Professor of Design & Theory Management, Dean of the College of Design – Muenster University of Applied Sciences

Ralf Beuker is a professor for Design Management and Dean of the College of Design at the Muenster Technical College. His professional experience has focused on strategic consulting, design-management research and on understanding the impact of technical innovations on society. His recent contributions to “This Is Service Design Thinking” (Stickdorn/Schneider, 2010) and “Brand-Driven Innovation” (Roscam Abbing, 2010) provide clear examples of his research interest: the competitive sustainability of design-based resources. Ralf Beuker is not only an academic but also involved in many practical consulting projects.

Keynote: "Designing the services to be provided in service-oriented organizations"

Founder of and partner in the Business Intelligence Group GmbH, Berlin and also Chairman of the Albert Berner Foundation for direct Customer Relationship Management

Prof. Dr. Peter Gentsch is the founder of and partner in the Business Intelligence Group GmbH and TextTech GmbH. Previously, he was active for many years as a consultant and coach for well-known companies in industry and in the service sector. He has led and carried out numerous projects in the areas of CRM, business intelligence and e business.

In addition, Prof. Dr. Gentsch has published many nationally and internationally recognized papers and is in demand as a popular seminar leader and keynote speaker on the topics of Web 2.0, CRM and business intelligence.

In 2010, he and Lufthansa German Airlines received the Innovation Award from the Association of German Market and Social Researchers (BVM). In 2011, he and Deutsche Post DHL (DPDHL) jointly won the international Digital Communication Award for "Digital Monitoring and Evaluation" presented by the Quadriga University of Applied Sciences (Berlin, Germany).

Furthermore, he is in charge of the exclusive Social Media Excellence Initiative (SME), which includes major enterprises such as Bosch, Coca-Cola, Daimler, Deutsche Post, Lufthansa, Microsoft, Telekom, Otto Group and O2.

Keynote: „Social Business – Best Practices in Customer Service"

fein-communication – Adliswil

Raymond Fein was born in 1950 in Zurich, Switzerland; he grew up speaking both German and English. He initially received specialized training in the textile business, earning a first commercial-college degree as well as an advanced commercial degree. He later completed legal studies at the University of Zurich, earning a Master of Laws degree.

Raymond Fein acquired his great knowledge, abilities and tact in effectively dealing with people at all management levels by successfully serving in executive positions such as manager and HR manager at medium-sized companies in the textile industry, as the principal of one of the largest private schools in Switzerland and as a creative editor, project manager and consultant at Swiss Television. In addition, for many years he was very successful in PR and publicity activities in different capacities for various projects involving many types of media and numerous distribution channels.

In Switzerland, Raymond Fein is also known as a popular musician and TV host/moderator; he has received several awards and prizes for these activities.

Since 1974, he has worked as an independent business, communications and PR consultant in business, industry and the service sector, primarily in Germany and Switzerland. Since 1989, the Kissling Institute has been an important partner in his networking activities. Raymond Fein's expertise is also enhanced through experience gained as a guest lecturer at various colleges and universities.

Keynote: "Targeted 3D Service: What (Demanding) Customers Really Want"

Head of Corporate IT, Group CIO – Baloise Holding AG, Basel, Switzerland

Olaf Romer was born in 1968 in Singen am Hohentwiel (Germany). He studied Computer Science at the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences. Since then, he has been particularly interested in comprehensive quality management. He is a member of the working group "Software Process Improvement and Quality" (SPIQ) in Freiburg, Germany. After completing his studies, Romer started his career at Hewlett-Packard in the Quality Assurance department within its Analytical Division in Waldbronn, Germany. Since 1996, he has been employed at the Basel Insurance Company (Basel, Switzerland), where he established a quality management process for the system serving external sales agents. As Head of IT Quality Management from 1999 to 2002, Romer was in charge of quality management for the company's entire IT system. Starting in 2002, he was Head of IT Services and as Chief Technology Officer in charge of the company's user service center and its computer centers. Since 2010, he has served as Head of Infrastructure & Support within the Corporate IT department of the Baloise Group. In this position, he has been focusing on improving collaboration among all of the Group's subsidiaries in Europe and emphasizing consolidation of their IT infrastructures. Since 2011, he has also been Head of Corporate IT and is in charge of the following areas: IT Governance, Corporate Applications and Infrastructure & Support.

Keynote: „The corporate IT on the way to becoming a private cloud provider "

The following specialists will be leading the workshops on May 22:

Managing Director for Sales/Organization – Aspera GmbH, Aachen

Bernhard Böhler is a creative force behind and co-founder of Aspera in 2000. Today, he is one of its three managing partners – along with Keith Sauvant and Christof Beaupoil – and is in charge of sales and organization. Before co-founding Aspera, he was Global Account Manager at Software Spectrum, Inc., where he was responsible for serving Fortune 500 companies in Germany.

Senior Consultant – USU Consulting GmbH, Sursee/CH

After completing a training program at Alcatel STR, Stefan Ruoss started his career there as a systems engineer for telecommunications and networks. After this, he moved to Cisco Systems, where he was a consultant and technical manager for its Systems Engineering division. In 2003, he assumed the leadership of the Junis-phere startup, which develops software solutions for business service manage-ment. As the CTO at Junisphere, he was in charge of software development, consulting, pre-sales and support. In 2011, he joined USU Consulting, previously known as get IT Services, where he is now active as the senior consultant for business service management, service portfolio management, process mapping, service management, dependency mapping and service monitoring.

Founder and CEO of conGENTE GmbH, Baar/CH

Michael R. Schnieper is an instructor and consultant with many years of experience in the area of leadership and change management. He provides international services as a coach and consultant for change projects, helping companies to move in new directions and chart new territories. He has been active in the ICT field since 1995 and has gained valuable experience in different functions, duties and countries. As a trainer, coach and consultant, he provides ongoing support to project managers and their teams as they implement change projects.

Managing Partner – USU Consulting GmbH, Sursee/CH

Markus Schweizer has broad experience in the areas of IT management, service management, ICT sourcing management, IT asset and license management, process management, project management, consulting, coaching, training and assessments. He has over 20 years of experience in consulting, product management, business development and project management in Europe and North America.