Ian Scott Gertler has been a long‐time proponent of the philosophy that technology and innovation would spur new business opportunities while providing solutions for the world’s challenges. He believes that we can and must collectively improve education, cure diseases, create sustainable environments, wipe out poverty and establish the foundations for a more rewarding worldwide existence.

Aside from his interim roles assisting online advertising pioneers, social media and mobile visionaries, and countless Fortune 500 leaders, Ian served as President and CMO of Symplegades Inc. — a marketing and innovation organization he founded in 2004 to assist partners of all types and sizes with both strategic and tactical guidance for marketing, branding, communications, social media, corporate strategy, social responsibility and Internet/web‐based disciplines. Ian recently departed his role at one of IBM’s multi-billion dollar divisions after learning about an incredibly talented team focused on social collaboration. He was so passionate about and inspired by them that he joined the Kona team as Director of Marketing and Communications.

As a native New Yorker now enjoying life in North Carolina’s “Triangle” region (and yes – still supporting his hometown teams: NY “Big Blue” Giants for football and the legendary NY “Bronx Bombers” Yankees for baseball), Ian has served in various roles with established Fortune 500 companies like Computer Associates, Internet leaders like 1‐800‐FLOWERS.com and FindWhat.com, publishers like CMP Media (TechWeb), countless early‐stage entities, community venues like Special Olympics and advertising firms (including the launch of Millennium Communications at the start of his career). He has also served in a variety of advisory and Board-level capacities.

Ian is active in the social media arena and was recently named one of the Top CMOs on Twitter Worldwide (@IanGertler – #28) by Social Media Marketing Magazine, as well as serving as a judge for many years with the Web Marketing Association for the WebAwards and the Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards. Other honors and designations include being cited in publications by Seth Godin and David Pogue from The New York Times. For additional details, please visit Ian’s LinkedIn profile.

Ian is also an evangelist for the Techonomy philosophy and movement, reinforcing the premise that technology and innovation will spur many new opportunities while solving the world’s challenges. Now with the official designation of Techonomy, Ian will continue to pursue his passion to collaborate with industry leaders, community enthusiasts and others in empowering people and establishing solutions through innovation. Aside from his wife and two young sons, this is his priority in life.

As Alan Kay said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.”