MiniTrends 2013 Conference – Thank You & Presentation Slides

October 30, 2013

MiniTrends 2013 – Keynote Speaker, Jani Byrne, Dir., IBM

Thank you to everyone who helped make MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility such a huge success! The conference slides are up!

Conference Chair Dr. John Vanston and I enjoyed interacting with everyone and appreciated the contagious enthusiasm. The speakers were fantastic, the synergy between attendees exciting, and the overall response great. Now let’s build on the connections we made and all we learned!

Lt-Rt: Carrie Vanston, Media/Mkt Dir., TFI, Conf Dir; Barbara Springer, TechBA, UT at Austin; Keynote Gary Hoover, CEO, Bigwig GameEntrepreneur; Vanessa Manley, MSTC, McCombs School of Business, UT at Austin, Dr. Gary Cadenhead, Dir, MSTC, McCombs School of Business, UT at Austin. Dr. John Vanston, Chairman, TFI, Conf. Chair

A special shout-out goes to our Keynotes Jani Byrne, Gary Hoover, and John Vanston whose excellent presentations provided the structure of the conference. We also greatly appreciate our wonderful Sponsors and Partners, Planning Committee, and Advisory Board for their integral role in making this such a valuable and fun event.

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Exercise – Impact Wheels

Let’s use the LinkedIn MiniTrends Group to continue to network and keep the energy going until MiniTrends 2014. Please feel free to share thoughts and your own minitrends, experiences, and resources with other members of the LinkedIn MiniTrends Group.

We also have a Facebook Page that we welcome you to “like.” We will be posting pictures from the conference and will let you know when they are up. Twitter is @MiniTrendsBook, #minitrends.

MiniTrends 2013 Panel 2 — l-r: Steve Pearson, CEO, The Pearson Strategy Group, Christopher Justice, CEO, Sparksight, Inc., Andre Angel, CEO, TangoTab, Stacy Zoern, CEO, Community Cars, Jeffrey Fry, Principal, Help Find Care (Photo by Dee Ann Hoeft, Dee Ann’s Photography Studio)

We also encourage you to sign up for our MiniTrends Blog.

Thanks for everyone who handed in evaluation sheets! We appreciated the feedback. Please let us know if you have any more input on how the event went. We welcome ideas from attendees and blog readers on what you would like to see next year.

Hopefully everyone has had a chance to take a look at the MINITRENDS book you received at the conference. A quick read of the Preface (Page xxi) and Chapter 10 (Pg 185-186) gives a good overall theme of the book.)

Please let us know progress you make with minitrends, particularly those using concepts from the book and conference. We use examples in our talks, guest blogs, and/or they may be speaking subjects for you next year.

Also please let us know if your organization or one you know would be interested in meeting with us to find out how we might help bring a MiniTrends Mindset to your organization through presentations, workshops, and/or other in-house services.

We are excited to have you in our MiniTrends Circle! We look forward to continuing the connection. In the meantime, please feel free to contact John, Helen Mary, or me with any thoughts or comments.

Warm regards,

Carrie and the TFI/MiniTrends Team

Dr. John Vanston At Lions Club on MiniTrends as Foundation, Oct 17, Austin, TX

October 16, 2013

Dr. John Vanston speaking at Austin Downtown Founder Lions Club, Oct. 17, Austin, TX

Little did we know when MiniTrend’s friend Vicki Flaugher invited our Dr. John Vanston to speak on Oct. 17 at the Austin Downtown Founder Lions Club that is was the “world’s oldest continuously operating Lions Club”! Yes, the club was chartered January 18, 1916! The charter members were a “Who’s Who” of Austin civic leadership. (“Founder Club” is a term of recognition bestowed by Lions International on those clubs that were represented at the formation of the international organization at its first convention in 1917.)

Although they enjoy this delightful slice of fame, they like to think that their efforts in community service are simply typical of Lions Clubs the world over. It’s a story of stage shows, garage sales, rodeos, rose sales and other fundraising activities. It’s a story of answering the needs of the community and of disadvantaged groups and individuals. And it’s a story of building and working with other Lions Clubs to promote teamwork in service.

Being that our MiniTrends book and activities are designed to help people find their passions and make a difference in the world, we are also thrilled to see that our host’s motto is “Follow Your Dream.”

John will be giving the club some new ideas as they go into the future! Please see details below. Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Carrie

Austin Downtown Founder Lions Club Presents:

MiniTrends: A Foundation for an Innovative Organization 

 Dr. John Vanston, Chairman, Technology Futures, Inc.

Introduction by Vicki Flaugher

 

In our current environment of rapid change, an organization’s success-indeed, its survival-depends on its establishing a culture and structure committed to continuing imagination and innovation.

 

In this presentation, Dr. John Vanston introduces a new concept–MiniTrends–that can provide a foundation for an effective Innovation Support Program. This concept provides a new approach for finding, analyzing and taking advantage of emerging trends that will become significant in 2-5 years, but are not yet widely recognized or appreciated.

• Individual entrepreneurs will learn how to identify, assess, and exploit new business opportunities.
• Decision makers in small and mid-size businesses will learn how to gain advantage by recognizing and utilizing emerging trends.
• Innovative thinkers in large businesses will learn how to distinguish themselves by their special perceptiveness.
• Investors will learn how to uncover attractive new investment opportunities.

 The presentation is based on John’s 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and the award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends authored by Dr. Vanston with his daughter Carrie Vanston.

________________________

Details:

When: 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM,  Oct 17, 2013
Where: Wells Fargo Bldg, 400 W 15th St, 3rd floor
Registration:
–Lion Members and Walk-in Guests – $15.00 (USD)
–No Meal – Member or Non member – Free
–Please note there will be a $5 fee for parking in the garage
Featured Lunch Menu: Smothered pork chops with apricot & madera sauce, roasted sweet potatoes and fresh green beans; mixed field green salad with assorted rolls and a featured daily dessert. Vegetarian meal or Grilled Chicken Caesar salad are available alternatives as well.
Please register by noon on Wednesday: We order meals based on your reservations and must pay for them even if you do not show up. Please keep this in mind if your plans shift and cancel your reservation so we can adjust the headcount.