Check out the latest session proposals!

Title: Driving Meaningful Innovation –  Service Design for Product Development

Session Leaders: Florian Vollmer/Alisan Atvur

Title: Bring Your Users to Life!

Session Leader: Eric V. Holtzclaw

Title: Launching a Major Automotive Media Site Requires a Good Strategy

Session Leader: Scott Markle

Title: A Round Table Discussion of Pitfalls, Dangers, and Hazards of Various Product Development Methodologies

Session Leader: Dr. Tom Myers, RODC

Title: Buyer and User Personas in Product Design and Strategy

Session Leader: Kevin O’Malley/John Peltier

Title: Best Practices for Distributed Product Teams - A Town Hall

Session Leader: Joe Moore

Title: Scaling Product Ownership - A Story of EPIC Proportions

Session Leader: Peter Saddington

Title: 12 Steps to a Strong QR COde Campaign

Session Leader: Stephanie True Moss

Title: 4 Key Steps to Managing Your Own PR

Session Leader: Denise Quashie

Title: Lean Innovation Business Process

Session Leader: Konstantyn

Title: Building influence: The secrets of driving top-line growth through world-class messaging and positioning

Session Leader: Russell Scherwin

Title: VoteWithYourWallet – Made In America

Session Leader: Jason Moss

Title: Yes, My Dog Tweets

Session Leader: Denise Quashie

Title: Are we on the same page? Managing product expectations internally

Session Leader: Don Coop

Title: Got Klout?

Session Leader: Lisa Crymes

Title: Building an Indispensible Team to Manage & Market Your Product Portfolio

Session Leader: John Mansour/Lisa Crymes

Title: Orbiting the Giant Hairball of Product Management

Session Leader: Ken Westray

Title: Kicking Fear’s Ass – 7 Rules for Product Managers

Session Leader: David Eckoff

Title: Marketing for Mobile – Launch Into Fast Growth

Session Leader: Katie Elizabeth

Title: Collaborative Product Planning: How Can We Do Better?

Session Leader: Andy Powell and Bob Vincent

Title: Venture Design – Generating Revenue When the Lights Are Off

Session Leader: Steve Meister

Orbiting the Giant Hairball of Product Management

Session Leader:

Ken Westray

Format:

Town Hall

Abstract:

A discussion on what it takes to be a great product manager and how to avoid the hairballs of corporate life.

Session Leader Bio:

Ken Westray MBA, PE, NPDP –

President NP Learning
LLCPDMA-Certified and Approved Master Education Service Provider and Master Trainer
Vice President of Chapters and Board Member of PDMA

Ken Westray has extensive business experience in producing corporate profits demonstrated by his track record of leading major contributions in new products and developing new markets. Ken has successfully helped to develop and introduce over 60 commercially successful new products, in both domestic and international markets. In over 80% of these cases, new products not only achieved market leadership, but also maintained those positions for an average of 5 years, generating an average of 55% gross margins.

Ken’s formal education and professional affiliations have prepared him exceptionally well to understand the technical considerations of new product development. Ken holds a Master’s degree in Management and a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and is also registered as a Professional Engineer and a certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP). Additionally, he is a member of the Innovation Network, Product Development & Management Association (Certification Committee member), Commercial Development Association (CDA), Planning Forum and the Society of Competitive Intelligence (SCIP) and has given numerous presentations to top management on the complex organizational, technical and financial issues of successful innovation and the benefits to new product development.

“Kicking Fear’s Ass - 7 Rules for Product Managers”

Session Leaders:

David Eckoff and Todd Schnick

Format:

Town Hall

Abstract:

Join us for this training seminar that will help you become a fearless product manager.

At “Kicking Fear’s Ass – 7 Rules for Product Managers”, you’ll learn a practical set of actions you can follow right now to master fear, gain new confidence, and feel unstoppable. You’ll experience a fast-moving hands on program, combining interactive activities and business speakers who have done it themselves – and are dedicated to teaching you.

Our seminars have been voted “Best Session” at Product Camp. Come join us for this exciting ALL NEW training seminar that will help you kick fear’s ass.

What they’re saying about our recent seminars:

“Great session!! Best of the conference!!”
- Andrea Moe, product management and marketing

“An energizing session that made me think. I can’t wait to apply new ideas!”
- Lisa, healthcare technology product manager

“WOW! Great presentation – I’m energized!!”
- Phil, serial entrepreneur, applied technologist, product manager

Session Leader Bio:

David Eckoff is a technology entrepreneur, advisor to media & technology companies and business educator. For the past three decades, Eckoff has been an innovator in start up companies and Fortune 500 alike.

