John & Carrie on BOSS-Talks — Free Webinar – Mon., Nov 10, 12-1 CST

November 7, 2014

BOSS-Talks: Tech Tools Free Webinar:

“MiniTrends: Trends Inside Trends”

with Dr. John H. Vanston and Carrie Vanston

Monday, November 10, 2014, 12-1 pm CST
In this one-hour online webinar, award-winning authors Dr. John H. Vanston, and Carrie Vanston discuss the MiniTrends Concept and how you can find and act on significant minitrends — trends that smaller firms can run with and medium to large companies can use to stay innovative by engaging their leadership’s and employees’ creativity and imagination.
Participants learn:
  • How and where to search for MiniTrends.
  • How to evaluate the business attractiveness of a MiniTrend.
  • How to develop an effective MiniTrend Strategy.
  • How to turn the strategy into profitable business opportunities…
  • RSVP Blue Button You should participate if you are:
    • A Corporate Intrapreneur seeking strategies to keep your organization on the cutting edge of business and technology.
    • An Entrepreneur wishing to identify, assess, and exploit attractive new business opportunities.
    • An Innovative Thinker interested in gaining recognition for originality and perceptiveness.
    • An Investor interested in uncovering attractive new investment opportunities.
    • A Job Seeker wishing to define emerging employment possibilities.
    Participants will recieve a solid basis for developing their own “MiniTrends Mindset.”
The session is based on John’s and Carrie’s experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and their award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends.
Business Success Center logo

 Tech Tools Webinar Host: BOSS-Talks’ Dr. Jan Triplett and Business Success Center provide ramp up assistance for new businesses and scaling for growing businesses.

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IBM’s Dr. Jani Byrne joins MiniTrends 2014 (Sept 26) – Special $150 rate ends Noon Monday Sept 22

September 19, 2014

Minitrends 2014 -- Jani Byrne, IBM  http://minitrends.com/minitrends-2014/

Dr. Jani Byrne
Director of Marketing, Cloud, IBM

We are delighted that Dr. Jani Byrne, Director of Marketing, Cloud, at IBM has joined the program for our 3rd annual MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy. Jani will be sharing her experiences as corporate innovator in her talk “Musings of a Wild Duck in a Big Pond.”

Jani is responsible for Content Marketing globally for Cloud, one of IBMs leading strategic initiatives, creating and distributing consumable, relevant content to drive client acquisition and purchase. Previously she served as IBM’s Director, Marketing Strategy for Global Mid-Markets MSPs and Director, Strategy.

Jani is on the Boards of The Seton Fund at the Seton Family of Hospitals’ and Austin Chamber of Commerce Technology Partnership.

Register Now for special price for full conference of only $150 until noon, Monday, September 22.

Our Keynotes are Austin Tech Leader and Bazaarvoice Founder Brett Hurt, top D.C. Futurist David Pearce Snyder, and award-winning author Dr. John Vanston. Also headlining is USA TODAY’s Road Warrior of the Year Joyce Gioia.

Minitrends 2014 Keynotes

MiniTrends 2014 SpeakersWe have an excellent applications panel on how to turbo-charge your success and profit by combining MiniTrends methods with your innovation strategy. Panelists include Raj Asava, Jeffrey Fry, Steve Pearson, Carrie Vanston, and Larry Vanston.

The breadth and depth of the speaking talent and schedule for this awesome event it exceptional. In addition we have incredible attendees who are thought-leaders in their own right. (See what our past attendees say.) We hope you, too, will be part of the this year’s amazing event.

MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy.

Friday, September 26, 2014
8:30 am – 5:30 pm followed by “Power Hour” Reception
Holiday Inn Lady Bird Lake, Austin, TX
Full Conference for Only $150

(Special ends Noon, Monday, Sept. 22)
All attendees receive Continental Breakfast, Breaks,
and Lunch followed by a Networking Reception!

Please share offer with your friends, colleagues & networks.

 

MiniTrends 2014 Conference – Just 5 Weeks Out! – Sept 26, Austin, TX

August 21, 2014

MiniTrends ConferenceWe’re only 5 weeks out from MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy scheduled Sept. 26, at the beautiful Holiday Inn Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. The conference is really shaping up to be fantastic. Our Keynotes alone—Brett Hurt of Bazaarvoice, top Futurist David P. Snyder, award-winning Author Dr. John Vanston, and USA Today’s Road Warrior of the Year Joyce Gioia—make the conference worth its weight in gold!

