“Change is the only constant in life” might feel like a post pandemic-inspired bumper sticker, but Greek philosopher Heraclitus nailed it nearly 2,500 years ago with a doctrine about change being central to the universe.
What’s different now? The pace, scale, and the variety of ways in which change has… well… changed.
And that’s why we mesh.
Happening at the Platform Innovation Centre April 12-13, 2023 in Calgary, the mesh conference will host thought leaders and innovators from across North America who are searching to better understand the impact that new trends and technologies will have on how we live, work, and play.
Keynote speakers, attendees, panels, and workshops at this year’s mesh conference will speak to four featured themes: Society, Media & Technology, Marketing and Business.
Today, mesh announced its first two keynotes for its spring event:
Exploring digital rights in the creator economy, and ownership in the era of generative AI
“Change is the only constant in life” might feel like a post pandemic-inspired bumper sticker, but Greek philosopher Heraclitus nailed it nearly 2,500 years ago with a doctrine about change being central to the universe.
What’s different now? The pace, scale, and the variety of ways in which change has… well… changed.
And that’s why we mesh.
Happening at the Platform Innovation Centre April 12-13, 2023 in Calgary, the mesh conference will host thought leaders and innovators from across North America who are searching to better understand the impact that new trends and technologies will have on how we live, work, and play.
Keynote speakers, attendees, panels, and workshops at this year’s mesh conference will speak to four featured themes: Society, Media & Technology, Marketing and Business.
Today, mesh announced its first two keynotes for its spring event:
Exploring digital rights in the creator economy, and ownership in the era of generative AI
Internationally award-winning technology and media leader Kirstine Stewart joins mesh to explore the transformation of media at its intersection with technology.
As the Chief Revenue Officer of Pex, a technology company backed by Tencent and Universal Music Group, Kirstine will share insight on how media continues to evolve, digital rights technology and its use in the creator economy, and ownership of content and creative work in the era of generative AI.
Prior to joining Pex, Kirstine was a member of the executive committee at the World Economic Forum where she led the Future of Media, Entertainment, & Sport division, collaborating with C-level leaders from multinational enterprises including Facebook, Google, ByteDance, Publicis Groupe, P&G and more to address emerging trends in areas such as digital disruption, metaverse and Web3, revenue creation in the media ecosystem, consumer data privacy, and the future of work.
Kirstine started in the tech industry in 2013 when she was appointed the Founding Head of Twitter in Canada before she moved to New York to take on the role of Twitter’s VP Media for all of North America.
In 2016, Kirstine authored the bestseller, Our Turn, an internationally award-winning book on leadership. She is a sought-after board member and corporate advisor, and her leadership extends into non-profit advocacy as a member of the Founding Board for CILAR (Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism) and as a member of the board for the Center for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation. Kirstine is a Board Member of the C100, a preeminent global community of Canadians in tech.
Scaling your business and success strategies for online marketplaces
Entrepreneur and business leader Bobbie Racette joins mesh to share perspectives on the future of talent and work.
As the Founder and CEO of Virtual Gurus, a Talent-as-a-Service solution platform that matches users with remote talent using matchmaking algorithms, Bobbie will share insight on building diverse and agile teams with remote workers and best-practice advice for using technology to find much-needed talent.
Bobbie, who is also the Founder and CEO of askBetty, will also share insight and learning on building digital marketplaces, and why constraining a marketplace is the best way to grow it.
Bobbie has been recognized as one of 50 Changemakers for 2021 by Report on Business magazine, and Startup Canada’s Indigenous Entrepreneur of the Year and Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, Prairies Region.
A Cree-Metis woman who prides herself on building an inclusivity-first company, Bobbie champions for indigenous people and the LGBTQ+ community and mentors First Nations youth interested in business and technology.
Virtual Gurus works with Fortune 500 executives, startup entrepreneurs, and small business owners.
Forbes called her company one of the top 19 Innovative Tech Startups to watch.
Featured speakers from Toronto and Calgary
Founded in 2005 with a focus on digital, the mesh conference is now a national event series and omnichannel experience focused on digital transformation and the innovation economy.
Thought leaders, entrepreneurs, corporate innovators and creatives from across North America will attend the mesh conference in Calgary this April to share insight on emerging trends and tackle some of today’s biggest challenges in society, media, marketing, and business.
In addition to the keynote announcements, mesh also shared details about featured speakers who will join this year’s event:
Mary Jane Dykeman, Managing Partner, INQ Law
In addition to data law, Mary Jane is a long-standing health lawyer and she is a founder of INQ Consulting, a global data consultancy.
Mary Jane’s data practice focuses on privacy, artificial intelligence (AI), cyber preparedness and response, and data governance. She regularly advises on use and disclosure of identifiable and de-identified data, and she applies a strategic, risk, and innovation lens to data and emerging technologies.
Mary Jane helps clients identify the data they hold, understand how to use it within the law, and how to innovate responsibly. She has acted in general counsel roles to three Toronto teaching hospitals, currently as interim VP Legal/Risk to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (a group doing exciting things with data); and was instrumental in the development of Ontario’s health privacy legislation.
Mary Jane’s consulting work extends to modernizing privacy legislation and digital societies in the private and public sectors, and she works with Boards, CEOs and CIOs on the emerging risks, trends and the imperative to harness. Mary Jane regularly speaks on AI, cyber risk and how to better engage and build trust with clients and customers whose data is at play. Her most recent in person speaking engagements on the future of/with data, AI, cyber, and data governance were in Dubai, Boston, and Toronto.
Anne-Marie Enns, Executive Producer and Publishing Partner, Women of the Future
An award-winning event producer, Anne-Marie leads the production of Women of the Future, a global platform launched in 2022 that uses technology as a tool for positive impact in the real world.
Led by women who believe in empowering their peers, Women of the Future highlights 100 global women and allies who are bringing Web3 to the mainstream.
Anne-Marie is an expert in the area of immersive technologies including augmented, virtual, and mixed reality.
In the events space, Anne-Marie has produced events for organizations such as the VR/AR Association, NCFA, TED, Honda Celebration of Light, CANFAR, White Ribbon Campaign, Archiact, and more.
Anne-Marie also serves as an Ambassador for Mission Impact, a female-led program to bring more women into the Web3 workspace.
Sabrina Sullivan, Futuring Strategist, Ford Motor Company / Director, Transformation + Ecosystem, SAIT
Sabrina has made it her life’s work to create positive change through investing time in both bold ideas and the people that make them a reality. This currently manifests itself with a focus on developing future-ready talent as the Director and Principal Catalyst at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
A recognized Corporate Futurist, leader of one of Deloitte’s flagship innovation programs, and former Strategy Consultant within Canada and the United States, she has become a sought-after strategist, advisor, writer, manager and facilitator.
In addition to her roles in complex organizations, she has committed time to building ventures including a startup sustainable finance firm and launching a SaaS offering focused on measuring and improving innovation practice in companies. This diverse experience leaves Sabrina poised to work with individuals, companies and ecosystems to generate innovative products, programs and strategies that help grow and shape the future of their organizations and our communities.
This is only further complemented by her local and global network and experience with organizations such as Platform, TED, Singularity University, US State Department, and many global institutes, incubators and accelerators.
Lauren Dwyer, Academic Chair, Data Analytics & Artificial Intelligence, SAIT
Lauren Dwyer is a researcher and academic with a PhD in Communication and Culture from Toronto Metropolitan and York Universities. Her dissertation, “Isolated Circuits: Human experience and robot design for the future of loneliness,” delved into the relationship between human emotions and technological design, with a particular focus on the growing issue of loneliness in modern society.
Lauren currently holds the position of academic chair for Data and AI at the School for Advanced Digital Technologies (SADT) in Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). In this role, she oversees the development of cutting-edge programs that harness the power of data and AI to drive innovation across various fields. By leveraging her expertise in communication studies and technology, she is able to shape the future of digital innovation.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of emerging technology and human communication, with a particular emphasis on the human-in-the-loop of social robots and artificial intelligence.
Tamara Woolgar, Executive Director, the A100
With a career in public relations spanning more than 20 years in corporate, agency, and freelance environments, today Tamara is Executive Director of the A100.
The A100 is Alberta’s community of seasoned technology founders & executives who believe world-class tech companies are being built in Alberta, and that our collective greater involvement can meaningfully increase successful outcomes. A100 members expand networks, connect people and share experiences to help the next generation of tech entrepreneurs thrive in Alberta.
Tamara is biracial and an activist for DEIB initiatives, including contributing to The51’s Community Council. Her memoir, “A Flawless Mistake: Tales From a Beautiful Life of Colossal F*ckups”, was published in July 2020 by Friesen Press.
More speakers and sessions will be announced shortly on the mesh conference agenda and tickets are on-sale now at the mesh conference ticket page. Early-bird tickets are on sale now for $679 until March 17 and a small batch of student tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
