David Topus

David is a communication innovator and one of the leading communication consultants in the country. He turns reputations into revenue by taking the mess out of messaging and putting the art in articulation. A veteran expert in value-based messaging, he brings thirty years of expertise and best practices from companies and individuals across the country and around the world. His early career was in advertising sales with The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and IDG Communications. Since 1990 he has consulted and trained thousands of sales professionals and senior executives in articulating their value propositions for competitive advantage. He invented the branding-based resume and game-changing Biographic, used by thousands of professionals, and was the founder of ExecuNet's career services division. And he is the author of “Talk to Strangers: How Your Everyday, Random Encounters Can Expand Your Business, Career, Income and Life”, published by John Wiley in April 2012. David has an uncanny ability to uncover and convey in engaging and compelling terms the essential value in people, products and companies.

In his own words:

“Most people and companies are good at what they do, but when it comes to promoting what they do, they tend to under-sell themselves. There is a value component to everyone and everything, whether it’s in what they do or how they do it. The key is to identify what that is and articulate it in ways that are most relevant to their audience. I’ve been doing this for my entire career, and there’s nothing I enjoy more. It’s both a career and a mission.”

Diane Crompton

DIRECTOR OF BRANDING STRATEGY

Diane loves all things related to helping people showcase their unique skills and traits, especially through social media. She was an early adopter of social media and leverages her subject matter expertise to help people achieve a competitive advantage in their marketplaces. She has been an educator, recruiter, and senior consultant with an international human resources consulting group. In this role she has coached hundreds of professionals from all levels and industry backgrounds, including Fortune 500 firms. She is the co-author of several books including “Seven Days to Online Networking,” (JIST 2008) and “Find a Job Through Social Networking” (JIST 2010).

Diane holds a B.S. degree in Education from Springfield College, combined with graduate studies in Instructional Design. She is a member of ACPI and ASTD. She has been a keynote presenter at, corporate and academic events and has presented live and web based sessions to organizations throughout the country. She is a frequent contributor to media on this topic.

Sharon Roth

BRANDING STRATEGIST

A branding strategist, writer and editor, Sharon has artfully crafted the brand strategy and language of clients and companies spanning a range of industries - from fashion, hospitality and special events, to real estate and government, to science and medicine, to finance and security. She has helped numerous clients develop their identity and communicate their brand with magnetic impact, creating standout copy that resonates, inspires and connects – and clearly distinguishes from the rest.

An honors graduate of Cornell University in humanities, Sharon’s articles and publicity writings have appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Real Estate Weekly, Foreign Affairs, Grace Ormonde and Social Life Magazine, where she has been an editor for the past eight years. She also founded Write Now, a Manhattan-based initiative that takes a progressive, deeply personalized and specifically targeted approach to creative personal and corporate branding.