Ms. Diane Hessan
CEO, Communispace
Diane Hessan is President and CEO of Communispace, one of the fastest growing social networking companies in the country, “with a Blue Chip client list that would make a Madison Avenue giant jealous," according to Advertising Age. A pioneer in creating online communities to help marketers deeply engage customers, Diane helped found Communispace in 1999 and hasn’t looked back.
Today, Diane leads Communispace’s employees in building and managing the more than 275 private online customer communities the company has created for a marquee list of Fortune 500 companies. Communispace’s revenues have nearly doubled year over year for the past three years, and the company enjoyed a 96 percent contract renewal rate from its existing clients in 2006. Communispace has received a number of awards and citations over the last several years including the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council’s Best Social Media Company of the Year, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Award for Business Excellence as well as one of the Inc. 500’s fastest growing privately-held companies.
Diane has spent her 30-year career helping companies become customer-focused – as a Forum Corporation executive, co-author of the best selling book Customer-Centered Growth: Five Strategies for Building Competitive Advantage, and Real World Consulting CEO. She has received many awards and citations for her leadership and workplace innovation, including Entrepreneur of the Year from Women’s Business Boston and “Best Boss” from Winning Workplaces / Fortune Small Business. In addition to her professional recognition, Diane is a highly sought-after speaker, and expert in the social networking arena.
Diane has committed time and energy sitting on the boards of numerous organizations including The Business Innovation Factory, Progressive Business Leaders Network, Horizons for Homeless Children, The Boston Philharmonic, The National Council on Women and Aging, and the Tufts Alumni Council.
A summa cum laude graduate of Tufts University, Diane received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is the co-founder of The Sound Bytes, a cappella group that writes lyrics about business and performs at major conferences. She lives west of Boston with her two teenaged daughters.
