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SPEAKER BIO AND TOPIC OVERVIEW
KEYNOTE: JOHN CULP, Lt Colonel, US Army AND John Culp is a native of North Carolina and is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel. Although he started out as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD - Bomb Tech) as an enlisted man in the 1970’s, he spent the bulk of his Army career in Infantry and Special Forces assignments. The Army sent him back to EOD school in the late 1990’s to prepare him for missions as a UN Arms Inspector in Iraq. Upon retirement from the Army, John joined the CIA and was in their explosives and weapons programs as a staff officer and contractor, training and working with foreign bomb squads, until he retired in 2019. He deployed five times to Afghanistan and five times to Iraq. He proposed to Bomb Techs Without Borders (BTWOB) that they conduct operations in Ukraine and established their presence in country in April 2022. He spent most of 2022 in Ukraine or in other European countries supporting BTWOB. Donna Culp was born in Michigan, the daughter of a career Air Force NCO. She lived in Michigan, Alaska, Tennessee, and Texas, growing up. She became an Occupational Therapist and later joined the Air Force, leaving after 6 ½ years as a Captain. After retirement from civilian work as an OT, she also joined the CIA where she served as a Logistics Officer in various locations including Jordan and Iraq prior to her retirement from the Agency in 2016. Donna is currently the President of the Western North Carolina Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America and is very active in veterans’ affairs in Western North Carolina. As a volunteer with Bomb Techs Without Borders (BTWOB), she served as a medical and logistics coordinator, and made two, month-long trips to Poland, Hungary, and Ukraine in that role. John & Donna met in Fayetteville, NC, where he was assigned to Fort Bragg, and she was working at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center after leaving the Air Force. They were married in the JFK Special Warfare Center Chapel in 1994. | Speaking Topic: Mission To Ukraine: Bomb Techs Without Borders. The quest to help train and improve operations between the EOD and Sapper organizations. John and Donna Culp both traveled to Ukraine twice in 2022-23 to support the operations of a non-governmental organization (NGO), Bomb Techs Without Borders. John was the first on the ground for and charted the course for BTWOB, intending to improve operations between the various Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and sapper (combat engineer) organizations in Ukraine. Donna primarily assisted in logistics support and medical emergency planning, but her veteran connections led directly to a meeting with one of the principal EOD entities in Ukraine. She was a key player in efficiently getting proper medical care for U.S. Marine veteran who had been severely wounded fighting for Ukraine. Their talk will cover a little on their military and civilian background to do this work and what they found in Ukraine, as well as the importance of continuing support to Ukraine during and after this war. Both are military veterans with previous war zone experience. |
, Captain, US Army
Kevin W. McClain is a licensed private investigator in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri. He is a Board-Certified Criminal Defense Investigator, a Board Accredited Investigator and President of Kevin W. McClain Investigations Ltd., which is a multistate investigative firm (Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, and Kentucky) with 10 investigators that have over 200 years of investigative experience. He is qualified as an expert in Criminal Investigations, and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing. He has also been a college instructor in personal security. Mr. McClain began his career in 1993 and gained distinction as one of the regions premier private investigators assisting some of the finest criminal defense and civil attorneys with major felonies, personal injuries, accident investigations, transportation risk management claims, wrongful deaths, workers comp investigations, excessive force shootings, civil rights investigations, police misconduct investigations, white collar defense investigations, corporate investigations, military investigations and high profile media cases. Mr. McClain conducts cyber investigations to assist with companies’ analysis of their website and social media image, expert witness, and jury backgrounds, and gathering critical evidence and locating witnesses from scenes through open-source intelligence investigation techniques. He has been a featured speaker at the national and international conferences for NLADA, NACDL, NCISS, NALI, NAPD, Intellenet and Federal Defenders. He has spoken for the IICLE, ISBA, IACDL, MACDL, Arizona, California, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas Wisconsin, and Wyoming, Public Defenders. Mr. McClain has presented on over 25 different investigative subject matters and in 25 states as well as internationally. Mr. McClain is the founder of the READI Response Investigative Network and patented technology READI Response, www.readiresponse.com. An investigative network of over 500 investigators connected through mobile app technology. His parent company READI Innovations is a technology company that combines the experience of an elite, nationwide private detective network with a state-of-the-art mobile APP. The READI Response solution provides a valuable tool in the risk management marketplace designed to protect a customer’s exposure by having patented technology to start the investigation immediately after the crash happens. READI Response helps clients minimize the costs and valuable resources directed at the management of incidents and accidents. Mr. McClain has recently been featured on the Oxygen Network series “Snapped” and the A&E Series “The Accused”. Mr. McClain has also worked extensively with the Center of Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University and is on the faculty at the Clarence Darrow Death Penalty College and is a contract investigator for the Missouri Public Defenders, Kentucky Public Defenders, Federal CJA Panel Investigators, The Illinois Innocence Project and the Exoneration Project in Chicago. Mr. McClain can be reached at 877-532-1152, mcclainpi@gmail.com, kevin@readiresponse.com or www.mcclaininvestigations.com, www.readiresponse.com | Speaking Topic: Digging for Gold " How to Utilize Open Records and FOIAS in your InvestigationsFOIA'S, Open Records are becoming the new normal in the investigative world. Journalist are now using this resource to uncover information that subpoenas could not access before. Learn from this veteran investigator who has been using open sources for over 10 years and how his creative techniques have yielded amazing results. Last year alone his investigative agency sent over 750 open records requests. This is a powerful tool that should be in everyone's tool belt. This dynamic powerpoint presentation will walk you through case examples and templates that have been created to help you achieve maximum results. |
KEVIN W. MCCLAIN | Board Accredited Investigator & President, Kevin W. McClain Investigations Ltd.
