Keynote Speakers
Dick Penny
Dick Penny MBE is an arts administrator, consultant and producer, as well as a key player in the Cultural and Creative Industries based in Bristol, England.
He is Managing Director of Watershed in Bristol, a pathfinding cross-artform digital producer innovating at the intersection of society, arts and technology. Published digital projects are located at www.dshed.net Collaborative innovation projects are at www.pmstudio.co.uk. Watershed works across the Cultural and Creative Industries as a catalyst and connector. Through curating ideas, spaces and talent, Watershed enables artistic visions and creative collaborations to flourish. Watershed is rooted in Bristol but places no boundaries on its imagination or desire to connect with artists and audiences in the wider world.
Before working in the arts, Dick Penny worked as a builder, a computer programmer, a production controller in furniture manufacture and commercial vehicle building, and as general manager of an industrial textile company.
Dick is also playing a leading role in Connecting Bristol to deliver a digital inclusion strategy for the city. He is a past Chair of Bristol Old Vic Theatre and the Bristol Partnership LSP. He is currently Chair of the Bristol BBC Anchor Partnership, Chair of the WoE LEP Creative Sector Group, and a Bristol Partnership Executive Board member.
Graham Sheffield
Graham Sheffield is currently Director Arts for the British Council having taken up his new role on 9 May 2011. He is responsible for leading and developing the global arts policy and programme across the Council's operations, with direct management of the London arts team. He holds a position on the Council's Executive Board reporting directly to the CEO.
Graham was previously Chief Executive Officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong, leading the development of one of the largest arts infrastructures and programming projects ever envisioned.
Graham was Artistic Director of the Barbican from 1995-2010. He led the development of artistic vision, policy and strategy across the art forms in Europe’s largest integrated multi arts centre – music, drama, dance, cinema, spoken word and the visual arts. He also led the marketing, new media and customer experience departments. Under his directorship, the Barbican became one of the most innovative, dynamic and respected centres in the arts world, with an award-winning international programme.
Karen Stephenson
Dr. Karen Stephenson, hailed in Business 2.0 as “The Organization Woman”, is a corporate anthropologist and lauded as a pioneer and "leader in the growing field of social-network business consultants." In 2007, she was one of only three females recognized from a distinguished short list of 55 in Random House’s Guide to the Management Gurus. In 2006, she was awarded the first Houghton Hepburn Fellow at Bryn Mawr College for her groundbreaking contributions to civic engagement. In 2001, her consulting firm Netform was recognized as one of the top 100 leading innovation companies by CIO. Her prominence catapulted in 2000 when she was featured in a New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell, regarding the social dynamics of office spaces. Before these accolades, Stephenson had earned praises for innovatively solving a variety of complex problems which have been featured in The Economist, Forbes, The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and Wired. Drawing upon her prolific experience and 400 member database, Dr. Stephenson consistently delivers that “aha’’ moment to her clients and audiences. A global nomad, she has been sighted at the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University where she currently lectures. This was preceded by 5 years at the Harvard School of Design and 10 years at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropology at Harvard University, an M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Utah, and B.A. in Art & Chemistry at Austin College, TX. You can read about her here and find her company at www.netform.com.
