Organized around the theme, “What if…?” the conference featured 13 live and recorded presentations on diverse topics as follows:
• A future of glasses-free 3D entertainment
• The impact of $5/gallon of gas on our daily lives
• Bringing to Atlanta a globally renowned program that uses music as an instrument for social change
• An argument for leveraging the world’s best practices in medicine to transform the lives of Georgians and the rest of our nation
• A rare Japanese art form that allows artists to “paint on water”
• A humorous, yet actionable monologue about the follies of the current air travel experience
• A foray into hip hop culture from a global perspective
• A revolutionary invention that brings a bulk-water solution to the world’s impoverished areas
• A provocative talk demonstrating how comic books can be used in the modern classroom

Atlanta
United States

Mike McQuary

Prior to joining Wheego, McQ was focused on the music business as the CEO of Brash Music. Before that he was the president of the ISP EarthLink after its merger with MindSpring in February 2000. McQ developed the concept behind MindSpring with Charles Brewer, and was the president and COO of MindSpring. Prior to MindSpring, McQ served for 9 years in a variety of sales, marketing, operations, and management positions with a division of Mobil Corporation. McQ was on the varsity wrestling team at the University of Virginia and managed to receive a bachelor’s degree in psychology while missing few (if any) parties. He did the nights and weekends thing to get a masters degree in business administration from Pepperdine University. McQ serves on the Board of Inner Strength – an at risk youth education program, and is on the Chastain Park Conservancy Advisory Board.

Ross Mason

Today, Ross uses that same energy and enthusiasm to explore new therapies, treatments, and scientific/medical breakthroughs to improve the quality of life for those suffering from spinal cord injury, brain trauma and other neurological diseases/disorders. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Georgia Department of Community Health Board ($13 billion annual budget), and Chairman of the Georgia Free Clinic Network, which provided free medical care to 150,000 homeless, indigent, and uninsured Georgians in 2008, and saved the state almost $500 million. Ross also serves as a member of the GA Board of the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation, Fellow at the Center for Health Transformation and on the Advisory Board of the National Veterans Innovation Center. He is a healthcare entrepreneur, investor, and former strategic advisor to Volkswagen’s Healthcare Venture Accelerator Fund, which invested 280 million Euros in 90 companies, including 30 early stage healthcare companies. He was a former Associate in Private Banking at Morgan Stanley (New York, London, Zurich, Moscow and Atlanta) and created a real estate investment/development company in Moscow, Russia that he owned and operated for 12 years. He first became interested in healthcare after working in an AIDS hospital in Zambia. Ross graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Engineering and the Wharton School, with an MBA in Finance.

Professor Daddy-O

Daddy-O has done multi-platinum music production for Stetsasonic, Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Junior Mafia featuring Notorious B.IG., Levert, The B 52’s, Lil’Kim, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mary J. Blige, Sonic Youth, Sublime, Barry White, They Might Be Giants, Jeffrey Osborne, Camron, Pizzicato 5, and Third World. He has been a music executive for Universal Records, MTV, and Comedy Central. He’s appeared and lectured on Hip-Hop history on David Letterman, ABC 20/20, TV One, and Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit. Daddy-O has been a public speaker at The United Nations, Digital Hollywood, and the Remix Hotel. In the entertainment industry, Daddy-O has scored and produced on the movies CB4, Lean on Me, Tales from The Hood, Dangerous Minds, Hip-Hop Immortals, and Ball Don’t Lie. He is responsible for the record deals and signings of Junior Mafia, De La Soul, Lil’ Kim, and Foxy Brown. His consultation clients include Kedar Massenburg, Lance “Un”Rivera, Hank Shocklee, Noconwood Records and Diggin4brown.com. He was the first to discover artists such as Smooth Tha’ Hustla, Master P (Percy Miller). His radio/T.V. commercial production includes Dark & Lovely, Casio, Pepsi, Cepacol Lozenges, Polly-O String Cheese, Alka Seltzer, and Music Supervision on Hip Hop Immortals the Movie (B.E.T.). He shares copyright involvement in Stetsasonic, Boyz ll Men, and Junior Mafia. His A&R experience includes Head Of A&R, MCA/Universal, and Head Of A&R, Kedar Entertainment Group. Daddy-O Daddy-O is a multi-platinum music producer and "Music-Tech guy" “ W

