ProductCamp St. Louis 2018

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ProductCamp St. Louis 2018 Overview and Recap

ProductCamp St. Louis 2018 was our 7th annual event and was held Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Webster University. We had over 400 registrants and over 250 attendees.

Schedule

8:00am Doors open; plan on arriving at 8am to give you time to park, check in, vote for sessions, and get coffee.
8:20am Voting ends
8:25-8:45am Opening session — ground rules, sponsor introductions, unveiling of agenda
9:00-9:45am 1st Session
Room 253/262 : Session ID45: It’s a Trap! How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Feedback [Ben Haefele.]
Room 232 : Session ID22: Your product from Concept to Production [David Wojcicki.]
Room 234 : Session ID24: Benefit Realization – Connecting Corporate Strategy to Product Development [Brian Collard.]
Room 236 : Session ID40: Increase Sales with better Messaging [Daniel Glasscock.]
Room 238 : Session ID56:Learn How to Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking [Paul Niemann.]
Room 240 : Session ID27: The Blockchain Train – Time to Get on Board? [Paul Heirendt.]
9:45-10:00am Break (15 minutes)
10:00-10:45am 2nd Session
Room 253/262 : Session ID50: A Clear Product Definition: This 10-minute exercise can save you weeks of development time [Jake Salter.]
Room 232 : Session ID10: Win/Loss Analysis: Insight into the Minds of B2B Customers/Prospects [Shelly Azar.]
Room 234 : Session ID36: Shadow UX: Dangerous and Ubiquitous [Danielle Cooley.]
Room 236 : Session ID32: Making Sense of Digital Branding: An Interactive Brainstorming Session [Rahna Barthelmess.]
Room 238 : Session ID47: 10 Challenges Converting Your Passion Project into a Sellable Product [Shane Freeman.]
Room 240 : Session ID3: REACH THE SUMMIT: Long-term customers who pay premium prices in good times and bad. [Dale Furtwengler.]
10:45-11:00am Break (15 minutes)
11:00-11:45am 3rd Session
Room 253/262 : Session ID16: Product Strategy on a Page: Possible, and Practical [Jeff Lash.]
Room 232 : Session ID60: Publishing as a Path to Becoming an Industry Thought Leader [Dixie Gillaspie.]
Room 234 : Session ID18: Top 10 Tips for a Rockin’ LinkedIn Profile [Mira Wooten.]
Room 236 : Session ID62: Take Your Pick! Get Noticed 6% or 98% of the Time. Tough, huh? [Greg Sanders.]
Room 238 : Session ID54: Can You Improve your B2B Segmentation and Personas? [Bill Haines.]
Room 240 : Session ID31: Digital PR: What is It and Why Does Your Business Need It? [Rahna Barthelmess.]
11:45-12:30pm Lunch (free for all participants, courtesy of our sponsors)
12:30-1:15pm 4th Session
Room 253/262 : Session ID17: Best Practices for Customer Interviews [Jeff Lash.]
Room 232 : Session ID57: Don’t “Kickstart” Away Your Intellectual Property Rights! [Adam Bagwell.]
Room 234 : Session ID2: Converting emotion into PRODUCTIVE behavior…and new products [Dale Furtwengler.]
Room 236 : Session ID42: Getting to the HEART of UX [Justin Ranton.]
Room 238 : Session ID29: UX Research and Strategy Panel Discussion [Martha Valenta.]
Room 240 : Session ID53: PATENT, COPYRIGHT, AND TRADEMARK PROTECTION FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES [Brett Schenck.]
1:15-1:30pm Break (15 minutes)
1:30-2:15pm 5th Session
Room 253/262 : Session ID37: Ask Me Anything: Customer Experience [Danielle Cooley.]
Room 232 : Session ID20: What Every Patent Attorney Wishes her Client Knew [Linda Lewis.]
Room 234 : Session ID30: Entrepreneurial Branding [Rahna Barthelmess.]
Room 236 : Session ID25: Design Disruptors [Charlie Eaton.]
Room 238 : Session ID48: They Filled Out a Form; Now What? Drives Sales with Marketing Automation [Shane Freeman.]
Room 240 : Session ID43: Managing Your Energy for Sustainable High Performance [Dan Glasscock.]
2:15-2:30pm Closing session

Proposed Sessions for ProductCamp St. Louis 2018

Note: Some proposed sessions were removed from consideration by the people who have submitted them. They are still listed here and appear in strikethrough (like this). They were not eligible for voting, but if you are interested in the topic, you are encouraged to contact the presenter directly.

Session ID#:1 Psychographic Profiling: Sell more, more quickly, with less effort
Description: Psychographic profiling takes you beyond “who” is buying to “why” they’re buying. A psychographic profile identifies the values, behaviors and characteristics of your most profitable customers, helps you target them with fewer marketing dollars and dramatically reduces your sales cycle. Discover the keys to selling more, more quickly, with less effort.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Dale Furtwengler, the author of the internationally acclaimed “Pricing for Profit,” helps his clients get higher prices regardless of what their competitors or the economy are doing. Psychographic profiling is one of the five elements that Dale uses to help his clients get premium prices for their products and services. Dale is on Twitter as @DaleFurtwengler.

