Top 10 reasons to attend MiniTrends 2013 – Oct 2-3, Austin, TX

September 26, 2013

1: Get 1/2 off by registering now! Limited number of passes. Thanks to our generous sponsors, we have a limited number of 1/2 price passes to MiniTrends 2013 Conference & Master Workshop. Use Code  “SuperHalfOff” while they last! For maximum savings, combine with Early Bird Special which ends tomorrow, Sept 26, at 11:55 pm and attend MiniTrends 2013Conference (Oct 2) for $148 or the Conference & Master Workshop (Oct 2-3) for $173. Prices for Non-profits, Academic, Government, and Students are even lower.

2: Listen to Outstanding Keynote Speakers.

—Jani Byrne, Ph.D. is Director, Marketing – Global Mid-Market, MSP, and Enterprise at IBM. A visionary who marries deep technological innovations and insights with a profound understanding of human and market psychology… an extraordinarily passionate thought-leader who can also simply “get stuff done.” Jani is our morning keynote speaking on “The Next Generation IT Innovations and What’s In It ForYou.” —Gary Hoover is Founder, CEO, Chief Game Designer at Bigwig Games, Inc.; Entrepreneurship Teacher, Hoover Institute; Entrepreneur-in-Residence, School of Information, The University of Texas. He is renowned for founding BOOKSTOP, the leading-edge book superstore that revolutionized the nature of bookshopping, and Hoover’s, the world’s largest Internet-based provider of information about enterprises. Gary’s afternoon keynote is “Making a Difference Through Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Leadership.” —John H. Vanston, Ph.D., MiniTrends Conference Chair, Founder and Chairman of Technology Futures, Inc. (celebrating it’s 35th year), and author of the award winning book, MINITRENDS, kicks off the Conference with “The Importance of MiniTrends and Seven Ways You Can Find Them.”  Other presentations include “Becoming a MiniTrends Master,” and “Planning Your MiniTrends Success.”

3: Great Networking Opportunities.  Meet, mingle, network, and share ideas with speakers and other innovative and entrepreneurial-minded individuals during continental breakfasts, break out groups, breaks, discussions, provided lunch, and the MiniTrends 2013 reception overlooking beautiful Lady Bird Lake. See what all the excitement is about! Watch the video and hear what our MiniTrends 2012 Conference attendees say!! 4: Meet Inspiring Featured Speakers. At the MiniTrends Conference (October 2)

–Jeffrey Fry, Principal, Help Find Care; Chief Executive, Profit Prophet; Director/CMO, MainGain; Executive Director, Firefly Funds; Executive Director, SHINE Night; President, SEDA RICO, LLC. Jeffrey will present “Detecting 10 MiniTrends Using a Tachyon Field.”  –Tarja Meristö, Corporate Futurist, Principal Lecturer at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland. Tarja will present “Exploiting Trends for the Future – Finnish Experiences.” At the MiniTrends Master Workshop (October 3)

—Steve Pearson, Lead Strategist, Founder, The Pearson Strategy Group, “Monitoring Your MiniTrends for Success.” –Carrie Vanston, MiniTrends 2013 Conference Director and Media and Marketing Director, Technology Futures, Inc., “Where MiniTrends Hide: Eight Information Sources.”  –Lawrence Vanston, Ph.D. , President, Technology Futures, Inc., “Analyzing MiniTrends: Drivers & Constraints” 5: Meet and listen to expert panelists discussing how profit and social good combine for the good of all stakeholders. Expert Panel One: The Integration of Profit and Social Responsibility

–(Moderator) Ty Rarick, Founder/CEO TSR Consulting –Amy George, Founder/CEO, Blue Avocado –Elijah May, Chief Brand Officer & Host, SocialGood.TV –Cristián Méndez Sâbre, Chief Marketing Officer, Verb Inc.— Dell Education Challenge and Dell Empowering Women Challenge –Joy Stoddard, Development & Outreach Director, Whole Foods Foundationat Whole Foods Market 6: Visit with representatives of our sponsor/partners who share our vision and have helped develop and ensure the success of MiniTrends 2013.

7: Learn how other organizations are being profitable while also being socially responsible. Expert Panel Two: Taking the Plunge: What you can learn from those who have initiated successful value-driven businesses

–(Moderator) Steve Pearson, Lead Strategist, Founder, The Pearson Strategy Group –Andre Angel, Co-founder/CEO at TangoTab; Co-Founder/Chairman, WorkMeter; Co-founder, Servoyant, LLC; Co-Founder/Chairman, CODEKKO Software –Jeffrey Fry, Principal, Help Find Care; Chief Executive, Profit Prophet; Director/CMO, MainGain; Executive Director, Firefly Funds; Executive Director, SHINE Night; President, SEDA RICO, LLC; –Christopher Justice, Chief Executive Officer at Sparksight, Inc.–Stacy Zoern, CEO, Community Cars (Kengura “drive from wheelchair” vehicles)

8: Join in fun group and individual exercises that help you create ideas and provide opportunities to follow your bliss! Individual and group activities at the MiniTrends 2013 Conference & Master Workshopwill help you generate ideas, consider their potential as MiniTrends, develop partnerships, and leave with actionable plans. 9: Hear how and where innovators and entrepreneurs like yourself can get advice and assistance for translating your ideas into successful and satisfying endeavors. Expert Panel Three: Help is Here: How and where you can get advice and assistance for translating an uncovered minitrend into a successful, value-driven business opportunity

