SOCAP is pleased to welcome the following keynote speakers to the 2010 Spring Symposium:
Jim Parker
Former CEO
Southwest Airlines
Jim Parker is a lawyer by trade, having received both his undergraduate and law degrees from The University of Texas. After serving as law clerk to a federal judge and as an Assistant Attorney General of Texas, Jim joined the San Antonio law firm of Oppenheimer, Rosenberg, Kelleher, and Wheatley. As luck would have it, one of the co-founders of that law firm, Herb Kelleher, also co-founded a small Texas airline called Southwest, and Jim soon stumbled into the airline industry. After serving as outside counsel for Southwest for seven years, Jim became General Counsel for 15 years, and ultimately served as Southwest’s CEO for three years.
During Jim’s tenure as CEO, Southwest was named as the most admired airline, and one of the three most admired companies in America by Fortune magazine; Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine; and one of the World’s Most Socially Responsible Companies by Global Finance magazine. Jim was also named co-CEO of the Year in 2001 by Morningstar.com, and was named to Institutional Investor’s list of Best CEO’s in America in 2004. Jim’s proudest accomplishment, however, comes from the fact that Southwest Airlines was able to protect the jobs of all of its employees, with no furloughs or pay cuts in the aftermath of 9/11, while also remaining profitable every year and, in fact, every quarter during his tenure as CEO.
Jim is presently retired from the airline industry, and serves on the Board of Directors of the successful Texas Roadhouse restaurant company, and also serves on the Advisory Council for the MIT Sloan Business School Leadership Center. Jim is also the author of the recently released book, published by Wharton School Publishing, entitled Do the Right Thing – How Dedicated Employees Produce Loyal Customers and Large Profits.
Listen to our podcast with Jim below
Natalie Petouhoff
Senior Analyst
Forrester Research
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff is a leading expert on social business and CRM-Customer Service. Her research focuses on the use of combining social media and traditional customer-facing initiatives to extend brand awareness, develop deep and meaningful relationships with potential and current customers as well as provide companies with a return on their investments in new applications, processes and business models. Dr. Natalie is often asked to provide her unique point of view on TV (ABC, CBS and NBC) and national radio segments, as an international speaker and as the author of four business books and social business research and white papers. Her thought leadership in social business is often quoted by organizations like BusinessWeek, Fast Company and The New York Times. She is an active participate in the Twitter Hash Tag Group #SCRM.
Clyde Tuggle
Senior Vice President, Global Public Affairs and Communications
The Coca-Cola Company
Clyde Tuggle is senior vice president, Global Public Affairs and Communications, The Coca-Cola Company. He holds a bachelor's degree in German Studies and Economics from Hamilton College in New York and a Master of Divinity from Yale University. He studied at the Ludwig-Maximillian Universität in Munich, Germany, and completed The Executive Program at the University of Virginia's Darden Business School.
Mr. Tuggle is a trustee of Agnes Scott College and the Georgia Research Alliance. He serves on the Boards of Directors of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the High Museum of Art, the Southern Center for International Studies, and the Yale University Divinity School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Advisory Council of Emory University, and the US-Russia Business Council.
Michael Tchong
Founder & Trend Analyst
Ubercool Inc.
Michael Tchong is the founder of five start-ups that helped pioneer such sweeping changes as desktop publishing, personal information management, Internet research and online marketing. Michael’s ability to ride emerging trends early was refined during a career that began at some of Madison Avenue’s most prestigious ad agencies.
A reinvention specialist, Michael leverages his expertise in marketing, media and technology to help audiences better grasp how massive trends, dubbed “Ubertrends,” are reshaping society, and the many opportunities these societal shifts present. Michael motivates his audiences by exploring innovative cross-disciplinary products and services that successfully ride market waves.
His talks also demonstrate how marketers are adapting to these fast-moving changes in consumer culture, with a special emphasis on social media. Michael is currently working on a highly creative new event, called TrendShow, that brings innovation to life. His uncanny ability to decode the future, lead the U.K. Telegraph to label Michael “America’s most influential trendspotter.”