Mark Simmons

David Allan Stewart

In today's flat world, business as usual no longer cuts it. Anyone can compete on quality, price and timing. So what's the secret weapon that will boost your business over and above the competition? Creativity! But far too often creativity is sidelined and the energy and excitement that go along side it are subdued. The Business Playground will change all that! Prodigious musician, producer and entrepreneur Dave Stewart, and advertising and branding guru Mark Simmons show you how to rediscover your creativity. Through a quirky selection of idea-inducing games and stimulating stories you'll be able to bring your workplace back to life. Be inspired by creative conversations with legendary Mick Jagger, Tony Award winning director Matthew Warchus, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. And learn from innovative companies like Google, NASA and Nokia. Unleash your amazing creative potential and get ready to play! 'If you are an entrepreneur and you spend time with Dave, you will know exactly what your next business idea should be, if you are a philosopher and you get talking to Dave, your mind will suddenly have clarity like never before. If you are a student and you listen to Dave, immediately you will believe in yourself and know exactly what you need to do next. Dave is a creative genius.' Simon Fuller, Founder and CEO of 19 Entertainment and creator of American Idol 'Captain Dave is a dreamer and a fearless innovator, a visionary of high order, very delicately tractable on the surface but beneath that, he's a slamming, thumping, battering ram, very mystical but rational.' Bob Dylan 'real creativity has me in awe, and Dave Stewart is one of the most thrilling creative minds I have ever met.' Anita Roddick, Founder of The Body Shop Dave Stewart is one of the most respected and accomplished talents in the music industry today. A prodigious producer of music, film and photography, described by Rolling Stone Magazine as the 'musician's musician,' an all around multi-media entrepreneur and, in Bob Dylan's words, 'a fearless innovator.' Dave's career spans the last 25 years, having achieved over 100 million album sales with Eurythmics' partner Annie Lennox. In 1999, the duo was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Brits In 2005 they wer both inducted in the UK Hall of Fame. Stewart is also known as one of the most prestigious British record producers, working with the biggest names in the music industry worldwide. He has won Best Producer four times, as well as numerous Grammys, a Golden Globe, MTV and Best British Songwriter awards. Mark Simmons is a branding expert, innovator and the co-author of Punk Marketing: Get Off Your Ass and Join the Revolution (HarperCollins, 2007). Over the past twenty years he has been a senior global marketer at Coca-Cola, run advertising agencies in the UK and US, been an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and is the co-founder of useless.org, a social enterprise dedicated to helping people use less and give more. Mark frequently speaks at conferences about creativity, marketing and branding. He passionately believes in the power of ideas to make a positive difference in business and society and works with organisations around the world to put this into practice.

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