Bruce Watermann

In 2005, color print-on-demand books were too expensive to be practical for authors and businesses. Bruce Watermann’s task as part of the founding executive team at Blurb was to solve that problem and he changed the industry in the process, taking the company from $0 to $40M+ in revenue and profitability three years after launch.

As Blurb’s SVP Operations, Bruce Watermann oversees global print production strategy and technology, partner relationships, customer support, volume sales, and fulfillment. He is responsible for the creation of what is widely regarded as the most comprehensive and agile digital and offset print network in the self-publishing industry, with multiple locations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Bruce has worked in the photography and printing industries for over 40 years, merging traditional skills with state-of-the-art digital technologies to accurately represent fine art and photo imagery. Prior to joining Blurb, Bruce worked as an executive consultant to the digital imaging industry, advising established companies and start-ups including Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Costco, art.com, and MyPublisher in developing efficient and forward-thinking processes to promote access and sales of photography, fine art, and photo products.

He was a member of the senior management team that took Bill Gates’ Corbis Corporation out of R&D into a real-world business as Director of Global Imaging Operations from 1994-2000. From 1981-1993 Bruce was Vice President-Production for Pacific Color, Inc., the Pacific Northwest’s premier digital and photographic imaging laboratory, at the introduction of analog-to-digital conversion, supporting clients including Microsoft, Adobe, Weyerhaeuser, Westin Hotels and PhotoDisc.

Bruce’s session:

    John Sturino

    John has been working on bringing products to life online for over 15 years. He has held Product and Operations leadership positions in companies big and small, from Braintree where he was VP of Product, to AOLEurope and AOLChina where he was Sr. Director of Product and Customer Acquisition. He was also previously at Yahoo! as the VP of Display Advertising Platforms. In these capacities, he was able to improve the pace and quality of the product releases and increase overall revenue. Prior to all of that, John began his career producing magazines for non-profits and starting a non-profit in Russia helping independent newspapers to remain independent.

    John’s session:

      Terry Hart

      Terry Hart is VP, Legal Policy and Copyright Counsel at the Copyright Alliance, a DC-based nonprofit public policy and advocacy organization representing the copyright interests of individual creators and organizations. In his role he oversees the organization’s legal and policy activities, including tracking policy developments of interest to the broader copyright community, drafting agency submissions, briefing policymakers, and directing amicus brief filings.

      Since 2010, Terry has blogged at Copyhype on copyright law, history, and policy. The blog was named one of the top 100 legal blogs by the American Bar Association in 2011 and has been cited in law review articles, legal filings, and books. He has also been published in The George Mason Law Review, SCOTUSBlog, and IP Watchdog.

      In addition, he is an adjunct professor at George Mason University School of Law, where he teaches copyright law.

      Terry’s session:

        Steve Wishman

        Based in the Pacific Northwest, Steve Wishman is a 20 year veteran of presentation design, with a unique focus on motion-based visual storytelling. After holding art director roles at Duarte Inc. and Prezi, he went on to form Moon Mission LLC, a creative consultancy that specializes in pitch decks and explainer videos for startups in search of funding.

        Website

        Clint Loveman

        Clint leads a cross-disciplinary team that designs and developments map-based information products. He has 20 years of experience in the graphic design and mapping industry. During that time, he’s supported some of the most well-known organizations in both the private and public-sectors including; NOAA, USGS, Swiss Federal Office of Topography (SwissTopo), National Geographic, Nike, CBRE and USA Today.

        His team supports both project and product business lines; creating client specific data viz solutions and product/feature development for Esri. Clint’s personal production experience includes creating maps and charts for both web and print media. He’s dabbled in freelance design as well, however his friends and families’ budgets don’t allow him to quit his day job. He likes design, dev, UI/UX, sci-fi, hockey, running, music, and other things he’s not always great at…but hopes to be someday.

        Clint’s session:

          John D. Berry

          After thirty years of book and editorial design, as well as writing about type and design, John D. Berry has become a passionate advocate for effective text typography, both onscreen and off. He is a typographic consultant to many software companies and has spoken about typography around the world. He is the former President of ATypI, and was the final editor of U&lc magazine. He is founder and director of the Scripta Typographic Institute. Learn more at johndberry.com

          John’s session:

            Duff Johnson

            Duff Johnson is a 23 year veteran of the electronic document space. Author of dozens of articles, he has held top positions in several software and services businesses in the electronic document industry.

            Today, Duff is an independent consultant and the Executive Director of the PDF Association, where he coordinates several working groups. He serves the PDF industry as ISO Project co-Leader and US TAG chair for ISO 32000 (the PDF specification) and ISO 14289, and is a regular speaker at a wide variety of industry events.

            Duff’s session:

              James Fritz

              James graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. After beginning his professional life as a designer for a variety of clients, he became hooked on helping others learn. Over time he became an Adobe Certified Design Master and began teaching, speaking and writing worldwide. After joining Lynda.com, now LinkedIn Learning, he built a robust collection of content for creative, design and engineering professionals. Today he is the senior manager of content at LinkedIn Learning and spends his time helping the world learn creative skills.

              James’ sessions:

                Laura Worthington

                Laura Worthington is a typeface designer from Washington State. After training and working as a graphic designer since the mid ‘90s, she turned her lifelong fascination with lettering and typography into a business, publishing her first typeface in 2010. She has since published more than 100 typefaces, and designed custom faces for Fortune 500 companies. Laura’s faces are based on her own hand-lettering and calligraphy, a practice she continues to hone daily.

                Though her designs are often infused with the sense of a milieu or era, her type designs are not historical revivals, but updated interpretations with a modern sensibility. Laura was a pioneer in the practice of producing families of different display styles that work together to evoke a particular aesthetic. Her typefaces are primarily for display, and often include a broad variety of ornaments, contextual alternates, and swash forms. She handles every aspect of a font’s creation, from concept and hand-lettering to digitization.

                Laura’s type designs have received awards from Communication Arts, Typographica, MyFonts and more. Her work has been featured in Communication Arts, HOW, Letter Arts Review, Computer Arts, CreativePro, and many other publications. She has designed custom typefaces and worked with Fortune 500 companies including Microsoft, St. Jude Children’s Hospital and J.M. Smucker.

                Laura was an adjunct instructor in the Visual Communications program at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington for over five years. She has taught over 40 workshops for organizations including Adobe MAX, CreativeLive, SVC Seattle, Amazon.com, and AIGA, and has spoken at The Kerning Conference in Italy, Adobe Creative Jam, and at SVC Seattle. You can learn more about Laura and her fonts at lauraworthingtondesign.com

                Laura’s session:

                  Howard Pinsky

                  Howard Pinsky has been teaching design for more than a decade, and is now a Senior XD Evangelist with Adobe, where he shares his UI/UX knowledge and experience with the designer community through videos, live streams, and creative events.

                  Howard’s session: