Month: November 2019

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With technology playing an increasingly large role in the way we do business, and the way we go about our daily lives, it should be no surprise that the necessity for cyber and national security will also increase. Our privacy is now our most vulnerable asset with online companies attacking our personal data in secrecy and in plain sight.

Business and government organizations are also increasingly requesting the help of cybersecurity keynote speakers to develop strategies to protect their valuable information.

From hackers to FBI agents to the Former Deputy Assistant to the President, this list of the top security keynote speakers represents a diverse group of experts that provide valuable cyber and national security insights. Who could teach you about cybersecurity better than the hackers themselves?

Eric O’Neill, Cybersecurity and Economic Espionage Expert

Eric is credited with using his cybersecurity expertise to capture the most notorious spy in U.S. history, which later inspired the film “Breach.” In early 2019, O’Neill released a tell-all thriller, Gray Day, about his experience working in the FBI and taking down this spy who had entrenched himself within the U.S. forces. With a background in the FBI, Eric now leads The Georgetown Group, an investigative and security agency, where he tackles issues of economic espionage, counterintelligence, and cybersecurity penetrations. As a top cybersecurity keynote speaker, Eric weaves his expert knowledge with his inspiring, heroic story to deliver practical security insights for businesses everywhere.

Kevin Mitnick, “The World’s Most Famous Hacker”

Dubbed the “World’s Most Famous Hacker,” Kevin once made the FBI’s Most Wanted list for hacking into 40 major corporations—just to prove he could. Today, he uses his extraordinary talents to assist Fortune 500 companies and government agencies around the world as a security consultant. Kevin and the Global Ghost Team use their hacking powers to address cybersecurity issues and show businesses how to protect themselves. Kevin has authored many books, including the New York Times bestseller Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker. His newest book, The Art of Invisibility: The World’s Most Famous Hacker Teaches You How to Be Safe in the Age of Big Brother and Big Data, was released last month.

Adam Levin, Identity Management and Credit Security Expert

A former Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Adam Levin is also the Chairman and founder of CyberScout (formerly IDT911) and the co-founder of Credit.com. Levin’s mission is to educate consumers, businesses, and lawmakers about identity management, privacy, credit, and security issues. He is the security and credit expert for ABCNews.com, and the author of the Amazon Bestseller Swiped: How to Protect Yourself in a World Full of Scammers, Phishers, and Identity Thieves.

Keren Elazari, Cybersecurity Expert and Security Industry Analyst

Keren Elazari, a former hacker turned cybersecurity expert, is an internationally celebrated cybersecurity keynote speaker. Her 2014 TED talk, viewed by millions, helped shape the conversation about hackers and their important role in society. She brings years of experience in the international cybersecurity industry to the stage. Since 2000, Keren has worked with leading Israeli security firms, government organizations, Global Big 4 and Fortune 500 companies. Keren also covers emerging security technologies as a security industry analyst with GigaOM research, the leading independent media voice on all matters technology.

Juan Zarate, National and Infrastructure Security Expert

Juan is a leader in cyber and national security as a Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Senior National Security Consultant and Analyst for CBS News. Zarate also served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Combating Terrorism under the George W. Bush administration. As a top security expert, Juan frequently speaks to businesses around the world to assist with infrastructure security.

Michael Nelson, Information Technology and Policy Expert

For almost 25 years, Michael Nelson has been shaping the evolution of the Internet and helping businesses and governments realize its full potential. Nelson was a Special Assistant for Information Technology at the White House Office of Science and Technology where he worked with Vice President Al Gore on telecommunications policy, information technology, encryption and online privacy, electronic commerce, and information policy. Michael was also the Director of Technology Policy at the Federal Communications Commission. There, he helped craft policies to foster electronic commerce, spur development and deployment of new technologies, and improve the reliability and security of the nation’s telecommunications networks.

