Robin Sharma is the author of eight international bestsellers and one of the world’s top experts on leadership, change management and personal mastery.

He is the Chief Executive Officer of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a widely respected leadership development firm that has helped over four million people in 50 countries, along with clients such as Nike, FedEx, IBM, GM, Microsoft, Kraft Foods, KPMG and Panasonic, and organizations such as NASA and YPO get to their next level of world-class.

Robin is one of the most in-demand speakers in the world, frequently sharing the stage with individuals such as Bill Clinton, Jack Welch, Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Deepak Chopra and Dr. Phil.

A former litigation lawyer, holding two law degrees including a Masters of Law, Robin is also a leading executive coach, having worked with billionaires, major CEOs and celebrity entrepreneurs.

As CEO of Robin Sharma Films Inc., Robin has also become a filmmaker. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is being made into a major motion picture.

A former lawyer, he quit his job and self-published a book at a Kinko’s copy shop. Robin’s first seminar was attended by 23 people — 21 of whom were his family members. His second book, Letters From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, was also originally self-published until former Harper Collins president Ed Carson discovered Robin in a bookstore.

The book, and the series has become one of Canada’s most successful publishing franchises as sales near 250,000 copies sold in Canada alone. Robin’s books are read by CEOs, political leaders, homemakers, movie stars, pop stars, sports celebrities and people from all walks of life.

Please click here to purchase tickets – $30 +hst.

Sponsored by Central Counties Tourism
Emcee: Kerri King, Tourism Manager, Region of Durham
Welcome: Mayor John Henry, City of Oshawa
Opening Remarks: Kathy Weiss, Director, Economic Development & Tourism, Region of Durham

Cofounder of Operation Migration Bill Lishman is the first human to fly with and Lead birds in the air with an aircraft. His pioneering work has resulted in the establishment of a flock of Whooping cranes that now migrate in eastern North America. His work has been the inspiration for two Feature films and Bill was the sculptor featured in the 3D Imax film The Last Buffalo.

Bill is an original thinker and doer. His presentation takes us on a humorous autobiographical journey that deals with overcoming disabilities, with creativity, problem solving, team work, risk management and above all the human relationship with the planet . His Presentation includes images and descriptions of how several works of art came to be – from his first landscape sculpture, a replica of the Lunar lander that Neil Armstrong used to land on the moon … to a full-scale replica of Stonehenge from crushed cars and the larger-than-life Iron buffalo created for the 3D IMAX film the last Buffalo. It’s not so hard to believe that this is the same man who designed and built a 2700 square foot, 21st century earth-integrated domed home, located in southern Ontario, which has been featured in many media stories for its innovative earth ethical design.

Bill finally tells the incredible story of how he earned the name “Father Goose” by imprinting a flock of Canada geese to follow the ultralight plane he designed and built. He reviews how this process, has led to the restoration of an easterly flock the highly endangered Whooping crane, Jeff Daniels who plays Lishman in the Columbia pictures 1996 feature film Fly Away Home says, “with Lishman idea is a verb”.

Born in Toronto Michael Hackenberger has been the director of the Bowmanville Zoo since 1987.

A graduate of Guelph University, Michael obtained a BS. In zoology and a MSc in Animal Science specialization elephant nutrition.

Having trained hundreds of animals from ants to elephants,
Michael has provided zoological expertise for film productions, television and the entertainment industry world wide.

A member of the World Wildlife Fund’s 200 Canadians, Michael is an ardent conservationist. He lives at the zoo with his wife and veterinarian Wendy and two teenage boys, Kurt and Dirk.

Moderator: DONNA ZUCHLINSKI, Film Commissioner, Industry Development, Ontario Media Development Corporation

Donna Zuchlinski is Manager of Film and Film Commissioner with the Ontario Media Development Corporation, an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture that supports the province’s creative media industries, which include film and television, books, interactive digital media, magazines and music. One of the busiest film and television production centres in North America, this industry contributed almost one billion dollars in direct expenditures to the provincial economy in 2010.

