We're pleased to announce that comedian, author, and entrepreneur Baratunde Thurston will be the closing keynote speaker at the second annual The Social Shake-Up held in Atlanta on Tuesday, September 16 and Wednesday, September 17. The theme of this year's conference is Scaling the Human Spark, and we'll be focusing on new ways to connect with people while also keeping it human in the digital age. During the two-day conference, executives from more than 125 brands including Coca Cola, Mastercard, Porsche, AT&T, IBM, and many others will share their insights about how social is transforming business to an audience of 700 marketing, digital, and other professional attendees.
Baratunde Thurston is the CEO and co-founder of Cultivated Wit, a digital storytelling agency, and the author of the New York Times bestseller, How to Be Black. He spent five years as the director of digital for The Onion and currently writes a monthly column, "One More Thing," for Fast Company.
He is an accomplished speaker and has delivered keynote talks at such gatherings as SXSW Interactive and the Personal Democracy Forum. He's also tremendously funny, and has been a standup comedian for more than a decade.
But Baratunde definitely has a serious side. He cofounded Jack & Jill Politics, a black political blog whose 2008 coverage of The Democratic National Convention has been archived by the Library of Congress, and he has advised the White House on digital strategy and public engagement.
Given his extensive experience in social and digital, his entrepreneurial background, and his keen wit and insight, we know that Baratunde will be a great way to close out this year's event.