Baroness Greenfield is Director of the Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind, exploring the physical basis of consciousness. Her books include “The Human Brain: A Guided Tour” (1997), “The Private Life of the Brain” (2000), and “Tomorrow’s People: How 21st Century Technology Is Changing the Way We Think and Feel” (2003) and “‘ID’ - The Quest for Identity” (2008). She is Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (the first woman to hold that position) and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, where she leads a multi-disciplinary team investigating neurodegenerative disorders.

Baroness Greenfield has spun off four companies from her research, made a diverse contribution to print and broadcast media, and led a Government report on “Women In Science”. She has received 30 Honorary Degrees, Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (2000), a non-political Life Peerage (2001) as well as the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur (2003). In 2006 she was installed as Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University and voted `Honorary Australian of the Year’. In 2007 she was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

As founder of the production company Big Earth, Russ has been the business brain behind global TV success stories such as Long Way Round (2004) and Long Way Down (2007) starring Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, and more recently Wicklow to Sydney By Any Means (2008) in which he featured heavily, as well as the latest adventure Sydney to Tokyo By Any Means (2009). Russ proved his strengths by not only achieving financing for the expeditions to be planned and shot for television but also by directing these incredible television series.

As team leader, Russ undertook each of the ambitious trips, experiencing new and diverse cultures in countries such as Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Sudan and Ethiopia, encountering many fascinating and inspiring stories along the way. The resulting television series and books have motivated many 'ordinary' people to go on their own individual yet challenging adventures, which is a tribute to the success that Russ has created. This in turn has inspired Russ to create the new adventure travel website Big Earth www.bigearth.co.uk which was designed as a platform for everyday people to plan and share their adventures online.

As one of Britain’s best-known and most accomplished designers, Richard Seymour has a career spanning more than 30 years and a huge range of creative disciplines. In this time he has become a global champion for design, picking up numerous awards along the way, including the D&AD President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Design. Initially trained as a graphic designer and illustrator, Richard moved through advertising and film production design before launching Seymourpowell with Dick Powell in 1984. Richard is now also consultant global creative director of design to Unilever’s Dove, Axe (Lynx) and Vaseline brands, a trustee of the Design Museum in London and a past president of D&AD. When he isn’t designing them (or falling off them), Richard enjoys riding motorcycles. He’s also a cellist and a keen supporter of Early English Music. Richard holds an Honorary Doctorate from the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, an Honorary Masters from the Surrey Institute and is also a senior fellow of the Royal College of Art.

Gary Lee was born in London’s East End.  He studied for a Catering Diploma at Waltham Forest College.  After 2 months’ work experience at The Dorchester under legendary Anton Mosimann, he went on to work for the Savoy Group, Inigo Jones and finally Caprice Holdings.  At 43, Gary has been Head Chef at The Ivy for 2 years, having joined the group in 2000 as a Sous Chef at Le Caprice and going from there to be Head Chef at Bam-Bou in 2002.  It was here that Gary’s skill and passion for Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines really shone through – not least because he had worked hard to complete a City & Guilds Level 3 qualification in Chinese cookery.  Gary admires Asian cuisine for its honesty, methodology and history; these attributes have served him well at The Ivy: the menu is wide-reaching and covers many different continents.  His tenure at The Ivy has also seen the successful opening of The Club at The Ivy in September 2008.  Gary is a firm believer that “there is no substitute for knowledge” and this, coupled with discipline, are principles he has instilled in all the kitchens that he has run.

John is a writer and consultant, and a director of The Writer. He has written a number of books on the relationship between language and identity, including We, me, them & it and The invisible grail. He is the series editor for Cyan’s Great Brand Stories. His latest book 26 ways of looking at a blackberry was published this year.

He was a director of Newell and Sorrell from 1984 until the merger with Interbrand in 1997. He headed many large brand and identity programmes and established Interbrand’s verbal identity team before he left in 2003.

John runs “Writing for design” workshops for D&AD. He also runs “Dark Angels” workshops, residential courses in remote retreats in the UK and Europe, which aim to promote more creative writing for business. John is a founder director of 26, the not-for-profit group that champions the cause of better language in business, and has been writer-in-residence for Unilever and King’s Cross tube station.

Patrick Collister is the only person to have been the executive CD of both a top above-the-line and a top below-the-line agency, at Ogilvy & Mather and at EHS Brann respectively.

He was on the D&AD Executive Committee from 2001 to 2004. And has been a keynote speaker at Cannes in 2007, 2008 and 2009. He currently publishes Directory Magazine, edits The Big Won, a web-based analysis of awards shows around the world, and offers training through Creative Matters. He flatters himself he is not as boring as his CV makes him sound.

Andrew is a consultant specialising in ‘alignment’ in order to help individuals and teams improve the pace and quality of their business execution. He is particularly concerned with ensuring strategy and behavioural alignment throughout organisations and helping to create a sustainable ‘High Performance’ culture.

Andrew began his career in the Royal Marines where he held a variety of key leadership roles around the world ranging from commanding an attack helicopter squadron to overall HR responsibility for the employment, career development, selection and promotion of over 500 officers. Numerous operational deployments around the globe (often in difficult circumstances) have given Andrew a unique insight into how to help individuals, teams and organisations tap into their extraordinary potential within.

As a founder and Director of the Business Performance Consultancy Sykes Fairbairn, Andrew is working in close partnership with a number of FTSE 100 clients where he has a reputation for bringing what is often described as a ‘refreshingly different’ approach to their issues. Using a number of alignment tools and thinking developed from his time in the Royal Marines and refined over the years working in complex and demanding commercial situations, Andrew is passionate about helping teams and individuals realise their true potential.

Neil is creative director of The Writer (www.thewriter.co.uk). There he trains people to become more creative writers at work, and he works with everyone from BBC Radio 1Xtra to Sotheby’s (and is up for the National Training Award with BT).

He’s written three books, Brilliant Business Writing, The Name of the Beast, about brand naming, and Search Me, about the Google brand. He occasionally pops up on Radio 4, or in the Guardian, mouthing off about language, business and brands. And yes, he’s even been on Saturday Kitchen. He used to work at Interbrand, and is on the board of writers’ group 26.

Other important passions include Doctor Who, Belle and Sebastian (the band, not the cartoon) and Quebec.

Shan is a business adviser working exclusively in the design sector. She delivers business development consultancy and skills training, helping management teams to improve performance and profitability. PREDDY&CO's clients are large and small, UK and international, and from all design disciplines. Their consultancy uses a combination of new business and client relationship methodologies, and their training covers Presentation Skills, Conference Speaking, Credentials Meetings, Pitches, Sales, Negotiation Skills and Client Relationships. In addition, they carry out expert client and prospect research surveys using proven qualitative techniques.

Shan is an accredited consultant on the DBA Experts Register. She sits on the UK Design Skills Advisory Board and regularly speaks at and chairs international design conferences. Her professional memberships include the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Marketing Society. She is an Elected Associate of D&AD and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts. Her book, How to Market Design Consultancy Services, published by Gower for the Design Council, has become an industry standard. A companion book, How to Run a Successful Design Business, will be published in 2010.

David has a wealth of experience running highly respected design businesses – he was previously Joint MD of Wolff Olins, then Development Director for Fitch PLC and Managing Director of Design Bridge until 2001. Since then David is Principal of 'Actionable Advice' a consultancy that helps creative businesses deal with the demands of business. Up until early 2009 David was also part-time Managing Partner of Circus and a Non Executive Director of several design agencies. He trained as an economist at LSE and gained an MBA from London Business School.