Donna is responsible for the operations of the Provincial Film Commission, which provides location scouting and facilitation services to productions, both domestic and foreign, interested in filming in Ontario. She also leads the marketing efforts for the Toronto and Ontario film industry at home and abroad. A key marketing tool for the Commission is the award-winning Digital Locations Database, an on-line searchable database containing digital photographic files for over 9,000 filming locations representing 200,000 individual images, including many popular filming sites in Durham Region.

Panelist: BRIAN MALCOLM, Executive Director, Parkwood – National Historic Site

Brian has been Executive Director at Parkwood for nearly two decades. With a background that includes arts administration, municipal culture & recreation planning, and hospitality, Brian enjoys the challenges of site
conservation and development at one of Canada’s last grand estates.

The estate is owned by The Parkwood Foundation, a not-forprofit charitable organization. Brian has been extensively involved in long-term preservation and fundraising at Parkwood, working with a dedicated corps of staff and volunteers.

Location filming has been an important aspect of operations at Parkwood throughout Brian’s tenure. Filming brings much needed revenue support and generates excitement for the community. Filming impacts can be enormous on a significant heritage site, and Parkwood has built a large base of experience which it shares readily through presentations to organizations like Ontario Media Development Corporation, Ontario Museum Association, National Historic Sites Alliance for Ontario and Conservation Studies at Sir Sanford Fleming College, and through consultations with other museum sites.

Principal at communications design firm Hypenotic, Barry has been helping values-driven brands and organizations define, articulate and manifest why their prospects should care about their offerings since ’98.

He has a degree in Advertising Design from Syracuse and runs a design firm that sells creative services, but Barry hasn’t owned a TV since 2001. He gets his news from sources that require less filtering.

Barry believes brands (and all our endeavors are brands) are increasingly being measured by what people say about them, not what they say about themselves. That brands become more relevant by moving the needle on issues that matter to their communities. That people notice, trust and evangelize for brands that are ON a mission and filter those who simply HAVE a mission. That marketing today means building relationships from within which you will sometimes sell. That, as the best brands have always known, earned word of mouth is more influential than interruptive media. That the speed and convenience with which people share information today is a boon to those who “get it”, and bane to those who don’t. And that all marketing is either social or anti-social.

Rebecca loves Ontario, food and drink, meeting people and having new experiences. Lucky for her she has the best job in the world! In her role as Executive Director for OCTA, she has had the distinct pleasure of crisscrossing the Province of Ontario connecting growers and producers to chefs and restaurateurs. Engaging Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO’s) with regional agricultural groups and economic developers, in 2 years Rebecca has expanded the original 5 destinations invested in developing culinary tourism to over 20.

In her previous role with Taste the County™ – Prince Edward County’s DMO, Rebecca became passionate about agriculture, tourism, arts and culture and their interrelation. During her nine years with Taste the County™, she was instrumental in the development and management of tourism products including the award winning Taste Trail, annual TASTE! a celebration of regional cuisine, the Arts Trail, Countylicious events and the buy-local program Harvestin’ the County.

Rebecca designed and developed several courses for George Brown College’s cutting edge Culinary Tourism Management program which launched in 2009.  She holds positions on the Boards of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation Town & Country Committee, Terroir Hospitality Conference and Slow Food Canada.

David completed his Apprenticeship Cook training in central Ontario working at country resorts and inns. He has over 30 years experience as chef in a variety of kitchens including over 20 years teaching experience in the High School and Community College environments. David spent the past 15 years at Fleming College and started working at Durham College in July 2010 to launch the new Culinary Skills Program. David is a Certified Chef de Cuisine and Red Seal Certified Patissier and Cook.

Throughout his career he has gained experience through hotels, fine dining restaurants, institutional kitchens, and private clubs. David has taken several courses through the Culinary Institute of America and when he’s not in the kitchen he enjoys working on his farm, participating in ice carving competitions and building furniture in his wood shop.

