Founder and CEO
Blackbook Experience Management Group
Chris Ostoich (chris@blackbookhr.com) is the Founder and Chief Innovation Officer for BlackbookHR. Ostoich founded BlackbookHR in 2008 and held the role of CEO until January of 2014, when he led the effort to recruit former Scripps Networks CHRO, Chris Powell. Currently, Chris leads the product, marketing and innovation efforts for the company. Under his direction, BlackbookHR has been awarded numerous accolades for their disruptive approach to the employee engagement space - including being named 2013 Human Resource Executive Magazine's Top Product award and a 2014 HR Technology Conference Awesome New Startup along with other industry game-changers, Zenefits and Data Morphosis. Ostoich attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied Communication, Public Relations and Music (Jazz Performance) and played varsity tennis for the Bearcats Tennis Team. Since 2008, Ostoich has been an important player in the integral in the disruption and growth of the employee engagement ecosystem. Outside of BlackbookHR, he has founded several companies and initiatives designed to reshape the way people engage with people and information around them. Ostoich is a co-founder of Lisnr - a TechStars company, founder of wildly popular HR thought leadership series DisruptHR, and Ignite Cincinnati. He also advises a number of companies and initiatives including Arena19, The Impakt Lab, and more. Ostoich was named the Business Courier’s 40 Under 40 in 2012, and he is a contributing writer to Fast Company, Inc. Magazine and Forbes.