Medford, NJ  (July 5, 2011)  --  Organizers of the 2011 SpeechTEK Conference and Exposition (www.speechtek.com) and CRM Evolution Conference and Exposition (www.destinationcrm.com) have announced that David Gergen, senior political analyst at CNN and adviser to four U.S. presidents, will be the featured keynote speaker for the co-located events being held at the Hilton New York, August 8-10.

Gergen will speak at 9 a.m., Monday, August 8.

The Internet, mobile devices, and social media are having such a profound effect on the way people acquire and share information that it’s changing the course of history.  From day-to-day events in U.S. politics to political unrest in the Middle East, the impact of so-called “new media” cannot be ignored.  People want to be heard and they expect governments and businesses that serve them to listen and respond to their needs.  

The consequences of ignoring the impact of social media can be immediate and far-reaching.  Gergen brings a truly unique perspective to the subject having worked as an adviser to presidents and top officials of both political parties and working as a senior political analyst for CNN, covering political developments that were influenced by the use of new media.  He will address the impact of social media on societies, why this is happening, and how today's government and business leaders must respond to the digitally connected people they serve.

Gergen is a professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and director of its Center for Public Leadership.  He is the author of the best-selling book, Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership, Nixon to Clinton.

Gergen joined the Nixon White House in 1971 as a staff assistant on the speech writing team.  Two years later he took over as director.  He went on to become the director of communications for Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, a counselor on domestic and foreign affairs for Bill Clinton and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, and an adviser to the 1980 George H. W. Bush presidential campaign.

He was the first managing editor of Public Opinion, a magazine affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, and from 1985-1986 worked as an editor at U.S. News & World Report, where he remains an editor-at-large.

Gergen began his career in television in 1985 when he joined the "McNeil/Lehrer NewsHour" for regular Friday night discussions of politics. Today, he appears frequently on CNN as an analyst for "Anderson Cooper 360" and "The Situation Room."

Gergen joined the Harvard faculty in 1999. He is active as a speaker on leadership and sits on many boards, including Teach for America, the Aspen Institute, and Duke University, where he taught from 1995-1999. He is a member of the Washington D.C. Bar and the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds 18 honorary degrees.

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About CRM Evolution

CRM Evolution is a premier conference and exposition (www.destinationcrm.com) showcasing the latest ideas and trends in customer relationship management.  CRM practitioners, consultants and other leading voices in the industry meet annually at CRM Evolution to share and discuss the latest ideas, innovations, technologies, services and solutions from the world's leading companies. CRM Evolution, destinationCRM.com and CRM magazine are properties of CRM Media, a division of Information Today, Inc..

About SpeechTEK

Launched in 1995, the SpeechTEK Exposition and Educational Conference (www.speechtek.com) and SpeechTEK Europe are recognized worldwide as the industry’s premier events focusing on products, services, applications, solutions and innovations using speech technologies.  The trade show and educational conferences attract a global network of speech technology providers and enterprise customers who are developing and implementing speech solutions.

About Information Today

Information Today, Inc. (www.infotoday.com), parent company of CRM Evolution, destinationCRM.com, and CRM magazine, SpeechTEK, SpeechTEK Europe and Speech Technology magazine is a leading publisher and conference organizer in the field of technology and technology applications in today's enterprise.  Information Today publishes CRM magazine, Streaming Media magazine, Speech Technology magazine, KMWorld magazine, Database Trends and Applications magazine, EventDV magazine, and EContent magazine.