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Aaron Hillegass of Big Nerd Ranch and Mark Sanchez of tops Software

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Big Nerd Ranch

Aaron Hillegass / Big Nerd Ranch

Aaron Hillegass is the founder and CEO of Big Nerd Ranch. Aaron is best known to many programmers as the author of Objective-C: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide, Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, and iOS Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch Guide. Big Nerd Ranch provides end-to-end mobile solutions for a range of app development projects, including iOS, Android, backend, frontend, Cocoa and UX/UI design.

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Mark Sanchez / tops Software

Dr. Mark Sanchez is the founder, CEO and chief developer of tops Software, and a practicing orthodontist. He’s the only programmer of orthodontic practice management software who actually uses such a product on a daily basis. Mark developed his programming skills while pursuing a doctorate in physics at Georgia Tech. His dental degree and certificate in orthodontics are from Emory University.

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Gavin Cobb and Mike Wallace of Heritage Property Management Services

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Heritage Property Management

Gavin Cobb / Heritage Property Management Services

With more than 20 years of experience, Gavin’s community management knowledge is extensive. He is both a licensed real estate broker and an active member of the Community Association Institute. Gavin is a licensed CPA and, prior to joining Heritage, served as the Director of Real Estate for a publicly traded company. Gavin also was personally recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as part of the “Who’s Who” in the community management industry.

Gavin earned a Master’s in Taxation degree from Georgia State University and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree from University of Wisconsin – Madison.

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Mike Wallace / Heritage Property Management Services

Mike has more than 15 years of experience partnering with entrepreneurs to help manage and support rapid growth in emerging companies. Prior to Heritage, Mike served eight years on the executive management team of Teavana, where he helped the company grow from 30 stores to more than 300, launch a successful public offering on the NYSE, and finally a merger with Starbucks. Mike has extensive experience in operations, business analytics, accounting, and information technology.

Mike is a CPA and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

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Jeff Hilimire and Ryan Tuttle of Dragon Army

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Dragon Army

Jeff Hilimire / Dragon Army

Jeff Hilimire is the CEO of Dragon Army, a mobile experience company (one part agency, one part app & game studio), which he founded in 2013. Jeff started his first business, Spunlogic, from his dorm room at UNC-Charlotte and has been a serial entrepreneur ever since. Spunlogic grew to 75 people and was acquired by Engauge in 2008. Jeff stayed on as the Chief Digital Officer and President, helping grow Engauge for five years until they sold to Publicis Groupe / Moxie in 2013.

Jeff is on the boards of The Metro Atlanta Chamber, The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, and Central Outreach and Advocacy Center. He also serves on advisory boards for Zoo Atlanta and the American Marketing Association. Additionally, Jeff founded the nonprofit 48in48 (building 48 nonprofit websites in 48 hours), which is running in Atlanta and New York in 2016. Jeff was also in the Leadership Atlanta class of 2013 and an Atlanta Business Chronicle 40 under 40 winner in 2013. Jeff is married and has five children.

You can read more about Jeff on his blog: www.jeffhilimire.com

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Ryan Tuttle / Dragon Army

Ryan Tuttle has nineteen years of award-winning expertise in consumer marketing and promotions with specific experience in customer relationship management, full life-cycle web development, video game development, mobile application development, information technology infrastructure, interactive/graphic design, and social media management. Tuttle also has extensive experience building development teams and running operations in his roles as COO for multiple technology centric companies that makes him invaluable in overseeing the operations of Dragon Army.

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Catherine Downey and Scott Dixon of CATMEDIA

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CATMEDIA

Catherine Downey / CATMEDIA

Catherine began her career in media as Director of Marketing & Broadcast Promotions for a Memphis-based television station. Through this, and other executive level positions, she honed her skills in media buying, budget development, staff and project management and creative processes such as writing, directing and producing. Perhaps one of the most important things she learned was the value of building and maintaining solid customer relationships.

Fifteen years later, after continued growth and success in the television and advertising arenas, Catherine struck out on her own founding CATVIDEO in 1997. Catherine’s commitment to core
values distinguishes her as a person, an entrepreneur and as a service provider. Ms. Downey’s highest values for her own life, her family, and also for her company, are: integrity, hard work,
creativity & innovation, and excellence in customer service. Downey persistently applied these values to every task and every project, all the while raising her family as a single mom.

In 2011, with a steadily growing business and client base and a keen awareness of the ever-changing world of technology, Catherine transformed CATVIDEO into CATMEDIA. This name change reflects the way in which Catherine seeks out and embraces advances in technology and the changing ways in which people use media, in an effort to bring about the results her clients want and need.