If you are interested in staying ahead of the curve and turbo-charging your company’s profit and success by combining MiniTrends methodology with your innovation strategies, then you need to be at this event!

In addition to our Keynotes, a host of other visionaries and thought-leaders will be speaking. As a special bonus this year, time for direct interaction with the speakers by attendees about their special interests is provided in the schedule.

A full day conference of this caliber is usually $1000 or more! Register by September 5th to take advantage of the Early Bird rate for General Admission: $345, Non-Profit/Government/Small Business: $240, Student: $60.  

The breadth and depth of the speaking talent and schedule is exceptional. The content is invaluable and the event provides a great chance to meet futurists, innovators, and trendsetters. And fun and entrepreneurial-spirited Austin offers the ideal location!

BONUS!!  Receive a free copy of our award-winning book
MINITRENDS:
How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends

We hope you will join us for this great event!
MiniTrends 2014: Insight, Innovation & Strategy

8:30 am – 5:30 pm followed by a Reception
Friday, September 26, 2014
Holiday Inn Lady Bird Lake, Austin, TX

Contact us now or call us at (512) 258-8898 or info@tfi.com to become a Sponsor to this important event!

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.

 

WorldFuture 2013: Master Course: Succeeding in a New Normal World – July 19, Chicago

July 12, 2013

World Future 2013, World Future Society Conference, Chicago, IL

Join us for our Pre-Conference Master Course: Succeeding in a New Normal World on July 19 with David Pearce Snyder, Dr. John Vanston, and Carrie Vanston

The World Future Society’s annual conference WorldFuture 2013: Exploring the Next Horizon brings together the world’s premier minds to discuss the long-range future of science, technology, humanity, government, religion and many other topics.

MiniTrends’ leaders Dr. John Vanston and Carrie Vanston are co-presenting with top futurist David Snyder at the Pre-Conference Master Course: Succeeding in a New Normal World on July 19, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 pm. (The additional fee is $245.)

This session describes the New Normal, the forces driving it, and how you can use the MiniTrends Concept to discover and profit from emerging trends within these forces. These minitrends offer opportunities to be successful personally and professionally, while making a postive difference in this changing world.

The session increases understanding of the principles and practices covered and  allows participants to take advantage of the experiences and insights of the group.

Highlights: What Attendees Will Learn from this Session:

  • How forces are predictably reshaping our demography, economic structure, technology advances, and decision-making processes.
  • How these forces can assist participants in identifying and taking advantage of emerging trends and attractive business opportunities.
  • How participants can apply the information, ideas, and insights presented in the class as guidance for business, personal career, and investment decisions.

Presenters:

Mintirends Keynote Speaker: David Pearce Snyder, Futurist and Contributing Editor, The FuturistDavid Pearce Snyder
Consulting Futurist;

The Snyder Family Enterprise
Contributing Editor, The Futurist
 
 
 
Dr. John VanstonDr. John Vanston
Chairman, Technology Futures, Inc.
Conference Chair, MiniTrends 2013The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility
Author, MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends
 

Carrie Vanston
Media & Mktg Director, Technology Futures, Inc.
Conference Director: MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility

Co-Author, MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends

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We hope you will join us in attending
WorldFuture 2013: Exploring the Next Horizon and signing up for our Pre-Conference Master Course: Succeeding in a New Normal World.

 

Oct. 2-3: MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility

June 21, 2013

MiniTrends 2013 Conference: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility


Second Annual MiniTrends Conference

MiniTrends 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility

October 2-3, Holiday Inn Town Lake, Austin, Texas

Discover, Profit, Do Good!

Wednesday, October 2, 2013
8:30 am – 5:30 pm, Reception 5:30 – 7:15 pm

You CAN be profitable and socially responsible. This event exposes that sweet spot where new and established businesses can find the tools and directional choices to profit and inspire themselves and their employees in whatever their line of business.

Join us in Austin, the place Forbes’ calls the “Best Big City for Jobs,” to listen and participate as all-star business leaders and forward thinkers reveal how to start new ventures and grow established organizations leveraging MiniTrends.

MiniTrends ConferenceBy understanding MiniTrends—emerging trends that will soon become important, but not yet widely recognized—you will discover effective ways to balance capitalism with complementary social values and philanthropy in your business.

Find out what future trends and convergences are on the horizon and, of equal importance, how you can find profitable emerging trends of your own integrated with socially responsible values.

