FITC - Key Persons
With more than a decade of experience running professional development events, Alfred is a seasoned pro. He is a master of spreadsheets, checklists, contract negotiations, and dongles. In his years with FITC, Alfred's responsibilities have evolved to him quite literally running the show. He is a multi-faceted event production guru who knows how to turn an event concept into a reality, from start to finish.
A geek at heart, Alfred fits in well with the attendees of the design and tech events he hosts in the name of FITC worldwide. You'll often find him tinkering with every device in the office to all hours of the morning and surfing on Reddit.
Job Titles:
- Chief Design Officer at Gusto
Amy Thibodeau is the Chief Design Officer at Gusto, where she empowers designers, researchers, and content strategists who are working on products that connect companies with their employees in a more meaningful way.
Previously, Amy was a senior director of UX at Shopify, where she led a cross-functional team of over 130 people working on core business products. During her time at Shopify, she also led the launch of the Polaris design system, built the Platform UX team and founded the Design Ops practice.
In earlier iterations of her life, she was one of the first members of Facebook's now gigantic content strategy team, renovated an old house in the south of France, worked in art museums, and traveled around the world for a year. Amy lives in Canada with her husband Dan and small but mighty dogs, Gus and Ella.
Aside from leading creative solutions for dozens of global brands over a span of two decades, Bram is passionate about the art and technology of creative storytelling. So much so, that he ran a non-profit called the Council of Artists and Multimedia Professionals dedicated to it for nearly a decade before joining FITC. In recent years, he has shifted focus toward producing narrative content.
Beside living a creative life, Bram is no stranger to advising all levels of government as well as industry and post-secondary on the structuring of New Media programs and subsidy support. You can find him almost anytime, glued to a screen.
Job Titles:
- Android Design Lead, Google San Francisco, USA
Dave is an applied psychologist and UX designer. Since 2013 he's been a design lead at Google where he and his team are responsible for the research and design of the engineering and data analysis and visualization tools necessary to plan, develop, test, release, monitor, and manage the global Android device ecosystem.
He has been studying user behaviour and designing interfaces since 1997, and combines his skills as a designer and psychologist to bring deeper insight into users' behaviours and motivations when interacting with digital devices and interfaces.
Dave began teaching information and interaction design courses at San Francisco State University in 2001 and now focuses on seminars and classes for advanced UX methods such as journey mapping, design sprints, and the measurement of subjective experiences. He has published articles and tutorials on design methods and tools and regularly speaks at seminars and conferences.
Prior to Google, he was the Vice President of Experience Design at Fluid, where he worked with clients including The North Face, Reebok, Warner Bros., Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, and Sur La Table.
Dave lives along the Pacific coast near San Francisco and enjoys cooking, gardening, motorcycles, and travel. Ask him about that time he dug up and removed all of the lawn around his house…
Born and raised in a geological basin left by a two billion-year-old impact crater. Dré grew up among the rocky remnants of a place made from outer space. This connection to the stars led to a love of science fiction that now fuels a flare for ideas and technology.
You can find Dré at the forefront of what's new, what's next, and what could be, as he splits his time between working as a tech-savvy creative director, consulting as a futurist, and experimenting in art and product development for web3 and the metaverse.
Ghadi is a rising talent in social media management, 3D environment artistry, and graphic design.
With a background in visual arts, she infuses creativity and innovation into her work. From crafting detailed 3D landscapes to designing captivating visuals, Ghadi turns ideas into stunning digital creations.
Driven by a pursuit of excellence, she is committed to honing her skills in the ever-evolving world of social media. With a fresh perspective and enthusiasm, aiming to make a lasting impression in the digital sphere.
Jason Theodor dislikes restrictive labels, but let's call him an ‘Idea-preneur' for the sake of introduction. With over fifteen years of executive leadership in digital marketing and fintech, he helps companies overcome their creative challenges.
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Eight years of schooling in corporate and digital communications, multiple social media accounts, a passion for storytelling, and well over a decade of experience in both photography and event planning - it's obvious that Jill likes connecting with others. Having run everything from professional development sessions to horse shows and medieval festivals, one of Jill's favourite things about event planning is the excitement for what ís coming next. Whether she is writing a news article or a social media post, Jill is pumped, and she wants you pumped too.
When she is not planning an event, writing, or wandering with her camera, you can find Jill binging Community (again), going down Internet rabbit holes, playing Nintendo, or baking for any reason she can come up with. Cheesecake, anyone?
Mostly within the world of theatre, Leo has spent just over a decade in Live Events, and has spent that time working across North America, the UK, and Spain. With experience that has ranged from designing immersive experiences to finding transport for an unexpectedly large number of crabs, Leo is always ready for the unexpected when it comes to events, and will always bring the best out of any project he is working on.
In his spare time, Leo can usually be found working on various creative projects that he promises will start making sense as soon as they are finished, or attempting to finally find time to finish whatever book he's obsessing over this month.'
From graphics to fabrication, coding to video production, Matthew has been spending the last 20+ years building out his skills for interaction design. Working with large name brands and agencies in order to partner with small time not-for-profit organizations, he focuses on building out ideas and methods to bring accessible education and learning to as many people as he can.
Nearly always to be found with a cup of coffee (or bacon), Matthew continues his efforts in making events, both in-person and online, a more engaging and enriching experience for all.
Naomi is a Toronto creative who has been producing various styles of events since 2015 from when she started a wine and colouring craze in the city. From underground parties, to wellness events, conferences, weddings, markets and even immersive experience pop-ups - there isn't a type of event she can't plan. Coming from a strong background in hospitality, she understands the hustle, customer service, presentation and logistical organization for production.
When she isn't planning events she is training and teaching young girls Muay Thai, so they can be fierce and confident.
Creative guru and successful entrepreneur, Shawn began his career in 1996 as a Flash developer producing award winning content for Maclaren McCann and later Blast Radius. He was the lead author on the Macromedia Press title "Flash MX 2004 Demystified", and in 2001 he began his community efforts by starting the Toronto Flash user group FlashinTO.
A notable and respected figure in the new media industry, he has taught at OCAD University and the International Academy of Design, is frequently called on to sit on program advisory boards and judge international award shows including SXSW Interactive, and in 2009 he was honoured with an induction into Algonquin College's Media Hall of Fame.
Telus Harbour is a LEED® Gold AAA standard building at 25 York Street, immediately adjacent to Union Station in downtown Toronto. The 30 foot high lobby spaces are connected to Toronto's PATH system and include retail, and direct connections to the Air Canada Centre and the Southcore Financial Centre. Strategically located, the building is a block from the Gardiner Expressway and two blocks from Lake Ontario.