Session ID#:2 Converting emotion into PRODUCTIVE behavior…and new products
Description: Developing and launching new products/services is emotionally-charged. The doubts, fears, second-guessing that come with developing something new can be draining, if not debilitating. Emotions are messages from your subconscious mind, unfortunately no one has taught us how to interpret these emotions much less how to convert them to productive behaviors…until now. Discover the secret instructions embedded in the emotions you experience…and turn them into productive behaviors…and new products.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Dale Furtwengler is the author of a trilogy of books on confidence. The third in the series teaches people how to tap into the power of their subconscious minds to solve problems and convert emotions into productive behaviors. Given all the uncertainty in new product development/launch, it’s imperative that you are able to tap into the power of your subconscious mind. Dale is on Twitter as @DaleFurtwengler.

Session ID#:3 REACH THE SUMMIT: Long-term customers who pay premium prices in good times and bad.
Description: Discover the five elements of a premium price strategy that enables you to enjoy long-term customer relations at premium prices regardless of what the economy or your competitors are doing. You also avoid the mistakes that plague so many businesses…mistakes that put into question their very survival during economic downturns. When you thrive in every economy, you’ll know you’ve reached the summit.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Dale Furtwengler. Dale Furtwengler, the author of the internationally-acclaimed “Pricing for Profit,” helps companies get premium prices regardless of what their competitors or the economy are doing. Dale is on Twitter as @DaleFurtwengler.

Session ID#:4 Get Paid – Contracts that work
Description: What your services/proposal contract needs to have in it, how to read someone else’s contract. Take the pain out of pay and get it in writing first. We’ll go through a typical contract and explain all the legal jargon that no one wants to read.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kim Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:5 Trademarks- What, Why, When, Where and How
Description: Everything you ever wanted to know about a trademark/servicemark but were too afraid to ask (because lawyers are too expensive or googling it just takes way too much work).
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kimberly Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:6 Top 10 Legal Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make
Description: We’ll go over the top 10 ways entrepreneurs get themselves into legal trouble and how to avoid them- we’ll touch on intellectual property, employment, contract and other complex issues. Not for the faint of heart.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kimberly Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:7 Recipe for Success- How to Make a Legally Sound Business.
Description: What you need, how much of it and when to add it. A step by step guide to knowing what you don’t know for legal protection. From researching intellectual property to protecting it, contracts for proposals and hiring employees, government filings and more.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kimberly Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:8 Data Security- the Legal Prospective
Description: Protect your customers’ information. If you don’t, you have much more to loose than goodwill. What you need to do to minimize the legal repercussions of a breach and how to do it. Don’t be another Target or Equifax or Schnucks.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kimberly Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:9 NDAs – Non-Disclosure/Confidentiality Agreements 101
Description: The first rule of Fight Club and the second- yeah, they are THAT Important. The benefits of Non- Disclosure Agreements, when you need one and when you don’t, what you want in them and what you don’t. Some examples and some advice.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kimberly Sahu. Kimberly Sahu is the primary attorney at Venture Protector, LLC a revolutionary law firm based on working with entrepreneurs rather than feeding off them. A graduate of SLU Law, Kim has been practicing law for 10 years and specializes in Business and Intellectual Property law. She volunteers for SCORE and presents on legal issues to entrepreneurs. She writes articles, blogs and e-books full of information for the DIY entrepreneur.

Session ID#:10 Win/Loss Analysis: Insight into the Minds of B2B Customers/Prospects
Description: How do you get into the mind of B2B customers and prospects to learn what they really think and desire? If you’re looking for strategic and tactical insights from your B2B customers and prospects — how they make decisions, what they value, where they’re headed, how they identify vendors, what they think of your offerings and what they think of competitors — the best (and perhaps only) way to get this information is through in-depth interviews in a process called win/loss analysis.

This session will provide an overview of the win/loss analysis process; insights and benefits that can be achieved; and considerations/tips for doing it. Q&A and discussion of best practices are most welcome!

A popular session in the past, this is being offered again this year.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Shelly Azar. Shelly Azar, principal of Insight Researchers, has been working in the field of market intelligence, helping clients be competitive by making better strategic and tactical decisions, since 1996. Her experience, both as a corporate practitioner and as a consultant, has been with companies large and small, public and private, in the US and abroad … and in a variety of industries. Shelly is on Twitter as @stazar.

Session ID#:11 Enhance Your Competitive Edge!
Description: To be competitive your business needs to track customer needs, the competitor landscape, industry trends, market opportunities/threats and much more. Are you aware of all the kinds of topics you should track? Do you know the best ways to research them?

This session will provide an overview of what should be tracked; describe insights that can be gained; and give tips on how to get great information. Participants can share competitive challenges they have faced and ways they have met those challenges.

This session has been one of the favorites from past ProductCamp St. Louis events … so it is being offered again this year.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Shelly Azar. Shelly Azar, principal of Insight Researchers, has been working in the field of market intelligence, helping clients be competitive by making better strategic and tactical decisions, since 1996. Her experience, both as a corporate practitioner and as a consultant, has been with companies large and small, public and private, in the US and abroad … and in a variety of industries. Shelly is on Twitter as @stazar.

Session ID#:12 Go Big or Go Home
Description: Shipping Lean Products with Small Teams
Session Format: Roundtable Breakout
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Simon Yost. Mr. Yost is a Product Manager & Team Leader that specialize in maximizing the potential of teams. He has lead product and digital content teams for over a decade. Mr. Yost has also taught web development at Washington University in St. Louis. Simon is on Twitter as @simonyost.

Session ID#:13 Hitting Reset: pivoting sustainably
Description: Pivoting is a key part of product-market fit. How do you continue pivoting without burning out?
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Simon Yost. Mr. Yost is a Product Manager & Team Leader that specialize in maximizing the potential of teams. He has lead product and digital content teams for over a decade. Mr. Yost has also taught web development at Washington University in St. Louis. Simon is on Twitter as @simonyost.

