SpeakersThePAC 2018 will feature world-class, renowned speakers who will not only inform, but entertain. These thought leaders, industry influencers, and business mentors will guide you through their personal journeys and provide you with the tools and tips they’ve learned from decades of experience. You’ll come away with concrete ideas you can implement the moment you arrive back at the office. We’ll also provide time for you to ask specific questions after their presentations during our “Meet and Greet” sessions. Don’t miss your chance to be rubbing shoulders with these top-tier experts!

STEVE FORBES

Born into a publishing empire, Steve Forbes grew up immersed in the worlds of publishing and politics. Steve’s grandfather, B.C. Forbes, was a financial journalist who founded Forbes magazine in 1917. In 1954, his son, Malcolm Forbes, took over the magazine. It wasn’t until 1973, Steve, 26, began writing his own column for his father’s magazine. In 1980, Steve became the president and chief operating officer of Forbes, Inc. and following his father’s death in 1990, he became chief executive officer of the company as well as editor in chief of the magazine. Steve also founded Empower America in 1993, joined the board of trustees of the Heritage Foundation in 2001 and joined the board of directors of Freedom Works in 2006.

Steve has authored books and continues to write editorials for each issue of Forbes magazine’s “Fact and Comment” section. He is the only writer to have won the highly prestigious Crystal Owl Award four times.

At age 26, Chip took an inner-city motel and turned it into Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second largest boutique hotel brand in the world. Conley was CEO for 24 years before accepting an invitation in 2013 from the founders of Airbnb to help transform the home sharing start-up brand to the world’s largest hospitality brand. As Airbnb’s Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy, Conley shared his award-winning methods to thousands of Airbnb hosts in nearly 200 countries and created Airbnb Open, a global festival of belong-ing. In 2013, Chip founded Fest300 to share his passion for travel and the world’s best festivals. In 2016, Fest300 merged with Everfest with Chip as the Chief Strategy Officer.

Chip was awarded hospitality’s highest honor, the Pioneer Award; he is founder of the Celebrity Pool Toss; creator of San Francisco’s Hotel Hero Awards as well as serves on the boards of the Burning Man Project and the Esalen Institute. He is known for his TED talks and has had the opportunity to work with organizations including PIXAR, Google, Zappos and countless others.

CHIP CONLEY

Speakers

Known as the Entrepreneur’s Entrepreneur, Kevin Harrington has been assisting entrepreneurs with turning their dreams into realities for over 30 years. At the age of 15, Kevin launched his first business but didn’t have a business breakthrough until college. By his freshman year, he had built his first million-dollar enterprise. After, he began selling franchises and working alongside other entrepreneurs to help them succeed.

“But wait, there’s more…” before long, Kevin launched the Infomercial and built on its success to pioneer the As Seen on TV brand. Through these opportunities, Kevin launched products including The Food Saver, Ginsu Knives and The Great Wok of China as well as worked with celebrities including Billie Mays and George Foreman.

KEVIN HARRINGTON

Alan Weiss has published over 500 articles; written 60 books appearing in 12 languages; and coached executives and entrepreneurs around the world. Whether speaking or coaching, his career has taken him to 60 countries and 49 states. He has worked with clients including Mercedes-Benz, The Federal Reserve, Hewlett-Packard, New York Times and over 500 others.

Weiss is the only non-journalist in history to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Press Institute. In 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Speaker Hall of Fame® and the recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1 percent of professional speakers in the world. He was later named the Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of two people in history to hold both designations. The New York Post described him as “one of the most highly regarded independent consultants in America” and Success Magazine as “a worldwide expert in executive education.

ALAN WEISS

Speakers

Jeremy Poincenot, was your typical, healthy college sophomore when without warning life started to blur. At age 19, Jeremy had lost central vision in both eyes. The diagnosis – a rare genetic disorder called Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) that affects 100 people in the U.S. each year with no treatment or cure. Like most people would, Jeremy thought that losing his vision meant forgetting his life. He quickly learned that with every challenge a new door opens for greatness.

With hard work, dedication and the team he surrounded himself with, Jeremy competed in and won the World Blind Golf Championship in England, only one year after losing his vision. He created the C.U.R.E. (Cycling Under Reduced Eyesight), an annual bike ride that has raised over $200,000 for LHON research.JEREMY POINCENOT

COLIN DUNN

Colin is a Chartered Accountant with more than 20 years of experience in helping Accountants and their teams develop and implement strategies to build better businesses for themselves and for their clients. He spent 10 years in one of the fastest growing Accounting businesses in the UK where he was instrumental in establishing its business consulting division and training the directors and team members to develop the skills needed to effectively run the new division.

For over two decades, Colin has coached and trained nearly 1,000 Accounting firms as well as delivered speeches, workshops and seminars in the US, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. He has also a conducted a multitude of webinars to a global audience. Colin is relentless in the pursuit of improving the performance of every firm he coaches.