Plenary and Spotlight Speakers

Full conference program will be available November 1st.

Wednesday, February 1st

Tom Wujec, a recognized thought-leader and award-winning innovator, will engage us in a creative experiment design to uncover the value of team work and the power of visualization.

Jonah Lehrer – hailed as "an important new thinker" by The Los Angeles Times – ingeniously weaves neuroscience, sports, war, psychology, and politics into a fascinating tale of human decision making.
Nancy Pearl, Librarian and master "readers' Advisory" converses with Toronto author Guy Gavriel Kay – one of the best writers working in historical fantasy today.
Brewster Kahle is an inventor, philanthropist and digital librarian. His Internet Archive offers 85 billion pieces of deep Web geology – a fascinating look at the formation of the Internet over the years, and a challenge to those who would keep knowledge buried.

Catherine Gildiner, is an award winning Canadian writer. Her first book, Too Close to the Falls was on the New York Times, the Boston Globe's and the Globe and Mail's best seller's lists – the latter for 172 weeks. It was also nominated for the Trillium award, won the Different Drummer's award, and was nominated in England for various prizes. The sequel, After the Falls: Coming of Age in the 60’s, came out in 2010 to similar acclaim.
Neil Pasricha, author of The Book of Awesome and the Book of (Even More) Book of Awesome has merged his skill at identifying simple pleasures and moments that matter with his sharp leadership research and consulting background.
Alec Couros is a professor of educational technology and media at the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. He is internationally recognized – specifically in the commitment to and development of open teaching methodologies and open access courses.
Sally Reed is the Executive Director ALTAFF (Association of Library Trustees, Friends, and Foundations). Prior to 2002, Sally spent nearly 20 years in library administration running small public libraries in New England and the Midwest, and most recently she was the director of the Norfolk Public Library in Virginia.

Nora Young has a love hate relationship with technology, culture, and armchair sociology which she pursues on CBC Radio – on television, in print, and online.
George Stroumboulopoulos – With more than eighteen years the business, George is one of the most admired and beloved journalists in Canada.
Dr. Michael Evans is currently launching The Health Media & Innovation Lab at the new Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital. He is a practicing family doctor, a professor and a researcher at the University of Toronto.
Mark Leggott, University of PEI, Paul N. Courant, University Librarian and Dean of Libraries at the University of Michigan, and Knud Schulz, Manager of the Main Library, City of Aarhus, Denmark will speak about National, North American and International tech trends impacting libraries.