Austin is an exciting, growing entrepreneurial hub that offers a culture built on collaboration, innovation, creativity, and caring. What better place to find out how you, too, can develop a Minitrends Mindset!

You Should Attend if You are a Value-Driven:

  • Entrepreneur wishing to identify, assess, and exploit attractive new business opportunities
  • Decision Making Executive, Director, Manager, or in a Small or Mid-Size Business wanting to gain advantage by recognizing and utilizing emerging trends
  • Innovative Thinking Executive, Director, Manager, or Professional in a Larger Business aspiring to distinguish yourself by your special insights and perceptiveness
  • Investor interested in uncovering attractive new investment opportunities
  • Job Seeker wishing to define employment opportunities

What You will Gain:

  • MiniTrends Conference LuncheonA creative mind-set and resources for finding and taking advantage of emerging trends and opportunities relating to your own area of expertise and interest.
  • An understanding of how to integrate profit and socially responsible purpose and value in your business.
  • A preview of MiniTrends that thought leaders see developing.
  • Experience from innovative leaders sharing how they use emerging trends to start new ventures or grow established organizations for profit with attention to all stakeholders.
  • Tactics to identify untapped business opportunities from converging trends in the business and social arenas.
  • Interaction with speakers and fellow participants to learn, mix, and share ideas.
  • Strategy and insights to create or grow your organization and, in the process, find your bliss.
  • An opportunity to enjoy the Live Music Capital of the World!

What Attendees Say

Speakers:

Conference Chair: Dr. John H. VanstonChairman, Technology Futures, Inc.

MiniTrends 2012 Conference Chair - Dr. John H. Vanston, Chairman, Technology Futures, Inc.John founded TFI in 1978, building the Austin, Texas-based company into a leading authority in custom research and technology forecasting. His MiniTrends concept, designed to increase creativity, innovation, and success, is summarized in MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends. The book has received several Best Business Book awards and excellent reviews and endorsements.

Minitrends Seminar Director - Carrie Vanston, Media and Mkt. Dir., Technology Futures, Inc.Conference Director: Carrie VanstonMedia and Marketing Director, Technology Futures, Inc.
Carrie has many years of experience in public relations, marketing, and sales at TFI and in the entertainment industry. As co-author of MINITRENDS: How Entrepreneurs & Innovators Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trendsshe brings a distinct real-world quality to MiniTrends activities, particularly in the media communications and social media areas.

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Speaker - Andre Angel, Tango TabAndre AngelCo-founder/CEO at TangoTab; Co-Founder/Chairman, WorkMeter; Co-founder, Servoyant, LLC; Co-Founder/Chairman, CODEKKO Software
Based in Dallas, Andre is a serial entrepreneur with global experience. His latest venture, TangoTab, is a real-time, online social enterprise business that offers diners discounts at participating restaurants, and donates a meal to the community each time you use the service. “When you eat, they eat.” Prior to Tango Tab, he co-founded, grew and sold numerous high-tech companies including CODEKKO, Experticity, NTR, Elastic Edge, and WorkMeter. Earlier, he was Global Vice President of Sales at Nortel Networks.

MIniTrends 2013 Conference Speaker - Jeffrey Fry, Principal, Help Find CareJeffrey FryPrincipal, Help Find Care; Chief Executive, Profit Prophet; Director/CMO, MainGain; Board Member, baqpak; Executive Director, Firefly Funds; Executive Director, SHINE Night; President, SEDA RICO, LLC;
Jeffrey has launched a new type of in-home healthcare service that empowers healthcare service professionals to go into business for themselves while better connecting in-home healthcare needs. Riding the minitrend of baby boomer parents needing innovative ways to care for their parents, this model empowers all stakeholders and drives the cost of home healthcare down. Jeffrey also has been involved in several startups and plays roles in several civic programs.

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Advisory Board Member - Bijoy Goswami, Cofounder & Evangelist at ATX EquationBijoy GoswamiCofounder & Evangelist at ATX Equation, The Bootstrap, Aviri Consulting; Founder, Organizer, Bootstrap Network; CEO, Aviri Inc.
Bijoy Goswami deeply interested in how we steward unique journeys for individuals, organizations, communities and beyond. He sees our unique human capability of building mental models as a vital part of this endeavor. He loves building and sharing simple, yet powerful models, including MREyouPlusU and Bootstrap.