Session ID#:14 International Technical Communication
Description: We are living in a global world so when should learn how to communicate that way.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Melody Eye. Melody Eye is a UX Designer at Creative Computer People Inc. She graduated from the Missouri University of Science and Technology with a MS in Information Science and Technology and a certificate in Human Computer Interaction. She holds a B.S. degree in Telecommunication from Lee University. She loves usability and enjoys working with international topics. Melody is on Twitter as @melodyeye.

Session ID#:15 HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH IN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF PRODUCT VIDEOS!
Description: In this session, an expert panel will engage with participants to cause a breakthrough in their understanding of the creation of effective product videos. Bring your challenges, questions, and openness and we promise this session will cause a breakthrough in your understanding of product videos.
Session Format: Panel Discussion
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: John Launius. John Launius, Executive Vice President of Vidzu Media, brings a background of leadership, management, marketing, instructional delivery and design, and communication excellence across government, education and all forms of media. Whether you represent a start-up or a multinational corporation, he work to expand client initiatives with complete integrity in the most successful ways possible. John is on Twitter as @VidzuMediaJohn.

Session ID#:16 Product Strategy on a Page: Possible, and Practical
Description: Many product managers have an incomplete understanding of the various
elements that make up a well-constructed product strategy. A product strategy that is unclear and incomplete – or overcomplicated – causes a company to waste resources and reduces the chance of product success. In this session, we will share a common definition of product strategy and its key elements and share with you a template for summarizing your product’s strategy on a single page. Attendees will have a chance to use and apply the template in the session itself.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Jeff Lash. Jeff Lash is VP and Group Director, Go-to-Market at SiriusDecisions, where he advises B2B product management and product marketing teams on how to implement best practices and improve efficiency and effectiveness. He has 15+ years experience in product management, product marketing, user experience and product development. Jeff also writes the popular How To Be a Good Product Manager blog (www.goodproductmanager.com) and is on Twitter as @jefflash. Jeff is on Twitter as @jefflash.

Session ID#:17 Best Practices for Customer Interviews
Description: Customer interviews are a key activity that product managers need to engage in to acquire a deep understanding of buyers, customers and users and apply these insights to product innovation. However, some product managers have challenges with arranging or conducting customer interviews, and others don’t leverage interviews to their full potential. In this session, we’ll cover the different types of customer interviews and share best practices for getting the most value out of customer interviews. Participants will also get a chance to start creating an interview guide based on the best practices shared.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Jeff Lash. Jeff Lash is VP and Group Director, Go-to-Market at SiriusDecisions, where he advises B2B product management and product marketing teams on how to implement best practices and improve efficiency and effectiveness. He has 15+ years experience in product management, product marketing, user experience and product development. Jeff also writes the popular How To Be a Good Product Manager blog (www.goodproductmanager.com) and is on Twitter as @jefflash. Jeff is on Twitter as @jefflash.

Session ID#:18 Top 10 Tips for a Rockin’ LinkedIn Profile
Description: Mira Wooten, Director of Solutions at 280 Group will present her top 10 tips for Product Management/Marketing LinkedIn Profiles. Whether you’re looking for a new job, colleagues to network with, or candidates to join your team, your LinkedIn profile is the first stop. Bring your questions as this is always a very interactive discussion.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: HR-Related
Submitted by: Mira Wooten. Mira Wooten, Director of Solutions at the 280 Group, helps clients navigate training and consulting solution for the 280 Group. She also oversees the Product Management and Product Marketing recruiting practice at 280 Group.
Mira is on Twitter as @mirawooten.

Session ID#:19 Perfect your Product Elevator Pitch
Description: A good elevator pitch tells people what your product is, who it’s for, and why it’s special in about the time it takes to take a ride in an elevator.

Creating a good one can be harder than you think. But once you get it, it feels great. You can quickly distill a big abstract concept into something tight, real, and concrete.

In this hands-on workshop the instructor will deconstruct the essential parts of an effective elevator pitch, guide you in writing your own, and you will pair off to practice it with a peer or two.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Annette Wodicker. Annette is a Product Manager at Monsanto working on internal software solutions to support the R&D pipeline. She has a background in education and loves the opportunity to leverage those skills to breakdown complex concepts into manageable chunks that everyone can understand. Annette is on Twitter as @AWodicker.

Session ID#:20 What Every Patent Attorney Wishes her Client Knew
Description: Tips on effectively using your attorney’s time so you don’t run up costs, and tips on keeping legal issues minimized
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Linda Lewis. Linda has been practicing patent law for over 30 years, starting as a patent attorney for Monsanto, then several law firms before co-founding CreatiVenture Law, where she is now of counsel. She has expertise in chemistry, biochemistry and mechanical devices. Linda is on Twitter as @LLewisPatLaw.

Session ID#:21 St. Louis Doesn’t Love Me 🙁
Description: The St. Louis king-making establishment – Arch Grants, Capital Innovators, SixThirty, Cultivation, Arch Angels, etc. – doesn’t believe in your company or you. First, be glad they are here. They make STL a better startup community. Second, f*%@ them! You don’t need them. Here’s why, and your next moves that turn rejection into your greatest advantage.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Funding/Investors
Submitted by: Kirk Bowman. Kirk is a co-founder of internet startup Zipline and a lawyer turned serial entrepreneur. His focus is financial technology (fintech) and social eCommerce. Kirk is on Twitter as @kirk_bowman.

