Speaker Spotlight: Kelsey Ruger (The Rebirth of Slick)

Kelsey Ruger is an accomplished executive with solid experience in web engineering, user experience design, information architecture and web marketing. He has been building web and interactive solutions for more than a decade and has lent his expertise to high profile Internet projects at Prodigy, SBC (now AT&T) and a number of successful start-ups. Kelsey’s consulting, design and web roots provide him with a unique perspective that helps him bridge the gaps between strategy, creativity and execution, ultimately resulting in useful digital solutions for his clients and their customers. Kelsey is currently the Vice President of Operations for Houston based digital consultancy ChaiONE. Kelsey oversees the company’s overall strategic & creative vision, directs its corporate operations, and oversees UX, design and development for North America and India. Kelsey’s personal mantra is “think, try, teach” and he loves “building things for people”. Simply put, he’s a creative guy who helps design focused solutions that fix problems while providing a useful, significant experience. He shares his passion for creativity, design and leadership on his blog The Moleskin (http:/www.themoleskin.com) and as the Interactive Director for The Businessmakers Radio Show (http://www.thebusinessmakers.com).

Session Talk: The Rebirth of Slick (Why Design is Cool)

Companies like Apple, BMW, Whole Food Stores and Target are proving that design isn’t only cool it’s profitable. In this session we will explore how design goes beyond marketing messages, advertising, PR and social media to help you create a strong brand and culture with well-regarded products and/or services. In this session we will find out: – The myths about design and its place in business/marketing strategy
– The limitations of the commonly accepted view of design
– Why building a design culture is good business
– How design establishes a relation with consumers
– The difference between design as a skill and design as a process

Some Other Things About Kelsey Ruger

A graduate of the University of Houston, Kelsey also volunteers his time to several professional/community organizations as board member for the (HiMA) Houston Interactive Marketing Association, Westwood College Advisory committee, as well as AIR Houston and Knowbility. He is also the co-founder of Refresh Houston. Twitter username: themoleskin
Website: http://www.themoleskin.com
Facebook page or fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/kelseyruger
LinkedIn profile page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseyruger