As a Senior Vice President for Weber Shandwick in Canada, Michael acts as strategic communications counsel to a number of corporate and technology sector accounts, including Agilent Technologies, Hitachi, H&R Block, the Japanese External Trade Organization, and others. His agency experience prior to Weber Shandwick includes work as the executive lead for key accounts such as Compaq, Intel, itemus, eBay.ca, Borland and Epson.

Before moving into the agency world, Michael led the communications plan for one of the largest and most successful technology sector mergers in Canadian history. As Vice President, Corporate Communications for Hummingbird, a $500-million NASDAQ-listed global software vendor, Michael was responsible for strategic business planning and co-ordination of all communications, investor relations, analyst relations, key corporate events and related marketing activities. Michael arrived in Canada from the UK in 1996, as co-founder and head of Product Marketing for LAVA Systems, a company he helped lead through a successful IPO, eight months after the North American launch.

He's still not entirely sure why, but Michael studied Philosophy at the University of Wales. He currently serves on the volunteer board of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management's MBA program, and on the advisory boards of two privately-owned Toronto-based companies.

Michael's personal blog can be found at: http://llareggolb.blogspot.com/