MiniTrends 2012 Conference - Christopher Justice, Chief Executive Officer at Sparksight, Inc.Christopher JusticeChief Executive Officer at Sparksight, Inc.; Founder, Justice Pest Services
Christopher co-founded Sparksight®  in 2006 and has built the company into a well-respected design agency that specializes in event management, high definition video production and digital marketing. Combining wisdom and humor with common sense, Chris is a master at building better businesses through a combination of face-to-face and online marketing techniques. Christopher is a conscious leader that works hard to have a company that benefits all involved.

Minitrends Expert Panelist Joy Miller, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator, City of Austin Small Business Development ProgramJoy MillerMarketing and Outreach Coordinator, City of Austin Small Business Development Program
Joy is a marketing and outreach professional with over 20 years of leadership experience in process improvement, human resources, and operations. She communicates with and counsels aspiring and existing small business owners in presentations and in personal communications to ensure understanding of City of Austin resources and assistance available to them.

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Advisory Board - Steve Pearson, Lead Strategist, Founder, Visionex Solutions, LLCSteve Pearson, Lead Strategist, Founder, Visionex Solutions, LLC
Steve’s passion is accelerating innovation and R&D by identifying emerging, adjacent and disruptive technologies. Companies ranging from Fortune 500s to small startups rely on Steve and his analysts to provide Competitive Intelligence, Innovation Support and Informed Strategic Development. He works with high-tech, electrical, mechanical, energy, construction and transportation industries.

MiniTrends 2013 Conference Speaker Eve Richter,

Eve RichterVP of Community & Partnerships, door64
Door64 is a huge group  community of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) industries influencers serving more than 30,000 STEM professionals in the Austin Area. Previous to door64, Eve served as the Emerging Technologies Coordinator in the Economic Development Division at the City of Austin, helping businesses, startups, entrepreneurs and individuals in the tech (and other) sectors to grow and be successful in the Austin community.

Minitrends 2013 Conference Speaker - Dr. Lawrence VanstonDr. Lawrence VanstonPresident, Technology Futures, Inc.
Larry is an expert on the future of telecommunications and its significance to organizations and people. Since 1985, he has been the director and principal author of ongoing reports commissioned by the Telecommunications Technology Forecasting Group (TTFG), presently comprised of AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon, and Windstream. Larry directs TFI’s popular TFI Communications Technology Asset Valuation Conference, now in its 9th year.

More speakers to be announced soon!

Preliminary Schedule

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Post-Conference Methods MiniTrends Workshop (Optional)

MiniTrends Workshop: How to Discover & Profit From Emerging Trends

Thursday, October 3, 2013, 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

Go the next step to starting your own MiniTrends Adventure by attending this excellent applications workshop. In this session, we discuss basic MiniTrends principles and participants have hands-on opportunities to find, analyze, and profit from emerging trends that also offer a socially responsible aspect. Participants leave with a solid basis for developing their own “Minitrends Mindset.”

MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology TrendsMiniTrends Workshop BONUS!! Copy of award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends.

To encourage you to attend this valuable post-conference half-day workshop, we are offering it at an exceptionally low price! Only $75 early bird for general admission attendees! ($100 after Sept. 1.)

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Venue:

The Holiday Inn Austin Town Lake Hotel is a wonderful location to experience Austin’s major attractions. Located on beautiful Lady Bird Lake, the hotel has direct access to the lake’s hike & bike trails and is a mile from Austin’s famous 6th Street entertainment district. It’s also near the State Capitol, University of Texas, South Congress Bridge (home to Austin’s famous Mexican free-tail bats), and the Governor’s Mansion. The hotel offers complimentary shuttles to Austin Bergstrom International Airport and to 6th Street. Book online or call the hotel directly to book very reasonably-priced sleeping rooms. 800-593-5676. For more information about Austin, visit Austin 360 or Austin Chamber of Commerce.

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Registration:

General Admission: Wed., Oct. 2, 8:30 am-5:30 pm followed by reception. Early Bird $395 (after Sept. 1, $495).

Non-Profit/Government/Academic Admission: Wed., Oct. 2,
8:30 am-5:30 pm followed by reception. Early Bird $295 (after Sept. 1, $395).

Student Admission: Wed., Oct. 2, 8:30 am-5:30 pm followed by
reception. $90.00.

Post-Conference MiniTrends Methods Workshop General
Admission
 (Optional): Thurs., Oct. 3, 8:30 am-12:00 noon. Early Bird $75 (after Sept. 1, $100). (Conference registration required.)

Post-Conference MiniTrends Methods Workshop Student
Admission 
(Optional): Thurs., Oct. 3, 8:30 am-12:00 noon. $15.00. (Conference registration required.)