Session ID#:22 Your product from Concept to Production
Description: 8 Steps to design a product that customers love but is also profitable for manufacturing & assembly.
Moving your concept, or existing product, to the next step? It is an exciting time, and everyone is eager to move to the next step in the process. Some designs are simple and others complex, depending on the degree of novelty.
I have laid out a process with a description of what information is needed and gathered at each step. This session is reference to identify where your concept is with in the process and help develop a plan moving forward.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: David Wojcicki. Mechanical Design Engineer with multiple patents. Worked as a Toolmaker and went to night school for a degree. Owner of a startup company called WojTek Corporation. Design in 3D CAD for clients using NDA’s.
As a manufacturing systems engineer and plant manager, helped build a company with revenues that started at 400,000 a month to 4.5 million a month over the span of 14 years.
I have much experience taking products/prototypes to high volume automation to production. David is on Twitter as @WojTekCompany.

Session ID#:23 Maximize LinkedIn to Sell Your Product and Be Found by Investors
Description: If done well, LinkedIn can generate a whopping 80% of your social media leads, according to Entrepreneur magazine — 80%! That’s why it’s ESSENTIAL for you to learn to leverage LinkedIn — the world’s largest business network — to grow your business, sell your product and engage with potential investors.

In this session, you will:
• Develop your brand to take advantage of LinkedIn’s best tools
• Discover how to track down your target customers using LinkedIn
• Deliver your message through LinkedIn in ways that will drive business success

Make the most of LinkedIn’s powerhouse network of 500+ million members to generate the leads you need to grow your business!
Session Format: Interactive Presentation
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Kathy Bernard. Kathy Bernard is the CEO of WiserU, a career coach and corporate LinkedIn trainer. She trains people to master LinkedIn for sales, marketing, recruiting, or job search.

Prior to WiserU, Bernard was an award-winning communications leader, racking up 27 awards for excellence on behalf of Enterprise Holdings, CBS Radio, and Caleres.

She has coached 1,000+ people, reached over 1.4 million people through her popular WiserUTips.com blog, and led more than 500 weekly webinars on JobTransition.TV. Kathy is on Twitter as @WiserUTips.

Session ID#:24 Benefit Realization – Connecting Corporate Strategy to Product Development
Description: One way to ensure product development funding is to visually show executives how your project will ultimately deliver strategic benefits to the organization. This session will show how to build out a Benefit Realization Map to detail how the firm will be impacted, what the expected outcomes are, and what new behaviors will be required. We’ll co-create a mock roadmap which you can take back to your organization. Additionally, we’ll cover how firms like GE and Aflac implemented this process to track project execution performance.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Brian Collard. Brian helps organizations bridge the gap between strategy and execution. At Aflac, he governed $79M product development pipeline. Brian’s 20 years of experience includes industrial manufacturing, healthcare and insurance. He holds a MBA and numerous professional product development certifications.

Session ID#:25 Design Disruptors
Description: It is design innovation, not technological innovation, that causes disruption. Come learn about what the nature of design innovation has that gives it the power to disrupt industries.
Topics to be covered: Design Thinking, Outcome Driven Innovation, Jobs-to-be-done, Needs Based solutions.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Charlie Eaton. Charlie is a co-founder and User Experience Architect for Sigla, LLC. He is an evangelist for user centered design who believes users are real people and you should get to know them. Which explains why he asks everyone about their tattoos, loves conventions, and will get a cup of coffee with anyone. Charlie is on Twitter as @cman0178.

Session ID#:26 User Testing in 30 minutes
Description: User testing is the easiest way to see if users are encountering problems using your product. In this workshop, you’ll learn different test types and the results you can expect from each. How to identify users, how to build test scripts, and we’ll conduct a test with real users. You’ll also get a glimpse into what to do after testing. Once you get all those nuggets of feedback how do you make your product better?
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Manufacturing specific
Submitted by: Charles Eaton. Charlie is a co-founder and User Experience Architect for Sigla, LLC. He is an evangelist for user centered design who believes users are real people and you should get to know them. Which explains why he asks everyone about their tattoos, loves cons, and will get a cup of coffee with anyone. Charles is on Twitter as @cman0178.

Session ID#:27 The Blockchain Train – Time to Get on Board?
Description: We will first discuss: What is Blockchain Technology and use audience participation to understand how it works. Learn about some new approaches that make the technology more practical. Then work together to identify some ways to the technology be revolutionary.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Other
Submitted by: Paul Heirendt. Paul Heirendt cofounded an early Blockchain Identity Management platform CyberDeadbolt which was acquired in 2017. Paul has now founded BLOCK id(TM) to provide Digital Identity Management & Security to consumers for their sensitive information and smart contracts.

A serial entrepreneur with more than 30+ years of experience in technology, publishing and healthcare business management, business development and Internet business definition. Paul is on Twitter as @pheirendt.

Session ID#:28 Divide and Conquer – Encourage your team to lead initiatives
Description: Could you benefit from an Excel business workplan? We will discuss basic governance, sales, legal/risk management, finance/tax/treasury, HR, and strategy. An electronic template will be shared.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Jane Vancil. Jane is a serial entrepreneur, an ITEN mentor and EIR and the founder of IncentiLock LLC, a technology company creating SaaS products for global tax credit and incentive compliance. Jane is on Twitter as @incentilock.