An innovator at her core, Downey is named on several patent-pending training and communications technologies. Downey, a lifelong learner, was honored by the SBA’s Georgia District as the 2014 Class Valedictorian in the “Emerging Leaders Program” and successfully graduated the Tuck Executive Program under a full WBENC scholarship. She is actively involved in her Vistage International group of successful CEO peers in order to continuously improve as a leader. Surrounding herself with respected advisors, Downey carefully takes calculated risks to attain the company’s strategic goals and business plan. Under her leadership, CATMEDIA was named to the Inc. 500 list of fastestgrowing private companies in America for 2014 & 2015.

As CEO, Catherine Downey continues to lead CATMEDIA—on the same bedrock of core values—to fulfill CATMEDIA’s brand promise: “Using our creativity to solve problems that help our clients
succeed.”

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Scott Dixon / CATMEDIA

Scott is the President of CATMEDIA and joined the company in early November of last year.  Scott is charged with managing our Federal and corporate business development and capture proposal teams and it ultimately responsible for growing the company’s revenue and profitability.

Prior to joining CATMEDIA, Scott was the president at New Point Media Group – the nation’s largest publisher of advertising sponsored free to the consumer shelter titles.

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Kraig Torres of Hop City Craft Beer & Wine and Jonathan Baker of Monday Night Brewing

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Hop City Beer

Kraig Torres / Hop City Craft Beer & Wine

Kraig Torres is an experienced beer tasting professional with over 8,000 beer ratings. He is a 20-year Atlanta resident with an entrepreneurial background. As an avid beer enthusiast, he has traveled the world drinking beer in pubs and breweries. His specialty is beer/food pairings. In 2009, Kraig made the leap from amateur imbiber to professional drinker by founding Hop City Craft Beer and Wine. Hop City is craft beer heaven – home to the East Coast’s largest selection of sudsy fun – with over 1,900 unique ale and lager opportunities every day. Hop City is not just a beer destination – with over 1,100 wines, most from small producers, Hop City can be equally engaging to your inner oenophile.

Kraig was the first person to jump in to the beer Growler scene in Georgia, starting with just 12 taps, and expanding to 60 in 2011. Beer Advocate has awarded Hop City an A+, their highest rating; and RateBeer considers Hop City one of the country’s top 10 retailers. Kraig was a 2012 finalist for Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year and in both 2014 and 2016, Hop City was ranked among the fastest growing businesses in the city.

In 2012, the state of Georgia could no longer contain Kraig’s ambition: Hop City Birmingham opened – and to great acclaim. It quickly became the top beer destination in Alabama. Not only does Hop City carry every beer available in AL but all 66 of our taps in Growlertown are available for by-the-glass enjoyment. This makes Hop City a beer-lover’s paradise. Sit and enjoy a beer, shop the amazing selection, then sip on a pint while putting together a new homebrew creation. In December 2014, Kraig opened his 3rd Hop City in the highly anticipated Krog Street Market in Inman Park. The newest Hop City was quickly voted “Best New Place to Grab a Pint” by Atlanta Magazine in 2015. Much like Birmingham, the Krog Market location has a full-service bar, growler station and all the great beer and wine selections our fans have grown to expect.

Most recently, Kraig announced his newest venture – a beer bar with gourmet kitchen in the newest phase of Avalon in Alpharetta – slated to open April of 2017.

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Jonathan Baker / Monday Night Brewing

Jonathan is the reasonably qualified creative guy at Monday Night Brewing. He develops and maintains the Monday Night brand, including all design, social media and our obsession with Bryan Adams. He graduated from Emory in 2005 with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Religion. His background is in marketing strategy consulting, where he worked with some large beer brands that you’ve definitely heard of.

He is married to the lovely Sarah, and has a daughter named Addie Gray and a pitbull mix named Eden who comes to the brewery everyday. She’s a lover, not a fighter.

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Pete Marte & JP Sartori of Hannah Solar

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Hannah Solar

Hannah Solar is a NABCEP certified solar integrator servicing the entire Southeast with offices in Atlanta and Savannah, GA, Asheville and Raleigh, NC, and Charlotte and Greenville, SC. The staff is dedicated to providing our customers with the very best in engineering, products, installation and service of solar arrays, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, energy storage systems and critical backup generators.

