Opening Keynote by Christopher Trimble - Business Innovations Expert and Author of 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators
Tuesday, August 5th at 2:30 pm

Chris Trimble broke into the forefront of executive consciousness with a blockbuster article in the Harvard Business Review, “Building Breakthrough Businesses within Established Organizations.” The article is adapted from Trimble's new book Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators - from Idea to Execution, published by Harvard Business School Press.

Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators is the result of five years of intensive research, in which Trimble charted the adventures of dozens of managers involved in what may be the triple-flip-with-a-quadruple-twist of general management leading a startup venture inside an established organization. The stories Trimble tells come alive with the exhilarating highs and excruciating lows of entrepreneurship, plus the unique triumphs and tragedies that result from the coexistence of a startup with a proven and much larger business.

A sought-after speaker on the topic of innovation and strategy, Trimble's recent speaking appearances include the Conference Board's Innovation Conference in New York, and the BusinessWeek CEO Forum in Beijing.

Through his talks, audiences inevitably see innovation challenges in a new light ignited by Trimble's breakthrough research. Trimble raises aspirations for what leaders and their organizations can achieve, and does it with a winning combination of empathy, inventive storytelling, and humility.

Executive Panel: Economic Crisis…Or Opportunity?
Wednesday, August 6th at 11:30 AM

Moderated by:
Heather Clancy
Vice President, Strategic Communications
SWOT Management Group

How will uncertain economic conditions affect the business climate for solution providers?  Will 2008 go on record as a year of downturn or as a turning point in corporate America’s view of technology as a true business solution — one that can help small and large companies achieve both greater efficiencies and drive new sources of revenue?  This panel session will include from-the-trenches perspectives of vendor and channel executives, who will discuss specific opportunities and challenges posed by current economic conditions.  We’ll discuss why certain regions, industries and technologies might fare better than others, and why disciplined focus and execution are paramount.

Closing Keynote by Dr. Beck Weathers - Inspirational Survivor of the 1996 Mount Everest Tragedy
Thursday, August 7th at 10:30 am

On the night of May 10, 1996, a violent storm swept over Mt. Everest, buffeting the more than 30 adventurers who were descending from the mountain’s summit with heavy snow, subzero cold, and hurricane-force winds. Within 24 hours, eight of the climbers, including three professional guides, were dead. It would become the deadliest day in the history of expeditions on the world’s highest mountain.

Among the climbers severely injured by the spring storm was Dr. Seaborn Beck Weathers, a 49-year-old amateur climber who, lying unconscious and exposed on the mountain’s icy rocks, had been left for dead three hundred yards from his camp. His wife and family were notified of his death.

Miraculously, Weathers awoke the morning after the storm to find himself alive, but barely. His hands were severely frostbitten; he had no feeling left in his feet; his vision was so impaired that he could see only three or four feet in front of him. But in his mind’s eye, he could see his wife and children back home in Dallas, Texas. “I was lying on my back in the ice. It was colder than anything you can believe,” he says. “I figured I had three or four hours left to live, so I started walking. All I knew was, as long as my legs would run, and I could stand up, I was going to move toward that camp, and if I fell down, I was going to get up. And if I fell down again, I was going to get up, and I was going to keep moving until I either hit that camp, I couldn’t get up at all, or I walked off the face of that mountain.”

The incredible story of Beck Weathers’ survival has all the elements of a great adventure: heroism, bravery, a successful human struggle against the forces of nature, the surmounting of great physical and psychological challenges, and a triumph of the human spirit. He has come back from his ordeal to speak about his experience, and to enlighten us with the invaluable lessons he learned. We now have the rare opportunity to hear from someone who has faced his own death--and lived to tell about it.