Service Line and Capability Lead at Avanade.

Aki Kalliatakis is the Managing Partner of The Leadership LaunchPad, a business focused on customer loyalty and radical marketing. Contact him on +27 (0)83 379 3466, +27 (0)11 640-3958 or .

Alexa Garthwaite is Head of Marketing at ExecutiveOffices.co.uk. A marketing expert, she also has a deep interest in SMEs, business, property and travel.

Amanda is the founder & CEO of Truth. Amanda's extensive experience in the field of Loyalty & CRM has put Truth at the forefront of loyalty in South Africa.

Amanda Rogaly, managing director of independent food verification and certification body FoodSure, has close to two decades worth of experience in the food, hospitality, and eventing industries. Prior to founding FoodSure, Amanda established Kadoro Events and Communications, a company providing events services for blue chip clients, which grew into a nationwide enterprise under her leadership..

Athar Naser is head of Juice Content. He is responsible for content strategy and content marketing across the group as well as for department clients.

After competing his Financial Analysis studies at Stellenbosch University, Bevan joined UCS solutions as a junior consultant. He went on to work at a firm in the mobile payment industry, and slowly started to connect the dots between business, retail and mobile systems and seeing how the three could work seamlessly together..

Bhekisisa Mncube is a Communications Expert at the B74 Media Lab PR Agency and a political analyst at Gagasi 99.5.FM. He is versatile writer, communicator and media relations specialist..

Portfolio Director with Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery.

Brendon Williamson is general manager of business development at PayGate, which is an international payment gateway that simplifies payments for online retailers, which can be a very complex part of running a business..

Brett Kaplan became MD of Clothing and General Merchandise business in July 2013 after joining Woolworths in 1978 as a trainee manager and starting retail life in Adderly Street. Over the years he held various merchandising and buying management positions throughout the Clothing & GM Business Three years ago Brett was promoted to divisional director of Clothing and GM. In 2010 he joined EXCO as director of Clothing and GM Buying reporting to CEO Ian Moir.

Brian Berkman can be contacted on 083-441-8765 or email ..

Bruce von Maltitz is the director of 1Stream. He was instrumental in bringing the hosted call centre model to South Africa and has helped many large multinationals set up call centres - including wonga.com and Amazon..

Charles Mburugu is an internet entrepreneur based in Nairobi, Kenya. He is the owner of TechBlogKe, a technology blog which offers tips on social media, blogging, making money online, web development and SEO..

Charles Stretch, is the managing director of SMSPortal. Established in 2002, it has grown to be a large bulk SMS provider sending 100 million SMS a month.

Apart from being a corporate marketing analyst, advisor and media commentator, Chris Moerdyk is executive chairman of Bizcommunity. He used to be head of strategic planning and public affairs for BMW South Africa and spent 16 years in the creative and client service departments of ad agencies, ending up as resident director of Lindsay Smithers-FCB in KwaZulu-Natal.

Christophe van Zyl is a dynamic, business-minded attorney who joined Von Seidels in 2013 after spending eight years at a large IP law firm in Pretoria. Christophe has expertise in the registration of trademarks, strategic branding advice, copyright law, domain name registrations and disputes, company name objections, advertising and marketing law, advice on regulatory aspects of IP including packaging and labelling requirements for foodstuffs and other products, commercial aspects of IP, anti-counterfeiting, dispute resolution and litigation..

Cirrus TechVue has been in business since the early 1980s. It's an SME with an exemplary track record in introducing new technology to South Africa and implementing enterprise scale solutions in some of the country's largest organisations, such as Telkom, Absa, Sasol and Mutual & Federal, to name a few..

Danette Breitenbach was the editor and publisher of Advantage, the publication that served the marketing, media and advertising industry in southern Africa. Before her editorship, she was deputy-editor as well as freelancing for over a year on the publication before that.

Danny Groner is the manager of blogger partnerships and outreach for Shutterstock..

Often referred to as one of South Africa's leading trend experts, Dave Nemeth is a qualified designer who has been in a variety of industries over the past 20 years. His company Trend Forward presents the IIDNemeth Trend Report annually in all major SA cities.

David Blyth is Group Managing Director at Yellowwood. His focus at Yellowwood to date has been on building thought leadership and a pan-African client footprint.

David Palmer-Stevens is SI Manager EMEA, Panduit at Panduit..

Managing Director at QlikView South Africa.

Deon Scheepers is Regional Business Development Manager, Interactive Intelligence Africa..

Derek Buchanan is CEO of Episys, a global information technology solutions and services company to a range of industries including retail..

Dina Saffer-Myers is Co-Founder and Director of Aperio, a business consulting company focused on the FMCG space in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Dina has 12 years successful business and leadership experience in one of the world's top companies, Procter & Gamble.

