The outstanding lineup of speakers at IEEE-USA’s premiere leadership conference — EVO19 — will deliver a dynamic, exciting leadership event that will help you stay ahead of the curve in your career.
IEEE-USA’s two-day, flagship event is a unique, one-of-a-kind business experience — one that will challenge you to think differently and embrace creativity. EVO will offer insightful and inspiring keynotes; eye-on-the-future panel discussions; and immersive, interactive sessions. This conference will give you the tools to affect change in your organization, and advance in your career. You will develop valuable new networking relationships, share insights with industry peers, and expand your knowledge and business skills — as you advance on your journey to becoming a more effective leader in your professional area of expertise.
EVO19 offers participants an exciting lineup of speakers — and program sessions with themes such as EVOlead, EVOinspire, EVOcareer and EVOskills. Speakers include Bran Ferren, Co-Founder and CCO, Applied Minds; Sonita Lontoh, Global Technology Marketing Executive, HP; James Finlay, Adobe; Maxim Jago, Futurist, Filmmaker, Screenwriter; Bran Ferren, Co-Founder and CCO, Applied Minds; Myles Kovacs, an American entrepreneur, and co-founder of DUB automotive magazine; and other distinguished guests.
Navigate the Intersection of Technology and Leadership
Sonita Lontoh, Global Head and Vice President of Marketing for HP’s 3D Print & Digital Manufacturing Division, will present on Enabling Digital Transformation and Creating Impacts, to help conference participants find the intersection of passion, skills and purpose in their careers. Lontoh is looking forward to speaking at IEEE-USA’s EVO19, to share her own personal journey of finding the intersection of technology/innovation, leadership and impacts.
“In these days of constant change, it’s not enough for innovators to focus only on technology, said Lontoh. “To be effective, innovators have to be able to inspire industry transformation; encourage others to think of what’s possible; and most importantly, articulate the impacts that technology enables — not only for customers but also for society and the planet.”
Lontoh has more than 18 years of experience at the intersection of new technology, business models and policy, both at venture-backed Silicon Valley start-ups, and at Fortune 100 global companies. Outside of work, Lontoh is passionate about advancing more women in technology, and in increasing global cross-collaborations in technology between the United States and emerging countries. The White House invited her to speak at former President Barack Obama’s Global Innovation Summit.
“I think our career is an evolving journey,” said Lontoh, “to be truly happy and successful, one has to keep an open mind and have some guiding principles.” Lontoh will share the guiding principles of her personal career journey with EVO19 conference participants — to help them navigate successfully along their own career paths.
Establish Personal Priorities — Have a Cup o’ Maxim
For an hour over coffee, award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, futurist and public speaker, Maxim Jago will offer conference participants a practical philosophy approach to life choices, career progression, and personal development. Structured as an introduction, Q&A, and summary advice — Jago wants attendees to bring any challenge, any question about your current and future self, where you are now, and where you would like to get. He mentors countless industry newcomers, and he provides specific, practical advice on actively becoming the very best person you can be.
“My goal is to give conference delegates practical, specific, actionable advice — to help them establish personal priorities — and understand their own motivations when directing their career, and supporting the careers of others,” said Jago.
He consults as a futurist for several media technology companies, describing future technologies, social change, the use of media technology for storytelling, and future social paradigms. Jago is CIO for FilmDoo, the online film distribution company. As a director, he is developing four feature film projects, including several VR elements.
Jago is an Adobe Master Trainer, and the author of the official Adobe Premiere Pro Classroom in a Book (used by film schools all over the world).
Further, he is an Avid Certified Instructor and EDIUS Master Trainer. Jago creates official training tutorials on Avid Media Composer and Adobe Premiere Pro. In addition, he wrote the official classroom book for Grass Valley EDIUS – Jago has created over 1,800 video tutorials describing post-production workflows. He is also the Chief Futurist at GameFace Labs, developing next-generation VR experiences.
“The role of a futurist requires a broad understanding of a wide range of industries, technologies, social norms, education practices, marketing strategies, and more,” said Jago, “my focus is usually on the impact of new technologies on the human condition, and it lends itself to the overall theme of EVO19 — The Evolution of You.”
Jago said the environment in which graduates are learning, starting work, and developing their careers is changing fast. Along with those changes, new expectations for personal development and career milestones have become imminent.
“The measure of success is changing, and our aspirations for a fulfilling life are changing — individuals are less interested in material goals, and more focused than ever on impact and teamwork. These are exciting times,” said Jago. “EVO19 is a rare opportunity to explore practical approaches to personal development in a professional career development context. I can’t wait to share — and learn new ideas and new perspectives myself!”
Look to the Future
Conference panelist and speaker, Amy Peck, is the founder & CEO of EndeavorVR, a leading global VR/AR (XR) strategy & consulting firm. Peck is a recognized thought-leader and speaks globally on the future of XR. She is a venture partner at the Capital Region AR/VR Accelerator, holds several Advisory Board roles and Co-chairs the VRARA Enterprise Committee.
Peck’s panel discussion at EVO19 (moderated by Futurist Maxim Jago) will explore the Future of the Workforce, along with co-panelists Ed Mason, from Core.Live; and Robert Isserles, from TEMI.
“This panel discussion is important for both the leaders of today — and those of tomorrow, said Peck, “I expect we will touch upon ways companies can tap into the vast knowledge and talent of their current workforce, and apply that experience to the technology of the future.” Further, Peck offered that the next generation of workers will not only be extremely tech savvy — but they will also expect the very latest technology as part of their workflows. “Conference panelists will share some interesting ideas on how to get from here to there,” she said.
Peck’s passion for XR technology began at Leap Motion, where she launched the Enterprise division — working with clients across every major vertical — including healthcare, entertainment, retail, hospitality, education and government. It became clear to her that there was a need to help foster XR development in the commercial arena — and more importantly, shepherd these critical early wins. Peck conceived EndeavorVR for this very purpose.
“Immersive technology will be ubiquitous in the coming years,” said Peck, “Spatial Computing will take us from flat screens to fluid interactions with the world around us.” Yet she says there is still some confusion around all the terminology, use cases and scalability of this technology — specifically, AR/VR/MR/XR/Spatial Computing/5G/The Magicverse/The AR Cloud.
“How can we make sense of all this? It will not be about the vernacular or individual use cases. Instead, the important piece is how we will use technology to be better humans. It sounds a little counterintuitive, but rather than fear what could go wrong, we have the opportunity to create our future in the best ways imaginable. With this evolution, we get to make our mark!”
Peck’s own personal mission is to see XR fundamentally improve every aspect of our lives, with the goal of making this technology accessible and transformative for everyone. She is very excited to be speaking at, and meeting the attendees of IEEE-USA’s EVO19:
“The more we start thinking about becoming the best version of ourselves, both personally and professionally, the more we can set ourselves up for success in the future, Peck said, “We are in a new age of thoughtful awareness, lifelong learning and constant evolution — in parallel with a wave of emerging technology. These times are so exciting! How we navigate these technologies and career paths over the next generation is critical.”
Register by 15 June to save $100 on conference fees.
Georgia C. Stelluto is IEEE-USA’s Publishing Manager; Manager/Editor of IEEE-USA E-BOOKS; InFocus Department Editor for IEEE-USA InSight; and Co-Editor of the IEEE-USA Conference Brief.