Session ID#:29 UX Research and Strategy Panel Discussion
Description: Danielle Cooley, Martha Valenta, and Lisa Bruce will share their expertise in UX/CX research and strategy during this interactive panel discussion. Together they have decades of enterprise and CX human-centered design experience from the finance, education, healthcare, utility, agriculture, and automotive industries (to name a few).

If you’re ready to innovate the human experiences your company or product is delivering, this is your session.

Bring your questions!
Session Format: Panel Discussion
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Martha Valenta. Human-centered strategist creating useful, delightful products & experiences. Martha is on Twitter as @marthavalenta.

Session ID#:30 Entrepreneurial Branding
Description: As an entrepreneur, you need to leverage the power of your company and personal brand—for your customers, angel investors and even your employees. Strong branding can help you find the right opportunities to propel your business forward.…But you have to know what to focus on. In this interactive workshop, you’ll explore:

• What every entrepreneur needs to focus on in order to distinguish themselves and their companies
• The most compelling features that can differentiate you from your competition
• Three big branding mistakes many entrepreneurs make (and how to avoid them!)
• The role of social media (when to use and when not to use it)
• How to ensure long-term branding impact and inspire confidence in yourself and others for the contributions you (and your company) can bring
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Rahna Barthelmess. For over 25 years, author, speaker and branding expert Rahna Barthelmess built some of the world’s beloved brands, like LEGO® Toys, Miracle-Gro® Plant Food, Build-A-Bear Workshop® and Texaco® Gasolines, and strengthened smaller entrepreneurial brands. Author of Your Branding Edge: How Personal Branding Can Turbocharge Your Career, Rahna pulls from real-life experiences, translating classic marketing ideas into practical how-to’s for any entrepreneurial venture! Rahna is on Twitter as @rahna.

Session ID#:31 Digital PR: What is It and Why Does Your Business Need It?
Description: Digital PR connects you with editors, bloggers and journalists for the purpose of being quoted or featured in digital publications. It increases your brand’s credibility and positions you as an expert. It also produces high quality backlinks, which increases your reach and visibility and helps with search engine optimization (SEO) that drives referral traffic to your website.
To build a strong bond with customers and nurture on-going engagement in the form of shares, likes, comments and consumption of information, digital PR is the way to go. Learn how a strong, smart digital PR strategy strengthens social media, turbocharges SEO, and skyrockets brand value. We’ll provide practical tips for getting top-tier media exposure and tell you what strategies are a waste of time.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Rahna Barthelmess. As President of digital agency Beacon Marketing, Rahna Barthelmess helps small businesses maximize and expand their digital presence for today’s business needs using the smartest marketing tools in the most practical ways possible. For over 25 years, this author of Your Branding Edge: How Personal Branding Can Turbocharge Your Career has built some of the world’s beloved brands, like LEGO® Toys, Miracle-Gro® Plant Food, Build-A-Bear Workshop® and Texaco® Gasolines. Rahna is on Twitter as @rahna.

Session ID#:32 Making Sense of Digital Branding: An Interactive Brainstorming Session
Description: Website, SEO, Email Marketing, Social Media, Digital PR, Webinars, Video Sharing…It can all seem overwhelming! Come learn how to juggle the critical, “must-have” digital branding activities you need for your business to maximize your money and time.

Finding and connecting with your customers has always been at the heart of business, but the digital tools available today to facilitate connection, monitor reaction and measure ROI can multiply that effort. Bring your business challenges to learn digital best practices, get fresh inspiration, and leave with new ideas for your business. 15-20 minutes will be spent presenting strategy and case studies and the majority of the time will be reserved for brainstorming whatever digital challenges audience members want assistance with.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Rahna Barthelmess. As President of digital agency Beacon Marketing, Rahna Barthelmess helps small businesses maximize and expand their digital presence for today’s business needs using today’s marketing tools in the most practical ways possible. For over 25 years, this author of Your Branding Edge: How Personal Branding Can Turbocharge Your Career has built some of the world’s beloved brands, like LEGO® Toys, Miracle-Gro® Plant Food, Build-A-Bear Workshop® and Texaco® Gasolines. Rahna is on Twitter as @rahna.

Session ID#:33 Protect and Grow: HR Tips and Accounting Strategies to Get You To The Next Level
Description: John will discuss HR and Accounting topics that every start up and early stage company should be familiar with to ensure success. He will offer HR tips to assist owners and founders in protecting themselves and their employees -from what policies are needed to proper documentation, as well as practical day-to-day accounting strategies to help organizations grow.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Resource overview
Submitted by: John Ferrara. John brings more than 25 years of industry experience and knowledge in the areas of finance, sales and operations. As is an accomplished senior executive John possesses a strong record of success in building, developing and managing all aspects of financial operations for complex organizations, small to medium-sized growth companies, and start-ups. He is recognized as being strategic, creative and results-oriented, with a proven ability to engage teams in effectively achieving their goals.

Session ID#:34 Achieving Extraordinary Productivity
Description: Every day brings a crushing wave of demands: a barrage of texts, emails, interruptions, meetings, phone calls, tweets, blogs. The sheer number of distractions lowers productivity and can threaten you ability to think clearly, make good decisions and accomplish what matters.

This session covers tools and techniques for improving personal and team productivity including goal setting, prioritizing work, and maintaining focus. You will learn to recognize and avoid distractions which can monopolize your time and prevent you from reaching your potential. .

You will leave empowered to increase personal and organizational productivity while learning to make higher-impact choices about where to invest your valuable time, attention, and energy.

