received her BS from Quinnipiac College, and her MS in Professional and Technical Communication from NJIT. In May 2007, she received her PhD in Information Systems from NJIT and represented the graduate students as commencement speaker.
Tom Reynolds - Panelist
Tom Reynolds, most recently Vice President of Worldwide Marketing for Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, is responsible for all aspects of marketing and product development. With over 15 years of executive experience in building business through creative innovation in the consumer, medical device, pharmaceutical, diagnostic and financial fields. Reynolds has a record of success with emerging and established technologies within both rapidly expanding and mature markets. He has developed several unique programs integrating tools from a number of academic disciplines with various industrial practices to create and enhance products, build effective teams, and accelerate flows in new-product pipelines.