Herbert (Hugh) Thompson, Internet Security Expert

Thompson has more than a decade of experience creating methodologies that help organizations build more secure systems. He has co-authored three books on the topic and is an adjunct professor in the Computer Science Department at Columbia University. Hugh is perhaps best known for his role in exposing electronic voting machine vulnerabilities as part of the HBO documentary Hacking Democracy. Thompson also takes a unique human-centric approach to cybersecurity—asking us to consider how generic cybersecurity actually is and the factors that make certain people more vulnerable to cyber attacks than others. As a cybersecurity keynote speaker, Hugh has delivered a keynote presentation at every RSA Conference (US) since 2007.

With this arsenal of expert cybersecurity keynote speakers at your disposal, you can be well on your way to securing your organization on all fronts. And remember, the best defense against a cyber attack is being proactive about security.

See Below For More Top Keynote Speakers:

Top Technology Keynote Speakers

All Top Keynote Speakers

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The content writers at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau are Experts on the Experts. They hold doctoral, masters, and bachelors’ degrees in business, writing, literature, and education. Their business thought pieces are published regularly in leading business publications. Working in close association with the top business, entrepreneur, and motivational speakers, BigSpeak content writers are at the forefront of industry trends and research.

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First comes the turkey high of Thanksgiving, then the shopping high of Black Friday’s sales. Keep the high alive with Giving Tuesday?

For the eighth year, people around the world are taking the Tuesday after Thanksgiving to give back. #GivingTuesday is a global movement that was started to contrast Black Friday and focuses on helping others through the gift of your time, donations, goods, or your voice.

BigSpeak is proud of our many speakers who use their talents and bandwidth to make this world a better place. These are some entrepreneur, business and motivational speakers who have focused their drive on doing good.

Here’s how you can support their causes and cleanse your palate from Black Friday.

Project Athena

Teamwork Motivational Speaker and Adventure Racing World Champion Robyn Benincasa created Project Athena to help women who have survived medical or other traumatic challenges reach new athletic goals and achieve their adventurous dreams.

Through donations and grants these life-changing adventures are available to anyone who needs to be reminded it’s not about the setback, it’s about the comeback.

To learn more or support their comebacks click here.

Charity:Water

Founder and CEO of Charity:Water  Scott Harrison has dedicated his life to bringing safe drinking water to people in developing countries. Chairty:water has funded 29,725 water projects, giving 8.4 million people around the world clean water.

His nonprofit has an open-book policy with 100% of your donation going to funding water projects around the world.

To learn more or make a donation click here.

The 7 Virtues Peace Perfume

Social Entrepreneur Barb Stegemann sources fair market natural essential oils from nations rebuilding after war or strife. The farmers she works with earn as much as 2.5 times the income of the next crop, giving them freedom from the Taliban and other corrupting factors.

Her scents are sourced from Afghanistan, Rwanda, Madagascar, the Middle East, and Haiti.

To learn more or support the local farmers click here.

Because I Said I Would 

Alex Sheen developed a program and nonprofit dedicated to building values and morality back into society. After the passing of his father—a man whose best quality was staying true to his word—Sheen started a campaign to help people become more accountable with Promise Cards. It was simple, you write your promise on the card and give it to the person you are committing to.

People loved this resurgence of values and the whole operation took off. Now his nonprofit, Because I Said I Would, has school and prison programs that instill honorable values into society.

To learn more and help spread good values click here.

Little Lotus

Jane Chen developed a reusable incubator for premature babies in developing countries that costs less than 1% of traditional incubator technology. She then leveraged the technology to create Little Lotus baby products that help babies sleep at the perfect temperature.

With each Little Lotus purchase, proceeds are donated to ensure vulnerable babies in the developing world have access to the Embrace Incubator.

To learn more or provide an Embrace Incubator to an infant in need click here.

