2010 Access Group Graduate & Professional Financial Aid Conference

No two speeches of Dave Barry's are exactly the same. During his keynote address, we expect he will focus on debt and finances, no doubt quoting from his critically-lauded, bestselling book Money Secrets, in which he extols, among other things, the benefits of learning how to negotiate everything, including bridge tolls, and why it’s not a good idea to use squirrels for money.

Dave Barry is a humorist and bestselling author. For 25 years he was a syndicated columnist whose work appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary.

It’s been said he possesses that rare ability to take everyday experiences we all recognize and make them hilarious by exposing the absurdity inherent in them. In the introduction to Money Secrets, he assures his readers that the book is “full of sure-fire, can't-miss, no-nonsense, common-sense, easy-to-apply, on-the-money hyphenated phrases."

Barry has written a total of 30 books, two of which were used as the basis for the CBS TV sitcom Dave's World. He also plays lead guitar in a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders, whose other members include Stephen King, Amy Tan, Ridley Pearson, and Mitch Albom. They are not musically skilled, but they are extremely loud.

Barry lives in Miami, Florida, with his wife, Michelle, a sportswriter. He has a son, Rob, and a daughter, Sophie, neither of whom thinks he's funny.

We all know financial literacy education needs to start earlier in our students’ academic careers. But when it hasn’t, what do we do? Farnoosh Torabi specializes in addressing our demographic – that is, young adults – in matters regarding financial independence and responsibility. The New York Times calls her advice “perfectly practical.” She will offer her insight as the featured speaker kicking off our Financial Literacy Forum.

Farnoosh Torabi is a personal finance journalist, author and TV personality. In 2008-2009, she worked with Bank of America as an ambassador for financial literacy, traveling across the country to educate college students about money management. She recently wrapped the first season of SoapNet’s new series, Bank of Mom and Dad, coaching young women struggling with piles of debt. Previously Farnoosh appeared in REAL SIMPLE. REAL LIFE., a makeover series on TLC, where she helped busy women better understand and manage their financial challenges. She makes frequent guest appearances on NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC and CNN, and can also be seen on Larry King Live, The View, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Fox Business Network and Fox News.

Her writing appears in Seventeen Magazine, where she is a contributing editor, as well as on Mainstreet.com and AOL’s WalletPop.com. Her work and advice has been profiled in numerous national magazines and newspapers, including Real Simple, Glamour, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Money Magazine, People, Entrepreneur, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Daily News and The New York Post. In 2008, she published a book aimed at young adults searching for financial independence.

Farnoosh attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with honors in finance and international business. She also holds an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.

In her talk, The Do's and Don'ts of Social Media and Web 2.0, Amber explores the world of social media and how it has reframed the relationship -- and the expectations -- between companies and their customers. How have companies used social networking sites (Facebook) and user-generated content sites (YouTube)? What can you learn from their successes and failures? With a reporter's knowledge of up-to-the-second trends, and a consultant's understanding of what really works, she empowers you to use these technologies to strengthen your relationships.

Amber MacArthur is a young, bright and deeply credentialed Web consultant -- a leading voice of the social media generation. Amber Mac, as she's known to her legion of fans, is also a pioneering and wildly popular web journalist who interviews the Web's users, content producers and entrepreneurs. In podcasts and on television (she has worked for the CBC, CityTV, CTV and G4TechTV), she traces the profound impact of emerging technologies on the way we live, work and play -- and she makes it all fun, informative and accessible.

Currently, MacArthur is the co-founder of MGI Media, where she has been a lead consultant for Tony Robbins, among many notable clients. Amber also writes "Trending Tech", a weekly column in The Globe and Mail.

Previously, she was a key strategist for the world-famous Razorfish, in San Francisco, and has worked on projects for Microsoft, Adobe, HP and Bell. MacArthur also hosts the podcasts net @ night, commandN, and Webnation, which won the 2007 iTunes Top New Podcast award. She also hosts and produces a show called Girls Go Geek on Xbox LIVE.