BIZZprofiles.com

Kerry Patterson
Cofounder of VitalSmarts
Kerry is a prolific writer who has coauthored numerous articles and award-winning training programs. Kerry taught at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management and then cofounded Interact Performance Systems, where he worked for ten years as vice president of research and development. Kerry is coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior. Most recently, Kerry co-authored Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.  Kerry has completed doctoral work at Stanford University. He is a recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award and the 2004 William G. Dyer Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University.

Director of Research and Senior ConsultantFor more than twenty-five years, David Maxfield has helped companies by leading research projects involving dialogue skills, performance improvement, and conflict management. David’s career began with his doctoral work in psychology at Stanford University. His impact on organizational performance has been wide reaching as he’s helped clients such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Ford Motor Company, Covenant Healthcare, and VISA increase organizational effectiveness and become measurably more vital.

Compelling Speaker
Drawing from extensive academic and corporate experience, David delivers topics that are grounded in solid research and application. Speaking in front of more than 500 audiences ranging in size from small retreats to large keynote events, David has been featured at prestigious venues including Stanford and Georgetown Universities, the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, and the National Association of Children’s Hospitals. With an unrivaled ability to connect to his audience through engaging stories and captivating examples, David brings concepts to life, motivating listeners to put their newly found skills and knowledge to immediate use.

Cutting-Edge Researcher
David is currently the Director of Research at VitalSmarts, an innovative corporate training company that teaches skills which deliver significant improvements to the results companies care about most. In the past thirty years, David and the VitalSmarts team have helped thousands of organizations, including more than 300 of the Fortune 500, realize widespread and lasting results through its award-winning training programs.

At VitalSmarts, David has led a series of research projects on the role crucial conversations play in the healthcare industry and how they affect medical errors, employee retention, and patient satisfaction. In January 2005, a study was released at a national press conference in Washington D.C. with a panel of high-ranking healthcare officials and experts. Commended for its ground-breaking content and influential solutions, the study received top-tier media coverage.  He has recently co-authored the business best-seller Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

Award Winning Teacher
Praised in the academic world, David has taught at Stanford University and the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. He currently sits on the faculty of Stanford University’s certification program in Advanced Project Management, which was awarded the “2005 Best Non-credit Program” by the Association for Continuing Higher Education. Additional awards David has received include Motorola University’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Stanford University’s Dean’s Award for Innovative Industrial Education.

Business Communication Expert and New York Times Bestselling Author

For more than twenty-eight years, Ron McMillan has helped union and first-level managers, CEOs, and corporate executives become measurably more vital by advising them on topics including team development, personal vitality, quality, communication, and results-oriented leadership. Co-founder of VitalSmarts, Ron has researched methods for driving rapid sustainable and measurable change in behaviors.

Bestselling Author
Ron is the coauthor of six books, two of which are New York Times bestsellers-Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior.

Recognized as a subject-matter expert in corporate culture change, interpersonal relationships, and workplace issues, Ron has been featured widely in the national media including NPR, Inc. Magazine, and the New York Times.

Seasoned Speaker
A gifted speaker, Ron has appeared at hundreds of conferences, conventions, and management retreats such as the American Society of Training and Development, Human Resource Development, and Direct Selling Association. Additionally, Ron has spoken to executives at Lockheed Martin, AT&T, Nike, Saturn, Hewlett-Packard, Ford, Sprint, Disney, Harley-Davidson, Mayo Clinic, and Intel. Ron’s unrivaled ability to delight a crowd and inspire his audience to improve their personal and professional lives has clients asking for his return again and again.

Business Consulting Expert
A pioneer in the training industry, Ron co-founded the Covey Leadership Center where he helped to develop numerous training programs including Principle Centered Leadership and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Ron is co-founder of VitalSmarts and currently serves on its board of directors. With award-winning training products based on thirty years of ongoing research, VitalSmarts has helped more than 300 of the Fortune 500 realize significant results using a proven method for driving rapid, sustainable and measurable change in behaviors. VitalSmarts has been ranked twice by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America and has taught two million people worldwide.

Business Communication Expert and New York Times Bestselling Author

In the past twenty-five years, Al Switzler has helped hundreds of organizations achieve measurable change with his broad knowledge of leadership, teamwork, quality, communication, management, and motivation. Co-founder of VitalSmarts, Al has researched methods for driving rapid sustainable and measurable change in behaviors.

Bestselling Author and Award Winning Instructor
Al is coauthor of two New York Times bestsellers, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior.  He has recently co-authored Influencer: The Power to Change Anything.

In addition to authoring bestsellers, Al has served on the faculty of several universities including the University of Michigan, Brigham Young University, Auburn University, and the University of Kentucky. These institutions have recognized Al with awards for innovation and outstanding teaching.

Captivating Speaker
Whether delivering a keynote at a large conference or facilitating a small executive retreat, major corporations and associations from across the U.S. and a dozen other countries delight in the quality and candor of Al’s speeches. Drawing from a large pool of corporate experience and knowledge, Al has addressed an impressive clientele including AT&T, Xerox, IBM, Sprint, Ford Motor Company, BASF, Philips, Lockheed Martin Aerospace, and Intermountain Health Care. His ability to entertain and inspire his audience to improve their personal and professional lives has clients asking for his return again and again.

Leading Executive
Al is the former president of two consulting firms and director of training and management development for a large healthcare organization.

Al is also co-founder of VitalSmarts and currently serves on its board of directors. With award-winning training products based on thirty years of ongoing research, VitalSmarts has helped more than 300 of the Fortune 500 realize significant results using a proven method for driving rapid, sustainable and measurable change in behaviors. VitalSmarts has been ranked twice by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in America and has taught two million people worldwide.

Business Communication Expert and New York Times Bestselling Author

Over the past twenty years, Joseph Grenny has taught and consulted with over a hundred thousand leaders on every major continent from the boardrooms of Fortune 500 companies to the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. He has advised CEOs and senior executives on more than a dozen major change initiatives - receiving credit from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics’ President as a key factor in helping the organization win the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter program.

Bestselling Author
Joseph is coauthor and contributor to seven books, including two New York Times bestsellers, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and Crucial Confrontations: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior. An expert in topics ranging from leadership and interpersonal communication to organizational change and effectiveness, Joseph has been cited in dozens of newspapers including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared on more than 100 radio and television programs including CNN, Bloomberg, and the Today Show.  His most recent book that he co-authored is Influencer: The Power to Change Anything” and it is reviewed here.

Dynamic Speaker
Having delivered more than 1000 speeches in his career, Joseph’s engaging style is a sought-after mix of entertainment, practicality, and foundational research. Traveling across the globe from East Asia to India to Europe, Joseph has spoken to associations and organizations including NASA, the American Bankers Association, the Supreme Court of California, the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, American Public Works Association, and the American Society of Training and Development.

A seasoned executive and consultant, Joseph has addressed executive level teams for clients including IBM, Progressive Insurance, Sprint, Textron, McGraw-Hill, Eli Lilly & Company, Texas Instruments and Genentech. Whether speaking to a large audience of more than 10,000 or at a small executive event, Joseph’s dynamic and captivating style continues to keep his skills in high demand.

Business Results Expert
Formerly, Joseph was president of California Computer Corporation and an executive for the Covey Leadership Center. Building on his extensive history of entrepreneurial and leadership experience, Joseph co-founded VitalSmarts in 1990 and currently serves as president of the company.

VitalSmarts is a corporate training company that teaches skills which deliver significant improvements to the results companies care about most. For more than twenty-five years, company principals have researched methods for bringing about rapid, systematic and lasting change. Based on this ongoing research, VitalSmarts has helped thousands of organizations, including more than 300 of the Fortune 500, realize widespread and lasting results through its award-winning training programs and breakthrough organizational change technologies.

As CEO of Ask.com, Jim Lanzone is responsible for overseeing worldwide business operations. Ask.com is one of the world’s leading search engines, with more than 40 million users per month, offering unique tools and technologies that make search better. Previous to his role as CEO, Lanzone served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Ask.com U.S., leading product management, marketing and engineering for the Company. Lanzone joined Ask.com as vice president of product management in 2001.

Prior to his tenure at Ask.com, Lanzone co-founded eTour, an early provider of information retrieval and cost-per-lead services on the Web, and served as president until it was acquired by Ask.com in May 2001. eTour launched in 1997 and under Lanzone’s direction, became a top 50 website and the Web’s #1 ranked site in user frequency in 1998 and 1999 (Media Metrix). Additionally, eTour was rated “A+” by Entertainment Weekly. Earlier, Lanzone worked in product marketing for KnowX.com, a division of the Thomson Corporation and one of the Internet’s leading providers of public record search.

Ask.com is owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI).

Lanzone received his B.A. from U.C.L.A. and JD/MBA from Emory University.

Kenny Huie has a proven career in sales of industrial and light industrial products. He currently serves as Director of Sales at Royal Liner, located in southern California. At Royal Liner, Kenny is responsible for all sales activities for Royal Liner. Royal Liner manufactures and markets polymer liner systems for primary and secondary containment for use in metal plating and finishing tanks, chemical and water storage and ponds. Its drop-in tank liners are a simple and cost-effective solution to protect and extend the life of tanks.

Kenny has more that ten years experience in manufacturing and selling polymer materials and lining systems. Prior to joining Royal Liner, he worked in sales at Inflatable 2000. Inflatable 2000 designs and manufactures inflatable games, balloons, blimps, toys and advertising media features.