Eventbrite - MINITRENDS 2013: The Integration of Profit & Social Responsibility

 

Please contact TFI at info@tfi.com or (512) 258-8898 or
visit MiniTrends 2013 with any conference questions.

 

Free MiniTrends RISE Conference Session – Austin, TX, Tues., May 14, 4-5:30 pm

May 10, 2013

RISE Austin Un-Conference

RISE Conference 

Presents a free session with

Dr. John H. Vanston
and
Carrie Vanston 

MiniTrends: How to Discover & Profit From Business & TechnologyTrends


Tuesday, May 14, 2012, 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Lake Creek Office Park Meeting Room, 13740 Research Blvd., Austin, Texas 78750

Sign Up Now!

In this presentation, award winning author Dr. John H. Vanston, Chairman, and Carrie Vanston, Marketing Director, Technology Futures, Inc. discuss MiniTrends — the concept that helps you find and act on great ideas by inspiring a creative mindset and providing a practical process for discovering and exploiting emerging trends that will become significantly important within 2-5 years.

Attendees learn and practice:

  • How and where to search for MiniTrends.
  • How to evaluate the business attractiveness of a MiniTrend.
  • How to develop an effective MiniTrend Exploitation Scheme.
  • How to turn the scheme into a profitable business opportunity.

You should attend if you are:

  • An Entrepreneur wishing to identify, assess, and exploit attractive new business opportunities.
  • An Executive, Director, Manager, or Professional seeking to take advantage of important emerging trends.
  • An Innovative Thinker interested in gaining recognition for originality and perceptiveness.
  • An Investor interested in uncovering attractive new investment opportunities.
  • A Job Seeker wishing to define emerging employment possibilities.

Participants will leave with a solid basis for developing their own “MiniTrends Mindset.”

MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology TrendsThe presentation is based on John’s more than 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends and the book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends authored by John and Carrie.

Sign Up for the RISE MiniTrends Session Now!

Directions: Go north on Hwy 183, take the Lake Creek Blvd. exit and do a u-turn under 183, go a short distance and turn right into the Lake Creek Office Complex (just past Chase bank). You will run directly into the meeting room building which is in the center of the complex. Meeting room entrance is on the left side of the building. (Note: there are 2-3 steps at the entrance of the building.)

Dr. John Vanston, Author, MINITRENDS, Carrie Vanston, Co-Author, MINITRENDS

RISE is a non-profit program whose cornerstone is its annual “un-conference” — scheduled May 13-17 this year — in which seasoned entrepreneurs and experts volunteer to host small-group sessions on any topic of their choice at any location of their choice throughout Austin. Sessions are free and limited to 25 to promote a highly collaborative experience.

MiniTrends Book – Great Gift for Innovators and Entrepreneurs

December 18, 2012

MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology TrendsFind, Analyze, Profit! Still looking for that perfect gift for that  innovative person in your life? There is still time to purchase the award-winning book MINITRENDS: How Innovators & Entrepreneurs Discover & Profit From Business & Technology Trends by Dr. John H. Vanston with Carrie Vanston.

MINITRENDS helps you find and act on great ideas by inspiring a creative mindset and providing a practical process for discovering and exploiting emerging trends that will become significantly important within 2-5 years.

The MINITRENDS book is now available through Amazon as a printed or ebook version.

Readers learn:

  • How and where to search for minitrends
  • How to evaluate the business attractiveness of a minitrend
  • How to develop an effective MiniTrend Exploitation Scheme
  • How to turn the scheme into a profitable business opportunity

Based on author Dr. John H. Vanston’s more than 30 years of experience in identifying and applying technical, social, and business trends, the book shows:

  • Entrepreneurs how to identify, assess, and exploit new business opportunities
  • Executives, Directors, Managers, and Professionals how to recognize and take advantage of important emerging trends
  • Innovative thinkers how to gain recognition for their originality and perceptiveness
  • Investors how to uncover attractive new investment opportunities
  • Job Seekers how to define emerging employment possibilities

Purchase MINITRENDS now by visiting Amazon.

John H. Vanston, Ph.D., Chairman, TFI; Author, MINITRENDSDr. Vanston notes, “Many people will be starting the New Year with resolutions to achieve new goals. The MINITRENDS book provides a path for individuals and businesses seeking to start new ventures or keep existing business innovative and competitive.”

In addition to how-to advice, MINITRENDS provides background, current trends, and business opportunities for several attractive Minitrends.

