Esther brings a unique set of talents and experiences to her role as moderator of this series. With a BA in economics at Harvard and five years’ experience on Wall Street, she is trained to recognize the power and the flaws in any business model.

With 23 years of experience writing the high-tech newsletter Release 1.0 and two years as chairman of ICANN, the agency that sets policy for the Internet’s domain name system, she is completely at home with the new economy (and has investments in many start-ups including Google to prove it).

Finally, as moderator of the PC Forum conference for 23 years, she is comfortable engaging titans of industry with thought-provoking questions that generate new insights both for the audience and for the titans themselves.

Julie joined BT in summer 2004 from United Pan European Cable, Europe's largest cable based communications company, part of the Liberty Media Group. As VP Broadband, Julie grew sales across 11 countries to just under 1 million customers within a 3 year period. She was also responsible for deploying CRM across the group, for on-line sales and support and product management.

Before UPC, Julie held a number of senior executive positions at IBM, including Director of Global Sales and Distribution for IBM's mobile solutions, World-wide Director of Marketing for IBM's small business customers and Director of Operations Emerging Markets (CER, Russia, Middle East and Africa).

Among his books are The Battle for Human Nature (1986), The Costs of Living (1994), and most recently, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less (2004). Here Barry describes "the tyranny of choice" and how consumers are paralyzed by the bewildering array of choices in the marketplace. Through his work, Barry helps businesses understand the forces that affect their customers and how they can shape the ways they offer choices in the marketplace.  Barry is a prominent authority on the social and psychological effects of free-market economic institutions on moral, social and civic concerns and is an important voice on the intersection between psychology, economics and business.   His writings have also appeared in Scientific American, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The London Times, The Guardian, Tikkun, Parade Magazine, Psychology Today,  Slate, The New Republic, USA Today, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Barry's current research concerns two issues: the relation between freedom, choice, and psychological well being; and the role of practical wisdom in enabling people to make the ordinary moral decisions they face every day.

Cyndi led U.S. operations for Time Out for 10 years, supervising the launch of weekly magazines in New York and Chicago, as well as five other titles, both in print and online. Whilst at Time Out, the New York edition was nominated for four National Magazine Awards, including two for General Excellence.

A former president of the American Society of Magazine Editors, Cyndi serves on the boards of Mediabistro, IFP (the Independent Feature Project, a nationwide resource for independent filmmakers), and the School of Visual Arts Foundation. She is also a trustee of Barnard College.

Marian joined JWT in April 2005 as EVP, Director of Strategic Content. She was promoted to EVP, Chief Marketing Officer in February, charged with leading global business development and raising JWT's profile among employees, stakeholders, existing and prospective clients, and the press. She continues to oversee JWT's public relations resources and the development of strategic content.

Prior to joining JWT, Marian spent four years as EVP, Chief Strategy Officer for Euro RSCG Worldwide. She has also served as president of Young & Rubicam's global think tank, Intelligence Factory; as worldwide director of TBWA International’s Department of the Future, based in Amsterdam; as director of consumer insights and emerging media at Chiat/Day, and as president of Jay Chiat's research and strategy boutiques. In the early 1990s, at age 30, Marian founded Cyberdialogue, the world's first online market research company. New York magazine named her one of its "Cyber 60" in 1995, and Crain's New York Business honored her as one of "40 Under 40."

As a trendspotter, Marian is credited with picking up cultural trends such as "metrosexuality," the rise of "singletons" and the "wiggers" phenomenon (white teens mimicking urban blacks).

She has also written or contributed to more than a dozen nonfiction books on topics ranging from cultural shifts and current affairs to the youth market and the commercial workplace. These include The Future of Men, Buzz and Next: Trends for the Near Future; Marian's new book, Next Now, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan in December.

In 1991, Steve was founder and co-CEO of Johnson-Grace Company, a company specializing in image, sound and video compression technology, which was purchased by America Online, Inc. in 1996. He holds a US patent, issued in 1999, for the image compression technology currently used on the America Online service. Steve graduated from the University of Southern California in 1980 with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and received a Masters degree from Harvard University in 1985 where he continued in Harvard’s doctoral program until 1990.