Joseph (Joe) Bassani retired from the United States Army as a colonel after nearly 28 years of service. He is an expert in strategy development, leader development/coaching, strategic communication and organizational change management.

In the years following the attacks of 9/11, he led the Department of Defense effort to develop a family of interagency/intergovernmental homeland defense plans. His efforts led to the formation of the CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, an all-hazards response plan for the Washington DC Metropolitan area, a national pandemic preparation and response plan, as well as a number of sensitive, classified plans and programs. Bassani is a seasoned combat leader, having commanded at every level in the Army, from a platoon to brigade.

In his post-Army career, Bassani worked in the banking industry as Senior Vice President for Operation and Chief Information Officer for a commercial bank in the Philadelphia area. He has consulted for several Fortune 500 companies in technology (software and hardware manufacturing sectors), upstream, unconventional oil and gas exploration, global electronics distribution and healthcare.

Bassani holds a Master of Science degree from the National Defense University (Strategy), a Master of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma (Communication) and a Bachelor of Arts degree (English) from Western New England University. He is a graduate of the Defense Information School and the National Defense University’s Joint Advanced Warfighting School. He also completed the Darden/SNL Executive Program in Bank Financial Leadership at The Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.

As The NPD Group’s Director of Industry Analysis for Commercial Technology, Michael Diamond offers expert analysis and commentary about the shifting commercial market. Through his focus on driving deeper insights with clients, Michael is improving core business-to-business (B2B) services and helping B2B clients navigate the channel more effectively.

Prior to joining NPD, Michael worked for Ingram Micro for 17 years in market and competitive intelligence, worldwide strategic planning, business intelligence, and North American strategic development. During his time at Ingram Micro, Michael was responsible for analyzing the competitive landscape, developing vendor and customer strategies, identifying trends in vertical and sub-vertical markets, and analyzing near-term and future technology trends. He also presented at vendor and customer-facing events to share industry insights.

Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Phoenix.

Bill Jones continually drives bottom-line performance for our events business. He leads a team of operations, customer service, venue planning and event systems that support The Channel Company’s renowned brands. Drawing from his extensive knowledge of the event and conference industry, Bill is responsible for new business development tools, profitable execution and custom engagements for the group. His event expertise spans launching and managing programs, including on-demand conferences, virtual events, live events, conferences, road shows and partner events.

Chris Dixon, senior manager, State and Local Industry Analysis, conducts targeted research aimed at shedding light on the state and local IT markets, and ways for vendors to capitalize on procurement opportunities. In addition to investigating, evaluating, and tracking existing state and local trends, Dixon provides strategic research, analysis, market forecasting, and opportunity analysis.

Chris Laping has been engaging audiences with disruptive ideas on innovation and roller coaster storytelling. Now, he is hitting the stage as author of his debut book, People Before Things, to take audiences on a journey that focuses on how great organizations take care of people and inspire a culture of change.  Prior to founding People Before Things, LLC, Chris served as SVP, Business Transformation and CIO at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers. In these roles, he was a highly contributing member of a management team that completed a successful turnaround, taking the company from an $8 stock price to $89 in just a few years. Chris has 25 years of technology and change leadership experience across multiple brands and industries and has been widely recognized for his innovative thought leadership. He was named a Top 5 Social Business Leader by The Economist, Social Business Technology Leader by InformationWeek and Premier 100 IT Leader by Computerworld. The work of the teams he led has been spotlighted in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company and CIO Magazine, among others.

Michael Lomonaco is the director of marketing and communications for OST. He joined the $160 million leading solution provider in 2011.  Michael honed his marketing and communications skills while attending Michigan State University. His career has included positions in local, state and federal political and policy work, corporate and nonprofit consulting, and customer relations, public relations, and marketing in the manufacturing sector.  These days, Michael leads the Marketing and Communications team at OST. In this role he is responsible for leading OST’s brand strategy, marketing programs, market insights, and public relations. He has a passion for creating wild outcomes and experiences through his abilities to connect and strategize across the organization, and with customers, partners, and colleagues.

Michael also has a deep connection to service and can be found working with any number of the boards of directors he serves In 2013, 2015, and 2016  Michael was selected as one of Grand Rapids’ “Top 40 Under Forty” business and community leaders.

As The NPD Group’s Executive Director in the company's B2B Technology Sector, Jana Munford manages relationships with leading global B2B vendors, distributors and national solution providers, who sell product through the channel.  Munford has been with The NPD Group since 2009, working to provide clients and partners with data-driven insights regarding key trends in the B2B channel, which they can leverage to develop plans that allow them to grow and evolve with the market. Munford is responsible for ensuring that NPD’s technology product offerings support the B2B channel needs and development. She helps NPD to grow and adjust its services portfolio to align with client needs, such as recently launching a B2B software and cloud tracking service to provide a holistic view of some of the fastest growing products in the B2B channel. Prior to joining NPD, Munford was an industry analyst with more than 13 years' experience researching and presenting on key technology market trends for global electronics companies within the printing and supplies space, including HP Inc., Canon, Lexmark and Xerox.

Tom Deierlein is the co-founder and CEO of ThunderCat Technology a systems integrator that specializes in data center solutions for the federal government. Deierlein is a 1989 graduate of West Point, a successful serial entrepreneur, Airborne Ranger, and Wounded Warrior. In 2017 ThunderCat was ranked No. 69 on the CRN Solution Provider 500 and a four-time member of the Tech Elite 250.  ThunderCat has also spent more than five years on the Inc. 5000, and was named by Forbes as one of America's Most Promising Companies.  Deierlein started his career working in sales for Johnson & Johnson and Parametric Technology Corp. in the mid-90's.

A Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient, Deierlein is a retired U.S. Army Major and Operation Iraqi Freedom Vet. In September 2006, he was shot by a sniper and critically wounded. Originally told he may never walk again he has since completed the Army 10-Miler and two triathlons.  He has been quoted and featured in Forbes, The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, Wall Street Journal, and FOX News.

In the Fall of 2006 he co-founded the Tom Deierlein Foundation www.tdfoundation.org which provides aid to children of wounded warriors and fallen heroes. The foundation helps American Veterans’ families in crisis. Deierlein is a Certified Peer Mentor with Wounded Warrior Project and USSOCOM Care Coalition.  He earned a master's of science in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1993 and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business in 2000.

Glenn O'Donnell, who serves infrastructure & operations professionals, is widely regarded as a top thought leader in IT service management, operations and the broader social implications of technology evolution. O'Donnell's specialties are in data center automation and operational excellence. He is the co-author of "The CMDB Imperative," which explores best practices in configuration management databases. Prior to joining Forrester, O'Donnell was a major force in transforming EMC's resource management software business as a marketing lead and strategic contributor. He also served as an IT operations analyst at the Meta Group. Most of his career encompassed 21 years in various companies within the Bell System including Western Electric, Bell Labs, AT&T, and, finally, Lucent Technologies, where he held increasingly influential roles in technology development, IT operations, and enterprise architecture. O'Donnell studied electrical engineering at Lincoln Technical Institute and computer science at Moravian College.