We are so excited to announce a recent addition to our speaker list for the Ideation Conference: Bobby Ghoshal, the founder of FLUD News.  Bobby’s career spans across 8 years of creative and technical development for Apple, Google, Nike, DreamWorks and other Fortune 100 companies.  He recently founded FLUD, a platform and ecosystem for mobile news used by hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. At the heart of his company lays its core vision which is to convert users into influencers.  Bobby’s passion for people and disruptive products stems from his entrepreneurial personality; his goal for 2011 is to get as many talented people as possible to take risks and start something meaningful.

Here’s a brief video of Bobby demoing an early version of FLUD on NBC News.

FLUD App on NBC Morning News “The Future of News” from Bobby Ghoshal on Vimeo.

We are thrilled to have Jennifer Vides added to our speaker lineup for the Ideation Conference! Jennifer has nearly two decades of experience in marketing communications, and is a social media enthusiast and blogger. She considers herself fortunate to apply her skills to social good as the Director of Development of the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Monica, which provides some 7,500 disadvantaged youth with after-school programs.

Previously Jennifer worked for PR agencies Burson-Marsteller, Weber Shandwick, MS&L, and RL Public Relations, as well as legendary entertainment publicists Kelly Cutrone and Michael Levine. Her client roster has ranged from Pinkberry, Mattel and Nestlé to Namco Bandai Games, Ketel One and Best Buy, to 3Com, DataDirect Networks and Chevron. Her favorite client was the Boys & Girls Clubs of America: she launched the organization’s national BE GREAT campaign (and the rest is history). Jennifer also served as the director of brand marketing at Gymboree Corporation, where she repositioned the brand and launched the company’s new retail concept Janie and Jack.

A native Spanish speaker, Jennifer grew up in Central America and the Caribbean. Her parents thought she should be an ambassador or a lawyer. Much to their initial annoyance, she earned B.S. degrees in communications and French from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., which fed her obsession with college football (Go Canes!). Jennifer also enjoys wine tasting, cooking, writing, reading, building Lego starships with her elementary-school age son.

Here’s a brief video highlighting the Be Great campaign, which Jennifer launched with the Boys and Girls Club in 2008.

It’s our pleasure to announce Keith Kall in our lineup of speakers for the Ideation Conference 2011! Keith Kall is a Christian, a capitalist and a corporate foot-soldier who passionately believes in leveraging on the best attributes of the “private sector” to try to help improve the lives of the poor, the thirsty, the oppressed and the suffering, worldwide. He is deeply committed to the pursuit of integrating business, innovation and appropriate technology into health, community development and emergency relief work to provide new solutions to chronic problems. In his current position as an Executive Director, Corporate Engagement (Global Partnerships) at World Vision, Keith is bridging the gap between the business and humanitarian sectors to build joint-equity partnerships with Fortune 1000 corporations to tackle problems and help fill gaps in African, Southeast Asian and Latin American communities.

Keith Kall’s involvement with World Vision can be seen further in his contribution to clean water projects.  Here’s a brief video highlighting the work of World Vision in one of these water and sanitation projects in Ghana.

We are so honored to announce that speaking at the Ideation Coference this year will be Scott Belsky!   Scott Belsky believes that the greatest breakthroughs across all industries are a result of creative people and teams that are especially productive. As such, Scott has committed his professional life to help organize creative individuals, teams, and networks. Scott is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services to organize the creative world.  Scott is also the author of the national bestselling book, Making Ideas Happen (Portfolio Imprint, Penguin Books, April, 2010).

Check out this brief video of Scott describing the heart behind his book,  Making Ideas Happen

Guest Post by Billy Williams, Grassroots Movement Director, Nuru International

What started last spring with conversations between staff of Nuru International and One Day’s Wages while attending the !deation Conference in Long Beach, has culminated in $15,000 being raised through the grassroots efforts of ODW to help 70 families take the first step to lift themselves out of extreme poverty through a loan of high quality agricultural inputs from Nuru.

We are excited about the people that ODW has given an opportunity to join Nuru in the fight to end extreme poverty through their movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty.

You see, every single one of us have a contribution to make toward the goal of ending extreme poverty. Maybe you will be like Naomi and her family, and donate your birthday for a cause. This little girl and her family had a goal of raising $500 for Nuru’s work, but ended up raising $1500. Or maybe you can be like Esther, who raised over $2000 for Nuru as she ran a marathon. For some, it means a change of career; it meant that for me. Maybe it means changing your major, or your focus at college, or it means that your art, your music, or your writing gets infused with a more resolute purpose as we work together to inspire others to join us in confronting the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation.

At Nuru most of our videos end with a simple statement. Be hope. Be light. Be Nuru. Nuru is a Kiswahili word that means light and has a connotation of hope. We love seeing people take steps to tangibly be Nuru in this world that needs more hope. We applaud the efforts of ODW as they provide individuals with great tools to be Nuru. We need more Esther’s and Naomi’s in this world.

Our recent grant with ODW has been fulfilled, but there is still a great need to be met in Kuria, Kenya. This winter, we are expanding our programs to over six hundred new families. Will you join us in this effort? Here’s a few ideas to help get you started. Together, we are ending extreme poverty, one community at a time!

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Be sure to join us this year at Ideation Conference (March 28-29, 2011) in Long Beach, CA to participate in more stories like this unfold. – Charles Lee

Also in our lineup of presenters for the Ideation Conference will be Randy Paynter! Randy Paynter is the Founder and CEO of Care2.com. With over 14 million members, Care2 is the largest online community of people making a difference in healthy & green living, human rights and animal welfare. Care2 empowers individuals to “Make a Difference” with daily actions, healthy living advice, news and blogs on causes, petitions, contests, groups and more. In 2008, Care2 became a “B Corporation” as a mark of its commitment to using the power of business to solve social and environmental problems and to set an example for other companies.

Prior to starting Care2, Paynter worked with venture capital firm Commtech Management. He holds an AB from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Check out this brief video highlighting the work of Care.2 and the heart behind its members.

Don’t miss your chance to connect with Rod Arnold, Chief Operating Officer of charity: water, this year at the Ideation Conference!   Charity: water is an organization focused on the global water crisis and the one billion people without clean drinking water. In just four years, charity: water has funded more than 3000 water projects in 17 developing nations, providing clean, safe drinking water to 1.5 million people. Known for it’s innovative digital model and unique brand, charity: water has set its sights on helping 100 million people by 2020. Rod’s job is to run and scale this complex business.

As a college student, outreach trips to Central and South America opened Rod’s eyes to the extreme poverty that envelops hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. In 1990, Rod and his wife, Michelle, put their career plans on hold and spent two years working in the cities, jungles and mountains of Peru. This life-altering experience compelled Rod to focus the bulk of his time and energy to work with organizations and efforts that directly impact people in need. Over the last 15+ years, Rod’s outreach work has taken him to more than 25 countries around the world.  Rod lives in New York City with his wife and four children.

Here’s a brief video with Rod Arnold describing the work of charity:water

Apolis Film: A Day in the Life of a Modern Activist, Rod Arnold from Apolis on Vimeo.

We are so excited to announce that Ben Morrison be joining us at the Ideation Conference! Calling himself “one part nerd and one part attention-whore,” Ben Morrison has spent his entire life making people laugh. Morrison regularly tours the country delivering his electrifying act that includes live multimedia and photography. On TV you’ve seen Morrison on Last Comic Standing, as the lead on the final season of MTV-hit Punk’d, as one of the late Robert Schimmel’s last-collaborators on the pilot HOBOS.

In addition, Morrison works with a wide range of charities hosting and producing their live-events. In the past two years he has worked closely with organizations such as the Kobe Bryant Family Foundation, Charity:Water, Autism Speaks and Guns’N’Roses’s Hands Together to name a few.  His efforts have helped raise awareness among the comedy community and over 2 million dollars for the various causes he represents.

Check out Ben at http://benmorrison.org/ for videos, blogging, and upcoming shows.

We are so honored to be having Mark Horvath as a presenter for the Ideation Conference 2011!  In 2008, Mark Horvath, now known to many as @hardlynormal , set out to film the stories of America’s homeless and share them with as many people as possible. Since then, he has become an internationally recognized activist and ambassador for the millions of individuals and families who reside in shelters, motels, tents along the streets and under highway bridges across the country.

Mark has been featured by the L.A. Times, CNN, CBS, Mashable.com and NPR.  He’s spoken at a number of conferences and events, including Blog World, U.S Department of State’s Tech@State, Gnomedex, 140 Character Conference, Nonprofit Technology Conference and SxSW.  The Huffington Post named him one of 11 Twitter activists you should follow. Youtube gave InvisiblePeople.tv unprecedented exposure allowing Horvath to curate YouTube’s homepage for a day. Mark was asked to speak at Twitter, Inc and at charity: water. He has consulted for Los Angeles Police Department and USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism among many others.

This past September InvisiblePeople.tv launched We Are Visible to give people dealing with poverty and homelessness the tools they need to get online and have a voice.

Take a moment to check out how We are Visible works as well as Mark’s heart behind the movement.

Joining us in our speaker lineup for the Ideation Conference this March will be Mike Foster!  For the past 10 years Mike Foster has been innovating and creating new ways to experience life transformation. He is an author, speaker, and consults with leaders across the country on personal sustainability and life management. Mike leads “People of the Second Chance” which is an initiative that helps individuals and teams survive and thrive after personal or organizational failure. He is the author of “Gracenomics: Unleash the Power of Second Chance Living” and serves on the executive team of PlainJoe Studios which is an award winning national design firm.  Mike lives in Southern California with his wife and 2 children. Follow Mike on Twitter and his blog on which he writes daily.

Take a minute to check out what People of the Second Chance is all about.

WHAT IS PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE? from PEOPLE OF THE SECOND CHANCE on Vimeo.