Speakers at Art Breaker Launch

Robin Teigland is an Associate Professor at the Center for Strategy and Competitiveness at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and a member of the PhD in International Management program faculty at the University of Agder in Norway, as well as the caretaker of SSE’s island in Second Life. For the past 15 years, Robin has researched the creation and diffusion of knowledge in social networks and the impact on a firm’s competitive advantage. The focus of her current research is on investigating how social media and virtual worlds enable firms to create value outside the boundaries of the firm as well as what impact these media have on the firm as we know it today. She has published numerous articles in international books and academic journals, and in 2008 she received the “Researcher of the Year” award at the Stockholm School of Economics. In addition, she is a reviewer for the US National Science Foundation as well as a globally sought after speaker. Robin really enjoys teaching students at the Stockholm School of Economics and lecturing for executives. In March 2010, she started a pan-Nordic project financed by the Nordic Innovation Center investigating innovation and entrepreneurship in virtual worlds (www.nordicworlds.net). If anyone is interested in participating or learning more about this project, please contact her!

Doug Thompson is CEO of Remedy Communications, a full service agency providing brand strategy, training, education, content services and creative to Fortune 500 companies, cause marketers, and the military. Remedy delivers programs across traditional and digital media, and is a leading agency for virtual world development, mobile technology, and social media. Remedy also owns Metanomics, the leading source of insight into the serious uses of virtual world technologies and how our lives online are influenced by policy, governance and economics. With over 20 years of brand strategy, market research, advertising, and digital media experience, Thompson produced award winning video titles on behalf of Fortune 500 companies that including Glaxo SmithKline and Pfizer, and helped launch a half-dozen Internet properties during the early days of the Web. Thompson also blogs about immersive media at Dusan Writer’s Metaverse.

Ryan Rasmussen heads the Insights & Analytics research function of Zocalo Group, a Word Of Mouth Agency based in Chicago. He brings to the table a practical understanding of the ways in which consumers are using emerging social technologies and develops best practices for engaging with these online influencers to drive sustainable recommendations for clients.
He is architect of the group’s suite of award-winning online and offline measurement tools, including the Recommendation Index, Earned Digital Engagements, and Digital Footprint Index – a recent recipient of both the SNCR and SABRE award for excellence in measurement innovation.
Ryan is a digital native in the purest sense. When not in the office, he spends his time in virtual worlds researching emergent technologies and their impact on the future as a charter member of the Long Now Foundation.

John Lester worked at Linden Lab from 2005 to 2010, where he was commonly known as “Pathfinder.” While at Linden Lab, John acted as a general strategist and product expert to help customers using Second Life for teaching, academic and healthcare research, medical education, simulation, and scientific visualization. He also served as “Lead Evangelist in Market Development,” broadly exploring and cultivating innovation at the intersection of emerging markets in Second Life such as education, healthcare, enterprise, government and entertainment. Before working at Linden Lab, John was the Information Systems Director for the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and as a Research Associate in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. John is currently exploring opportunities to help organizations understand and cultivate innovation at the intersection of virtual worlds, online communities, education and creative expression.