Christian Gray - Atlas Consulting

With over 18 years experience in sales and business development, Christian brings a unique perspective to social networking software and Web 2.0 technologies for the enterprise. “If it doesn’t solve an enterprise problem, why would an organization want to invest in the solution?” As a strategic account manager, Christian has provided solution oriented results for clients such as Amgen, Genentech, Ernst & Young, Pfizer, Boeing, and the Department of Defense. Christian began participating in, developing and researching online social networks in 1996. His recent project is a series of articles on Enterprise Social Software for Searcher magazine, an Information Today publication.

Christian Gray Public Speaker Profile

Christian is a talented and engaging public speaker. His typical conversation (he prefers to speak with the crowd vs. to the crowd) is ripe with stories that make the subject relevant to his guests. He often finds new and interesting ways to have the audience engage in the process and create an environment for learning and an exchange of ideas. He has hosted talks at exclusive corporate salons and to conference rooms with more than 500 attendees. A growing trend lately has been the number of web based presentations he has been invited to as a guest speaker, from basic web conferencing (Webex and Adobe Air) to Podcast interviews and Secondlife seminars.

Christian is first and foremost an educator. If you look at his biography you will find sales and business development has been his primary vocation, but if you have ever been in a sales presentation with him you will know that what he is really doing is listening to understand the problem and educating folks on solutions for their company. Working for more than 20 years in sales and business development he has honed his listening skills and that is where he starts each of his speaking engagements weeks prior to the event.

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood” – Stephen Covey

PROCESS:

Review of general trends in the marketplace or industry as it applies to the subject of the talk
Research the impact the subject matter might have on the attendees and/or their institutions
Collaborate with conference organizer to hit the mark and present the right message to the right folks
Customize a presentation specifically for the needs and interest of the audience
Present a draft run of the talk to a few key thought leaders for feedback and revisions
Make the presentation sing
Quality Assurance – survey attendees both at the time of the talk and following for ways to improve and highlights from their perspective

TESTIMONIALS:

“Thank you so much for delivering the Career Agility seminar yesterday. We had a record number of people join the call, and from the energy and engagement during the webinar, it was apparent that people were extremely interested in the topic. I appreciate the fact that you guys talked about building one’s online image and then followed it up with concrete examples that our employees can put into practice immediately. Additionally, the plan/resource document was a great tool – thanks for adding that! Well done!” – Sandra Elvington, Manager, US Employee Learning, Sun Microsystems

“I have had the opportunity to plan programs with Christian which are always well-attended, including the award-winning “Living Linked – A Social networking Conference” staged by the Special Libraries Association Southern California Chapter. At “Living Linked,” Christian set forth the importance of social networking as not a passing fad, but rather as a way of enhancing one’s knowledge base. He engaged the audience and fellow panelists with an exercise that illustrated the unexpected connections people had with one another in the room. “Living Linked” was a program so well-crafted by Christian, that it received SLA’s Information Technology Division’s Outstanding Technology Programming Award.” – David Cappolli, Digital Resource Librarian, UCLA & Special Libraries Association Southern California Chapter Board Member

“Christian’s passion around helping folks and curiosity about what makes things work gives him insights that are valuable to any team or project. Plus he’s working from 100% integrity which is powerful and gets results you can count on.” – Kurt Daradics, CitySourced & MOTM

“Christian delivered a very informative web presentation on LinkedIn to my department at Qualcomm. Many of the attendees were not familiar with LinkedIn, and Christian did a great job of explaining both basic and advanced features and functionality. His presentation emphasized ways in which LinkedIn could be used for job searching, which was especially useful. Christian is a dynamic speaker and brings a lot of enthusiasm and knowledge to the table. We’re ready for him to deliver LinkedIn: The Sequel!” – Elizabeth Grossman, Librarian, Qualcomm, Inc.

TOPICS:

Enterprise Social Software: What powerful examples show the value of ESS when deployed? What are the key metrics that can be measured to demonstrate the value of ESS? How to choose a vendor or services firm?

Social Media in the Enterprise: How are senior managers and human resources departments dealing with the spread of social software behind the firewall? How can employees be empowered and risk be mitigated on the open web? Is there a wolf in the hen house?

Linkedin for Professionals & Career Agility: What are the 3 things you can do today to improve your online reputation? What is the 10 point plan to get Linkedin working for you this week? What is the value of a professional social network? Why are weak ties more important than strong ties? What is the network effect? How can you invite your friends and associates? What groups should you join and why?

Event Based Sales and Marketing: How to drive leads and sales conversations by “not” selling? How to start a business relationship with a high value/free offer? How to piggy back on a high profile event and save a ton on your marketing budget?

eBooks – Content, Business Models, Technology and Culture Clash: Googlebooks and the great conversion project – Amazon Kindle – Sony Reader – Books 24×7 – Safari Books Online – eBrary – Copyright – Public Domain

Social Entrepreneurs: – How to Change the World and related stories – Kiva – Room to Read – LA’s Best

Knowledge Services Professionals: 3 Things You Must Know for Success:

1)Communications & Presentation Skills

a. The basics http://www.toastmasters.org/

b. Slide:ology http://blog.duarte.com/

c. Presentation Zen http://www.presentationzen.com/

2) New Technology – how to stay ahead of the curve MIT Technology Review http://www.technologyreview.com/

a: Cloud Computing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJncFirhjPg

http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/

http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/

b: Data Visualization