Speakers Bios

(in alphabetical order)

Marian Banker, MBA, is a Business Leadership Coach and President of Prime Strategies, founded in 1996. Her background includes many years as executive, entrepreneur and professional. For the past 10 years she has provided the small business community with coaching, consulting and training in business leadership skills for the entrepreneur.

In 2002 she introduced the Lunchtime Telephone Roundtable, a virtual meeting place for small business leaders to learn from each other. In 2004, she initiated the Brain Exchange Roundtable. an in-person small group forum for exchange of expertise, ideas, and resources.

Marian has provided targeted training and workshops in academic, professional and corporate settings for such sponsors as AT&T, AWED, McGraw-Hill, Citibank, Fleet Bank, Melard Technologies, Hunter College, Webgrrls and others.

She was featured Business Coach on ABC’s World News This Morning and Channel 12 News New Jersey. Since 1999 she has published Small Business Leader, a monthly e-newsletter designed to be an easy and informal read for today’s business owner. She has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal and numerous small business publications.

<< AGENDA

Harry Brelsford is a Seattle-based author, consultant, technology trainer and the founder of SMB Nation. His 12 technology books focus primarily on Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) and other small-medium business (SMB) technology topics.  He holds multiple certifications (MCSE, MCT) as well as an MBA.

His recent books include Advanced Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices and the newly released Microsoft Small Business Specialist Primer & 70-282 Exam Preparation Guide (available from SMB Nation Press).

Harry has more than 15 years experience in consulting with customers, fellow SMB consultants and IT business owners around the globe. His most memorable consulting engagement was advising Peace Corps on its 76-country worldwide SBS deployment.

Harry typically presents in over 60 cities, worldwide, annually and hosts a popular annual SMB technology conference in Seattle each fall. He has a witty presentation style that weaves business and technology together. You may contact Harry through www.smbnation.com where you may also subscribe to his free monthly SMB technology newsletter.

<< AGENDA

Charles Hand is president of the New York metro region for Verizon Wireless.

He is responsible for sales, marketing, customer service, retail stores and expansion of the company’s advanced wireless communications network in 21 New York and northern New Jersey counties, including Long Island and New York City’s five boroughs. Recently, the New York metro market was named the leader in overall customer satisfaction among wireless users for the third consecutive year according to the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates 2000 U.S. Wireless Customer Satisfaction Study sm.

Hand has been president of Bell Atlantic Mobile’s New York metro region, vice president of retail sales and operations in the New York metro area and vice president of customer service in northern New Jersey and Philadelphia. He joined the company in 1987 as one of the company’s first direct sales representatives and has held a number of management positions in marketing and sales.

<< AGENDA

Rex Hammock is president of Hammock Publishing, Inc., a Nashville, Tenn.-based custom publisher of magazines, newsletters and digital media for corporate and association clients nationwide.

Hammock Publishing produces award-winning magazines such as MyBusiness, distributed to the 600,000 members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

Founded in 1991, Hammock Publishing now has offices in Nashville, Washington, D.C., and New York City and works with more than 150 freelance writers, photographers, illustrators and advertising sales representatives across the country.

In recognition of his leadership in the magazine industry, Rex currently serves on the board of directors of American Business Media. In 2001, he was named one of Folio: Magazine's "Top 40" innovative individuals in magazine publishing. He is cofounder of the Custom Publishing Council.

You can email Rex at rhammock@hammock.com and read his weblog at www.rexblog.com.

<< AGENDA

Dan Hoffman is president and CEO of M5. He is a frequent speaker on Voice over IP and related issues. He has recently spoken at VON, the Internet Telephony Conference,

The Wall Street Transcript's VoIP Implementation Conference, Telephony Magazine's VoIP for Service Providers Conference and numerous other industry-wide and local events.

Dan was the co-founder and president of Global Internet Group before selling the company to Asia Online, an ISP holding company based in Hong Kong, where he became Executive Vice President of Operations. He has advised management teams at service providers including Interport Communications, and ran operations at Education Loan Services, Inc.

<< AGENDA

Charles Jolley is the President and CEO of technology company Sproutit.com. Prior to starting Sproutit.com, he was the managing director of Nisus Software in Solana Beach where he led the transition of their award winning word processor from Mac OS Classic to Mac OS X. He hails from Kansas City, Kansas, but is currently living and working in Prague, the Czech Republic and managing a global organization.

<< AGENDA

Robert Levin has worked with midsize and small businesses his entire professional career.  His strong passion for leveraging his experience to assist small and middle market businesses began when he was a consultant in public accounting and developed as an executive in several industries.

Mr. Levin is the Founder and President of RSL Media LLC and publisher of The New York Enterprise Report. 

At Profile, which published magazines for organizations such as Crunch Gyms; the ATP and the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN); he led the efforts to transform the company’s sales process and to improve relationships with the company’s partners.    