He has made it his focus over the past 20 years to turn ideas into products and businesses. He is co-founder of Spitter and Executive Chairman of Xsporture. He has worked with other companies such as Rivals.com, RealNetworks, Turner Broadcasting, Ustream.tv, and Zazzle to bring their revolutionary ideas to market.

David has spoken at numerous events, as a keynote speaker and panel speaker, including SXSW Interactive; Perot Innovation Lab: Innovation Insights; Charles River Ventures CEO Leadership Summit; Video on the Net; Streaming Media East and West; and more.

Read more about David Eckoff on his blog at DavidEckoff.com and follow him on Twitter at @davideckoff

##

Todd Schnick is a marketing strategist, writer, speaker, radio show host and distance runner.

Todd learned about marketing the hard way, in the political trenches. Despite Chris Matthews’ prediction that he would go to jail following the 2000 Florida Recount, Todd survived the hand-to-hand combat of political warfare and has gone on to launch six companies. (Fortunately, Chris was wrong, and completely unbiased…)

Todd co-hosts multiple radio shows and internet podcasts out of his north Atlanta studio. You can find him at http://intrepid-llc.com.

##

Marketing for Mobile - Launch into Fast Growth

Session Leader:

Katie Elizabeth

Format:

Roundtable

Abstract:

Excited to launch your new product? Or, re-position your current product? You’re ecstatic to sell your perfect product and need marketing – well planned and brilliantly executed – to drive sales and growth.

Come learn from TripLingo’s rapid success from launch to sustained growth.

Katie will share a brief overview of strategies, tactics, planning and execution for products from a marketing perspective, then will facilitate a roundtable discussion so that we can all gain maximum value from the session.

Session Leader Bio:

Katie is the Chief Marketing Officer of TripLingo and actively involved in the Startup community as an Executive Team Member of TiE Atlanta.

She is skilled in go-to-market strategy, product development iteration, positioning, pricing and messaging. From strategy to tactics, she loves it all.

Formerly in management consulting, Katie brings combines a head for business with a heart for technology to help make products successful through marketing.

Venture Design – Generating Revenue When the Lights are Off.

Session Leader:

Steve Meister

Format:

Presentation

Abstract:

Do you have a great idea for the next mousetrap or killer app?  Do you stay home to watch Shark Tank?  Whether you’re a serial inventor, consultant or have a corporate job, many of you have ideas that you’d like to take to market – or at least make money from!  As a product development firm, Big Bang generates most of its revenue from billable hours.  The Holy Grail is to generate revenue when the computers are shut down or the lights are off.  In this presentation we’ll explore alternative venture design efforts (some successful, some not so), as well as discuss in detail the discovery, development and launch of a successful LED Dental Examination Light.  While you may be focused on another category or service, the process, pitfalls, detours and lessons learned have application for any venture design effort.

Session Leader Bio:

Steve has been involved in new product development for over 30 years.  His design, leadership and business development experience comes from a diverse range of products for category-leading brands like Cuisinart, Plantronics, Rigid and Bard Medical. As a Principal and President of Big Bang, an Atlanta based product discovery and implementation firm founded in 1994, he has been instrumental in the definition of NPD strategies, end-user research, moderation of Idea Farming events and the alignment of designers and engineers with client challenges.  Steve received his BS of Industrial Design from Michigan State University and has served as guest lecturer and design juror at Georgia Institute of Technology, Auburn University and Michigan State University.  Steve is a board member and current President of the Georgia chapter of the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA).

CAREER/ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Title: Who are you? Where are you going?
Session Leader: John Gatrell

Title: Start-Ups & Screw-Ups: How To Beat The Odds
Session Leader: Andrea Walker

Title: Keeping Product YOU Selling
Session Leader: Candi Stargell

Title: Building an Indispensible Team to Manage & Market Your Product Portfolio
Session Leader: John Mansour & Lisa Crymes

AGILE/PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Title: Agile Product Management and the Product Owner Role – A Town Hall
Session Leader: John Peltier

Title: Getting Started with Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
Session Leader: Jefferey Costa

OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS/INNVOATION

Title: Turning a Mental Illness into Your Next Big Idea
Session Leader: Joe Kleinwaechter

