Carrie speaking at IEEE Wed, Sept 23, 6pm

September 21, 2015

Carrie Vanston presents Five Keys to the Innovative and Engaged and 5 Keys opening lock 7-21-15 new keys & tall letters smallerInnovative Culture IEEE Central Texas Consultants Network Wednesday, September 23, 6-8:30 pm PoK-e-Jo’s Smokehouse 2121 West Parmer Lane at Lamplight Village Avenue Austin, Texas 78727

Carrie Vanston, VP Communications at TFI, provides individuals and organizations five keys to create and grow engaged and innovative cultures that are cutting-edge, with strong purpose and the inclusion of all stakeholders. Such cultures are essential to succeed and thrive in the rapidly changing world we live in. Attendees will learn practical ways for staying ahead of the latest industry trends and creating caring environments that encourage high quality recruits, retainment of employees, happy customers, and greater productivity and profit.

Everyone is invited to attend! There is a $5 restaurant charge. No reservations necessary. Guests are encouraged to have a bite to eat at this excellent barbeque spot!

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Carrie Vanston photoCarrie Vanston, is VP of Communications at Technology Futures, Inc. and the MiniTrends Project. She excels at helping clients create and grow cultures that encourage better retention, happier customers, and higher productivity and profit. She is co-author of the award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends. Recent articles by Carrie have appeared in Texas CEO Magazine and the Austin Business Journal.

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Carrie Vanston speaks on Engagement & Innovation at WorldFuture 2015 – San Francisco, July 25

July 20, 2015

WFS2015 logoCome hear Carrie Vanston speak this Saturday at
WorldFuture 2015: Making the Future
on
“Five Keys to the Innovative and Engaged
Culture of the Future”

WFS2015  Making the Future

Schedule

Sponsored by World Future Society
Hilton San Francisco Union Square
San Francisco, California
Saturday, July 25, 4:15-5:00 pm.

IMG_4049
In this presentation, Carrie Vanston, VP Communications at TFI, provides individuals and organizations five key ways to create and grow an engaged and innovative culture that is cutting-edge, with strong purpose and the inclusion of all stakeholders. Such a culture is increasingly important to succeed and thrive in the rapidly changing world of the future.

 

5 Keys to an Engaged and Innovative Culture

5 Keys to an Engaged and Innovative Culture

Attendees will learn practical ways for staying ahead of the latest industry trends and for creating a caring environment that encourages the highest engagement of an organization’s most important resource – the creativity of its employees and other stakeholders.

Everyone will have an opportunity to share their ideas with each other toward the end of the session.
___

Carrie Vanston, is VP of Communications and Culture Coach at Technology Futures, Inc. and the MiniTrends Project. She excels at helping clients create and grow innovative cultures that stay on the cutting edge of industry trends with maximum engagement by all stakeholders.

She is co-author of the award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends. Recent articles by Carrie have appeared in Texas CEO Magazine and the Austin Business Journal.
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To learn more and register, please visit WorldFuture 2015: Making the Future

Hope to see you there!

Always Super Bowl Ad “Like a Girl” – Great Example of Purpose Branding

February 6, 2015

P&G’s Always Super Bowl Ad “Like a Girl” is such a great example of Purpose Branding — creating brand with a visionary purpose that makes a difference in the world.  Always isn’t just feminine products but “Rewriting the Rules” and changing “like a girl” to represent the strength, talent, character and downright amazingness of every girl.

As Entrepreneur notes so nicely, “Of course it’s no secret that a great many commercials from Super Bowls past put the emphasis on objectifying women rather than empowering them, so it’s gratifying to see the support for Always’ ongoing efforts to turn “like a girl” into a positive rather than a put down.”

You may want to consider the purpose-oriented trend in company culture and in branding for your own organization.

Cheers,
Carrie

MiniTrends 2014: Thank You, Slides & More

October 29, 2014

Thank you to everyone who had a part in making MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy such a huge success! 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!

We want to give special thanks to our Keynotes David Pearce Snyder, Brett Hurt, and Dr. John Vanston. They brought to life our theme of the importance of foresight and culture for the success of organizations. Ditto to Dr. Jani Byrne, Joyce Gioia, and our distinguished panel.

