The VITAL '99 keynote descriptions are now available!

Wayne Hodgins, Learnativity(tm): The Intersection of Learning, Creativity and Productivity.

Wayne is the preeminent authority on "hot" trends and companies in the converging space of technology, knowledge creation and learning. He spends his days (and nights) "wandering and wondering" as he scours the world for trends and technologies most of us will not see for the next 18 months to 5 years. His incredible track record for identifying useful technologies, and seeing trends no one else does, combined with his gift for articulating them, has earned him a well-deserved label for a (sometimes over-used term): Visionary.

In his role as Director of Worldwide Learning Strategies at Autodesk, Wayne Hodgins is the chief architect and strategic visionary responsible for increasing customer productivity through what he has coined as "Learnability" and Learnativity.

In his role as Past President of CEdMA and now the Chief Evangelism Officer for the Computer Education Managers Association (CEdMA) he champions the continuous quest of the Association's vision to be the hardware & software vendor force shaping excellence in education, training and learning.

Richard Karash, "Virtual Infrastructures to Support Learning and Change."

Richard Karash is a consultant and facilitator covering the broad range of Learning Organization disciplines, with special emphasis on Systems Thinking. He consults, leads meetings, develops and conducts training programs, and delivers speeches and corporate events for a wide range of organizations.

Mr. Karash's current focus, and the thrust of much of his work, is in developing internal capabilities in client organizations. He creates custom training programs, conducts train-the-trainer sessions and provides coaching. With his technical background and executive experience, he is effective at all levels, including work with executives, working teams, and internal consultants.

Mr. Karash is a contributor to The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization. He has been a regular presenter at the annual Systems Thinking in Action conference and a contributor to The Systems Thinker. He is the creator and moderator of an internet mailing list discussing the learning organization.

From 1991 through September 1995, Mr. Karash was a senior staff member at Innovation Associates, a leading firm in the field of organizational learning, and he continues as an Adjunct Consultant with the firm.

Prior to joining IA, Mr. Karash spent nearly twenty years as an executive in technology-based companies. In 1970, he co-founded a highly successful computer software firm, Management Decision Systems, Inc., which pioneered decision support applications particularly in the consumer marketing industry.

Mr. Karash holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Master of Science from MIT's Sloan School of Management, with concentrations in Marketing and Operations Research.

Paula Briki, "Building a Learning Framework"

Paula Briki is a currently a Senior Program Manager for IBM's Sales & Distribution Group, for Global Skills & Learning. For the past ten years, Paula has had practical application of a skills management process used by IBM to plan, assess, build and deploy skilled resources. She has eighteen years of technical sales experience supporting US Government accounts, provided a broad perspective and exposure to a vast number of customer requirements. Additionally, she's held several management positions with IBM.

Most recently, she has worked on the design and implementation of a Global Learning Strategy that is central to IBM's skilled resource strategy. Today her role is to be an internal consultant and advisor to global skills & learning community. She is an implementor & facilitator of an integrated communications plan that makes information about skills & learning accessible, intuitive and relative to IBM employees.

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