PAST GUESTS
March Guests
March 5th - Christina Hagopian Christina Hagopian is the president and creative director of Hagopian Ink, a New York City graphic design studio specializing in custom solutions for print and interactive media. Christina has over thirteen years of experience creating powerful brand personalities, carefully crafted logos and identity packages, websites, targeted email campaigns and more. Noted as a “bold, confident, savvy and creative” designer and executive by Step Inside Design magazine, Christina has made her mark on the design world. She is a veteran in design strategy from the global internet consulting firm Razorfish. Known for her hands-on, approachable and professional demeanor, Christina is a trusted resource to her clients and contemporaries. Christina holds a BFA in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the Vice President of the professional design organization, SparkNYC.org and is an active leader in the New York City design community. Calling Phil the consummate salesman seems appropriate but it only scratches the surface. Reviewing his CV you’ll inevitably ask, “What haven’t you done?” But such is the path of a recovering know-it-all. After hitting a plateau in the hospitality industry, then shifting gears to give financial & insurance sales a go Phil found his niche as an executive recruiter for 8 years. As he likes to say “6 great years connecting dots and 2 not so much.” The negative impact of 9/11 turned his sights towards general contracting, real estate development & mortgage sales. Well by now you can guess how that plan worked out in the season of bubbles bursting. Something had to give. What gave was Phil’s need to know-it-all & do-it-all. After taking a hard look within & discovering that the results of his actions didn’t line up with his supposed knowledge, he took drastic measures and started to just shut-up. Next he took full responsibility for everything that occurs in his life. His journey continues as he now connects the dots to the individuals that have proven success in the areas he’s weak in and aligning each of their strengths for profitable affiliate relationships. His success in using social media to build a following has garnered him clients that pay for his advice. Now you can also find him co-hosting Marvelous Mondays with Harry & Phil on Blog Talk Radio, or working on his 1st book titled ‘Inside Out, Discovering Your 1st Person Point-of-View’. He’s a professional networker and leader within bHIP Global Inc. (an international direct selling organization) & spokesperson for Fresh-O-Matic Corp. He travels extensively to train & support his global team of distributors and promoting the opportunities for each company at national trade shows in North America.
March 19th: Tech Panel With: Dana Friedman Dana Friedman is the CEO of Dragonfly Technologies, which empowers small businesses and not-for-profit organizations by helping them make the most of business technology tools and the internet. Raj Goel Raj Goel, CISSP, is an IT and information security expert with over 20 years of experience developing security solutions for the banking, financial services, health care, and pharmaceutical industries. A well-known authority on regulations and compliance issues, Raj has presented at information security conferences across the USA and Canada. He is a regular speaker on PCI/CISP, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other technology and business issues, and he has addressed a diverse audience of technologists, policy-makers, front-line workers, and corporate executives. Raj works with Small-to-Medium Businesses (SMBs 10-200 employees) to grow their revenues & profitability. He also works with hospitals and regional medical centers across the north east (NY, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania) in helping them meet HIPAA compliance requirements and utilizing Health Information Systems (HIS) effectively. His articles have appeared in Information Security Magazine, published by ISC2 and Commercial Property News.
Since 1990, Dragonfly has helped hundreds of 1-to-50 person organizations to rethink, improve, or design business systems and web presences that make an impact both in and outside their offices. Although her company has helped many industries, Dana's specialties are legal, financial, medical, the building trades, not-for-profit and entertainment. Dragonfly Technologies partners with leading companies including Apple, HP, Symantec Dell, Microsoft, Google, and Research In Motion, to bring YOU many proactive approaches for a better web presence, and more efficient "back office" systems.
With experience in, and passion for music, the dramatic arts, and comedy, Dana is the technology and web advocate for businesses in every facet of the entertainment industry.
Dana and her team at Dragonfly have developed web presences for major headline entertainers including actor, comedian and author Jonathan Katz (of the groundbreaking Comedy Central series "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist), Standup comic, actress and TV personality Judy Gold, and Comedy's Lovable Queen of Mean—Lisa Lampanelli.
Dana brings a broad understanding of how to keep small organizations competitive and efficient, and would love to hear the particulars of how she can help YOU improve results.
with your business technology in the office, your business presence on the web, or a powerful combination of BOTH.