We also greatly appreciate our wonderful Sponsors and Partners, as well as our Planning Committee and Advisory Board for their integral role in making this such a valuable and fun event.

Conference slides are up! We will post conference pictures of the sessions, meals, and reception on our MiniTrends Facebook soon. We are also preparing a video of the proceedings for purchase.

Thank you to those attendees who turned in an Evaluation Sheet. If you didn’t, please fill it our now by clicking here. We take your comments very seriously for future planning.

Join our LinkedIn MiniTrends Group and/or guest blog on our MiniTrends Blog to share thoughts about the conference and your own minitrends, experiences, and resources. Twitter is @MiniTrendsBook, #minitrends.

We welcome feedback on the book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends that attendees 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.) MINITRENDS also available on Amazon.

Please keep us in the loop on your activities and how you are applying methods and ideas you picked up at the conference and in the book. We use examples in our talks, blogs, and/or they may be speaking subjects for you next year.

Also please let us know if we might bring a MiniTrends Mindset to your organization through a presentation, workshop, and/or other in-house services. We want to know the direction you are heading and how we and the MiniTrends Community can help you get to where you want to be. We look forward to continuing the conversation.

A Special Price + 9 More Reasons You Should Be at MiniTrends 2014

September 5, 2014

MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy is coming to you on
Friday, September 26, in Austin, Texas. 

MiniTrends Community Special:  20% Off Discount

10 Reasons You Should Attend MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy

1. Insights for InnovationMiniTrends 2014 Keynote: David Pearce Snyder, Futurist

Insight: the ability to understand people and situations in a very clear way.

Becoming adept at discerning MiniTrends will first give you insights into innovation. This ability to understand people’s wants and needs, and the underlying causes of change will allow you to see how to achieve a high return on effort, essentially letting you see a path of doing more with less and in turn working smarter not harder.

  • Examine the predictable forces that are reshaping our business and technology environment.
  • Learn 20 knowable future trends that you must be prepared for.
  • Understand how the MiniTrends Concept can be key for continuing success.
  • Use this foundational foresight to build an innovation thought-process and strategy throughout the conference day.

2. Innovation Skills

Innovation: the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods.MiniTrends 2014 Keynote, Brett Hurt, Bazaarvoice Founder

With these new insights on possible innovations, you can begin to act on and process these new ideas in the development of new products or methodologies, thus allowing you to get an unfair competitive advantage or as VCs like to say, “game the system.”

  • Discover seven approaches for identifying minitrends.
  • Learn eight resources to find where minitrends hide.
  • Appreciate the vital role of leadership in promoting an innovation culture where employee creativity becomes the innovative “heart” of the organization.
  • See how appreciating all stakeholders, not just stockholders, is the “secret sauce” of success.
  • Find and share minitrends of your own with fellow attendees.

3. Innovation Strategy

MiniTrends 2014 Keynote, Dr. John H. VanstonStrategy: the skill of making or carrying out plans to achieve a goal.

Finally, by combining these new, undiscovered insights with derived innovations, you can increase your acumen in making or carrying out plans of action to achieve your new strategic goals.  In other words, by attending MiniTrends 2014 you can become that “Rock Star” everyone talks about!

  • Accelerate your innovation and process development.
  • Find the exogenous drivers and constraints that can help with decision making.
  • Leverage minitrends in market strategy development.
  • Use minitrends in making a market for a new product or service.
  • Benefit from personal interaction with conference speakers during special session.
  • Bring back ideas and strategies for you and your team.

4. Direct Interaction with Speakers and Expert Panelists

MiniTrends 2014 Speaker, Joyce Gioia

MiniTrends 2014 Speaker -- Jani-Byrne, Director of Mktg, Cloud, IBMAll-star visionaries and thought-leaders will give you the insight and tools you need to stay ahead of the curve and remain innovative in a rapidly changing business environment.Speak directly with the speakers about your own personal interests and ideas during a scheduled session just for this purpose.

MiniTrends 2014 Speakers

5. Individual and Small Group Hands-On Exercises

Individual and group activities at MiniTrends 2014 will help you generate ideas, consider their potential as minitrends, develop partnerships, and leave with actionable plans.

