Speakers

Jeff Ma
Co-Founder, Citizen Sports

With a tremendous passion for sports, Jeff co-founded Citizen Sports (formerly PROTRADE) in 2004 and is a tireless evangelist for the company’s mission. He has helped shape its evolution from fantasy stock market community to its current position as the leading digital sports media company. Citizen Sports creates products for environments where sports fans spend time with their friends - on top social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and through mobile devices like the iPhone. From fantasy football to filling out a bracket to cheering for a favorite team, Citizen Sports helps millions of sports fans around the world enjoy sports and connect with their friends.

Before Citizen Sports, Jeff was the technology lead for two internet startups, most notably CircleLending.com, the first peer to peer lending network. Ma lead technology and product development for the company’s first four years. CircleLending was bought in 2007, rebranded to Virgin Money and incorporated into Richard Branson’s Virgin Empire. Previously, Jeff was an options trader on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.

Jeff gained notoriety as the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the New York Times bestseller Bringing Down the House, the story of the MIT blackjack team and was the inspiration for the movie 21. He also currently consults for the San Francisco 49ers and the Portland Trail Blazers. Jeff has become a much-sought after corporate speaker, showing companies how to harness the power of numbers to make better bottom line business decisions through the lens of his experiences both in blackjack and sports.
Jeff is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering and currently consults with the San Francisco 49ers and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Darren Meister

Darren Meister is the Faculty Director of the HBA Program and an Associate Professor of Information Systems at the Richard Ivey School of Business. His interests focus on the role of technology in enhancing organizational effectiveness, specifically as it concerns innovation processes. He investigates this question primarily within three settings: technology adoption, knowledge management and interorganizational systems. His research work is conducted within companies in close cooperation with practitioners.

Through research and consulting opportunities, Darren has worked with Accenture, Bank of Montreal, Industry Canada, Intel, Nortel, and Siemens. His work has appeared in Management Science, MIS Quarterly and other leading journals and conferences.

He has taught Information Systems in all of Ivey’s programs. He has also developed electives in Innovation, Knowledge Management and IS Consulting. He was a Rotary International Foundation scholar, attending the University of Cambridge. Subsequently, he earned his PhD at the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Pat Finerty, Vice President, Alliances and
Business Development
SAS Canada

Pat Finerty is the Vice President of Alliances and Business Development for SAS Canada. Mr. Finerty is responsible for leading the development of new industry verticals, practice areas and business models to foster the Canadian subsidiary’s long-term growth.

Mr. Finerty has more than 18 years of experience in management consulting, services delivery, sales and executive leadership with organizations including the European Space Agency, Transrun Services, Loyalty Management Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Prior to his current role, Mr. Finerty ran SAS’ Customer Solutions, National Sales Support, Academic and Inside Sales Organizations.

Lori Bieda
Vice President, Client Insights and DB Marketing, Customer Marketing
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)

In her current role, Bieda is responsible for the creation of marketing and analytics strategy for the bank. She leads a team of 80 marketers, modelers, researchers and analysts. Her team creates and executes all client segmentation, statistical modeling, business opportunity sizing, database marketing, campaign analysis and execution. Bieda oversees the use of the bank’s client information and insights, leveraging it create marketing and business strategies that move the organization forward.

She has led marketing and analytics teams for over fifteen years. A published writer, radio broadcaster and frequent speaker within marketing circles in Canada, Bieda places communications at the forefront of her work to bridge the gap between complex analytics and marketing and business strategy.