Dion Chang (@dionchang) is the founder of Flux Trends. He is an innovator, creative thinker and visionary.

Donvay Wegierski is director of Werksmans Attorneys. Her main practice areas are intellectual property and Africa.

Doug Mayne, MD of Primedia Lifestyle, founded his marketing and advertising career at Ogilvy Durban, where his leadership qualities ensured his progression from account executive to group account director. Joining Primedia Lifestyle in 2007 as KZN regional marketing manager, Doug was appointed MD in July 2011.

Drew Van Vuuren is one of South Africa's most dynamic bastions of information technology security. With over 18 years' experience in corporate security and privacy, Drew currently heads up 4Di Privaca - an innovative specialist information security and privacy practice.

Eran Feinstein is the founder of 3G Direct Pay Limited. 3G provides global e-commerce and online payments solutions for the travel and related industries.

Eugene Yiga is a reformed accountant, now living it up as an entertainment writer (and Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards board member) in Cape Town. He also writes about personal development and is on a quest to read the 100 greatest books of all time before he turns 30. Follow @eugeneyiga on Twitter or by email to say, um, hello..

Gaelyn Scott is Director and Head of Intellectual Property at ENS (Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs) and has 17 years experience. She practises as an attorney in the intellectual property department and specialises in strategic brand management and the enforcement of intellectual property rights, both locally and internationally, with extensive experience in Africa.

Gareth Pearson, CEO and shareholder of BMi Research (www.bmi.co.za), is a market research specialist with particular focus in the industrial and FMCG markets in various sectors, including the retail market. He serves as a member of the South African Institute of Packaging's Regional Committee and is involved with the South African Packaging Council.

Gary Hadfield joined the team at Loot.co.za as CEO in January 2011. Hadfield has been in the one-to-one industry for the duration of his career, nine years of which he spent in the mail order industry, and 13 years in the e-Commerce environment..

I was a creative child; at age seven, I started my own flea circus.I'd bribe the family dog with biltong to be the tour bus..

Passionate about understanding the retail trading environment, formal and informal..

Gisèle Wertheim Aymés has worked in the media industry in South Africa for over two decades. She is a director of a medical company, owner and publishing editor of Longevity Media (www.longevitymag.co.za) and a shareholder in Stuff Group SA, publishers of Stuff (www.Stuff.co.za) - the world's best-selling gadget magazine.

Glenn Gillis is the managing director of Sea Monster Entertainment, one of South Africa's pre-eminent animation, gaming and augmented reality companies. He has a Business Science degree from UCT and has been an entrepreneur, hired gun, and consultant with growing, knowledge-intensive businesses around the world for over 25 years..

A Consumer Researcher and Brand Strategist with a special focus on the Middle East and Africa. Diverse sector expertise covers: packaged goods, food & beverages, financial services, retail, healthcare, automotive and telecoms.

Gwen is the only Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) in Botswana, a member of SAFREA and SASJA, a sub-editor for BizCommunity and the author of a book on conference & Events Planning. She freelances for Independent Newspapers and other SA media.

Hayley Turner has been in marketing for over a decade. She holds a Psychology degree from the University of Cape Town and started her career in the marketing department of a business software company in 2000.

Hendrik Bredenkamp is MD of Skydirect, an XON company and sole African Pricer distributor..

Bizcommunity.com motoring editor Henrie Geyser () has worked as a journalist in Cape Town, London and Windhoek for the Argus Company (now Independent Newspapers) and spent 12 years at The Cape Argus in Cape Town. He then owned and ran a public relations consultancy for 13 years.

Howard is Head of Marketing and International at wiGroup. He has 15 years' experience in B2B and B2C marketing and operations across a range of industry sectors from ICT (Logica - UK), to publishing and media (News Corporation - Australia) and mobile (wiGroup - South Africa).

Ian is executive: product and sales at Innervation and is responsible for product management, the Innervation project office, sales and marketing. He has 15 years experience in the integration and operation of large range Value Added Services and Payments into various tiers and verticals within retail.

Ilan Hertz is the VP of Marketing at SysAid Technologies, a leading provider of IT Service Management solutions, deployed at over 100,000 companies around the world..

Janine Hollesen is a director at Werksmans Attorneys..

My passions are shopper marketing, consumer packaging, visual merchandising, ideation, bankable innovation, integrated marketing, tangible ROI, and execution efficacy. My motto is, "Passion and persistence will get you everywhere." I strive for simplicity, practicality and information frugality..

Jayson joined DRS in November 2012 after being in the vendor community for over 12 years. His experience and exposure to industry experts and global customers have allowed him the opportunity to get involved at the grass roots where it matters most..

Jed Hewson is a director of 1Stream..

