Guliz Kavuncuoglu

A whole brain thinker who makes creativity more accessible by disrupting the processes and routines of our everyday lives.

Having worked with some of the world’s most reputable brands, she has built on her breadth of experience from consumer and shopper marketing to new business and innovation commercialization. Guliz is comfortable in the expansionist world of ideas and creative thinking, as well as in the thick of business and analytics. Always asking the right question at the right time, she instinctively suggests new approaches while strategically navigate complex business systems – because she’s been there.

“I’ve been working in the field of innovation and creativity for over 15 years now, and too often I see people who are great at getting work done but who struggle with innovative thinking. As someone who strongly believes in the benefits of regular exercise, I decided to look at ways to overcome the creative road blocks in our lives and work out our minds the same way we do our bodies.”

Guliz offers simple ways to boost creativity each day.

John Van Vleck

A master at balancing human perspective and business acumen to ignite actionable solutions.

Prior to becoming one of the founders of The Green Room Collective, John spent several years [i.e. developing creative campaigns that drove sales for leading global brands] in the advertising world, and another 15 years as the Global Director of Innovation Ignitor at The Coca-Cola Company. This extensive experience on both sides of the aisle enabled him to show his magic in 35 markets, with a proven record of producing innovative business solutions in his work with top global brands and partners like Coca-Cola, Unilever and McDonald’s.

“With a little resourcefulness and the ingenuity to use what you have at your disposal, you can go a long way in bringing ideas to life, connecting people’s heads with their hearts, and giving your ideas the best chance to succeed.”

John imparts valuable insights about innovation inspired by his daughter’s fifth-grade lesson.

Patrick Magill

A leader in consumer and business-to-business marketing, innovative solution development and organizational design and culture, Pat is a connector of ideas, people & actions with a love of finding the perfect intersection between a business need and a consumer want.  As a marketer and leader, he has over 25 years of business experience YES, AND he is a student of Improvisation with a core belief in the power of the ensemble to achieve breakthrough excellence. 

Pat had a successful 20-year career at Coca-Cola where he held various marketing and customer positions across the Foodservice, Convenience Retail, On-Premise and Specialty Retail Channels. In his last role as Vice-President Channel & Commercial for the North American Foodservice and On-Premise business, he led a team dedicated to engaging consumers in places where they eat, shop, work, travel, learn and play.   Prior to Coca-Cola, worked at one of McDonald’s promotional agencies, The Marketing Store Worldwide where he led teams the development the toys for the Happy Meal.  Ask him about his Tigger story. 

Pat is a graduate of the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and has an MBA from Loyola University Chicago.   He is also a graduate of the Second City Conservatory for Improvisational Acting.