Hannah Solar’s team is comprised of Certified Solar Photovoltaic Installers, licensed Professional Engineers (PE), master electricians, service technicians, project management professionals, business development managers, designers and installers-working together to serve our clients as a reliable and experienced resource in sustainable energy integration.

Pete Marte 

Peter Marte is the founder and CEO of Hannah Solar—located in the heart of Atlanta—and has worked diligently over the last eight years throughout the state of Georgia to develop a solar market where none existed only a few short years ago. Pete is a NABCEP certified Solar PV Installer and oversees the management team at Hannah Solar, LLC, Hannah Home Energy, and Worry Free Power under the Hannah Energy umbrella of companies.

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JP Sartori 

JP Sartori is the Regional Vice President of Business Development at Hannah Solar. Sartori is responsible for creating and maintaining healthy client relationships and ensuring delivery of exceptional solar solutions – always and without exception. Sartori works tenaciously at meeting his clients’ unique needs and is well-prepared to facilitate the successful design and construction of client solar projects.

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Jim and Bridget Fitzpatrick of CBT Automotive Network

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CBT Automotive Network

Jim Fitzpatrick / CBT Automotive Network

Jim Fitzpatrick is Founder and CEO of CBT NEWS / Car Biz Today, an online news source for the retail automotive industry. With over 110,000 subscribers, CBT hosts a morning and afternoon newscast that is viewed by thousands of automotive professional everyday.

Broadcasting from it’s studios in Atlanta, CBT News hosts most of the nation’s top industry trainers . consultants, authors and industry executives. CBT News provides dealers with the information they need to run their dealerships more efficiently while driving greater profits to the bottom line.

In May of 2015 CBT Automotive Network launched servicedrivetoday.com and Service Drive Magazine. Much like CBT NEWS, Service Drive provides dealership service personnel with online daily newscasts featuring news, information, in-depth interviews with industry executives, best practices, training tips, dealer profiles, and so much more. CBT reaches more automotive professionals each day than any other publication or website in the retail automotive arena.

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Bridget Fitzpatrick / CBT Automotive Network

Bridget Fitzpatrick is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of CBT Automotive Network, also known as Car Biz Today. CBT Automotive Network is an informative daily news source engineered specifically for the retail automotive industry. CBT provides daily newscasts and features that cover advertising, marketing, social media, sales, management and service training, finance & insurance, fixed ops and much more. CBT Automotive Network proves a valued source of information for anyone who works within the retail automotive industry.

Fitzpatrick is a highly driven media professional with valuable operations and communications skills who has a strong background in corporate relations, project management and strategic corporate planning.

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Matt Pieper of Open Hand Atlanta and Jess White of Good Measure Meals

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Matt Pieper

Matt Pieper / Open Hand Atlanta

Matthew (Matt) Pieper is the Executive Director for Open Hand Atlanta, a community-driven non-profit organization providing nutritious and medically appropriate meals, nutrition education and counseling to those challenged by chronic disease or disability.  Additionally, Open Hand provides services to those at risk who desire to prevent the onset of chronic conditions. Open Hand’s goal is to empower individuals with the resources needed to manage their health and make better lifestyle choices. Open Hand’s clients include seniors, people living with cancer, renal failure, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and many other chronic conditions.  Through the support of  collaborative partners, 8,000 volunteers annually and the community at large, Open Hand prepares, packages and delivers more than 5,000 meals daily to those in need.

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Jess White / Good Measure Meals

Jess White is no stranger to the world of health and wellness as Senior Vice President of Good Measure Meals. As a Georgia Native and daughter of a health care professional and exercise enthusiast, Jess spent much of her life active in outdoor sports, fitness, and healthy eating. It wasn’t until her studies at Georgia Tech, that Jess started connecting all of the dots and decided that optimizing health promoting behaviors in the community would become a personal mission. From Georgia Tech, Jess traveled west to pursue her Master’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science at Oregon State University, focusing on Exercise and Sport Psychology, specifically Behavior Modification and prevention of obesity and diabetes in special populations.

White worked in the corporate sector before getting back to her wellness roots and taking the position of Director of Corporate Wellness and Interim General Manager of Peachtree Center Athletic Club. While at PCAC, she partnered with Good Measure Meals to incorporate nutrition into their wellness programing. Shortly thereafter, Good Measure Meals came calling when they decided to develop a Corporate Wellness program of their own, so Jess came on board in the beginning of 2010 to head that initiative. Jess has since developed strong relationships around the community in both the corporate and medical sectors and implemented a wide variety of wellness initiatives to promote healthy lifestyles within these populations.

