Speakers

Joel Podolny, Dean and William S. Beinecke Professor of Management, Yale School of Management

Joel Podolny is the Dean of the Yale School of Management. His research is in the areas of economic sociology, complex organizations, and social networks. The research for which he is best known is that in which he brings the sociological conception of status to the study of market competition. He has examined status dynamics in a variety of industries, including investment banking, semiconductors, shipping, venture capital, and the wine trade. In addition to his work on status, he has conducted research on the role of social networks in mobility and information transfer within organizations. His current research seeks to explicate how leaders infuse meanings into their organizations.

Prior to Yale SOM, Podolny was professor and director of research at Harvard Business School and professor of sociology in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. He also spent 11 years on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he also served as senior associate dean of academic affairs and was head of the school's organizational behavior group.

Ravi Dhar, George Rogers Clark Professor of Management and Marketing &Director, YCCI

Ravi Dhar is an expert in consumer behavior and branding, marketing management, and marketing strategy. He has consulted to companies in a wide variety of industries, including financial services, high tech, and luxury goods. His research involves using psychological and economic principles to investigate fundamental aspects about the manner in which preferences are formed and constructed in order to understand and predict consumer behavior in the marketplace.  His ongoing research explores the regulation of multiple goals in multiple goal systems.

His work has been mentioned in Business Week, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, USA Today, and other popular media. He has been a visiting professor at HEC Graduate School of Management in Paris, at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, and at the Business Schools at Stanford and New York University.

He has written more than 35 articles and serves on the editorial boards of leading marketing journals, such as Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science. He has led marketing seminars for senior executives in Asia, Europe, and North and South America.

Bruce Judson ’84, Senior Faculty Fellow, Yale SOM
Bruce Judson is a successful go-it-alone entrepreneur, a bestselling and award-winning author, and one of the nation's leading experts on marketing and entrepreneurship. 
Judson's unique approach is to "battle test" his innovative theories by founding real businesses based on his evolving principles. These practical tests of his theories, combined with his extensive research, then form the basis for his widely acclaimed books.

He was named by Advertising Age as one of the nation's leading interactive marketers in the magazine's first-ever list. In awarding this honor, the magazine described Judson as a "marketer's marketer." Judson's book, Go It Alone! The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own, is the first clear statement of how individuals, working on their own, can now create substantial businesses without raising capital and without hiring employees. Go It Alone was recognized by Library Journal as one of the best business books of the year.

He is also the author of the nationwide bestseller NetMarketing and HyperWars (with Kate Kelley). As the former general manager of Time Inc. New Media, Judson was one of the founders of Time Warner's pioneering Internet initiatives. He has served as a member of the board of directors, or on the advisory board, of several major internet start-ups. He is frequently quoted for his views on business on the web in the national media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Advertising Age, and Business Week.

Panelists

Nick Harris ’04, Manager, Strategic Business Development,

Nick Harris currently works for the 3M Company, where he executes mergers and acquisitions in support of 3M’s $7 billion Industrial and Transportation Business.  His current responsibilities include target company identification, negotiation of deal terms, diligence oversight, and post-closing integration planning for brand and channel management, manufacturing optimization, and sales force, among others.  Originally from Dallas, TX, he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1997 with a B.S. in Legal Studies. He then served 5 years of active duty service in the US Air Force based out of Boston, MA. He received his honorable discharge in 2002 at the completion of his commitment to the Air Force, having achieved the rank of captain. His area of expertise while on active duty centered on communication centers, and highlights included work on the Joint STARS aircraft platform as well as a communications facility inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Nick received his M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management in 2004, with concentrations in Finance and Strategy.

Chris LaSala, Sr. Manager, Strategic Partner Development,

With eight years experience in the internet search industry, Chris LaSala is a seasoned veteran in this burgeoning space.  Chris currently manages Google's channel program aimed at delivering Google's advertising solutions to small, local businesses, responsible for strategy development, new business acquisition and partner management.  In a prior role at Google, Chris led Google's North American advertising agency program.  

