Gary has worked in technology, branding and marketing for more than 30-years. He is the Founder of rAVe [PUBS], the leading global AV news publication, and the Creative Director of THE rAVe Agency, a tech-focused creative agency. Prior to rAVe, he served as vice president of sales and marketing for Extron and executive VP at AMX Corporation, now part of Samsung. In addition, he's either helped create or assisted on dozens of branding campaigns for tech companies. A graduate of the UNC school of journalism, he's now a 2-time, award-winning teaching assistant professor at his alma mater. He teaches multiple courses, like new media and its impact on the future of advertising, marketing and PR and a personal and professional branding class. In, 2016, he received the UNC journalism school’s Adjunct Professor of the Year award, in 2023 he won the Ed Vick Innovation in Teaching Award at UNC and then in 2024 he was awarded the UNC Student Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Chancellor. He's also been awarded both the AVIXA Educator of the Year Award as well as the NSCA Teacher of the Year. He's been the keynote speaker at more than 370 tech conferences and events — thanks to his marketing and branding expertise but he's told he gets asked to deliver keynotes because of my entertaining and approachable speaking style. In 2019, he was even recognized as one of DataBird’s 100 Best Keynote Speakers in the USA. Outside of his professional accomplishments, he's most proud of his involvement in co-founding the Swim for Smiles Foundation that raised money for the UNC and Duke children’s hospitals and volunteer work at UNC. Finally, he has two amazing daughters — one was a collegiate-level swimmer at Pepperdine University and is now in training to become a professional triathlete and the other works in advertising and marketing in-house at a SaaS firm. When he's not with his daughters, he spends his free time traveling to Disney parks, volunteering and racing in triathlons. (He's competed in more than 70 — including racing the infamous Escape from Alcatraz seven times as well as completing 6 IRONMANS.)