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Charlie Whitfield of Whitty Apps and Rick Crain of Breakthrough Business Solutions

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Charlie Whitfield

Charlie Whitfield / Whitty Apps

Charlie Whitfield is the CEO of Whitty Apps LLC, a SBA certified 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WBE, Woman Owned and Operated Company.

We are an emerging Software Engineering & Integration Company, specializing in mobile and device technology. We provide architecture, design, development, and project management expertise for our clients.

Our innovative mobile software solutions focus on solving unique challenges, productivity, customer experience, and marketing strategies that have an impact on your success.

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Rick Crain / Breakthrough Business Solutions

Through his innovative, get-it-done, people-oriented approach to leadership development and bottom-line performance, Rick is inspiring others and delivering on his promise of transforming thought leadership into measurable results. Rick uses a rare blend of entrepreneurial agility and a 4-step breakthrough program that transitions leaders and teams from awareness to accountability.

Rick’s vast training, experience and innate knowledge, including a master’s certification in strategic organizational leadership, insure that his Clients sustain results for the long-term. Rick has over three decades of experience in business, personal, and professional development, rising from an entry level position to become an award winning Regional Vice President in a multi-billion dollar employer services corporation, the largest in the world – Automatic Data Processing (ADP).

As a certified and licensed Business and Executive Coach, a successful corporate executive leader, and a current business owner, Rick is accountable to perform at the highest level of standards in the industry. By transferring his personal and professional knowledge with a leading leadership coaching program, Clients can rest assured that Rick has all of their bases covered, not by force, but by sitting down, rolling up his sleeves and collaborating, to hammer out a realistic, do-able action plan that fits the leader’s potential. Often, his Clients see a return on investment within 90 days. As behaviors, team dynamics, and business systems become more self-sustaining for the short & long term, his Clients get back on track as well, with less stress and more quality time with family & friends.

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Judy Mod and Trent McEwan of Revenue Sphere

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Judy Mod_mini

Judy Mod / Revenue Sphere

We are in the midst of a significant business transformation – as organizations are having to deal with the acceleration, frequency and convergence of multiple disruptive technologies, all at the same time.  Ask any executive – and they will tell you that this phenomenon is now the “new normal.”

Today, as the Founder, CEO and Chief Adoption Officer of RevenueSphere and Social Gastronomy (for-profit) and the Founder and President of the Social Executive Council (non-profit), Judy is helping senior executives understand and address the new complexities this is creating and the foundational changes that are needed to bridge the widening gap between the innovation and the adoption.

Judy has 30+ years of experience in driving top line revenue in multiple areas (CEO, sales, business development, channel, strategic alliances, marketing, consulting).

As a Chemical Engineer, Judy has dedicated her career to pioneering new innovation (hardware, software, services) and their operational adoption, in a wide variety of complex markets (agriculture, appliance, automotive, chemical, cosmetic, defense, environmental, food +  beverage, government, metals processing, microelectronics, mining, oil & gas, paint + coatings, plastics, printing, research & development, semiconductor, textiles.)

Judy is a prominent blogger, speaker and evangelist on the operational adoption of innovation.

Judy is on the advisory board of Kennesaw State University’s Masters in Healthcare Management and Informatics Program.  Judy is the Founder and CEO of the Arts Council of Woodstock.  She has also served as a chapter president of the Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals and on the boards of Global EXEC Women, Women in Technology and It’s The Journey, a 501 © 3 serving the breast cancer community.

A graduate of Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Judy also holds an MBA from the University of Dallas.

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Trent McEwan / Revenue Sphere

Trent McEwan: A Results-driven, strategically minded and self-directed entrepreneur with a successful track record of delivering the strategies plans and tactics to help “C” level executives identify and fix their problems with the adoption of innovation.  Is a visionary leader and problem solver, with strong collaborative communication, organizational, operational and analytical skills.

With degrees in both Management Information Systems and Finance, as well as 18 years in Information Technology, he has had the unique opportunity to provide consultation services as well as run very large internal/external development groups both on and offshore.

Has held multiple technology positions, serving as a developer, architect, Director, partial CTO and CIO.  This experience has provided a unique perspective into the challenges organizations face in adopting disruptive technology and innovation. Clearly a thought leader, innovator and problem evangelist, helping executives and organizations solve strategic business problems.

Having had the responsibility of Strategy, Program Management, Sales, Delivery and Execution in various verticals and industry including Financial Services, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Logistics, and Retail.

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