Come learn how to tame your INBOX.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Other: Employee Productivity
Submitted by: Dan Glasscock. Dan is the North America Strategy lead for Oracles Database Cloud. Dan brings over 30 years of experience across the technology, internet, and business sectors and has extensive knowledge of Cloud, Databases, ERP Applications, High Availability, High-speed Computing, Enterprise Management and building customer-centric IT organizations. He has delivered many high profile projects at companies such as Oracle, AT&T, Fidelity Investments, Union Pacific Railroad. Dan is on Twitter as @DanGlasscock.

Session ID#:35 Turning Ideas Into Dollars: Understanding the R&D Tax Credit
Description: Steve’s presentation will discuss the R&E tax credit, how startups and innovators can track research and development activities, what qualifies for the credit and how the credit may be claimed. Steve will also help attendees understand how R&D effort may positively impact their organizations as they grow.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Steve George. Steve George brings 25+ years of industry leadership to help companies of all types take advantage of their research and experimentation tax credits. Having lived the fact that American innovation occurs in every facet of an operation–from the shop floor to the Board Room – he is uniquely positioned to help clients identify qualified research activities. His first-hand experience with $100M+ mergers and acquisitions is an invaluable asset in effectively describing manufacturing processes.

Session ID#:36 Shadow UX: Dangerous and Ubiquitous
Description: Shadow UX is a UX activity or process that presents the illusion of a user-centered approach without actually providing its benefits. It can take many forms, and its main danger is in giving stakeholders a false sense of security about the usability and usefulness of their products.

Does YOUR organization practice Shadow UX? How can you tell?

We’ll discuss the 3 main factors that turn “UX” into “Shadow UX,” whether Shadow UX practices have any advantages, and if those advantages outweigh the risks.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Danielle Cooley. Danielle Cooley knows the things we use should make life easier, not harder. Her research and designs have been applied to Web sites and applications, software, touchscreen kiosks, mobile tools, speech recognition and touchtone telephone systems, credit card statements, and promotional materials in such industries as financial services, pharmaceuticals, food service, healthcare, car rental, and consumer products. Danielle has a MS in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University. Danielle is on Twitter as @dgcooley.

Session ID#:37 Ask Me Anything: Customer Experience
Description: Just how important is customer experience? How do I do I make sure my customers have good experiences? What kind of expertise is needed to work in the field? What’s the difference between customer experience and user experience? Is that even important?

Danielle Cooley, an expert with 20 years of experience in the field, is here to answer YOUR pressing questions about customer experience best practices, from strategy to research to design.
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Product Lifecycle Mgmt
Submitted by: Danielle Cooley. Danielle Cooley knows the things we use should make life easier, not harder. Her research and designs have been applied to Web sites and applications, software, touchscreen kiosks, mobile tools, speech recognition and touchtone telephone systems, credit card statements, and promotional materials in such industries as financial services, pharmaceuticals, food service, healthcare, car rental, and consumer products. Danielle has a MS in Human Factors in Information Design from Bentley University. Danielle is on Twitter as @dgcooley.

Session ID#:38 Improving Our Business Through Best Practices
Description: Discussion of a case study of the process of evaluating and implementing best practices at a manufacturing facility. Utilizing industry interviews and visits, global research, and employee engagement enabled the company to compile invaluable information to improve the business. The resulting improvements have reduced environmental impact by 90% and improved primary employee health metrics by 50%. When companies collaborate, the collective will rise. The session will include an entertaining hands-on workshop illustrating the value of Best Practices.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: HR-Related
Submitted by: Daniell Hill. Daniell considers his work in creating and leading the Best Practices Team at Mayco Industries to be his greatest contribution to any company he has worked with. He also owned and operated his own business from 2013 through 2015. In addition to his business activities, he actively volunteers for both the Alzheimer’s Association and Venture Cafe.

Session ID#:39 Innovation Workshop Applying Liminal Thinking
Description: Create the change you want by changing the way you think
We will work together to understand how to free our thinking to innovate
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Paul Heirendt. Paul Heirendt cofounded an early Blockchain Identity Management platform CyberDeadbolt which was acquired in 2017. Paul has now founded BLOCK id(TM) to provide Digital Identity Management & Security to consumers for their sensitive information and smart contracts.

A serial entrepreneur with more than 30+ years of experience in technology, publishing and healthcare business management, business development and Internet business definition. Paul is on Twitter as @pheirendt.

Session ID#:40 Increase Sales with better Messaging
Description: The most effective Sales Strategy is a great message. However, studies show the number one inhibitor to selling is the inability to effectively communicate value to customers, investors, and co-workers. Consistent messaging accelerates sales ensuring customers have a clear understanding of what your solution can do for them. Inconsistent messaging creates friction that can slow, stall, or destroy sales.

Participants will learn techniques for creating and delivering messages which are compelling, memorable, and differentiates your product. Suggestions for coordinating and governing work between Product Management, Marketing, Sales and critical stakeholders, will also be discussed.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Manufacturing specific
Submitted by: Daniel Glasscock. Dan is the North America Strategy lead for Hybrid Cloud. Dan brings over 30 years of experience across the technology, internet, and business sectors and has extensive knowledge of Cloud, Oracle Databases, Oracle Applications, High Availability, High-speed Computing, Enterprise Management and building customer-centric IT organizations. He has delivered many high profile projects at companies such as Ancestry.com, AT&T, Fidelity Investments, Union Pacific Railroad, and others. Daniel is on Twitter as @DanGlasscock.


[Session #41 has been removed, as it is a duplicate of #42]

Session ID#:41 Getting to the HEART of UX
Description: If you want your product’s design to be informed by large-scale data, it really helps to have metrics that reflect the quality of the user experience, and that map closely to your main goals.

