WITI - Sessions and Speakers*

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Wednesday, October 11
Session I | Session II | Session III
Thursday, October 12
Session I | Session II | Session III

Conferences | Archives | Boston | 2000 | Sessions and Speakers

Sessions and Speakers*

Wednesday, October 11
Session I
10 - 11:30 a.m.

Business Development Track

Marketing, Public Relations and Your Brand in the Digital Age
Room 103
The rules for marketing have changed. With the Internet, traditional strategies will no longer work in today's marketplace. While the old methods aren't dead, new strategies are key to the success of your business. What should you do in this new reality? How should you manage your marketing, public relations and branding efforts? Our distinguished panel will share cutting edge strategies for competing in today's fast-paced digital economy.

Sara Vose,

Linda Myers Tierney ,

Mara Bartucca,

Monica Chandra,

Busy Burr,

Entrepreneur Track

Aligning Passion and Accountability: Building Innovative Teams
Room 104
This session will explore the requisite ingredients for building teams that are innovative and have the drive to overcome obstacles. You will learn how to find and cultivate "super teams" in your organization, teams that are motivated by, and accountable to the success of their project, product or service. Competency in innovation is directly correlated to the growth of successful businesses, yet many organizations forget the path they followed in building their initial "hit" product. The key to sustained growth, particularly in the technology arena, is directly correlated to the ability to innovate repeatedly. Although often associated with small, entrepreneurial companies, this session will create a roadmap for building innovative teams in larger, established organizations. After all, the effectiveness of any innovative process is only as good as the team that must implement it.

Susan Penta,

Professional Development Track

Personal Stories of Successful Women
Room 112
This is always one of our most popular sessions. Inspiring, motivational and awesome is how some have described it. If you're interested in the engaging stories of dynamic women who have experienced extraordinary success, this is a session you won't want to miss.

Strike a Balance between Your Work and Personal Life
Room 102
Does it seem like work has become your life? Do you wonder whether you can succeed in a technology company and still have a life? Whatever your profession, whatever your lifestyle, attend this session to figure out how to "get a life". There is no "one size fits all" answer � come think with the panelists about life choices and balancing strategies. You're sure to learn something that will help you enjoy life more.

Technology Track

Follow the User: User Experience in the Digital World
Room 101
In this brave new world of digitization, the user reigns supreme. The customer is the user, whether all along the B2B supply chain, or a direct recipient of B2C transactions or information, and the satisfaction of the user will make or break us. In a changing atmosphere of faltering customer loyalty and dissipation of vertical markets, we should be asking ourselves three simple questions: Is it useful? Is it usable? Is it desirable?

Gretchen Hover,

Technologies and Techniques for Launching a Successful IT Project
Room 101
You've lined up your vendors and products, planned a timeframe, hired outsourcers, and leaped into the project. However, without the buy-in of your business staff and end-users and the proper integration between technology and management, your project is doomed. This session will help you determine the proper mix of software, hardware, hand-holding, and strategy to succeed in your next project, be it the Web, CRM or ERP.

Session II
11 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Business Development Track
Creative Strategies for Attracting and Retaining Great Talent
Room 102
The industry's ability to remain competitive, continue expanding and meet customer technology objectives is increasingly threatened by labor shortages. Companies are increasingly challenged to compete for talent and financial compensation is no longer the primary consideration for job hunters. This panel will discuss these issues and will explore innovative strategies for recruiting new talent and retaining quality employees.

Entrepreneur Track
Create Maximum Buzz!
Room 104
Whether you are an entrepreneur starting up a new venture, launching a new product or seeking support for an idea within your organization, you will have to create excitement and demand for your offering. At this session you will find out how to position your product or service to a target audience in a way that will create the most buzz. You will learn how entrepreneurs created a market presence that was embraced by the media and customers and what the media look for in new products and initiatives. You will also receive expert advice from coaches, entrepreneurs and public relations professionals. Don't miss this opportunity to transform yourself into a creative Buzz-Meister!