AGAINST MALARIA FOUNDATION

James Clear partners with the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF). With each donation, AMF distributes nets to protect children, pregnant mothers, and families from mosquitos carrying malaria. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to extend life and fulfills his bigger mission to spread healthy habits and help others realize their full potential.

To learn more about James’s contributions to AMF click here.

TOMS

TOMS started as a shoe company built on a one-for-one model—for every pair of shoes bought, one is donated to someone in need. Through your purchases, TOMS helps provide shoes, sight, water, safe birth, and bullying prevention services to people in need. In 2018, founder Blake Mycoskie gave $5 million to organizations across the country committed to ending gun violence.

To learn more about TOMS 2019 impact report click here.

Life is Good Kids Foundation

Bert and John Jacobs started the Life is Good Kid Foundation to promote positivity and ended up creating a nonprofit that partners with leading childcare organizations to positively impact the quality of care delivered to the most vulnerable children.

To impact lives, the Foundation provides retreats, tools, and on-going coaching to more than 10,000 childcare professionals working in schools, hospitals, and social service agencies across the US and Haiti.

To learn more or make a donation click here.

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Jessica Welch is the Content Marketing Associate at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature and Anthropology from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Her business thought articles often appear on Business 2 Community, Born 2 Invest, and YF Entrepreneurs.

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The holidays are coming and you know what that means—gift-giving and downtime to catch up on your reading. If you’re looking for a few good non-fiction books to stimulate your brain and excite your imagination, check out our 2019 holiday book list below. These books will give you ideas to improve your storytelling, startup success, habits and more. Get one for yourself, a friend or colleague.

Atomic Habits

James Clear’s bestselling book on how to create successful habits to change your life is the perfect book for you or a friend to get started on the new you in 2020.

Best Story Wins

Learn the secrets to telling a good story from the man who helped make you laugh and cry for 20 years with movies like Up and Toy Story, former Pixar story artist and animator Matthew Luhn.

Gray Day

Eric O’Neill’s book on taking down the biggest spy in American Intelligence is non-fiction but reads like a thriller. Put it down at your own risk.

Introvert’s Edge

Whether you’re an extrovert or an introvert, selling is a system that can be learned by all. Learn the fundamentals of the sales system that made Matthew Pollard an expert in rapid growth.

Lean Out

Get inspired to rethink how we work in 2020 and beyond from former Google employee and work thought leader Marissa Orr.

Surprising Science of Meetings

Meetings are horrible but you can change that. Find out how to make your meetings work for you from the expert of meetings himself, Stephen Rogelberg.

That Will Never Work

Learn lessons on how to take your business idea to new heights by reading the incredible journey, from idea to success, of Netflix co-founder and first CEO, Marc Randolph.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You

Janelle Shane’s comical take on the limitations of Artificial Intelligence will have you laughing as much as thinking about what the future holds for A.I.

 

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Project Athena Foundation was founded by empowering keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa to help survivors of medical (and traumatic) challenges achieve their wildest athletic goals as part of their comeback. Robyn was inspired by her own recovery from a double hip replacement to show others our setbacks do not define us and to let our comebacks do the talking.

This year Project Athena helped 25 brave Survivors excel through a 5-month training plan and complete an endurance adventure race. Survivors and supporting participants completed one or more of these adventures: hiked the Grand Canyon  from rim to rim to rim, kayaked and cycled in the Florida keys from Key Largo to Key West for a 120 mile and cycling adventure, hiked 50 miles from Harbor to Harbor in San Diego, or walked the Cove to Harbor marathon San Diego coastal hike.

Shari Kramer, a cancer survivor, completed the Cove to Harbor Hike in San Diego. Before doing the hike, Kramer underwent a new hip/pelvic bone implant. After completing her journey, Kramer was reinvigorated, saying, “That sense of pride spilled over in my work and my family life and I showed up more present and excited about life. I regained energy that I have not had in 3 years.”