Rob can be reached at rlevin@nyreport.com.  You can read his blog at www.common6.com. 

<< AGENDA

Lisa McCarthy is the founder of Accounting Resource, LLC.  She is recognized as one of the nation’s best speakers on the QuickBooks accounting software and has developed and conducted seminars for business owners, bookkeepers and accountants across the country. Lisa also consults with over 600 clients nationwide, troubleshooting issues related to various Intuit products and services.

Lisa is credited with authoring Intuit's courses for the Certification of Professional Advisors, contributing articles to Intuit’s Professional Advisor Newsletter, writing a chapter of Intuit's manual, "QuickBooks Resource Guide for Professional Advisors", and the development of the Intuit endorsed "QuickBooks for Accountants" seminar. Lisa is also a columnist for the national CPA newsletter published by BizActions--currently distributed to over 600,000 readers.

Lisa has written five industry specific QuickBooks manuals, used by business owners, franchise organizations, and bookkeepers across the country, to successfully utilize virtually every feature in the latest version of the software. In 2005, her “Accounting 101-Back to School Basics” book and course were successfully launched.

<< AGENDA

Adrian Miller is President of Adrian Miller Sales Training (adrianmiller.com), a training and business consulting firm that provides practical, hands-on, fully customized skills training and business development programs, based on real-world selling situations and specific client needs.

Adrian’s clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small entrepreneurial firms across vastly diverse industries, including financial services, publishing, manufacturing biotechnology, professional services, healthcare and technology. Recent clients include Disney, Reliant Energy, Equity One, Medforce Technologies, Olan Labs, Cobalt Funding, and The Peelle Co., among others

Adrian is a nationally recognized lecturer, a sought-after conference speaker, and an accomplished author. Her articles in major business publications cover a broad scope of sales-related topics. They also appear in the Adrian Miller Sales Training Monthly E-Newsletter . She is working on a book that promises to tell the “blatant truth” about sales, and the challenges encountered by sales reps across all industries.

You can reach Adrian at 516-767-9288.

<< AGENDA

Ramon Ray has been using computers since 1986 and was first "online" in 1995. He is the author of Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses (Amacom), has written hundreds of technology articles and has posted thousands of technology news items on Smallbiztechnology.com. His content is syndicated and read by thousands of readers.

He is a contributing editor to the New York Enterprise Report and writes or has written technology articles for Inc. Magazine, Black Enterprise Magazine, CNet, Var Business, TechTarget and other media. He has also written technology articles for tech vendors including Microsoft and FileMaker.

As a former small business technology consultant, Ramon has years of hands on experience in building networks, installing software, upgrading computers and supporting the technology small businesses use on a daily basis.

He is often quoted in the media, including Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine, WCBS Radio, Crains New York, National Federal of Independent Business, Small Business Advocate Radio Show and has been invited to speak at events including the US Small Business Administration Service Core of Retired Executives "Strategies for Succeeding in Business", Inc 500, PC Expo, Internet World, American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation and Business Development Institute.

Ramon is a member of the Board of Directors and Technology Committee Chair for the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. He is a "brain trust member" for Jim Blasingame's Small Business Advocate radio show, and a member of IBM's Small Business Expert Panel.

<< AGENDA

Steve Rubel is a senior marketing strategist and one of the top 100 bloggers in the world, according to Technorati. He currently serves as Senior Vice President at CooperKatz & Company, a mid-size PR firm in midtown New York City.

Rubel heads up the agency's Micro Persuasion practice, which helps clients launch conversational marketing programs that include blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds. He also widely evangelizes the use of these and other new technologies on his well-read Micro Persuasion weblog and the Across the Sound podcast.

Widely viewed as an expert on conversational marketing, Rubel is often sought out as a speaker and appears frequently in the press. He has been named to several prestigious lists, including: Media Magazine's Media 100, the AlwaysOn/Technorati Open Media 100 and the CNET News.com Blog 100.

Rubel is also an outspoken advocate for taking simple preventive measures to avert skin cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2005. This includes wearing sunscreen, self-examination and more. He blogs about this at The Skin Cancer Blog.

Steve Rubel can be reached at 212-455-8085 or via email at srubel(at)cooperkatz.com or steverubel(at)gmail.com

<< AGENDA

Scott Vaccaro is the Vice President of the New York City Region for Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car is the largest Rental Car Company in the United States. They have been recognized as the leader in Customer Satisfaction for five out of the last 6 years by J.D. Power and Associates.

Scott is responsible for the day to day operations of the New York City region. This includes Sales, Marketing, and customer service among other responsibilities. He has been an employee of Enterprise since 1993. He began his career in the Management Trainee program. Since that time, he has held numerous positions in their Daily Rental Operations until his appointment to Vice President in August of 2004.

<< AGENDA