Meet our speakers

Session Title:

Inside the Winning Locker Room: Building High-Performing Teams and Fostering Teamwork for Success

Session Description:

Step into the world of success, resilience, and teamwork with hockey legend Jim Craig as he takes you “Inside the Winning Locker Room.” Drawing from his experience as the goaltender in the historic 1980 “Miracle on Ice,” Jim shares invaluable insights on building and leading high-performing teams.

Learn the strategies, mindset, and collaborative spirit that contribute to achieving greatness. This session is not just about hockey; it’s a journey into the principles that transcend sports, empowering you to foster a winning culture and drive success in your professional and personal pursuits. Discover the winning formula that transforms teams into champions.

Bio:

Jim Craig is best known as the backbone of the 1980 Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Team, whose ‘Miracle’ win was voted by Sports Illustrated as the greatest moment in sports history of the 21st century. Craig, who started every game in goal, was a leading figure in the team’s success. One of the enduring images of the 1980 Games was of Craig, wrapped in an American flag, searching the stands for his widowed father in order to share the gold-medal-winning victory.

Before the Olympics, Jim was an All-American goalie at Boston University, leading his team to a NCAA national championship. After the `Miracle’ game, Jim went on to play professionally for three NHL teams, where he sustained a career-ending injury while playing for the Minnesota North Stars. He is enshrined in the Boston University Hall of Fame, the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame, the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and is a co-recipient of both the Lester Patrick Award and the Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” award. He is also a graduate of Boston University and earned his doctorate in humane letters from Mercy College.

Following Jim’s professional hockey career, he transitioned his success into the corporate world as a motivational speaker, powerful salesman, and corporate consultant. He has been inducted into the Sales Halls of Fame for two different companies, having increased a sales territory from $300,000 to $50 million in annual sales. Following this role, Jim moved on to become the Vice President of a promotional marketing agency. Under his guidance, the agency increased annual dollar sales by 80 percent and its number of clients by 30 percent in just two short years.

For more than 35 years, Jim has inspired, instructed, and provided strategic and winning direction to some of the most prestigious companies across the world, including Kellogg’s, Bayer, Deloitte, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and Disney, as the successful owner and president of his company, Gold Medal Strategies. Jim has been selected three times as one of the top five speakers on team building in the United States, and has evolved to not only deliver motivational speeches, but host immersive corporate training programs that teach participants how to think differently and believe in their possibilities.

Jim is the co-author of the highly acclaimed business book, Gold Medal Strategies: Business Lessons from America’s Miracle Team and recently released his newest book and legacy piece, We Win! Lessons on Life, Business & Building Your Own Miracle Team. In addition to his role with Gold Medal Strategies, Jim serves as a board member of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and he has a passion for leveraging his athletic and business success to help others achieve their full potential and lives in integrity with his mission every day!

Session Title:

2024–2025: A Changing Landscape

Session Description:

Interest rates, inflation, labor, military conflicts, and a presidential election are on the minds of most leaders as they make plans for the rest of 2024 and prepare for 2025.

Join us as we look at the trends for 2024, including a weakening economy, lower inflation, and a shift in consumer spending. We will take a look at key markets, both domestic and global.

The presentation will give you valuable insights in time to develop tactics and strategies to beat the cycle and prepare for the business cycle rise ahead. Knowing what to watch for and the probable timing of the reversal to rise will give you confidence as you enact plans that enable you to get the most out of 2024 and 2025 while simultaneously getting ahead of your competitors.

Bio:

Alan is considered one of the country’s most informed economists. He has been providing workshops and economic analysis seminars to countries and literally thousands of business owners and executives for the last 25 years.

As the chief economist for numerous US and European trade associations, it has been remarked that Alan’s “insight into our business, a track record of accurate forecasting, and unparalleled knowledge of global markets” has earned him the respect and appreciation of key business leaders in our industry. Pronouncements from ITR Economics™ and/or Alan have appeared in/on the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, Knight Ridder News Services, Business Week, Associated Press, The Washington Times, CBS Radio, CNN Radio, Sirius Talk Radio, KABC, NPR affiliate WLRN, and numerous other outlets.