February Guests:
| February 5th: Joe Rejeski
Did you hear the one about the stand-up comedian who started a computer support firm? Five years ago, former stand-up comedian, Joe Rejeski, started the I.T. outsourcing and consulting firm, avenue X group. Avenue X group provides personable computer support and consulting for offices who need to be rescued from rude, incompetent network administrators. No geeks allowed. Only smart, friendly people who want to show you how to use technology to grow your business. In addition to working seven years as a comedian, and appearing in film, television and numerous commercials, Joe has worked in I.T. for seventeen years. He has supported and consulted with hundreds of companies, trained many I.T. professionals to become successful Microsoft Certified System Engineers (MCSE) and built a reputation for providing insightful, practical solutions to firms of all sizes. February 12th: Mistina Picciano Mistina Picciano offers more than 15 years of experience in marketing and corporate communications. As president and founder of Market It Write, she leads an integrated copywriting agency that provides a full line of advertising, writing, and publishing services for direct, traditional, and content marketing programs. In a former life, she managed one of "America's Greatest Brands" as vice president of communications at Guardsmark. Mistina fueled the firm's print-based content marketing campaign for nearly a decade before taking the entrepreneurial plunge in 2004. As a public speaker, Mistina educates business owners on improving communications and creating integrated marketing systems. She is a former board member of New York Women in Communications (NYWICI), where she still maintains active membership. Other professional affiliations include, the Association of Real Estate Women (AREW), and ASIS International. |
 Joe Rejeski
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February 19th: Financial Panel With: CPA, Michael Goldfine Financial Literacy Expert, Orly Amir |
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January Guests
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January 1st: George Bischof: George is an estate-planning attorney with offices in midtown Manhattan. His firm helps individuals and families with estate planning, including basic documents (wills, trusts, health-care proxies, and powers of attorney) and more sophisticated estate tax planning. The firm also represents estates in probate or intestacy. Specialized arrangements include life insurance trusts, special-needs/supplemental-needs trusts, and pet trusts. Specific client needs include planning for non-U.S. persons and same-sex couples. George received his J.D. from Yale Law School and then received an LL.M (in Taxation) from NYU School of Law; undergraduate degree was a B.A. in Philosophy, from Amherst College. George is a member of the American Bar Ass’n, the New York State Bar Ass’n, and the Ass’n of the Bar of the City of New York.
January 8th: Jena La Flamme Jena a certified weight loss coach with over 8 years of experience, and her own designer wellness center in the heart of Manhattan, called the Jena Wellness center. Jena serves busy professionals who want to lose weight, and keep it off, in a sane manner that doesn't keep them on a diet for the rest of their life, or feel like a full time job to maintain. In addition Jena is a writer. Her health columns are seen in Pilates Style and New York Spirit magazines and in her weekly "Secrets of Weight Loss” e-newsletter. She has also appeared in Glamor, on the Discovery Health Channel, in the Daily Times, Time out and more. You can learn more about Jena at www.jenawellness.com. |
 George Bischof
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January 15th: Michael Weitz Michael Weitz is a certified career, leadership, personal, and executive coach who goes beyond typical formulas to create fresh approaches for his individual clients. A leader in the coaching field, Michael’s methods draw upon the best from the disciplines of leadership, human behavior, coaching, adult learning, philosophy, science, and the arts. Clients work with Michael from around the world including the United States, Canada, the UK, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Kuwait, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, China and Japan. Corporate clients include leaders from the Boston Consulting Group, Brown Brothers Harriman, Computer Associates, KKR Capstone, The AXA Group, Swiss Re, The Hay Group, Columbia Business School, IMD, Hadassah College, Xerox, UBS, and Merrill Lynch. In addition to his corporate work, Michael privately coaches executives, entrepreneurs, and job changers in the areas of leadership, career, personal growth, and professional development. Michael has been featured in Fitness Magazine, The Coaching Show, WIBC Indianapolis, and Coach TV in the USA, as well as Maariv, The Jerusalem Post, The Calcalist, and Channel 3 Weekend News in Israel. His favorite media appearance of all was as a surprised passenger in the hit game show Cash Cab. Upcoming projects include working with the speakers of the TEDx Conference in Tel Aviv this April 2010. He is the outgoing Chair of the 2009 Global Marketing Committee for the International Coach Federation (ICF), and the past Vice President of the award-winning New York City chapter of the ICF. The ICF is the worldwide body for professional coaches with over 15,000 members in 90 countries. |
Michael Weitz
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January 22nd: Ruben Quinones Ruben Quinones joined Path Interactive in early 2007 and is currently Director of Sales and Social Media. In his strategic role, Ruben provides forward thinking leadership for the company’s social media marketing processes and manages the day to day social media operations for the firm. Ruben also is responsible for business development, consulting, and key project management for client Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization and Online marketing campaigns. A seasoned online marketing professional, prior to joining Path Interactive, Ruben’s related experience includes founding and marketing a one of the Internet’s first vertical search directories, directed at property managers, and was an advertising internet consultant for Verizon Information Services for national brands and small businesses. Ruben is also a blogger, contributing blogger, and prevalent speaker on Social Media topics. Ruben Quinones is a graduate of Nyack College in Nyack, NY. |