GEORGE GERGIS has been a principal investigator for the Investigative Support Unit, Inc. in Northern Indiana since 2002. Mr. Gergis started his career as an investigator in 1990 in the State of Florida. He has a wide range of experience with a variety of private sector cases, including, Theft and Fraud Detection, Insurance Claims and SIU related cases, Criminal Defense (including Capital Cases, Homicides and Drug Trafficking Cases) Personal Injury, Traffic Accidents, Industrial Accidents, Missing Persons, Child Abductions, Runaways, Fugitive Locates, Child Custody, Divorce, Contract Disputes, Commercial Security, Copyrights and Franchise Violations, as well as Surveillance Operations. During his career, Mr. Gergis has worked for various Regional, National and International investigative firms and has held positions of Vice-President of Operations, Surveillance Director, Investigations Supervisor, Chief Investigator, as well as Senior Investigator and Field Investigator. Mr. Gergis has also worked with numerous attorneys and law firms throughout the region and nation and has been Authorized or Appointed by Local and Federal Courts. Mr. Gergis currently holds the position of Assistant National Director for the National Association of Legal Investigators, and the position of Chair of the Board for the Indiana Society of Professional Investigators. Mr. Gergis is licensed or personally authorized as a Private Investigator or Private Detective by the State of Indiana, by the State of Illinois, by the State of Florida, and by the State of Wisconsin. He also holds a Commission of Public Notary by the State of Indiana. He has earned and holds Professional Designations as Certified Legal Investigator, Board Certified Criminal Defense Investigator, Certified Forensic Interviewer-Forensic Testimonial Evidence Recovery and Insurance Fraud Certified Investigator. Mr. Gergis graduated within the top 10% of his class from the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Academy and his professional education includes Purdue University’s Legal Investigation Course. He also holds memberships with a variety of professional associations, including The Indiana Society of Professional Investigators, The National Association of Legal Investigators, The National Council of Investigation and Security Services, The Criminal Defense Investigation Training Council, National Defender Investigator Association, National Association of Public Defense; The Michigan Council of Professional Investigators, Intellenet, The International Association of Auto Theft Investigators and associate membership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. | Speaking Topic: Quality Standards for Investigators A training workshop that will allow participants to use the provided information and techniques to elevate the quality level of their investigations and practice methodology. More than just informing, but also a hands-on workshop design to allow participants to implement higher quality standards in their practice immediately. This training program is geared to guide attendees to provide and maintain high quality standards for their firms and investigators. SECTION 1: Ethical Standards SECTION 2: General Standards SECTION 3: Quality Standards |
GEORGE GERGIS | Principal Investigator, Investigative Support Unit, Inc.
Christopher Salgado is a highly accomplished and trusted security and investigations leader with more than 19 years in cyber and physical investigations as well as security. Throughout his career, he has effectively assisted several companies, including Fortune 50 companies, in various capacities, including via the installation of numerous innovative and efficient processes in the topics of investigations, security, brand protection, threat management, business continuity, intelligence, operations, recruiting, customer service, employee morale and leadership. The companies that have benefitted from his services span across the spectrum of industries, including social media, pharmaceutical, luxury brands (clothing, jewelry, etc.), consumables, automotive, electronics, film production, streaming services, entertainment and insurance. He has also assisted investigations firms and law firms across the globe. Christopher Salgado is a contributing author to PI Magazine on cyber and social media investigations and a member of the London Speaker Bureau. From 2016 through 2019, Christopher Salgado worked at Facebook as an investigator. He began his tour with Facebook as a contractor and then succeeded at becoming an employee at Facebook. During his tenure there, he grew from the role of an investigator to a global investigator to a team lead. Situated on a global team, he assisted in managing investigations and operations and was instrumental in building the investigations division. His efforts included drafting a large majority of investigative standard operating procedures (SOPs), installing new security operations, updating prior SOPs and operations with efficient standards and helping to stand up a new global, 24/7/365 investigations and intelligence operation from scratch. He also aided in managing several other security and investigative-themed projects, including prototype security, supply chain security, video analytics, global security camera systems, operational security, process efficiency, data center threats and general threat management, among others. Christopher Salgado also assisted Facebook’s security operations centers across the globe with varied threats. His achievements allowed him to aid the team in expanding Facebook’s security and investigations’ book of business interdepartmentally and geographically. During the time when Christopher Salgado was at Facebook, news about Cambridge Analytica broke as did the allegations of Russians hacking the Facebook platform to intervene in 2016’s US elections. Christopher Salgado was able to support in those sensitive and highly visible incidents as well. Prior to his career in investigations and security, Christopher Salgado, exceled at delivering successful, professional engagements with customers through varying roles at different