–(Moderator) Vicki Flaugher, Digital Strategist, Speaker, and Author of “Famous in Your Niche: Building Your Digital Celebrity For Fun and Profit.” –Bijoy Goswami, Cofounder & Evangelist at ATX Equation, The Bootstrap, Aviri Consulting; Founder/Organizer, Bootstrap Network; CEO, Aviri Inc. –Joy Miller, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator, City of Austin Small Business Development Program –Eve Richter, VP of Community & Partnerships, door64; Executive Director at Austin Economic Club

11: Bonus!! A chance to enjoy beautiful Austin Texas! Our MiniTrends 2013 meeting and reception will overlook beautiful Lady Bird Lake. The Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake (800-593-5676) is in a wonderful location to experience Austin’s major attractions. The hotel has direct access to the lake’s hike & bike trails and is a mile from Austin’s famous 6th Street entertainment district.

Again, get ½ off by registering today!! Use Code “SuperHalfOff” while they last! For maximum savings, combine with Early Bird Special which ends tomorrow, Sept 26, at 11:55 pm and attend MiniTrends 2013 Conference (Oct 2) for $148 or the Conference & Master Workshop (Oct 2-3) for $173. Prices for Non-profits, Academic, and Government are $98 and $123, and Students $45 and $53. Early bird ends 9/26, but 1/2 off discount good until event starts or special passes are gone. Day 1: MiniTrends 2013 Conference Wed., Oct. 2, 8:30 am-5:30 pm followed by reception (lunch provided)  Day 1 & 2: MiniTrends 2013 Conference & Master Workshop Wed., Oct. 2, 8:30 am-5:30 pm followed by reception (lunch provided) and Thurs., Oct 3, 8:30 am – 12:00 pm Contact TFI at info@tfi.com or (512) 258-8898 or visit Minitrends 2013 for more information.

MiniTrends 2013 New Keynote IBM Director Dr. Jani Bryne — Oct. 2, Austin, TX

September 20, 2013

Dr. Jani Byrne, Director of Global Mid-Market Marketing at IBM, joins MiniTrends 2013 as Keynote

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Jani Byrne, Director of Global Mid-Market Marketing at IBM, has joined us as Morning Keynote at Technology Futures’ 2nd annual MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility. She will be speaking on “The Next Generation IT Innovations and What’s in it For You.”

Dr. Byrne is a visionary who marries deep technological innovations and insights with a profound understanding of human and market psychology. She is an extraordinarily passionate thought leader who can also simply “get stuff done.”

In her present position, Dr. Byrne is responsible for end-to-end marketing strategies and plans for Mid-Market and Large Enterprise clients, across IBMs hardware / software / services portfolio, leading IBMs focus on Managed Service Providers worldwide. Previous positions have included Director of Strategy, where she created industry-leading strategies impacting IBM STG’s direction and activity, and Director of the IBM Venture Capital Group, where she was strategic liaison to the global Venture Community resulting in significant net profit to IBM.

In addition to her long distinguished career at IBM, Dr. Byrne is a Board Member of The Seton Fund at the Seton Family of Hospitals and Board Member of Austin Chamber of Commerce Technology Partnership.

Conference Chair Dr. John Vanston, Chairman of Technology Futures and author of the award-winning book, MINITRENDS, notes “With Dr. Byrne’s broad knowledge and experience relating to past, current, and future trends, she brings a great deal of value to conference attendees looking for practical ideas and opportunities relating to their areas of interests. We are excited to learn more about ways we can find and take advantage of MiniTrends she sees on the horizon.”

Dr. Byrne, entrepreneur whiz Gary Hoover, and 19 other visionaries & thought-leaders will share leading-edge business ideas and what they see as MiniTrends–big opportunities not yet widely recognized–at MiniTrends 2013 on October 2-3 at the Holiday Inn Town Lake in Austin, TX. Please join us!

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Austin-based Technology Futures, Inc. is celebrating its 35th year of providing top-quality custom studies and technology forecasts on key trends to a wide variety of commercial, government, and academic organizations since 1978.

Entrepreneurial Whiz Gary Hoover Keynotes MiniTrends 2013, Oct. 2, Austin, TX

September 3, 2013

We are thrilled to have Gary Hoover as our Keynote speaker at our 2nd annual MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility. He will be guiding us on “Making a Difference Through Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Leadership.”

Gary is a serial entrepreneur renowned for his founding of the first large scale retail bookstore, BOOKSTOP, and the business information products firm Hoover’s, Inc. He recently incorporated his fifth startup, Bigwig Games, to produce business and social science strategic simulation games for the iPad and other tablet devices. He is presently Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin.

Gary travels the world speaking about how enterprises are built and how they stand the test of time.  He is the founder of Hoover Academy where he teaches hundreds of students how to be successful entrepreneurs and he is author of  “The Art of Enterprise.” In 2009, he was the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship, McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.

He is the epitome of entrepreneurial spirit, forecasting and optimizing marketplace trends with successful, revolutionary businesses both for himself and for budding entrepreneurs to follow in his footsteps.

His formal and on-the-job education includes studying economics under the tutelage of three Nobel Prize winners, serving as a securities analyst for Citibank on Wall Street, being a buyer for Federated Department Stores and leading acquisitions and strategic planning for the May Department Stores Company.