KINGSTON, R.I. — April 3, 2017 — Known worldwide for his expertise in public relations and interactive marketing, the Chairman and Founder of Racepoint Global Larry Weber will be the guest speaker at the University of Rhode Island College of Business Administration’s 10th Annual Vangermeersch Lecture. Headquartered in Boston, Racepoint Global has offices in San Francisco, Washington, and Detroit as well as London, Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai.

Weber will bring his years of experience and address the timely topic of truth in media and marketing. In his lecture, “The Art of the Squeal: Leaks, Fake News, Alternative Facts. Media, Marketing and Moral Purpose in a Changing World,” Weber will discuss how software, the Internet, media and digital technologies have created seismic shifts in the consumption and interpretation of media today.

Free and open to the public, the lecture will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at the Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical & Forensic Sciences, 140 Flagg Road, Kingston, R.I.

The author of five books on marketing, technology and leadership, Weber is passionate about the convergence of technology, the web and communications, and is a frequent public speaker on the future of marketing, the social web and building communities online.

Weber began his career in 1987 when he founded The Weber Group a public relations firm. Within a decade, The Weber Group became the world’s largest public relations firm and was purchased by The Interpublic Group of Companies in late 1996. In early 2000, Weber was named chairman and CEO of Interpublic’s Advanced Marketing Services, a $3 billion unit with 12,000 people, and included the company’s public relations, research and analysis, and entertainment holdings.

Following a successful career with Interpublic, in 2004 Weber returned to his entrepreneurial roots and founded Racepoint Global. At Racepoint and throughout his career, Weber has helped multi-national and emerging companies harness authentic marketing strategies. He has worked with clients including AT&T, Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, General Electric, General Motors, IBM, John Deere, Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, PTC, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Verizon Wireless.

Weber’s books include: The Provocateur: How a New Generation of Leaders Are Building Communities, Not Just Companies (Random House/Crown Business, 2002), business bestseller Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business (Wiley & Sons, 2007, second edition, 2009), Sticks & Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time…and Lost in a Click (Wiley & Sons, 2009), Everywhere: Comprehensive Digital Business Strategy for the Social Media Era (Wiley & Sons, 2001) and The Digital Marketer (Wiley & Sons, 2014).

The Vangermeersch Endowed Lecture was established in 2008 with a gift from URI alum Deborah Ciolfi ’80 who is principal of Providence Investors, LLC, a private wealth management and strategy firm with offices in Wayland, Mass. and New York City. Ciolfi endowed the lecture series in honor of her former accounting professor, Richard Vangermeersch, who retired in 2004 after 34 years of teaching at URI.