6. Great Networking Opportunities

Meet, mingle, network, and share ideas with marketers, analysts, development managers, strategists, research managers, and others during continental breakfast, breakout groups, breaks, discussions, provided lunch, and the MiniTrends 2014 “power-hour” reception overlooking beautiful Lady Bird Lake.

See what all the excitement is about! Watch the video or visit our testimonial page and find out what our past MiniTrends Conference say!!

 

7. FREE copy of Award-Winning MINITRENDS book

—Your Own MiniTrends ResourceMINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends by Dr. John H. Vanston with Carrie Vanston

As a special value add, you will receive your very own description of the MiniTrends Concept to take home—the award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Entrepreneurs & Innovators Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends by Dr. John Vanston and Carrie Vanston.

A $19.95 value!

8. Meet our Sponsors and Partners

We appreciate our Sponsors and Partners who share our vision of helping business leaders thrive by combining foresight with a creative culture honoring all stakeholders.

MiniTrends 2014 Sponsors and Partners

9. Enjoy Tech-Friendly and Beautiful Austin, Texas!

Austin is a thriving, cosmopolitan city and one of the leading high-tech hubs in the U.S. With more than 120,000 people employed by more than 4,400 technology firms, we have the techies, the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the investors, and so much more. And we’re the Live Music Capital of the World! What better place for a cutting-edge innovation conference?

Our MiniTrends 2014 meeting and reception overlooks beautiful Lady Bird Lake. The Holiday Inn Austin Lady Bird 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.

10. Special 20% Off Discount for Our MiniTrends Community!

Discount Code: Special20-2013  brings the regular price to $292  or Small business/Government/Academia to  $208.  Students still can come for $65. (Please register as soon as possible so we can have accurate catering numbers for the hotel!)

Join us at MiniTrends 2014: Insights, Innovation & Strategy on Friday, September 26, 2014, 8:30 am–5:30 pm, followed by reception. The full day conference includes continental breakfast, lunch, and evening “Power-Hour” reception. Attend this important event to insure you and your company remain successful and profitable in a constantly changing world.

Take Advantage of MiniTrends Community Special 20% Off Discount

MiniTrends 2014 Special Rate: Special150-2014

Please feel free to let your friends, colleagues and social networks know about this valuable offer!

Contact TFI at info@tfi.com or (512) 258-8898 or visit Minitrends 2014 for more information.
www.MiniTrends.com/MiniTrends-2014

 

VOTE for MiniTrends Panel for SXSW Eco 2014 by May 16 – “Creating a Profitable & Purpose-Driven Business”

May 11, 2014

PLEASE take a moment to VOTE for MiniTrend’s panel submission for SXSW Eco Conference titled “Creating a Profitable and Purpose-Driven Business” at http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/29857 by May 16. 

The panel includes Carrie Vanston, VP, Communications, MiniTrends/TFI; Jeffrey Fry, Chief Executive, The Profit Prophet; Andre Angel, Founder/CEO, TangoTab; and Joy MillerMarketing and Outreach Coordinator, City of Austin Small Business Development Program..Short videos of each panelist can be found at http://vimeopro.com/tablerockers/sxsw-eco-conference.

A third of the decision is directly from votes! You do have to sign in, but it does not take long to vote. Please go to http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/29857 and VOTE NOW.

Thank you so much for supporting the creation and growth of purpose-based businesses and making a difference in the world! 

MiniTrends Conference: “Go for the booty and discover new, uncharted lands”*

November 12, 2013

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Panel "Taking the Plunge" - Christopher Justice, Andre Angel, Stacy Zoern, Jeffrey Fry, Steve Pearson

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Panel “Taking the Plunge” – (l-rt) Christopher Justice, Founder/CEO, Sparksight, Inc.; Andre Angel, Founder/CEO,Tango Tab; Stacy Zoern, Founder/CEO, Community Cars; Jeffrey Fry, Founder/Principal, Help Find Care; Steve Pearson, Founder/CEO, The Pearson Strategy Group;

I was honored to participate in this year’s MiniTrends Conference, an exciting gathering based on exposing that sweet spot where new and established businesses can find the tools and directional choices to profit and inspire themselves and their employees.