Amy Lee Segami

Using water as canvas, she transforms the ancient Suminagashi art into the innovative contemporary art of Painting On Water™. With her interactive presentation style that bridges the cultures of East and West, she has given presentations in ten countries, conducted workshops at retreats and delivered keynote speeches at Creativity and Leadership Conferences. Her work is noted for breaking historical boundaries of art and expanding technological limitations by redefining its expression. The unique and distinctive Segami style paintings have won numerous awards and inclusions in many juried competitions. Ed Paschke, the late renowned painter, called her an artist of extraordinary sensitivity and virtuosity. In addition to many private collections, her works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution in New York. The BBC radio called her work “a major accomplishment.” Crain’s Chicago Business recognized her as the “foremost practitioner of the Suminagashi art form and one of the region’s finest leaders in the field.”

Josh Elder

He has written for major licensed properties like Batman, Superman and StarCraft, but is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip and graphic novel series Mail Order Ninja. He also holds the position of graphic novel reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times and is the CEO of ComicFeast, a digital distribution solution for comics specializing in database services for schools and libraries. Josh has gained national recognition as a lecturer and expert on comics in the classroom and currently serves as Executive Director of Reading With Pictures, a non-profit organization affiliated with Northwestern University dedicated to studying and facilitating the use of comics in the classroom. Josh is a graduate of Northwestern University and currently resides in the small, Midwestern town of Chicago, IL

Robert McDuffie

McDuffie is a Grammy nominated artist, whose acclaimed Telarc and EMI recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese favorites. He plays a 1735 Guarneri del Gesu violin, known as the “Ladenburg”. He has been profiled on NBC’s Today, CBS Sunday Morning, PBS’s Charlie Rose, A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. McDuffie is a Distinguished University Professor of Music at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. In fall 2009, the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer University entered its third academic year. The Mayor of Rome has recently awarded Robert McDuffie the prestigious Premio Simpatia in recognition of his contribution to the cultural life of that city. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.

Hollis Gillespie

Hollis Gillespie is the humor columnist for Atlanta Magazine, an NP Rcommentator and guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Her blog is titled Inappropriate Conversation. Vanity Fair called her first book, Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch, "rib-crackingly funny." It, and her second book, Confessions of a Recovering Slut, have been optioned for television. Her third book, Trailer Trashed; My Dubious Attempts at Upward Mobility was just released. Hollis has been a regular commentator on NPR and a columnist is several magazines. She hosts the popular Shocking Real-Life writing and blogging workshops every month, and you can also catch her comedy routines at the Laughing Skull Lounge every month in Midtown, Atlanta. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia,with two cats, an incontinent pit bull, and her six-year-old daughter.

Wendell Adams

Wendell Adams has been associated with emerging company technologies for the majority of his career, with broad experience in private equity investing, real estate and golf course development, robotic technology and environmental services. Since earning an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of South Florida, Mr Adams has held several strategic leadership positions in both the real estate and finance industry. He proudly served his country in the United States Marine Corp and while serving two tours in Vietnam was highly decorated for combat duty and honorably discharged in 1968. He was a past board member of the American Diabetes Association. He is the Founder and Chairman of Waterbrick International headquartered in Orlando, Florida.

Brad Bent

As a 3D production professional, Brad holds exclusive world leading IP and invention, especially in the field of 3D stereoscopic sciences, and glasses-free 3D. As part of Vrex, he help developed the Micro-Polarizer(mPol) now used in most 3D passive glasses viewing systems for in-home consumers. Often considered the pioneer of 3D digital signage advertising, his credits include founding and/or co-founding several prominent 3D companies, such as Newsight and Magnetic 3D, initiating Carre Four’s international 3D advertising POP “3D New Product” zone campaign, 3D post quality control of Spiderman, The Adventure at Universal Theme Park in Orlando, US Army 3D recruitment film, and consultant on many more 3D projects such as Terminator 3D at Universal World, and the Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas show with Santa’s Sleigh ride in 3D. Brad’s present key focus is to provide end viewers with improved communication impact by the design, development and enhancement of electronic entertainment viewing experiences through the utilization and deployment of 3D stereoscopic and multi-stereoscopic sciences. It was his past vision as a 3D stereoscopic production expert that married new 3D multi-stereo technology and digital signage advertising concepts to pioneer high impact 3D advertising concepts originally used in Carre Four stores in Europe, which is presently being emulated by other emerging 3D companies.