Professional Development Track
Negotiating Your Compensation Package in the New Economy
Room 100
Today there is more to compensation than salary alone. Depending on your level of responsibility, your compensation may also be made up of bonuses, stock options and other long-term incentives and benefits that have a monetary value - as well as other types of compensation packages available in today's economy and negotiation techniques for obtaining the best compensation package possible.

Pat Bleheen,

Sharon Matthews,

Franklin Goldschmidt,

Katharine Manning,

Erisa Ojimba,

Corporate Pipeline: Navigating Your Way to the Top
Room 112
In striving to assume increased levels of responsibility, women are conquering personal fears and cultural stereotypes on their way up the corporate ladder. We will focus on the challenges faced by successful women, strategies they used to overcome obstacles and skills that served them well along the way.

Technology Track
Session Sponsored by Fidelity Investments
Disruptive Technologies: How Customer Service is Changing
Room 101
Kathy Beckman, Senior VP, Human Resources, Fidelity Capital (moderator)
Caron McDonald, Senior VP, Charitable Gift Fund, Fidelity Capital
Tracey Esherick, EVP, On-line Brokerage, Fidelity Investments
Pat Hillman, EVP, Technology, Fidelity Capital

Mini Chat Session
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

How to Interview and Hire Competitively
Exhibit Hall Floor
Companies are finding you only get one shot to show candidates that yours is the firm with agility and decisiveness. This especially counts if you have a fledgling HR staff. Bring your specs and candidate requirements to this chat session to learn how to attract great talent and interview candidates more successfully and competitively.

Ann Rice Banno,

Session III
2:15 - 3:45 p.m.

Business Development Track
Creating a Successful Media Strategy
Room 103
Creating a strategic media plan can be a huge opportunity, as well as a huge challenge. In this session you will hear how communications experts create a strategic media and communications plan using the latest online and offline technology. We will discuss the importance of branding via traditional methods and the Internet. The panel will also discuss how technology has changed the way communicators tell their story, the mediums they use, how to better target audiences and how to create newsworthy pitches.

Entrepreneur Track
The Skinny on How to Successfully Raise Funds
Room 104
During the past decade, women have launched companies at nearly twice the national average and now own 38% of all U.S. firms. Furthermore, growth projections for women-owned businesses are phenomenal. The largest hurdles are convincing yourself that you can make the leap into entrepreneurship and securing funding for your venture. This panel will offer guidance and practical tips on how to position and package your venture for investment capital. Our panel includes women entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, coaches and marketing experts who work with successful early stage entrepreneurs. Find out what it takes to appeal to investors and how to create an investment package that will yield sustainable returns.

Patti Bond,

Andrea O'Toole,

Rebecca Reynolds Moore,

Susan K. Acker,

Shannah WhitHaus,

Professional Development Track

Leadership Skills for Technical Professionals
Room 112
Are you a techie intent on moving your way up the corporate ladder? Have you recently been promoted to a management position after years of being a technologist? Often outstanding technologists are promoted to management positions without being provided the skills necessary to be effective leaders. We will discuss the skill sets that technical professionals need to become successful and effective leaders in today's workplace.

Technology Track
XML: Function Over Form
Room 101
What if your data could be read by disparate systems? What if one format could be extended to the Web, e-Commerce, and systems management? Well it can with Extensible Markup Language, which is quickly becoming the standard for e-Commerce and Web development. This session will cover the diverse uses of XML and the benefits it can bring to your organization.

Laura Bennett,

Chat Session
Chat Session with Liz Davidson
Room 100

Liz Davidson,

Roundtables
Women of Color Roundtable
Room102
Barriers to succeeding in the technology industry and strategies for overcoming cultural stereotypes and personal fears will be discussed. Real world experiences affecting women of color in technology will be addressed in this interactive roundtable of successful women of color.

Shila Patel, Director/Account Executive, CSC Consulting (co-facilitator)
Charles Harbor Clark, Manager III, Software Engineering, Raytheon (co-facilitator)

Thursday, October 12

*Subject to change