Prior to joining Google, Chris held roles in business development and consulting.   As director of business development at Looksmart Chris was responsible for the development and management of a network to distribute Looksmarts search engine and advertising solutions.  As a strategy development consultant at Strategic Decisions Group Chris led strategy projects in the oil and gas, and technology industries where he helped companies make billion dollar investment decisions using a decision analysis framework to model a project's economic viability.  Chris began his career as a public accountant for five years as a senior associate at Coopers & Lybrand.  

Chris received a BS from Boston College in 1992 and earned an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1998.

Louise Story ’06, Reporter, Business Day
Louise Story writes about advertising and marketing for the New York Times . Previously Ms. Story worked as a summer reporting intern in 2005 on the business desk at The Times. Before joining The Times, Ms. Story had summer reporting internships at The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, the Hartford Courant and the Orlando Sentinel.

Ms. Story received her B.A. in American Studies from Yale College in 2003 and her M.B.A. from the School of Management at Yale University in 2006. She also received her M.S. in Journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 2005.

Jennifer Thorn, '01, Brand Manager, Kids' Soups and SpaghettiO's,
Jennifer is currently the Brand Manager for Campbell’s Kids business, including Soups and the SpaghettiO’s brand. She began working at Campbell’s in May 2005 working on their Cooking and their V8 beverage businesses.   At V8 Jennifer was charged with gaining new distribution in alternate channels and at Cooking she focused on new product commercialization, developing Campbell’s recipe communication strategy and new advertising. Jennifer started her marketing career at P&G in Cincinnati where she worked on the Pampers Diapers businesses where among other things she developed the marketing model for the premium diaper tier. She then moved to P&G's cosmetics business in Hunt Valley, MD where she worked on Global new product design for Max Factor including commercializing a new technology.

Jennifer received her MBA from Yale School of Management in 2001, with a concentration in Marketing.

Sarah P Vidal, MPH, ’00, Product Director,Commercial Operations,
Sarah joined Roche in 2000 and currently is a Product Director on Roche’s Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Marketing Team focused on bringing a new product for RA to market.  Prior to joining the RA Marketing Team, Sarah was a Product Director on the Pegasys Brand Team leading the Hepatology Teams’ efforts to address HCV diagnosis and treatment barriers. In this role, Sarah managed a team that developed and implemented innovative Hepatitis C (HCV) market development strategies and tactics to patients and physicians, including an award winning Direct-To-Patient (DTP) campaign.  While at Roche, Sarah has also worked both in Field Sales and as a Manager in the Market Analytics department. 

Prior to joining Roche, Sarah worked as an Analyst for a market research company that focused on Clinical Diagnostics.  She then broadened her experience and worked as a Senior Analyst for Arthur D. Little Management Consultants in Health Care Strategy working on multiple strategic marketing projects for several large pharmaceutical companies.  Sarah also had the opportunity to work for a small HMO in Western Colorado in Quality Improvement and for Yale New Haven Hospital in Strategy and Planning.

Sarah graduated from Brown University with a B.S. in Biology during 1993 and a Masters of Public Health degree in Health Management from Yale University in 2000.

Julie Yufe '03, Brand Development Manager, Beverages North America,

Julie is currently the Brand Development Manager at Unilever for the Lipton brand in North America and the Red Rose and Salada brands in Canada. She is responsible for product innovation, design, communication, and strategy.  Julie has been working on innovations for the Lipton brand since 2005 and has launched premium pyramid teas, organic teas, and extensions to the Lipton To Go powdered tea range.

Julie began her marketing career at M&M Mars launching innovations on the SNICKERS® brand, and has also worked on repositioning the Almay® cosmetics brand at Revlon. 

Julie received her BA in History and Art History from Columbia College in 1998 and her MBA from the Yale School of Management in 2003.