Jeremy Lang is Regional General Manager at Business Partners Limited..

Jess is content assistant and support manager at Bizcommunity.com. She is also a contributing writer to the Bizcommunity Lifestyle section.

Jillian Reilly (@changingview) is a writer, speaker and consultant with over twenty years experience working across the developing world. Her book, Shame: Confessions of an avid worker in Africa, was published last year.

John French is a communication strategist and communication skills coach with 20 years extensive experience in the communication industry. Contact John at or visit www.johnfrench.co.za..

John Roberts is CEO of Just Property Group..

Jordan Scott is a student of marketing and lover of life..

Justin Hawes is the managing director of two display companies: exhibition specialist, Scan Display, and retail specialist, Scan Retail Solutions. He is also one of the founders and the current chairperson of the Event Greening Forum, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to transforming the South African events industry into a more sustainable model.

Justin Smith is head of the Woolworths Good Business Journey (Sustainability Programme). He is responsible for the strategy, structure and integration of sustainability across the retailer's business to deliver its over 200 targets across transformation, social development, environmental issues and climate change..

Karen Ashwin is the founder and MD of The Event Production Company (www.theeventcompany.co.za), South Africa's event pioneer. Karen is considered one of the industry's leading personalities and has a track record of 21 years, with The Event Production Company having conceptualised and executed most of South Africa's largest, most significant, high profile and innovative events.

With a degree in Business Management, Ms Stubbs joined Barloworld Logistics in 2002, prior to which she worked both locally and internationally. Following five years' experience as general manager marketing at Barloworld Logistics she was promoted to Executive: Marketing and has held that position for the past two years..

Keanan Reis is a communication consultant who develops solutions around New and Traditional Media, internal and external stakeholders. He is currently the Head of Strategy and MD for Ambigram Solutions.

Customer Experience Professional and Facilitator. Founder of Kele Communications.

Kelly Summerfield is a researcher in the Department of Marketing Management at the University of Pretoria. Visit bcommarketing.up.ac.za for more information on the research the Department of Marketing Management is doing..

Kerry Evans is the MD of Quintica..

These days I represent Moving Tactics as the Head of Digital Signage Solutions, backed by a talented group of individuals who live and breathe digital signage. It is an exciting time in and exciting industry!.

Kevin Meltzer is the co-founder of Consology and has been the Business Development Director of the company for over ten years. After graduating from UCT Kevin spent three years in the UK where he gained contact centre experience and managed customer care teams. Kevin went on to pursue his passion in Self-Service and e-billing by co-founding Consology..

Chief Strategist at Inventors Kitchen. Twitter @Lebza1Mukansi.

Leron began his expedition learning the ins and outs of all IT related businesses. With a background in information technology Leron believes that even the most sophisticated systems need good people to drive them. After Leron entered the world of FMCG, branding and marketing, understanding the supply chain and related areas.

Lize Mills is a senior lecturer in the Department of Private Law in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University..

Lucinde Rhoodie is a director in Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr's Dispute Resolution practice. She is also a member of the Insolvency unit.

Luke Wingfield Digby is the founder and CEO of Total Send, an easy-to-use, low cost email marketing service. His experience lies in web development and affiliate marketing.

Managing Executive of The Fish & Chip Co.

Marion Scher (www.mediamentors.co.za) is an award-winning journalist, lecturer, media trainer and consultant with 25 years' experience in the industry. For more of her writing, go to her Bizcommunity profile or to Twitter @marionscher..

Matthew Samuel is an experienced content writer and editor..

Melissa Baird is a sustainability communication strategist at Ogilvyearth South Africa whose career has included multi-faceted marketing communications campaigns in traditional advertising, interactive television, web based marketing and book and magazine publishing..

Michael Wood is co-founder and Director of Aperio, a business consulting company focused on the FMCG space in South and Sub Saharan Africa. Michael has many years international experience where he held the positions of Marketing Director, Sales Director & Managing Director with the Gillette company and Procter & Gamble..

Michelle Francis is CEO and founder of Tradeway. She is passionate about experiential execution, compliance, ROMI and development of the youth for the formal job sector.

Mike Taberner is a Partner and Director at Brandesign, a brand development company. He consults on brand development and marketing channels to be used by clients.

Chief Consultative Sales Officer at Consultative Sales Academy - I work with highly motivated individuals and organisations to create success by utilizing a consultative sales approach. Contact details: website: www.consultativesalesacademy.net | Twitter @monikadago | LinkedIn.

Neil Kirby is director: health care and life sciences law of Werksmans. He is the chair of the Medicine and Law Committee of the International Bar Association.

Nicholas Owsley is an Assistant Project Manager at Fetola. He recently graduated with an Honours Degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and has been published in the Sowetan, Engineering News, Business Report, and others..

