Jon Steinberg is the President of BuzzFeed. He was previously Strategic Partner Development Manager on Google’s SMB (Small Medium Business) Partnerships team and an EIR at Polaris Venture Partners. Prior to Google, Jon was the Director of Business Development at Majestic Research and the founder of iBuilding, a commercial real estate software company backed by Tishman Speyer Properties, Benchmark Capital, and 12 Entrepreneuring. He is a graduate of Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and holds an MBA from Columbia University.He’s “jonsteinberg” on most consumer web services and blogs at jonsteinberg.com. @jonsteinberg

Michael Stich is Chief Operating Officer at Rockfish Interactive. Michael’s specializations include e-commerce, analytics / measurement, mobile, digital retail, social media, relationship marketing, product development and organizational consulting. Prior to Rockfish, he served as group director of strategic planning at WPP agency Bridge Worldwide. While at Bridge, Michael and his team served market leaders in CPG, retail, healthcare, technology and financial services. Previously, he served in venture capital, marketing and strategy roles for Texas Instruments, McKinsey & Company, and Dell. Michael holds a B.S. in computer engineering from Tufts University and an M.B.A. with a marketing focus from the MIT Sloan School of Management. @mstich

Doug Worple is Barefoot Proximity’s founder. He has 25 years of Brand experience, beginning with client roles at P&G. While a Brand Manager, Doug was transformed by an “agency copywriter internship” and shortly after left P&G and launched Barefoot. Doug and his work have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Ad Age, and Adweek. Barefoot was also recognized as one of America’s fastest growing private companies 2 years in a row by Inc. Magazine before being acquired in 2008 by Omnicom. Now part of the world’s most awarded Digital/eCRM network, Barefoot Proximity is one of Proximity’s 59 offices around the world. Doug now sits on Proximity’s Global Board. @dougworple

Ann Mooney is an 18-year P&G veteran and the founder and CEO of Rising Moon Consulting, a firm specializing in brand building, marketing, strategy and in-store experience. Ann forged a multi-faceted career at P&G - thriving across brands, departments, disciplines, retail channels and regions. She made her mark as a commercially savvy Marketer and unconventional corporate pioneer. A few of her notable achievements include: leading Pampers, P&G’s biggest global brand, to record results in NA; pioneering the application of P&G’s brand building framework to the retail environment to drive joint value creation with top retailers; and, providing strategic guidance to dozens of P&G brands - using the lens of in-store to offer candid feedback and actionable direction on initiative launch plans to improve go-to-market strategy and increase the odds of success. Ann is a popular and engaging keynoter and industry thought leader. She was recently recognized by the In-store Marketing Institute as a “Who’s Who in Shopper Marketing 2009,” and is a frequent contributor to leading industry publications including Ad Age, Shopper Marketing Magazine and DDI.

Since the late 90’s, Blair Garrou has focused on funding, operating and incubating start-up software companies. Blair is currently a Managing Director of DFJ Mercury, a Houston-based seed and early-stage venture capital firm and a partner in the DFJ Global Network of venture funds. Blair is also an Adjunct Professor at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University where he teaches venture capital. Prior to co-founding DFJ Mercury, Blair was CEO of Intermat (NYSE: IHS), a leader in product information management software; a Principal with Genesis Park, a Houston-based private equity firm; and helped launch and was the Director of Operations for the Houston Technology Center, the largest non-profit technology incubator in the Southwest, where he led the formation of the Houston Angel Network. Blair’s current venture investments include Alert Logic, Fluensee, Gendai Games, Graphic.ly, Kabongo, Performix, and ShareThis. Blair’s previous investments have included Phurnace Software (BMC Software), FuelQuest (Saracen Energy), Intermat (IHS) and SAT Corporation (Invensys).

Jim Price is the President of Empower MediaMarketing, a firm with 170 employees and more than $300 million in billings for clients such as Bush Brothers, US Bank, Meijer, Long John Silver’s and Hoover Vacuums. At Empower, Jim built the Media Innovation team from scratch, when the Internet was still considered an emerging advertising medium and established a full array of best in class services including Digital Strategy, Digital Media, Web Development, Digital Creative, Search and Analytics, Mobile, Word of Mouth Marketing and Social Media. Jim has a passion for branding and entrepreneurism having recently created and launched Hoist, a new beverage brand. He was recently named a “40 Under 40” award recipient by The Cincinnati Business Courier. @cincinnatijim

Rob is a Principal at River Cities Capital Funds, responsible for sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities as well as helping support existing portfolio companies. He joined the firm with operations and investment experience in venture-funded technology companies and particular expertise in M&A transactions, channel development and corporate strategy. Prior to joining River Cities, Rob was VP of Corporate Development at IntelliSeek, Inc., a marketing services company that was acquired by Nielsen. At IntelliSeek, Rob oversaw several acquisitions, managed financing initiatives and helped establish several strategic OEM and reseller partnerships. Prior to that, he worked with Arthur Andersen & Co. consulting with new ventures on financing, M&A transactions, and other systems, accounting and tax issues. Rob serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association, Director Emeritus for Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati, and is a member of the University of Virginia’s regional selection committee for the Jefferson Scholarship Program.

Tarek Kamil most recently served as a VP of Interactive Games for Los Angeles-based FoxSports.com. He oversaw all facets of the online operations for the FoxSports.com Interactive Unit, including WhatIfSports.com based in Cincinnati. Mr. Kamil has served in this capacity since the acquisition of WhatIfSports.com by News Corp’s Fox Interactive Media unit in September of 2005 – a company founded by Mr. Kamil in 2000.

Prior to the sale of WhatIfSports to FOX, Mr. Kamil served as President/Founder of WhatIfSports.com, the Internet’s leader in sports simulation technology, games and content. In just 5 short years, Mr. Kamil grew WhatIfSports from an idea to nearly 500,000 members and orchestrated partnerships with some of the largest names in sports, including ESPN, Fox Sports, MLB, NBA and the NHL. In February of 2005, WhatIfSports was named Sports Site of the Year by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, beating out both ESPN.com and BBCSports.com.

Prior to founding WhatIfSports, Mr. Kamil worked in the Emerging Technologies division of Anthem Insurance and led the health care giant into the online world of the Internet and distributed computing. Mr. Kamil is a graduate of both the University of Dayton (1990) and the Xavier School of Business (1997) and was named as a finalist for the 2005 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

He resides in Madeira Ohio with his wife Nicole and two children where he volunteers for numerous local organizations and is currently serving as an elected official on the Madeira Board of Education.

Meredith Schwarz leads General Mills Ventures, the company’s corporate venture capital fund. She is charged with setting the direction of the fund, managing the portfolio of investments and developing the pipeline for new investment opportunities. Prior to her engagement with the venture fund she worked with General Mills’ Corporate Development team. She began her career in New York working with JPMorgan Chase in a number of roles including asset management, mergers and acquisitions and investor relations. She graduated from Barnard College with degrees in English and Economics.

Sean is VP of Marketing & Partnerships at SparkPeople, Inc. - a Cincinnati based media company whose flagship website, SparkPeople.com, has grown to become the largest and most active diet and fitness site on the web. Sean currently leads advertising & sponsorship sales and sales strategy for SparkPeople, in addition to contributing to the overall brand strategy for the company’s various brands and web properties. Prior to joining SparkPeople in 2002, Sean spent 6 years with Eureka! Ranch - a new product “think tank” and innovation consulting company that has invented several products and services used by the average American home. While with Eureka, Sean led innovation sessions and created new product/brand concepts and business strategies for dozens of Fortune 500 companies in wide range of categories. Sean has taught MBA and undergraduate classes and seminars on business innovation and creativity at the University of Chicago, Xavier University, Miami University and The University of Cincinnati.