Combining advice, instructions, and examples, MINITRENDS assists the reader in launching his or her own exciting, profitable “Minitrend Adventure” using his or her imagination, logic, innovative nature, and basic good sense.

MINITRENDS is the perfect gift for those you know who strive to become, more innovative, agile, effective, and happy.

Order MINITRENDS book now

Order it today and get it in time for Christmas.

(If you are in Austin, and miss the Amazon’s mailing deadlines, contact us
directly atinfo @ tfi.com or  (512) 258-8898 to arrange a pickup at our offices.)

_______________

MINITRENDS AWARDS

–The Pinnacle Book Achievement Best Business Book Award Winner
–An Eric Hoffer Business Book Award Winner
–ForeWord Reviews’  Business Book of the Year Finalist
–USA Book News’ Entrepreneurship & Small Business Book of the Year Finalist
–Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Business Book Award Finalist

MINITRENDS Accolades:

“A 189-page do-it-yourself guide to the early identification of those emerging developments that eventually become the next big things.”
The Futurist

“MINITRENDS spotlights specific ‘minitrends’ and trains people how to recognize them and take advantage of related job opportunities.”
–Yahoo News

“MINITRENDS should quickly become a–if not the–standard work for the futurist’s search for business applications.”
–Joe Coates, Foresight Network’s Futurist of the Year
More reviews and endorsements.

 

Put Aggregators to Work for Quality, Timely Info When Trend Searching

November 29, 2012

Part One of a Two-Part Series by Guest Blogger Steve Pearson, Visionex Solutions, LLC

Photo credit: www.mapthis.net: http://mapthis.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/searching-for-info.jpg

I was truly inspired by the recent MiniTrends 2012 Conference and collected many ideas for improving my business and for passing along to my clients.

After reading the MINITRENDS book, I’d like to share some additional technical and patent resources that might help others as much as they help me in my business providing research for product development and innovation.

Google is popular, but not a good source for piecing together trends: access to a large amount of content dumped in your lap through a single portal is not efficient.

Fortunately, there are information resources that provide broad data in a bibliographic form that facilitates finding the information you desire. There are three general groups of these resources:

  • business/market
  • engineering/science
  • patents/patent applications

Of course, many of these specialty resources require fees, but they can be invaluable for businesses and researchers needing timely and accurate information.

Some options:

Business news typically consists of new product announcements, merger and acquisition news and management changes. Many executives find it valuable to monitor their key competitors or the top executives in those companies. There’s a wide breadth of providers in this category and some are free. A good place to start is doing a Google search, probably for a specific company’s name, and then filtering the results by clicking on “news” in the grey colored font immediately below the search box. (More on automated news alerts in Part 2 next week.)

Technical resources provide focused information related to newly published research, dissertations and conference proceedings. Consider Inspec which monitors roughly 5,000 scientific and technical journals plus some conferences and dissertations. These originate from around the world but often have an English abstract.

Technical services can be a pricey, but consider the savings the first time you rethink your current or upcoming R&D efforts based on information that your competitor may not know.

Patents and patent application aggregators collect updates from international patent offices and store this bibliographic information in their databases. Many countries make this information available to the public, but the ease of use varies dramatically.

For instance, the USPTO maintains its own search engine for finding relevant intellectual property, but there are several limitations:

  • The information is focused solely on the U.S.
  • Searching granted patents and patent applications is done through separate search windows
  • The results shown to your inquiry will often require a lot of time to review.
  • PDF file export is not available.

A  better choice for many is Google Patents as it also covers Europe, is fairly  simple to use, provides results that are easier to navigate and  allows you to export  PDFs.

So, why not use Google Patents for all of your work? There are drawbacks as well:

  • It doesn’t cover  the remainder of the world
  • It’s difficult to drill down to the specific patents and applications that are most relevant to your need
  • It’s difficult to do trend analysis

Many companies find that the best way to control their time and expense is to hire an intermediary to decipher these resources and conduct research as needs arise.

Next week: Where to Start with Automated Alerts

Guest blogger Steve Pearson is a consultant helping companies accelerate innovation and product development. Through his firm Visionex Solutions, LLC, he delivers competitor-busting research with tools and reports he has developed over his career as an engineer, trainer and analyst.

Steve specializes in intellectual property management, technology identification and market assessment and takes pride in applying lessons from his broad background to help those in the electrical, mechanical, energy, construction or transportation industries. Visit  his site  for more information.

 

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