Keynote Presenters

Biz Stone, co-founder, Twitter

Recognized as one of 2009’s “Most Influential People in the World” by TIME Magazine for bringing vital, real-time media to millions of people worldwide, Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, will deliver the Sunday keynote presentation, “Open, Informed and Engaged: A Changing Communication Landscape.”

Stone, who considers himself an “Internet entrepreneur who believes in the triumph of humanity with a little help from technology,” started out as a progenitor of the early social Web in 1999, joined Google in 2003, and in 2006, launched the online social network and microblogging service, Twitter, effectively providing a voice for a generation. In 2011, he co-founded The Obvious Corporation, which focuses on building systems that help people work together to improve the world.

An advocate of selflessness, Stone supports a new way of doing business — with a higher level of ambition, and a better, more altruistic way to measure success. He is a founding director of ConvergeUS, a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit organization that is designed to leverage the collective power of several institutions to accelerate positive social change. He also advises several companies and organizations, from startups and nonprofits to publicly traded international companies, on the development of their philanthropic roadmaps. Stone was named a “Game Changer” by The Huffington Post for his work and impact in the field of public service.

Tim Westergren, founder and chief strategy officer, Pandora

Following 20 years in the music industry as an award-winning composer and accomplished musician, Tim Westergren, founder and chief strategy officer of Pandora, launched the popular personalized radio service with the Music Genome Project, which uses a mathematical algorithm to predict a person’s musical taste based on a small musical sampling.

Along with guiding Pandora's overall strategy and vision, he spends much of his time as the company’s chief evangelist, traveling the country to connect with some of the tens of millions of people who use Pandora. He also works extensively with technology and distribution partners, advertisers and investors to help shape the future of Pandora and personalized radio.

Named by TIME magazine as one of 2010’s “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Westergren’s experience in the music industry spans production, audio, engineering, film scoring and live performance. Trained as a jazz pianist, his musical background spans such genres as rock, blues, jazz and classical music. A musician's musician, he is dedicated to helping talented emerging artists find an audience. He studied computer acoustics and recording technology at Stanford University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree.