At Have We Met? Live, a speaker’s story becomes something to talk about over dinner, explore in a breakout session, carry into a new friendship, and bring back into your own life.

The stage starts the conversation. What happens next is up to all of us.

Each keynote brings a different perspective to the conversations we’re creating together around connection, confidence, relationships, possibility and what comes next.

Dreamer, entrepreneur, athlete, and founder of the Dream Machine Foundation

Be Someone Worth Meeting (Working Title)

Charlie Rocket is an entrepreneur, speaker, filmmaker and founder of the Dream Machine Foundation whose life has become a story of reinvention, possibility and helping other people pursue their dreams.

Growing up overweight and deeply afraid of going out and meeting new people, Charlie knows what it feels like to let fear make your world smaller. His life eventually took him into the music industry, where he managed one of the world’s largest music management companies, before a brain tumor diagnosis sent him in an entirely new direction.

At more than 300 pounds, Charlie returned to a childhood dream of becoming an athlete. He lost 125 pounds, ran five marathons, completed an Ironman and was featured in Nike’s Dream Crazy campaign. Today, through the Dream Machine Foundation, he helps other people pursue dreams of their own.

At Have We Met? Live, Charlie brings that full-circle perspective to the stage: moving toward the things that scare us, believing bigger about what’s possible, and actively creating the lives and connections we want.

Author, Keynote Speaker, Chief Optimist

Case Kenny is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, and teacher on the linguistics and psychology of optimism. As Chief Optimist at Optimism.com, he explores how the language we use shapes the way we think, feel, act, and approach what comes next.

His work has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Forbes, NBC, and ABC. He has built a social audience of more than 1.9 million and hosts New Mindset, Who Dis?, a top-25 podcast with more than 800 episodes and 40 million downloads.

With an academic background in languages and linguistics, Case has spent more than 15 years studying the intersection of linguistics, psychology, and neuroscience. Through his signature Language of Optimism keynote, he turns that work into practical tools for building greater optimism, resilience, and personal agency. He has spoken for organizations including Meta, Nespresso, Mattel, the NFL, The Ritz-Carlton, and Four Seasons, and at events including SXSW and Cannes Lions.

Case is the bestselling author of That’s Bold of You and The Opposite of Settling, with his newest book, The Language of Optimism, continuing his work on how the words we choose can change the way we experience our lives and our future.

Breakout sessions make the big room feel personal: ask the next question, try a new way of thinking, and learn alongside people navigating some of the same things.