Google Ventures has developed a couple of useful methods to help choose and define helpful metrics that reflect:
– The quality of user experience (the HEART framework)
– The goals of your product or project (the goals, signals, metrics process)

In this town hall we will walk through:
– Basics of HEART
– Measuring your own products
– Learning from user data
– Q&A

Look forward to seeing you there.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Justin Ranton. Justin Ranton is a Sr. UX Architect at Monsanto Company. He specializes in strategic aspects of product design and workshop facilitation. Justin is on Twitter as @jwranton.

Session ID#:42 Getting to the HEART of UX
Description: Modern businesses rely heavily on data. But, what data quantifies your users’ experiences?

If you want your product’s design to be informed by large-scale data, it really helps to have metrics that reflect the quality of the user experience, and that map closely to your main goals.

Google Ventures has developed a couple of useful methods to help choose and define helpful metrics that reflect:
– The quality of user experience (the HEART framework)
– The goals of your product or project (the goals, signals, metrics process)

In this town hall we will walk through:
– Basics of HEART
– Measuring your own products
– Learning from user data
– Q&A

Look forward to seeing you there.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Requirements Definitions
Submitted by: Justin Ranton. Justin Ranton is a Sr. UX Architect at Monsanto Company. He specializes in strategic aspects of product design and workshop facilitation. Justin is on Twitter as @jwranton.

Session ID#:43 Managing Your Energy for Sustainable High Performance
Description: By learning how to skillfully manage your energy, you can bolster your own productivity, and enhance your success as a manager by tapping into the true potential of your employees.

No one is meant to run at high speeds, continuously, for long periods of time. We’re at our best when we move rhythmically between spending and renewing energy—a reality that companies must embrace to fuel sustainable engagement and high performance.

This session will allow you to increase productivity and tap into your potential by providing techniques and guidance which regularly renewing your four core energy needs: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Other: Employee Productivity
Submitted by: Dan Glasscock.
Dan is the North America Strategy lead for Hybrid Cloud. Dan brings over 30 years of experience across the technology, internet, and business sectors and has extensive knowledge of Cloud, Oracle Databases, Oracle Applications, High Availability, High-speed Computing, Enterprise Management and building customer-centric IT organizations. He has delivered many high profile projects at companies such as Ancestry.com, AT&T, Fidelity Investments, Union Pacific and others. Dan is on Twitter as @DanGlasscock.

Session ID#:44 The Entrepreneur’s Mindset: The Ultimate Path to Success or Failure
Description: This is session is a primer covering four areas which deeply impacts every entrepreneur’s results beyond traditional knowledge, skills, and abilities. Drawing from different sources, we will walk through a composite mental model detailing how the brain interprets the world to prescribe behaviors and actions that will ultimately lead to success or failure.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Brian Collard. Brian helps organizations bridge the gap between strategy and execution. At Aflac, he governed the $79M product development pipeline. Brian’s 20 years of experience includes industrial manufacturing, healthcare and insurance. He holds an MBA and numerous professional product development certifications.

Session ID#:45 It’s a Trap! How to Avoid the Pitfalls of Feedback
Description: Feedback is the only way to find out what’s working, what’s not, and ultimately how to make your product better. But there’s a problem: we’re never taught how to give and receive feedback. And to make matters worse, not all feedback is good feedback. So how do you tell the good from the bad? In this session we’ll cover 8 common feedback traps and offer strategies for how to avoid them so you can take your product to the next level.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Other
Submitted by: Ben Haefele. David Adkin (@EpicInnovators) and Ben Haefele (@benhaefele) are product designers at Second Street and authors of Innovate Everything (innovateeverything.io), a blog that chronicles our quest for that holy grail of innovation — a practical process that anyone can follow. We truly believe that anyone can learn to be a great innovator, and we’ve made it our mission to understand what innovation is, how to be good at it, and how to teach it to others. Ben is on Twitter as @EpicInnovators.

Session ID#:46 New Horizons – What Value Innovation, the Growth Mindset and New Product Development Have in Common
Description: Industry leaders face the challenge of innovating while continuing to satisfy the needs of existing customers. Their mindset and capacity to create value in new ways and for new customers are essential to creating competitive advantages. We’ll explore how value innovation can reframe how you approach the market and how the way your team thinks impacts the success of new product innovation.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Other
Submitted by: Christy Maxfield. Christy is a serial entrepreneur who has trained more than 100 IT, bioscience and consumer manufactured product entrepreneurs. She is a partner in Margin Spark and Innovation Advisor with Atomic Revenue where she has co-created the Revenue Diagnostics Program to help clients improve their sales and profitability. Christy is on Twitter as @christymaxfield.

Session ID#:47 10 Challenges Converting Your Passion Project into a Sellable Product
Description: If you’ve stumbled into product-market fit with your side gig it may be time turn your passion project in a real business. The problem is…you’ve never done this before and don’t know where to start. In this session we’ll explore the top 10 challenges you’ll face transforming your project into a product and how to tackle each using a comprehensive framework and start-up checklist. #freeebookincluded
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Startup/Entrepreneur-specific
Submitted by: Shane Freeman. Shane Freeman spent one childhood summer reading the DOS 4.0 manual…for the fun of it. Another 15 years as a DJ helped him develop a salesmanship, ease, and humor hard to come by in the geek world. The past 20 years, Shane has has sat in the center of a Venn diagrams of sales, marketing and technology and specializes in helping B2B software and professional service companies with strategy, process, and alignment. Shane is a devoted yogi, world traveler, and still attends too many concerts. Shane is on Twitter as @shanefreeman.