Previously, Mr. Huie also was in sales at Flexi-Liner Corporation, a provider of high-performance, corrosive-resistant polymer tank liners. Flexi-Liner also custom manufactures secondary containment such as floor liners, and flexible membranes and bladders for containment of industrial gases and fire suppression chemicals. At Flexi-Liner, Mr. Huie worked in sales and installation for Flex-Liner’s tank liners and tank lining systems for pits, ponds and other containment vessels.

Russell Sewell is the founder and Managing Director of CS Real Estate Fund, a commercial real estate fund focused on investments in Arizona. Prior to founding CS Real Estate Partners, Mr. Sewell was the Chief Executive Officer of Rojan Holdings, LLC, a commercial real estate owner/operator firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Russ began providing services to Rojan in the Fall of 2005 as part of a corporate restructuring of Rojan’s commercial real estate holdings. As the CEO of Rojan, he was also responsible for the formulation and execution of the strategic plan involving the acquisition and management of commercial properties by the company.

Prior to joining Rojan, Rusell Sewell was the founder and Managing Partner of Aspen Grove Ventures, an information technology venture capital firm. Mr. Sewell established Aspen Grove in 2000 to invest in opportunities in the technology sector that existed in the Mountain West region raising over $9 million in commitments. At Aspen Grove, Mr. Sewell made seven investments in technology companies in Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Seattle. Two companies have been sold, and four others remain as outstanding investments.

Russell Sewell actively participates as a director in companies where Aspen Grove has invested. He currently serves as a director at Infopia, Inc. of Sandy, Utah, and Beganto, Inc.of San Jose, California. Mr. Sewell was the Chairman of the Board of Alatron Software Corporation of Seattle, Washington until its acquisition by Beganto. Over the past four years, Mr. Sewell participated in 10 financings in seven companies and oversaw three reorganizations. He was active in the Series B and bridge financing of Cerberian before it was acquired by Blue Coat Systems in November 2004 and led restructuring efforts at Infopia. Mr. Sewell is also the President of UCRA, Inc. a Utah non-profit entity that anticipates managing a mix of financial assets in collaboration with the David Eccles Business School at the University of Utah.

Prior to founding Aspen Grove, Mr. Sewell served as a Managing Director at Red Rock Capital Group, LLC, a venture-capital firm in Provo, Utah. Red Rock focused on investing in early-stage technology companies located in the Rocky Mountains. Russ participated as a co-lead investor in the $11.3 million third round investment for PowerQuest, which was eventually to sold to Symantec for $154 million in December 2003.

After graduating from Brigham Young University, Mr. Sewell held senior positions at Strategic Capital Management, Inc., where he was responsible for trading and allocating a $150 million portfolio. Mr. Sewell has a B.A in Political Science from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from the Marriott School of Business Management at Brigham Young University.

Tait Eyre is a seasoned executive with varied experiences in large and small businesses. He is currently the President and owner of Flexi-Liner Corporation which he has operated since 2002 and which he acquired in 2005. Flexi-Liner is a leading provider of high-performance, corrosive-resistant polymer liners that are custom manufactured to protect and extend the life of tanks, clarifiers, sumps, pits and ponds. Flexi-Liner also custom manufactures secondary containment such as floor liners, and flexible membranes and bladders for containment of industrial gases and fire suppression chemicals.

Prior to joining Flexi-Liner, he served as General Manager for the Web Services division of About, Inc. As General Manager, Mr. Eyre oversaw all aspects of the division (60 employees) including P&L responsibility and successfully completed two acquisitions. During his tenure at About, Inc., it was acquired by Prime Media Inc. “PRM“. Prior to being named as General Manager, he served as Vice President of Business Development at North Sky, Inc., which was acquired by About, Inc. in 1999. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Eyre was a Senior Consultant for Novations Group and also served as a Consultant in the strategy practice at Ernst & Young. While at Ernst & Young and later at Novations, his clients included Kellogg, Blockbuster, Applied Materials, Hewlett Packard, and CSX Transportation. Prior to Ernst & Young, he was a military officer and aviator.

Tait received an M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University where he specialized in strategy, marketing, and organizational design and a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Brigham Young University.

David McInnis is the original innovator of direct to customer news release distribution, search engine visibility of press releases and developer of PRWeb’s Online Visibility Engine. A graduate of Texas State University with a B.A. in International Business, he worked for many years as a marketing and database consultant for the telecommunication and direct marketing industries. He served as the IT Manager for Americall Corporation and CTO for several start-ups throughout the 1990’s. Mr. McInnis developed the PRWeb platform in 1997 and watched it mature into one of the largest press release newswires on the net. While PRWeb offers services common in major newswires, PRWeb is the first and only newswire service focusing on direct to consumer distribution. Read the rest of this entry »