Laura Kauger was also transformed after completing the Florida Keys adventure. She said it forged new positive memories for her and her daughters. “Camping, riding a bike, running, and kayaking. Under a palm tree and a beautiful sun. These are the images of me now in my daughter’s heads. Replacing the ones of me in a hospital bed with tubes and wires.”

In addition to helping the 25 survivors, 67 awesome fundraising participants also finished adventures right alongside the survivors that their fundraising dollars helped! Each year, the foundation invites survivors to complete one of five amazing adventures. For more information, go to the Project Athena Foundation.

 

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Emotional intelligence speaker Bill Benjamin recently covered EQ and its effect on your business in an article he published on Buisness.com. No surprise that companies who entrench EQ into their company culture find greater benefits to their employee wellness and their business’s profitability.

But how can you be sure your company is reaping the benefits of a staff who’s EQ savvy?

Assess current EQ

The first step in building a strong, company-wide EQ is to determine how far you have to go. Benjamin says there are multiple ways to assess your team. You could integrate EQ-based questions into existing surveys or quarterly reports to get anonymous feedback. Or you could conduct focus groups to open up a broader dialogue. You could also make EQ assessments available to your team.

Here are some topics you should be looking for when gathering your EQ intel.

• Do you have a feedback-rich culture?

• Do people in your company feel safe to take risks and innovate?

• Is your organization agile and resilient?

• Do people handle conflict well?

• Are people able to engage in productive debate?

• Are people energized by the organization’s goals and values?

• Do people avoid difficult conversations?

• Are your leaders able to effectively manage change?

• Do people in your organization skillfully manage emotions?

•  Are people able to listen without judging or jumping to conclusions?

•  Do people admit to mistakes?

•  Do people become defensive when given constructive feedback?

•  Do people feel they’re coached and developed by their managers?

•  How do people handle pressure and tension?

Once you’ve established your baseline EQ for the company, it’s time to work on improving it.

For ways to develop your staff’s EQ, read Bill Benjamin’s full article at business.com. 

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Netflix is getting the documentary treatment—and this time the company is the subject, not the creator.

While the Netflix story has been told in the book Netflixed and in co-founder Marc Randolph‘s book That Will Never Work, the company hasn’t gotten the full documentary treatment until now. Netflix Vs. the World debuted at the Lone Star Film Festival in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 16.

The documentary, directed by Shawn Cauthen and written by author/journalist Gina Keating, interviews employees and former executives involved in the company’s early years, including co-founder and first CEO Marc Randolph.

Randolph approves of this in-depth look at the early days, saying, “This film brilliantly captures the challenges [co-founder] Reed and I faced in trying to teach consumers a new way to enjoy movies and TV shows. It’s also a deeply personal story about the courage and ingenuity of the founding team that set Netflix on its path to transforming the entertainment industry.”

Check out the Netflix vs. the World trailer.

 

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Saving lives is easier than you think. You don’t have to be a superhero with a cape or earn a medical degree from Harvard in cardio-thoracic medicine to be a lifesaver. All it takes is two bucks and a habit of giving.

This inspiration comes from our favorite personal development keynote speaker James Clear, the bestselling author of Atomic Habits. James famously says: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” So when it comes to giving and charity, it’s no surprise that James has established a successful system to save lives. James donates five percent of all of his income (e.g., speaking fees, writing royalties, and consulting payments) to support the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF).

What is the AMF?

Like the title implies, the AMF saves lives by preventing malaria deaths. Since 2003, the organization has bought millions of nets to help prevent people from contracting malaria. According to the site, over 400,000 people die each year from this preventable disease. More than 70% of these malaria deaths are children five and under, and it’s the number one killer of pregnant women. For every 100-1,000 nets placed over “heads and beds,” one child’s life is saved.

How much does it cost?

Don’t worry. To save lives, you don’t have to donate 5% of your total income. All you need is two bucks and a desire to help people. If you have two bucks burning a hole in your chinos, consider giving it to the AMF.

