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Saturday, April 17, 2004
1- 3 p.m.
$10 for adults at the door; free to students with IDs
Woodhead Lounge, Exley Science Center, Wesleyan University,
265 Church Street, Middletown, Connecticut
Want to beat isolation? Make business contacts? Learn about regional
organizations that can boost your business? Speak to the experts
who can
help you increase revenues?
You'll get a chance from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 17 at Wesleyan
University, when a panel of experts will share practical advice
on how to
build your virtual company. Growing the Virtual American Dream is
an
information and networking event for entrepreneurs who are developing
virtual businesses of their own, often in home-based offices, relying
on
their own business savvy and marketing skills to launch and promote
their
products and services.
Sponsored by Wesleyan and Hartford-based Northeast Utilities, this
program
is open to Wesleyan students, alumni, parents and the general public.
It is
one of several events Northeast Utilities is co-sponsoring throughout
Connecticut and Massachusetts designed to identify and support the
independent entrepreneurs they believe are driving economic growth
in New
England’s Knowledge Corridor from Hartford to Brattleboro,
Vermontreferred
to as the "hidden tech" movement.
This program is not just for techies. Any small business owner
who relies
on technology to drive his company is welcome whether you are an
e-commerce
retailer, consultant, writer, architect, software developer or video
game/animation business, or something in between. Whatever your
niche, you
will learn more about the national self-employment trend and how
the hidden
tech/virtual company movement fits into that trend. Experts will
talk about
how to build a virtual company business and representatives from
the
Hidden-Tech organization and Connecticut Technology Council will
be on hand
to explain how their organizations are promoting networking for
entrepreneurs.
The panel discussion will last approximately 30 minutes and will
be
followed by break-out sessions with experts and a chance to network
with
attendees. There will be plenty of opportunity to mingle and meet
a wide
array of people who can help you boost your business efforts. Light
refreshments will be served.
See page two for complete program information.
DIRECTIONS:
Please visit the Wesleyan University Web site at
http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/traveltowes.ctt
For further information please contact Gail Briggs, Associate Director
of
Alumni Relations, Wesleyan University, at (860) 685-3979 or
gbriggs@wesleyan.edu
SCHEDULE
1 – 1:30 p.m. CHECK-IN
1:30 – 2 p.m. BRIEF PRESENTATIONS BY PANELISTS
2 – 2:20 p.m. BREAKOUT SESSION I (choose a presenter to speak
with
in a small group format)
2:20 – 2:50 p.m BREAKOUT SESSION II (choose a presenter to
speak with in
a small group format)
3 p.m. WRAP-UP
PANEL DISCUSSION TOPICS AND PRESENTER INFORMATION:
THE NATIONAL SELF-EMPLOYMENT TREND AND THE HIDDEN TECH PHEONOMENON
Find out how New England’s Knowledge Corridor fits into a
larger trend and
learn about the network that exists to support this population in
the region.
Presenters: Michael Levin, Chief Policy Specialist for Economic
and
Community Development at Northeast Utilities in Hartford, Connecticut,
and
Amy Zuckerman, '76, author and founder of the Hidden-Tech organization
based in western Massachusetts. She is also principal of A –
Z
International Associates, an Amherst, Massachusetts-based market
research
and consulting business.
NETWORKS OF THE FUTURE: SUPPORTING THE NEW WAYS WE WORK
Learn about the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and all that
it’s
doing to build high quality networks and virtual communities to
assist
talented individuals communicate in a world that relies less on
corporations and service firms to create business and marketing
relationships. Find out about the CTC's "Drive to the Future
(TM)" campaign
and the evolving "Connecticut Growth Network (TM)" and
how these efforts
may support your business.
Presenter: Matt Nemerson, President and CEO of the Connecticut
Technology
Council (CTC), founder of the Yale Science Park incubator center,
former
president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and COO of
Netkey, a
provider of software and Internet services for the customer relations
industry.
FREE TO SUCCEED
An honest discussion by highly acclaimed career coach Barbara Reinhold
about ways to transition into what she calls a “free agent,"
and methods to
make the most of your virtual company through personal development
work
utilizing exercises from her Free to Succeed book and Monster.com
column.
Presenter: Barbara Reinhold, an internationally-known coach, counselor,
motivator, and organizational problem-solver, and the Director of
Career
and Executive Development at Smith College. She is also the online
Career
Coach on Monster.com’s Executive Zone and the author of Free
to Succeed:
Designing the Life you Want in the New Free Agent Economy.
ADVICE FROM THE TRENCHES
Talk directly with someone who has “been there and done that.”
Bill Wasch
has had a wide-ranging career in elderly services and will share
his
firsthand experience about what it takes to develop and grow a virtual
business that combines product sales and consulting services
Presenter: William K. Wasch ’52, P ’84, is the nationally
recognized author
of Home Planning for Your Later Years and President of Middletown
House, a
virtual business that helps seniors design and build accessible
housing.
Please reply to Gail Briggs at (860) 685-3979 or Email
<mailto:gbriggs@wesleyan.edu>gbriggs@wesleyan.edu by April
15th; space is
limited.
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