Speakers

Nicole Maynard is the Head of User Experience at Hyatt leading a team of researchers, interaction and visual designers, creating solutions that elevate Hyatt’s digital footprint and enhance the guest experience. She has taken the helm as president of the Chicago chapter of UXPA (User Experience Professionals Association).

Julia Keren-Detar is a game designer and developer based out of Chicago, IL. Currently she is the Creative Director for Untame, a studio shared by her and her husband.

Matthew is a complex systems specialist with a focus on software innovation. He has degrees in Ski Area Management, Geographic Information Systems and Environmental Planning, and has spent most of his career helping organizations make concrete decisions about the future through the integration of strategic design and technology prototyping.

Jay Newton-Small is cofounder of MemoryWell, which tells the life stories of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Elizabeth’s writing, design and research focus on product, service, and interaction design for organizationally complex products and services.

Ben is the Managing Partner of Konrad+King, a San Diego based human-centered design studio that focuses on enterprise, healthcare, mobility and smart cities.

Debra Gelman is a leader, strategist, author, and practitioner in the digital design and user experience space. Throughout her 20-year career, Deb has used customer behavior to drive the design of experiences for the telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, education, and publishing industries.

Beth has been drawing since her mom placed a crayon in her hand. Over the years, she picked up passions for drawing, painting, animation, special effects makeup, and fabrication. She earned a B.A. in Film/Video with a concentration in Traditional Animation from Columbia College Chicago.

Romke de Haan has been in the DJ world since he was 13 years old. First under DJ greats like DJ QuickMixx and Opie Cuttingham of Illinois Mixx Mob. Romke became more of a performing DJing in his late 20s after the passing of his friend DJ Roc Dee.

Meg Lewis is a designer creating experiences for happy companies and a one-on-one educator creating happier lives for humans of all kinds. Meg is the founder of Ghostly Ferns, a collective of designers & commercial artists and is the co-founder of Fool Proof, a shared workspace for creativity & collaboration in Minneapolis.