FUNDAMENTALS

Title: Obtaining Competitive Info: Tools and Ethics/Morals
Session Leader: John Mansour/Gary Palgon

PRODUCT STRATEGY

Title: Digital strategy – What’s ahead and how to plan for it
Session Leader: Amanda Moore

Title: Sorting Things Out under Pressure
Session Leader: Rick Thomas

MARKETING EXECUTION

Title: Operationalizing Social Media
Session Leader: Amanda Moore

Building an Indispensible Team to Manage & Market Your Product Portfolio

Session Leader:

John Mansour/Lisa Crymes

Format:

Town Hall

Abstract:

Transform your product management and product marketing teams into indispensible, high-value assets with knowledge and skills that don’t exist elsewhere in the organization. Become top advisors to senior executives and insulate your team from future downsizings. Learn how to acquire skills that go way beyond traditional product management and marketing fare without losing your ability to execute!

Session Leader Bio:

John Mansour is the founder and Managing Partner at Proficientz, an Atlanta based training and consulting organization that specializes in product portfolio management and marketing.John is a 20-year veteran in high technology product management, marketing and sales. Much of his success in those roles can be attributed to extensive operations management experience in retail, healthcare and software companies. John has experience directing large worldwide teams on domestic and international product management and marketing initiatives as well as helping start-up companies launch new products.

Are we on the same page? Managing product expectations internally.

Session Leader:

Don Coop

Format:

Roundtable

Abstract:

To succeed, a Product Manager must effectively manage expectations throughout the organization. How do you manage the executive team, sales, marketing, operations, engineering to get them behind your plans and your products?  How do you keep them positive when the update has bad news?  What are the methods and habits a successful Product Manager cultivates to keep the entire organization bullish on his or her capabilities?

In this interactive roundtable, we’ll share the tools, methods, communications, delivery we use to effectively keep everyone on the same page so that sales knows exactly what the capabilities are today, executives know when the next big thing will become reality, finance knows exactly the revenue and costs, and engineering knows what’s really on the horizon.

Session Leader:

Don Coop has been honing his skills at managing expectations since the 2nd grade when he handed his parents a report card with a “D” in math.  For the last 20 years, he’s been selling, implementing and managing technology solutions – effectively managing customer, sales management, executive and team expectations.  Don’s most recent experience has been in Product Management at Agentek and Sybase.

Yes, My Dog Tweets

Session Leader:

Denise Quashie

Format:

Presentation

Abstract:

Dogs have taken to Twitter by storm and pet blogging is the new “black”.  My dog has more followers than some businesses and there’s a host of case studies product managers and marketing managers can learn from social “petworkers”.
In this session I’ll showcase what the pet community is doing and sharing via social media and how those involved with marketing a company’s product can utilize these case studies to be a step above the rest.

While this presentation is titled, Yes My Dog Tweets, it’s not entirely about a tweeting dog.  The session is a form of new generational marketing thru blogging and social marketing.  I will use this session to showcase how thinking way outside of the box can bring new found viral marketing to any brand and/or blog. There’s quite to be learned from a community of bloggers that are creating incredible content from a non-speaking being.

Session Leader bio:

As founder and social media strategist for Socially Planned, a social media agency, Denise helps companies and event organizers integrate social media through event marketing, attendee interactions, community building and sponsorship acquisition.
Denise is an award-winning event producer with over a decade of experience in executing successful events and sponsorship development for brands like Deloitte, AT Kearney, GMC, HP, Oracle, AT&T, RIM BlackBerry and State Farm.

When Denise is not consulting with clients, she runs a hands-on social media bootcamp specifically built for event organizers, is a committee member of the Social Media Club Atlanta Chapter, and spends time with her twitter-savvy dog, Frankie Beans.
Beyond being a trailblazer for all things social and events, she’s also the founder of multiple nationally recognized social media events, including BarkWorld Conference & Expo – the pet social media conference, founder of a mobile app, co-chair of IAEE’s Social Media Task Force, co-wrote IAEE’s Best Practices for Social Media and is currently working on a book, Confessions of an Event Organizer™.

VoteWithYourWallet – Made In America

Session Leader:

Jason Moss

Format:

Town Hall

Abstract:

Town Hall discussion focused on how to grow jobs in America by promoting “Made In America”

Session Leader Bio:

Founder of VoteWithYourWallet.com – Non-profit organization focused on growing jobs in America through consumer education.