How to donate?

So far, over 221 million dollars has been raised and over 102 million nets have been purchased. If you’re interested in donating, find out how on the AMF website. Or if you’re interested in learning how to develop your own system of giving, check out James’ book Atomic Habits on Amazon. Be sure to use smile.amazon.com so that .5% of the price of your eligible purchase will also go to the charity of your choice.

If you’re worried where your money is going, rest assured 100% of the money raised from donations goes to saving lives. All money is used to purchase life-saving nets. These long-lasting insecticidal nets are the most effective means of protection against mosquitos and the nets only cost $2.

It doesn’t take a lot to save a life. Just a couple of bucks and a habit of giving.

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Kyle Crocco is the Chief Creative at BigSpeak Speakers Bureau, a UC Santa Barbara graduate, and lead singer of Duh Professors. He regularly publishes business book reviews, personal development insights, and thought-leadership articles on Medium, Business 2 Community, and Born 2 Invest.

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This year BigSpeak created our very own Green Team with the goal of making our company the best environmental steward it can possibly be. In the past 5 years, we’ve experienced hyper-growth that’s doubled our company in size. There’s a lot of new faces in the office, so many we’re actually moving to a bigger space.

We’re incredibly excited and grateful for the developments we’ve seen within BigSpeak recently, but all this growth leads to a harsh realization. Now that we have a full staff it’s not as easy to monitor our environmental footprint. When there was only a handful of employees it was easy to run on the honor system when it came to green-living best practices. As we’ve grown, it’s become more difficult to make sure we’re scaling in an environmentally friendly way and there isn’t any unnecessary waste.

So, the Green Team was born to help our company become a unified force to protect our planet the best we can. We surveyed some of the businesses we thought did it best, worked with local environmental agencies and took our employees needs into consideration to come up with our mission statement:

It is our strong belief that both individuals and our organization can maintain a high standard of living and profitability while conducting ourselves and our business in an environmentally responsible manner. Our team is about positive change as it promotes behavior and attitude transformation in a fun supportive and non-judgmental manner.

Changes so far

Since our founding in August of 2019, we’ve made some significant headway. After consulting with the City of Santa Barbara’s Recycling Coordinator we came up with ideas that would make the biggest impact. Our biggest take away from our time with the Recycling Coordinator was while recycling is better than trash, the best possible thing you can do is to reuse and avoid single-use plastics.

From there, the Green Team revamped the office snack counter, switching from individually wrapped treats to buying in bulk and storing in refillable mason jars. We also updated the processes for lunch deliveries. To reduce carbon emissions we choose to order lunches from places within walking distance or as close as possible, bringing our own reusable jars for sauces and requesting minimal or no wasteful packaging when possible.

We also encourage and support our employees to eliminate waste from their lives by providing them with reusable coffee mugs and insulated water bottles. To kick off the holiday season employees could opt into a Wellness Challenge that incorporates cutting down on single-use plastic, carpooling and reducing meat and dairy consumption. The winner gets a hefty prize along with complete adoration from the Green Team.

We have consolidated our office supplies across all departments and designated a manager to ensure there are no redundancies and wasted supplies. The manager has also researched and switched all supplies that can be made eco-friendly to their healthier counterparts.

With the renovations of our new office building, Chairman and Founder Jonathan Wygant has brought on an architect who specializes in environmentally friendly designs to consult and guide BigSpeak to reach Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification.

Things for you to consider with us

We’re proud of the sustainable changes we’ve made so far, and the small changes are fueling us to continue the change. Ideas we are working to implement:

• Stipend for biking, walking, or carpooling to work to reduce carbon emissions
• A company bike rack or bus pass
• Company composting or working with a third party to compost our waste
• A carbon offset program to counteract the carbon emission our industry creates through plane transportation of keynote speakers
• Eco-friendly material to build and design our new office (restored wood, thrifted furniture)