Ruben Quinones
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December Guests
December 4th Jay was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He attended the University of Arizona earning an undergraduate degree in English literature and Italian. He came to New York in August of 2000 to attend Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Entered the world of private practice as a sole practitioner upon graduating and started his practice in Stamford, Connecticut helping corporations and individuals in distressed debt litigation. This slowly morphed into a focused practiced of mortgage foreclosure defense work. Jay moved to New York City having been hired to litigate a breach of a factoring agreement. This was his big entre into the commercial litigation that he practices today. He currently handles and oversees hundreds of lawsuits. He is licensed in both the State of Connecticut as well as New York and his clients range from fortune 500 companies to individuals merely seeking advice. December 11th: Eileen Lichtenstein Eileen Lichtenstein, MS.Ed., EFT-ADV is a Keynote Speaker, Seminar Leader, Peak Performance Success Coach and Consultant-Trainer. Her unique style blends mind-body modalities with traditional coaching-training competencies. The founder and CEO of Balance & Power, Inc. Eileen has been in the educational, training and coaching arena for 25 years as a former professor at Hofstra University, a biofeedback therapist and a graduate of Corporate Coach University. She creates and facilitates trainings and workshops for the corporate and private sector and is based in Baldwin, New York. Eileen believes inner strength and being centered are keys to life and business management: her work embodies stress-anger management/reduction and work-life balance for individuals and groups, developing strategies to facilitate success and has recently authored SOAR!™ with Resilience: The interactive book about Overcoming Obstacles& Achieving Success. December 18th: Sherman Pheiffer Sherman Pheiffer is a psychoanalytically trained psychotherapist and couples therapist with over 30 years of experience in private practice in New York City. His very extensive experience and years of psychoanalytic training have served to sharpen his "compassionate objectivity". His style is direct, honest and open. He calls it as he sees it. Sherman has been practicing psychotherapy and psychoanalysis since 1976. Sherman is the president of The Training Institute of the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis. He has two master's degrees, in psychology and social work and post-graduate training in psychoanalysis. He holds NY State licenses in Social Work and Psychoanalysis. He is currently on the faculties of three post-graduate psychoanalytic training institutes where he also serves as supervisor and training analyst. Sherman also has significant training and experience in couples councelling and Group Therapy.
November Guests:
| November 6th: Meredith Sobel
Meredith Sobel operates Sobel Wellness as a health minded personal chef and culinary nutritionist. Clients gain a wonderful new relationship with food while losing and maintaining weight. Her mission is to change her clients’ relationship with food and with life and foster the belief that healthy food does not have to be boring. She has been educated at both Columbia and Harvard and is currently a student at Columbia’s Teachers College in the Nutrition Education program. In addition to cooking in private homes and counseling, Meredith is a part time teacher in the HealthNET program with Columbia University’s Community Impact. She has lectured on issues in healthy lifestyle throughout New York City for Bloomberg, LP, The American Cancer Society and Barnard College. When not foraging one of New York’s Greenmarkets for the season’s best addition to a her clients’ weekly dishes, she’s biking around one of the five boros or training for a marathon. She’s a strong believer in never giving up and that you can have health at any size and that there’s a sexy, happy and assertive person within all of us. November 13th: Dr. Richard Atkins Dr. Richard J. Atkins is the founder / CEO of Improving Communications, a New York-based corporate education firm. He has had several New York-centered travelogue articles published in BMW Owners News. Rich has interviewed and written about numerous celebrity personalities including Vertical Horizon musicians Craig Macintyre and Matt Scannell, Rush's Neil Peart, Semisonic's Jacob Slichter, producer/guitarist Doug Derryberry (Bruce Hornsby's band), and luthier/guitar maker Michael Tobias. Dr. Atkins's Media Terrorism™ presentation has been delivered at Long Island University and other locations. He has been a guest panelist on News-12's Jobline, and has been quoted in articles appearing in South Florida's Sun-Sentinel, Long Island Business News, and the Erie Times-News. His doctoral research on canine learning styles was the subject of an article titled "One Size Does Not Fit All" in the March 2006 issue of Dog Fancy Magazine. Dr. Atkins is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Rich's other interests include: motorcycling (85,000+ miles), cigars, cheese, theater, antiques, genealogical research (12 generations of family tree so far...), and music (electric bass guitar and the Chapman Stick Touchboard). His travel destinations have included most of the United States, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. Rich lives in New York with his wife Patricia, children Ciara and Robert, and their dog, Casey (who was one of the pets used to provide comfort and solace to survivors at the Family Center for victims of the World Trade Center attack).
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 Meredith Sobel
212-222-8187
Richard Atkins
516-317-2900
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November 20th: Valerie Gurka Valerie Gurka is the Founder of FearlessBusiness.com. She helps start-up companies grow their wings. She has an extensive background in sales strategy and corporate management. She was formerly the First Vice President of Sales Strategy at TD Ameritrade and has received #1 Ranking in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. She has an internet TV show every Wednesday at 1:30 PM called Fearless Business. |
 Valerie Gurka 212-879-6996
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