companies. He secured more than a dozen of various outstanding customer service awards and a quarterly department award for new process implementation. These experiences allowed him to drive a “customer-first” focus, reinforcing the customer-centric agendas of global corporations. Christopher Salgado has significant experience in director-level management of persons and global operations in corporate risk; brand protection; supply chain; criminal and civil investigations; surveillance; SIU investigations as well as counterfeit and other trademark investigations. He is an expert social engineer who has overcome a multitude of challenging obstacles and amassed critical information that resulted successful conclusions for his clients. Christopher Salgado is described as a transformational leader who promotes loyalty to the client, team, company and cause. He is skilled at managing large teams of investigators, intelligence analysts and support staff cross-culturally and across time zones. He is an expert in investigations, court testimony and counterfeit detection. He is a global consultant and has presented to members of Europol, Interpol and the EU Commission on physical and cyber investigations. As an investigator, Christopher Salgado has collectively conducted, managed and trained on tens of thousands of investigations, including: · Cyber: Phishing, bad actor tracking, dark web, computer forensics, identity theft, fraud Prior industry roles include Investigations Center Team Leader and Global Investigator @ Facebook, Midwest Regional Director, Director of Training, Lead Investigator, Director of Security, Associate Director of New Business Development, Private Investigations Trainer, Lead Investigator, Private Investigator, Security Content Analyst & Acting Department Manager at various corporations as well as investigative and security consulting firms. | Speaker Topic: Benefitting from a More Aggressive Cyber Investigative Skillset: Targeting Online Threat Management Clients across industries are demanding more and more cyber investigations to assist with their casework. Are you a savvy cyber investigator? Is there a benefit to being one – or becoming one? Offering cyber investigations – more than your typical Googling of a subject via pre-surveillance efforts – can benefit your firm greatly. It can modernize your firm, maintain relevance of your cyber skillset and expand your business model by offering a greater focus on cyber investigations. One specific case type that you may inherit with a greater cyber investigative operation is online threat management casework. An example is when a client calls on you to assist with a cyberstalker, cyberbully or an online threat posted on their social media account. Learn how to protect your client by extracting and assessing their online footprint. Understand how to dismantle the pathways that lead cyberstalkers, cyberbullies and hackers to your client. Be aware of the takedown process to mitigate your client’s exposure – either reactively or proactively. Many targets of online exploitation, such as doxing and swatting, include C-Suite persons, politicians, industry and organizational leaders, celebrities, known authors and the like. Modern times have confirmed that these cyberattacks are rising exponentially. Learn how your aggressive cyber investigative skillset can aid you with incorporating online threat management casework into your business model. |
CHRISTOPHER SALGADO | CEO of All Points Investigations, LLC and Former Facebook Investigator
Michael Graziano is a retired Detective who worked at the Suffolk County Police Department. Michael Graziano worked with the Suffolk County Police Department for 25 years. Michael began his career as a Patrol Officer. Due to his extensive computer and programming skills, along with his ability to implement these skills to his police work, he was promoted to work in the department's C.O.P.E Unit and then the department's I.T. Section. During his work in these units, he was responsible for creating programs that tracked gang members, stolen items, and patrol checks. Michael had been awarded several department recognitions for his arrests resulting from his police investigations. Michael was promoted to Detective and assigned to the Computer Crime Unit. During his almost 12 years in the Computer Crimes Unit, Michael was responsible for forensic analysis of digital evidence, including computers, mobile devices, DVRs, and other digital media, in such investigations as homicide, narcotics, white color crimes, and child exploitation. Michael was responsible for starting up and heading forensics investigations in the Megan's Law task force. Michael had been awarded several recognitions for his hard work in child exploitation cases that resulted in protecting children from sexual exploitation. Michael finished his last year with the Suffolk County Police Department as a Detective in Criminal Intel, where he was responsible for forensic investigations involving homeland security and gang investigations. Michael is the co-owner, with his wife, of Executive Digital Group. Executive Digital Group offers services that include Digital Forensics, Cybersecurity along with I.T. Technology strategies and support. Michael Graziano and his wife have been married for 17 years and have three children. Besides spending time with his family, he enjoys martial arts, animal rescue, and working with special needs children. Certifications: N.Y.S. Instructor: N.Y.S. Private Investigator License: Specialized Training: Education: | Speaker Topic: Data Breaches / Cyber Threat Analysis: How to Prevent and Respond to Data Breaches AND How to Incorporate Cyber Threat Analysis in to Your Business Mr. Graziano will discuss what methods are used to prevent data breaches, how to prepare your business in the event of a data breach, and how to mitigate them. Mr. Graziano will discuss how to incorporate this service into your business model and how you can offer Cyber Threat Analysis to your clients by partnering with a reputable provider. |
MICHAEL GRAZIANO | Owner-Executive Digital Group, Cyber/Computer Forensics and Investigations