The message that making money does not require tossing out your social responsibility was uplifting and contagious. The conference attendees I met were especially eager to learn more about being successful while making a positive difference.

We heard excellent keynotes by Jani Byrne, Gary Hoover and Dr. John Vanston that provided the structure of the conference.

Minitrends 2013 ConferenceA total of 17 speakers presented and all of their slides can be found at http://minitrends.com/minitrends-2013-slides/

Carrie Vanston, MiniTrends Conference Director, was her usual self: a powerhouse of preparedness and always carrying a smile.

As for me, I was pleased to be invited to be the moderator for Expert Panel Two: “Taking the Plunge: What you can learn from those who have initiated successful, value-driven businesses.”

The enthusiastic panelists were all knowledgeable and spoke from strong entrepreneurial backgrounds.

  • 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; Board Member, baqpak; Executive Dir, Firefly Funds; Executive Dir, SHINE Night; President, SEDA RICO, LLC
  • Christopher Justice, Chief Executive Officer at Sparksight, Inc.
  • Stacy Zoern, CEO, Community Cars
They had great advice, but here are their key points:
  1. Trust your gut.
  2. Listen and change your course when needed.
  3. It’s not about YOU. Remove your ego.
  4. Fail often. Test and try.
  5. Be flexible.
  6. Choose your team wisely.
  7. Manage your stress, your health is important.

I can’t wait to continue the conversation at next year’s conference.

Steve Pearson, Lead Strategist and Founder of The Pearson Strategy Group, LLC.

*My favorite take-away was Jeffrey Fry’s adjustment to a Steve Jobs quote: “[Being an entrepreneur] is like being a pirate…go for the booty and discover new, uncharted lands.”

MiniTrends 2013 Conference - Conf. Dir., VP Communications, Carrie Vanston, TFI, Steve Pearson, CEO, Pearson Strategy, John Vanston, Conf. Chair, Chairman, TFI

MiniTrends 2013 Conference – Carrie Vanston, Conf. Dir., VP Communications, TFI, Steve Pearson, Founder, CEO, Pearson Strategy, John Vanston, Conf. Chair, Chairman, TFI

This blog post originally appeared in Pearson’s Strategy News.

 

MiniTrends 2013 Conference – Thank You & Presentation Slides

October 30, 2013

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

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 ByrneGary 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

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 2014: Panel 2: Taking the Plunge

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.

MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology TrendsHopefully 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

Carrie Vanston, Media/Marketing Director
MiniTrends Conference Director
Co-Author, MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs & Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends
–The Pinnacle Book Achievement Best Business Book Award Winner
–Eric Hoffer Business Book of the Year Winner
–Finalist: ForeWord Reviews; USA Book News; Global Business eBook

Nielson Survey Says 50% of Consumers Now Care

August 30, 2013

Nielsen Report: Willing to Spend More by Demographic Group: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013/consumers-who-care.html, copyright 2013 The Nielson Company

Nielsen Report: Willing to Spend More by Demographic Group: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013/consumers-who-care.html, copyright 2013 The Nielson Company

Check out the great article today on Nielson Newswire titled Consumers Who Care. The Nielson global survey  points out that consusmer sentiment toward social responsible companies is growing. According to the study, which is available for free on the link, the percentage of global consumers willing to reward companies that give back to society grew by 5%—increasing from 45% to 50%. That’s half  of all consumers willing to make a decision on their perception of companies giving back to society!

When we decided to focus on profit and social good for our 2nd annual MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility, we did it because striving to make a difference in the world is in our DNA and, we believe, in the DNA of the people we want to work with. After all, the people we work with are often some of the most important relationships going forward in our lives.

But it’s always great to see figures that support the view that people tend to choose products or services that they perceive to be better for the world. That’s why we feel so passionate about the speakers we’ve chosen for MiniTrends 2013. They personify this desire to do good in business while doing good for their stakeholders — not just their stockholders.

We want to highlight our all-star entrepreneurial speakers, so we will be profiling them in “Speaker Spotlights” during the coming days. We hope you will join us at our Oct. 2-3 MiniTrends 2013 Conference and Master Course in Austin Texas!