Gary’s Bio

Gary Kayye has worked in technology branding and marketing for more than 25 years. He is the founder and director of THE rAVe Agency – a tech-focused creative agency that, in addition to being a full-service PR, Advertising and Social Media Marketing firm, also includes rAVe [PUBS], the leading global AV news publication, and LAVNCH, a virtual and hybrid meeting and events platform that, in less than three years, has already hosted nearly 100-events.  

His professional track record includes serving as VP of sales and marketing for Extron and EVP at AMX Corporation, now Harman International. Over the years, Gary has helped create or assist on a number of branding campaigns for nearly 100 tech companies — including brands like Samsung, Sharp, Cisco, NEC, Shure, Legrand, HP, Epson, Sony, Zoom, Vivitek, Barco and the University of North Carolina — and has even served as an expert witness in branding cases.

A graduate of the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Gary is now a full Teaching Assistant Professor at his alma mater. He teaches multiple courses: New Media and its Impact on the Future of Advertising, Marketing and PR; a branding class; the school’s largest lecture course, Principles of Advertising; and Advertising Creative. Ask him his favorite, and you’ll learn that it’s impossible for him to pick — Gary has some of the brightest students in the country, all genuinely excited by the outside-the-box subject matter of his courses and he helps place many of them in some of the largest ad agencies in the world and inside some of the largest companies including Facebook, Google, Pizza Hut, Amazon and TikTok.

Gary has been the keynote speaker at more than 360 technology shows and events — largely thanks to his extensive marketing and branding expertise but also because of his entertaining and approachable speaking style. That means not standing behind a podium while speaking but, rather, asking his attendees to challenge his views during presentations — engaging in a dialogue with them rather than speaking to them. He’s also known to start a presentation with a fun, inspirational video or two. 

In 2004, Gary was recognized as AVIXA’s Educator of the Year, and in 2007, he was given the NSCA Instructor of the Year award. In 2016, Gary was given the UNC Journalism School’s Adjunct Professor of the Year award. And in 2019, he was recognized as one of the top 100 Keynote Speakers, alongside philanthropists, best-selling authors, TEDx speakers and a former FBI special agent. Oh, and he’s been a TEDx speaker too.

Outside of his professional accomplishments, Gary is most proud of his involvement in co-founding the Swim for Smiles Foundation — a non-profit based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that hosts athletic events for local kids to raise money for the UNC and Duke children’s hospitals. 

Gary has two amazing daughters — one is a collegiate-level swimmer at Pepperdine University and the other works in production. When he’s not with his daughters, Gary spends his free time traveling, volunteering and racing in triathlons. (He’s done more than 65 — including racing the infamous Escape from Alcatraz in San Francisco, California, six times.)