Speakers

Chris Turner, Author and Speaker

Chris Turner is the author of the national bestseller The Geography of Hope: A Tour of the World We Need, which was named one of The Globe & Mail's Best Books of the Year and a finalist for the Governor General's Award for Nonfiction, the National Business Book Award and the Alberta Literary Award for Nonfiction. He is also the author of the international bestseller Planet Simpson: How A Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation.

His narrated visual tour of The Geography of Hope has captivated audiences across Canada, ranging from Environmental Defence summits to Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers galas. His writing has earned him four Canadian National Magazine Awards and six honourable mentions, including the 2001 President's Medal for General Excellence (the highest honour in Canadian magazine writing).

Currently, Chris lives in Calgary, Alberta, with his wife, photographer Ashley Bristowe, and their two children.

Andrew Ramlo, Director of the Urban Futures Institute

Andrew Ramlo is the Director of Urban Futures Incorporated and is a prominent demographer, urbanist, and planning consultant. An expert at forecasting demographic and economic change, he can apply these forecasts to the concerns of specific industries, companies or regions.

As Director of Urban Futures Incorporated, Andrew carries out strategic management assignments for a wide range of private and public sector clients. He has worked with many of Canada's leading developers, investors and retailers as well as public sector clients, including many of Canada's most rapidly changing municipalities, public agencies and crown corporations.

Andrew Ramlo is also a contributing author to over 40 of the Urban Institute's research reports and participates in many of its public presentations. These assignments have included a wide range of topics ranging from labour force, human resource and membership management to external market analyses of demographic and economic growth and change.

Because of his profound ability to relay difficult material with enthusiasm and clarity, Andrew’s presentations are informative, animated and lively. With a focus on the dimensions of change — demographic, societal, economic and environmental — Andrew’s presentations share the results of his research and outline strategies designed to address the challenges and opportunities organizations and individuals will face in the decades to come.

Doug Kelly, Author of $100,000 An Acre

Doug Kelly is the author of $100,000 An Acre which is a book on the history of the land development industry in Alberta. Doug was born in Alberta and raised on a farm in Saskatchewan. He returned to Alberta in 1968 after graduating from the University of Saskatchewan with a bachelor of science in civil engineering.

Doug retired at the end of 2007 after spending 36 years in the land development industry, primarily in Alberta. The main focus in his career was on residential land development where he was responsible for the development of over 20 neighbourhoods in Calgary and Edmonton, resulting in the production and sale of over 10,000 building sites for single and multi-family dwellings. In addition, Doug has been responsible for the production and sale of over 400 acres of industrial sites and several hundred thousand square feet of retail commercial development. Doug has extensive experience in land acquisition, the approval process, land planning and engineering, construction and marketing.

Mark St. Pierre, Trainer, Speaker, Mentor & Author of Good as Your Last Deal

Mark St. Pierre of Avison Young has over 18 years of experience in commercial real estate. Throughout Mark's prominent real estate career, he has successfully secured in excess of 4 million square feet of office space representing over $2 billion in lease value for his clients and also gained asset management experience of over $200 million in real estate throughout Alberta.

He began his career with Torode Realty in 1991, specializing in leasing office space in downtown Calgary on behalf of both tenants and landlords. He later worked as Vice President and Sales Manager of an international real estate brokerage firm, where he continued to successfully negotiate office lease transactions on behalf of his clients. In 2001 Mark, along with his partners, purchased Torode Realty's real estate brokerage division, and acting in the capacity of Senior Vice President, successfully rebranded the new acquisition as Barclay Street Real Estate. Mark divested his interest in Barclay Street in 2006. Expanding his real estate experience, Mark spent a year as Vice President of Leasing and Acquisitions of a private real estate investment trust and also a real estate syndication firm.

Mark was acknowledged as the #1 leasing agent throughout his years at Barclay Street Real Estate and Torode Realty. Over his real estate career, Mark has trained numerous high-profile real estate professionals and also assisted in the development of leading market research programs and databases. Mark’s extensive background and experience in commercial real estate provides his clients with the knowledge and technical ability to solve their real estate challenges.

In 2008 Mark was elected as the Prairie Director of the Canadian Commercial Council of REALTORS® (the "CCC"). The CCC represents commercial REALTOR® members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) including affiliated commercial organizations. As a director of the CCC, Mark actively lobbies the Canadian government for changes to the tax code in respect to the Capital Gains in the real estate investment sector.

Todd Targgart, Regional Account Manager, MarketLinx

Todd Targgart is the Regional Account Manager for Marketlinx, the global leader in real estate information technology solutions for MLS. During his over 20 year career with Marketlinx, Todd has been involved with several areas of the organization, including Local Account Representative, Customer Service Manager, Sales Manager and now Regional Account Manager.

At Marketlinx, Todd is responsible for managing and supporting all of the business within Canada, which includes nine Boards and 30,000 plus REALTORS®. He also manages several regions within the United States for MarketLinx.

Ernest Barbaric

Ernest Barbaric blends consulting, coaching and instruction to ensure any organization can competently engage in digital and social media marketing. With over 10 years of experience in the online marketing industry and having started and monetized two social media networks since the early 2000s, Ernest has a real perspective on creating genuine relationships in the digital realm.

Ernest is also a veteran of delivering presentations and workshops, on topics such as social media and strategic digital marketing. His speaking experience features appearances as a panelist at the Internet Marketing Conference, Making Sense of Social Media and a keynote speaker at Executing Social Media.

He also has spoken on digital marketing and social media trends for CHQR 770, Quattro University, University of Calgary and Mount Royal University. Ernest also spends his time volunteering, organizing and leading meetings as chair of Calgary Marketing Club and as a marketing instructor for Momentum.

Charles Drouin

Charles Drouin is the C.E.O of Prospects Software INC. He drives Prospects' leadership vision and since founding the business in 1999, has shaped the company's direction and strategy.

Mr. Drouin brings a passion for developing solutions to help real estate agents succeed, while facilitating their lives.

Jeremy Lehman

Jeremy Lehman has been the VP of Sales with Prospects since 2008. He has provided training on Prospects solution to thousands of REALTORS®. Mr. Lehman is an active licensed agent, with over 13 years of experience in real estate as a technology consultant and trainer. He is a director for the California Association of REALTORS® and also holds a leadership position with the Educational Committee.

We are working on finalizing the list of conference speakers. Please check our website regularly for updates and speaker information.