Jennifer Hicks, Amsterdam, ink Communications

To get into your market quickly in this increasingly targeted, sophisticated and technologically innovative era, you need to know Jennifer Hicks. As founder of the global communications agency, ink Communications, Jennifer is changing the way startups get their brand into the market.

Jennifer is a new order PR warrior on the front edge of the changing communications landscape. She broke new ground with ink as a virtual agency pioneer in 2001, operating across borders to help emerging tech, Web 2.0 and telecoms clients from North America to EMEA to translate their publicity and marketing efforts into a competitive advantage. Whether she’s creating a strategic roadmap for a client to navigate market shifts or illuminating the wilds of new techniques such as social media, Jennifer has made a name coaching established technology companies and start ups on their communications strategies that help them get to market quickly.

As a former assistant press secretary to US Senator Sam Nunn, director at Brodeur Worldwide and liaison to several of Europe’s leading venture capital and finance gurus, Jennifer’s extensive experience ensures the right plan for clients no matter where they are, where they need to be or how quickly they need to get there. Jennifer is a regular speaker, moderator and coach at e-Unlimited’s European Venture Summit, Benelux and Nordic Venture Forums as well as on the topic matters of Marketing 2.0 for Start Ups at Red Herring’s ETRE and Venture Market Europe. She is on the advisory board for IRL Corporate, SOMESSO, Trender Research and Flowr.

Jan Ligaard, Copenhagen, ICON22

With a degree in communications and many years in the advertising industry, Jan knows the good from the bad.  He knows it takes more than a great concept and an impressive look to make a campaign work. Jan tells it like he sees it – a rare commodity in communications, but the only way to get the right end result. His clients have included many Web 2.0 companies including gaming, venture firms, ICT and telecommunications companies.

On the design and communications front, Jan has been featured in several leading publications, such as Digital Arts, Computer Arts, Computer Arts Projects, Web design Index 08 and more. Jan and ICON22 are featured as a case study in the 2009 edition of “How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Website Design Business”, Atlantic Publishing Group. In addition to ICON22, he serves as a consultant to startup companies regarding marketing and communications strategies and is part of the coaching team at the Nordic Venture Forum.

Jan sits on the board of Thanning & Appel, a Danish publishing company and is a partner of Aditus Network.