Moderator: JEFF BROOKS, Principal Planner Regional Municipality of Durham

LOUISA MURSELL, Project Manager, Welcome Cyclists Network

Louisa has been working on sustainable, green and new tourism initiatives for a number years. Most recently she has been responsible for launching the Welcome Cyclist Network in 2010, workshops series and program administration. Having worked on special projects for Transportation Options since 2008, as the Greenbelt Express and Operations Manager for the Bike Train Initiative and Assistant Coordinator of the Ontario Cycle Tourism Forum, she brings much knowledge of the cycle tourism industry in Ontario to this project. Louisa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo.

ELEANOR MCMAHON, President and Founder, Share the Road

Eleanor McMahon has spent most of her career as a communications, government relations and marketing professional. Her work includes senior roles in the private, public and non-for profit sectors. She spent the early part of her career on Parliament Hill in roles of increasing responsibility including that of Press Secretary to the Right Honorable Jean Chrétien.

Most recently, following the death in 2006 of her husband, OPP Sergeant Greg Stobbart —who was killed by a motorist who had been convicted five times for driving under suspension. In November 2008, Ms. McMahon was successful in getting “Greg’s Law” tabled in the Ontario legislature as part of a larger Road Safety Bill, Bill 126. The legislation, which passed on April 22nd 2009. Greg’s Law came into force on December 1, 2010. McMahon has been working to engineer legislative change in Ontario and is leading the development of a provincial, grassroots cycling advocacy organization in Ontario — the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. The Coalition was launched in 2008, and since 2010 she has worked as its CEO on a full-time basis.
The Share the Road Cycling Coalition was created to unite cycling organizations from across Ontario and works with and on behalf of municipalities to enhance their ability to make their communities more bicycle-friendly.

MELISSA CLAXTON-OLDFIELD, President, Oshawa Cycling Club

Melissa lives in Clarington and grew up in Bowmanville. Married with two children, she has run a local healthcare business for the last 18 years. Most recently, however, she foudned a cycle touring company which is set to begin tours in 2012.

She’s always had a love for keeping active and travelling, whether it be hiking, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing and most of all cycling. In 2006, she joined the Oshawa Cycling club and learned a lot about cycling and the fabulous country roads, villages and hamlets in the Durham Region and with this, the issues that cyclist’s face. She joined joined the executive team of the Oshawa Cycling Club as a Director and most recently in 2009 as President. An active cyclist she clocks nearly 10,000 kilometres a year locally and loves to cycle in Quebec, US and Europe.

Steven Thorne is Canada’s leading specialist in place-based cultural tourism. His company’s holistic, place-based planning approach weaves together heritage, arts, culinary, agritourism, and natural history experiences to form a “cultural tapestry” that reveals the unique cultural character and sense of place of a city, town, or region. By using Steven’s approach, any destination can enhance its appeal to cultural travelers and compete more successfully in the cultural tourism marketplace. To quote Steven, “For cultural travelers, the visitor experience is about much more than a destination’s cultural ‘attractions’. It’s about encountering a destination’s history and heritage, its narratives and stories, its landscape, its townscape, its people. It’s about discovering what makes a city, town, or region distinctive, authentic, and memorable. It’s about the experience of ‘place’. Simply put, ‘the place is the product.’”

Steven has developed cultural tourism strategies for three Canadian provinces: BC, Ontario, and PEI. Most recently he authored, A Tapestry of Place: Whistler’s Cultural Tourism Development Strategy, designed to help North America’s pre-eminent ski destination diversify its tourism offering through place-based cultural tourism. In addition, Steven helped to develop Packaging the Potential – the Canadian Tourism Commission’s national business strategy for cultural heritage tourism.

Committed to cultural tourism education as well as its practice, Steven teaches the course, “Cultural Tourism: Realizing the Opportunity”, offered through the Cultural Resource Management Program at the University of Victoria. In addition, he is the principal author of the 100-page manual, Building Place: Planning & Developing a Creative Cultural Destination, for the course of the same title offered through the Bonavista Institute of Cultural Tourism, in Bonavista, Newfoundland. He is a regular guest lecturer in the Graduate Program in Tourism Policy and Planning at the University of Waterloo.

Steven works independently and in association with Toronto-based TCI Management Consultants and Edinburgh-based TEAM Tourism Consulting.