Nick attended the University of Stellenbosch, graduating with an honours degree in commerce, majoring in financial and investment management. After three years he decided to join XFACTA where today he serves as a strategic planner/new business development manager/copywriter/runner/public relations manager/account manager, and currently as a director of the Brand Council of South Africa (@BrandCouncilSA).

Nicolas De Sousa is Marketing Director at Traditional Brands. A master of Marketing and Business Administration with varied international experience within internationally recognized corporations adds a clear backing of experience within his favoured fields within retail and marketing, PR management, logistics and finance.

Staying true to her passion, Nicole's journey formally started at the University of Cape Town when she graduated with a Business Science degree with Honours in Marketing. Being intrigued by the approach of Unconventional Wisdom and Nicole's goal of being challenged on a daily basis led her to Yellowwood in 2011, where she goes back to her puzzle building roots, solving business and marketing problems as a Strategist..

Paddy Hartdegen has been working as a journalist and writer for the past 40 years since his first article was published in the Sunday Tribune when he was just 16-years-old. He has written 12 books, edited a plethora of business-to-business publications and written for most of the major newspapers in South Africa..

Founder and CEO at Gloo.

Peter Harvey is the MD of PayGate. Leading through integrity, with more than 26 years in IT and payment processing, Peter is a master when it comes to creating solutions to clients' exact requirements.

Professor Owen Dean is a former partner and chairman of Spoor & Fisher, specialist intellectual property solicitors, and holds the chair of intellectual property law at Stellenbosch University..

Rachel Sikwane is a senior associate at Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs (ENS) and has six years' experience as an attorney in the intellectual property department. She specialises in trademark and copyright litigation, domain name disputes, company and close corporation name objections, ASA disputes as well as passing-off and unlawful competition matters.

Rihana Hoosain has been with MWEB for nearly four years and heads up the Product division for MWEB Connect. She has a Bachelor of Commerce with majors in Finance and Economics, and is responsible for the overall product strategy for the Consumer and Small Business division.

Rod Baker is Content Director at Bizcommunity.com. A journalist since before computers, he worked on a wide range of magazines and, in his youth, rose through the ranks from being a lowly and abused sub-editor, to a high and still abused editor and publisher.

Content Director at Bizcommunity.com.

Ros Siddle is the Marketing & Loyalty Research Manager at Truth, a boutique consulting business specialising in customer centricity and customer loyalty programmes. Ros holds a degree in Human Resource Management majoring in Industrial Psychology from Stellenbosch University.

Ruth is the production manager at Bizcommunity, as well as a co-editor and contributor to the Lifestyle section. .

In short, I've spent the past 14 years becoming an expert in Retail Marketing (Woolworths), Foods Marketing (Nando's), and International Marketing (both). This includes working in, setting up and managing marketing systems in 10 countries.

Shan Radcliffe is the head of content for Bizcommunity Retail.

Having started his career as a startup partner for FSA Distribution in 1990, Simon Campbell-Young went on to start his own company called Memtek Distribution in 1995. This was sold to a Public Company called Siltek Holdings between 1998 to 2000.

Sindy Peters (@sindylp) is Group Head: Content at Bizcommunity.com. She can be reached at ..

Stephanie Houslay is General Manager at Acceleration Media. She leads the company's growth in the Western Cape region and she has extensive experience in managing global and local multichannel accounts across industries as diverse as fast-moving consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and telecoms, and is passionate about branding, strategic communications, social marketing and business sustainability..

Su-Mari Du Bruyn is co-founder of the company Adapt To Change. She is a qualified HR practitioner and logistics specialist and is passionate about Continuous Improvement and people development..

Tim Wyatt-Gunning is CEO at Web Africa.

Tom Manners is Managing Director of Clockwork Media..

Tralone is a writer, marketer, loves anything, marketing, brands and PR related. She has a BA communication degree and holds a post graduate diploma in Marketing (IMM).

Vicky Stilwell is a director in Intellectual Property (IP) at ENS (Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs)..

Vijay Sai Pratap, Director-Business Development and head of the m-governance & Life impacting services unit with OnMobile Global Ltd, has been associated with the Mobile Telecom value-added services industry for over nine years..

John Brown Media, part of a leading global content marketing agency. Our passion is to help brands engage with their customers across a multitude of platforms, from digital to print.

Wayne Harrision is Managing Director at Boomtown SA. Contact details: website: www.boomtown.co.za | email | LinkedIn.

Wesley Lynch is a serial technology entrepreneur. He is the CEO and Founder of Realmdigital, a leading South African e-business strategy and technology partner, specialising in Web, Social and Mobile platforms as well as the CEO of Snapplify, an innovative digital publishing solutions provider.