The Jury

JAMES CONNELL
VP MARKETING & E-COMMERCE, ROOTS CANADA

Connell joined Roots in 1997 and has overseen online sales and digital marketing since 2000. He’s built a marketing channel and revenue driver that ships worldwide via Roots.com, and has organized partnerships with the Canadian and U.S. Olympic Committees, MasterCard and BlackBerry.

BARRY HILLIER
CHIEF VISIONARY OFFICER, DASHBOARD

Hillier worked for Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, Communique and Operex before starting Dashboard in 2001. His client list includes Hellmann’s, Vaseline, Axe, LCBO and H&R Block. Hillier also launched a CMS application called Glovebox, and is in beta with a children’s edu-tainment venture.

GREG KLASSEN
SVP MARKETING STRATEGY AND COMMUNICATIONS, CTC

Klassen joined the Canadian Tourism Commission in 2001, first supporting the U.S. market, then as VP marketing in 2005 before moving onto his current remit. He has successfully led the CTC to be named the world’s number one tourism brand by FutureBrand in 2010. Previously, he worked in marketing with Telus and AT&T.

DRÉ LABRE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, RETHINK

During his 14 years at agencies such as MacLaren McCann, Blast Radius, Tribal DDB and now Rethink, Labre has built a reputation for understanding how to captivate and inspire. A member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS), Labre is on the board of directors of the Advertising and Design Club of Canada (ADCC).

ED LEE
DIRECTOR, SOCIAL MEDIA, TRIBAL DDB

A leading blogger in Canadian PR, social media and marketing, Lee is fascinated with new and online media. A frequent commentator on online marketing, Lee writes articles for business media and appears on BNN. Prior to Tribal DDB, he was managing director at Com.motion, and account director at iStudio.

ALON MARCOVICI
VP, CONSUMER SALES & MARKETING, GLOBE AND MAIL

Marcovici’s 18-year career in sales, marketing and communications spans the sports and entertainment, media and non-profit industries, including roles at CTV and Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. Marcovici’s work on Vancouver 2010 was recognized with a Canadian New Media Award and a Digital Media Gemini.

KATHLEEN O’HARA
BRAND MANAGER, MATTEL CANADA

O’Hara has over six years of marketing experience with Mattel Canada on brands including Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tyco RC. O’Hara currently oversees the Canadian marketing plans for Batman, DC Universe, WWE, Cars and Toy Story licences as well as the games and Radica business.

SANDY PERLMAN
FORMER VP DIGITAL, LOYALTYONE

Perlman has spent 20 years in the marketing biz with companies like Ralston Purina, Netcom, AT&T and BrightSpark. Before joining LoyaltyOne in early 2011, she worked at Microsoft Canada for almost a decade as group manager, marketing and communications, overseeing global advertising and CRM as well as heading up events and web strategy for MSN.ca.

REBECCA SHROPSHIRE
VP, DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS, UM CANADA

Shropshire joined Modem Media in 1999, then spent eight years at Labatt, transitioning media planning in-house and holding various positions. Before joining UM in 2009, she was with Astral Media Radio, where she launched the first four Virgin Radio stations in North America. At UM she manages talent acquisition and retention, strategic planning, process and systems, training and digital innovation.

CHRIS UNWIN
SENIOR STRATEGIST, BELL MEDIA

Unwin helps to mobilize Bell Media specialty channels’ four-screen development plan by enhancing programming and community experience via mobile and social integration. Unwin was previously responsible for strategy and product development with MuchMusic and MTV, and was part of the team that launched Canwest’s Dose.