Florentyna Jallet, (Tyna) recerved her B. Comm. From McGill University in 1987 and was admitted to the Quebec Order of Accountants in 1990. Tyna has been with SNG since 1987 and was admitted to partnership in 1999. 

Tyna practices in the area of audit and Assurance and business Advisory Services. Tyna plays a vital role in staff training, professional development and recruiting and is an important liaison to the academic world on both the student and teaching sides.  Tyna is a proactive participant in the firm's commitment to growth and process redesigning and continuous improvement and enhancement of services offered to our valued relationships with our clients. 

Nancy Cleman is a lawyer with the firm of Sternthal Katznelson Montigny.  Her practice focuses on advising a variety of corporate and commercial clients with a focus on intellectual property & information technology.  Expertise includes all licensing, franchise agreements, development agreements; trademark applications, distribution agreements, licensing agreements, incorporations, shareholders agreements, and corporate structure as they relate to start up businesses, film distribution, operations and other matters. financing, acquisition or sale of companies and or technology;  As well, she has managed national and international commercial transactions.

Ms. Cleman holds B.Sc., B.C.L and LL. degrees from McGill University and is a member of the Québec Bar (1983) and the Law Society of Upper Canada (1990). Prior to joining SKM she was corporate counsel to Autodesk, Inc and General Counsel to Discreet Logic Inc.  Before joining Discreet, she was a partner in a major Canadian law firm.  Nancy is active in community work and has served on a number of Boards and committees. She is currently President of the SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art.  In addition she has spoken at various conferences on topics including doing business abroad, the art of preparing Canadian companies for export markets, and the licensing of intellectual property.

Shatter your financial limitations to growth. Grant funding, banks, friends & family, business angels, venture capitalists – seed money is out there. There is a mystifying host of funding options, many of which come with strings attached. Do not waste time pursuing the wrong kind of money; get clear answers from top experts in business finance and community funding to get the money you need to grow your business. 

Branding is a business strategy. It is not just a logo or an advertisement – it is the personality and soul of a company. It is what makes you unique and why people buy from you. Get practical, real-world advice on how to evaluate and measure the strength and effectiveness of your brand and step-by-step instruction on how to shape the perceptions of your prospects.

Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Le Chateau Inc. Franco Rocchi has been part of the Le Château organization for over 25 years, leading its Sales and Marketing efforts. Today, with over 220 stores in Canada, the USA, and overseas, Le Château is one of the most successful and largest retailers of fashion designed and manufactured in Montreal.

What is the Cooperative advantage? Is the Co-op model better suited to socially and environmentally friendly businesses, is it the more sustainable model? This workshop will answer these questions while exploring the competitive advantage your socially responsible business could gain by incorporating as a Cooperative. Quebec has a strong network of support for all social economy businesses. Join us as we examine the benefits of this network.

Jason Hughes is the Founding Member and Manager of Coop La Maison Verte, a Montreal-based cooperative environmental store with over 8000 members.  Prior to this venture, Mr. Hughes worked as coordinator of the NDG Community Council and coordinator of the NDG Food Depot. 

Peter Palmer is Vice President of the Dale Carnegie Group in Quebec. In more than 20 years with Dale Carnegie, he has coached some of Canada’s top business leaders to better present and defend their ideas in front of critical audiences. His mandates have included the high-tech, medical and service sectors, and he has worked with some of those industry’s biggest players, including Novartis, Bombardier and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Peter taught for several years at the McGill International Executive Institute and is a frequent guest lecturer at many of Quebec’s top universities. One of the main themes of Peter’s public and corporate group work has been assisting people in offering strong value propositions through the presentation of their ideas, their products and their services.

Maximize and monetize social media. Generating results in this medium is not about being connected but in how you connect. Enhance your marketing efforts and grow your business by using social media to truly engage your audience.

Hugh McGuire is an entrepreneur and recognized leader in online web collaboration, and the transformation of publishing in the digital age. He is the the founder of the new start-up, BiteSizeEdits.com, a reader engagement and marketing tool for authors, and he is the driving force behind BookCampToronto, a yearly unconference about the future of books and publishing in the digital era. In 2005 he started LibriVox.org, a maker of free volunteer-read public domain audiobooks, and once called "perhaps the most interesting collaborative cultural project this side of Wikipedia." LibriVox is one of the world's most prolific audiobook publishers, with a catalog of some 3,200+ works in 29 languages.  He writes about transformations on the web and in the publishing industry at the Huffington Post and on the Book Oven Blog, and he is a member of the Media Hacks podcast.

One of the most unfortunate expressions in marketing is:  “I know that 50% of my marketing budget is wasted, but I just don’t know which 50%.”  Pity the fatalistic businessperson who is resigned to throwing money blindly at a problem with faint hope that it will go away.
If there was ever a time for Guerrilla Marketing – it is now.  Get creative by marketing your business EFFECTIVELY without spending a fortune on promotion.  Let Professor Robert Soroka help you acquire the strategic weapons that will help you generate the biggest bang for your buck.

Robert Soroka has a varied background as a criminal lawyer, professor, marketing analyst, TV and radio personality and actor and playwright. He began his career in industry, working as a marketing and financial analyst for chain-store retailers. After earning his Juris Doctor degree from the State University of New York, Robert practiced criminal law in Buffalo, NY.

Robert resumed his teaching career upon his return to Montreal and now teaches business and law courses at McGill and Concordia Universities and Dawson College. His teaching was recognized when he received Concordia University’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997 and the McGill Management Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2009.  As well, he is a private consultant for both public and private organizations.

Tina Serrão (Concordia BFA ‘97) has a passion for all things design and an entrepreneurial spirit. In 1995, she combined her love of design and business to form moozoo juices (www.moozoo.com) with her husband Pino Di Ioia and his twin brother Anthony. Since 1995 the trio has been creating naturally quirky juices and frozen yogurt under the moozoo umbrella as well as running the BeaverTails Pastry (www.beavertailsinc.com) franchises worldwide. Tina is currently the Creative Director for both companies.

Tina lives by one simple rule… have passion for everything you do! She finds no greater joy than hanging out at a Montreal sidewalk café with her fabulous husband Pino, their chocolate lab Mars and the new loves of her life;son Kai and daughter Lucca.

Charles Bierbrier is the founder and President of Bierbrier Brewing Inc, a Montreal based brewery. The company brews and distributes bottled and draft beer throughout the province. Charles has a BA in Economics from McGill University and an MBA from Concordia University (JMSB). Prior to launching his own brewery, he worked in the banking and investment brokerage industry in the financial services sector. He is involved with several volunteer organizations and is also President of the McGill Young Alumni, Past-President of the Westmount Rotary Club and on the board of the Old Boys Association at Selwyn House School.

Geneviève Gagnon holds two BA degrees (Psychology & Communications) and is the president and founder of La fourmi bionique (LFB), a food manufacturing company specialized in the production of gourmet granola cereal blends with local and organic ingredients. Since 2004, her company has successfully taken over the retail market with over 800 stores across Quebec and Ontario. Over forty well renowned hotel and restaurant establishments across Quebec also serve LFB products to their distinguished guests. Geneviève has earned many business distinctions at the local and national levels, and more recently, the prestigious The Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Award for Success in Business, presented at the 2009 Québec Entrepreneurship Contest Gala.