Brad Whitworth, ABC, SCMP, IABC Fellow, is a pre-eminent thought leader, lecturer, and author in organizational communication. He has led global internal and executive communication programs at HP, Cisco, Hitachi, PeopleSoft, AAA, and MicroFocus. He holds an MBA from Santa Clara University and undergraduate degrees in journalism and speech from the University of Missouri. Brad lives in California wine country and is growing Pinot Noir on his property. A former broadcaster, Brad has made more than 300 presentations to executives, communicators, and university classes around the world. Brad is a past board chairman of the International Association of Business Communicators and a Fellow of the association. He is one of the authors of The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication and the new IABC Guide for Practical Business Communication: A Global Standard Primer. He chaired the Global Communication Certification Counsel in 2021.

Shel Holtz, SCMP, ABC, IABC Fellow, is senior director of communication at Webcor, a California commercial general contractor and builder headquartered in San Francisco. Shel joined Webcor after 21 years as an independent consultant helping large organizations weave new technologies into their communication strategies and tactics. He also consulted on internal communications, crisis communication, leadership communication, and more. Before starting Holtz Communication + Technology in 1996, Shel had led communication departments at two Fortune 500 companies and spent five years working for human resources consulting firms. The author or co-author of six communication-themed books, Shel and his co-host, Neville Hobson, have presented the “For Immediate Release” podcast since January 2005, making it the first and longest-running communication-focused podcast.