ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

STORYTELLING 101 with Alex Widmer & Tyler Hays – Vessul Creative

An Emmy award-winning filmmaker and recognized in Knoxville’s 40 Under 40 list, Tyler Hays is a co-founder and video strategist at Vessul Creative, a strategy-focused video marketing firm that helps companies implement effective storytelling to transform their business. Whether through traditional forms or virtual reality, Tyler believes that video storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to influence culture and make an impact. As a professional engineer turned creative entrepreneur, problem-solving is always as the core of how he approaches projects and has led him into directing video projects both nationally and internationally.

As co-founder of Vessul Creative, Alex Widmer helps brands, organizations, and businesses effectively market themselves online through story-driven video content. Alex is quite literally obsessed with ‘story.’ No, not that ‘story’ buzz-word that often gets tossed around with little meaning. The story where time stands still and connection seems effortless. The kind of story that is unparalleled in its ability to bring people together

Since 2014, Alex has filmed over 100 weddings and led video projects across the world with his work featured on Upworthy, Buzzfeed, Daily Mail, and the Today Show. He’s worked with large brands, won awards, filmed a documentary, but more importantly, he has a deep desire to connect with people beyond video and marketing projects. Alex believes we need to connect emotionally if we want to change the behavior or perspective of our audience.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STORY with Dr. Jeff Larsen – University of Tennessee

Jeff Larsen is an experimental social psychologist at the University of Tennessee. He earned his PhD in psychology at Ohio State University in 2001. He currently teaches courses in social psychology, which focus on phenomena including persuasion, conformity, and compliance. He teaches a graduate course in emotion, which is also his area of research expertise.  His work has been covered in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.