Session ID#:48 They Filled Out a Form; Now What? Drives Sales with Marketing Automation
Description: If you’ve ever asked yourself, “How many emails should I write,” “How do I integrate the customer lifecycle and buyer personas into my email strategy,” or “Why should I connect marketing automation to my CRM,” then this session is for you. We’ll explore tactical ways to overlay content strategy on top of your sales process for seamless alignment, shortened sales cycles and increased close rates.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Shane Freeman. Shane Freeman spent one childhood summer reading the DOS 4.0 manual…for the fun of it. Another 15 years as a DJ helped him develop a salesmanship, ease, and humor hard to come by in the geek world. The past 20 years, Shane has has sat in the center of a Venn diagrams of sales, marketing and technology and specializes in helping B2B software and professional service companies with strategy, process, and alignment. Shane is a devoted yogi, world traveler, and still attends too many concerts. Shane is on Twitter as @shanefreeman.

Session ID#:49 #IRL Decision Dynamite for Your Product Management Log Jam
Description: In this interactive workshop we’ll use a paired comparison analysis and decision matrix to walk step-by-step through building your product road map in the most transparent manner possible–even with the most complex choices and team makeup. When there are too many options, too many stakeholders, and too many strong opinions, turning subjective opinions into objective options is the easiest way to avoid hurt feeling and prevent dissension among the ranks. #templateincluded
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Strategy
Submitted by: Shane Freeman. Shane Freeman spent one childhood summer reading the DOS 4.0 manual…for the fun of it. Another 15 years as a DJ helped him develop a salesmanship, ease, and humor hard to come by in the geek world. The past 20 years, Shane has has sat in the center of a Venn diagrams of sales, marketing and technology and specializes in helping B2B software and professional service companies with strategy, process, and alignment. Shane is a devoted yogi, world traveler, and still attends too many concerts. Shane is on Twitter as @shanefreeman.

Session ID#:50 A Clear Product Definition: This 10-minute exercise can save you weeks of development time
Description: A Clear Product Definition will focus your team, minimize confusion, settle debates, and accelerate your development process. Creating a CPD at the onset of development can pay huge dividends at later stages. DON’T SKIP THIS STEP!

In this workshop we will walk through a simple 3-step process that will produce a clear definition of what your product should be, and we will teach you how to use that definition to make your path to market smoother and more efficient. This technique can be applied to products in any category.

Please bring pen and paper, and have in mind a specific product you are developing.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Jake Salter. Jake Salter is an engineer and program director at Objex Design. Working with a team of fellow engineers and industrial designers, Jake has helped Objex develop dozens of consumer and industrial products. Ever the utility player, Jake plays the role of project manager, CAD modeler, mechanical analyst, commercial scriptwriter, AV editor, and head sandwich-maker.

Session ID#:51 Additive Manufacturing: A Tool in your Toolkit
Description: Delivering your product to market can take up to 2 years. What if you could accelerate faster time to market without driving up your production cost and deliver within 4-6 months? Many manufacturers have solved this question by integrating high-strength additive manufacturing (AM) technology into their production processes. However, even more are overwhelmed with the daunting task of identifying where additive will be most impacting to their bottom line – especially in support of their maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) strategy. Discover how you can leverage high-strength AM to maintain a competitive edge and dramatically lower the cost of tooling and parts used in your MRO – all while driving lead time by an order of magnitude.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Eric Kocher. For over 15 years, Eric has helped small to large businesses in various industries solve challenges with their production processes and has offered effective go-to-market strategies. His knowledge on best practice solutions for business development has helped his clients – both locally and across the United States – meet their goals. Currently he works with Swoosh Technologies in Chesterfield, MO, working with manufacturers in implementing Additive Manufacturing into their current process.

Session ID#:52 Stop Looking for a Design Process
Description: Design is messy. It’s full of failure, surprises, and iteration; and it’s different for every product. Objex Design has developed hundreds of products over the past 15 years, and the design process has been different for each one.

In this session, Objex principal Corey Feit discusses the value of using a Design Approach instead of a Design Process. Learn some of the techniques we use to embrace the unknown and push through roadblocks. The second half of the session will be an open forum to ask questions about your approach to design and discuss issues in your development process.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Product Management/Development
Submitted by: Corey Feit. Corey Feit is the founder and principal of Objex Design. Corey has spent over a decade assembling and growing a team of industrial designers and engineers who share his passion for innovation, growth, and design done right. Objex has developed hundreds of consumer and industrial products in dozens of categories. Corey has had a hand in developing every product and has 25 patents to his name with more added every year.

Session ID#:53 PATENT, COPYRIGHT, AND TRADEMARK PROTECTION FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Description: Learn about the ways to protect your Intellectual property for your product or service in order to prevent others from copying and selling your protected product or service.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Brett Schenck. Brett Schenck is a registered patent attorney and trademark and copyright attorney with over 20 years experience both in the corporate and law firm environment. He has provided legal services for large corporations including Honda, Maytag (Hoover division), Diebold, Lenovo, Boeing, ZTE, and TRW as well as small businesses and individuals.

Session ID#:54 Can You Improve your B2B Segmentation and Personas?
Description: While most companies already have defined segments and may have personas written, this session will challenge you to take another look in order to see if they can be improved. With improved B2B segmentation and persona clarity comes better targeting, product solutions, and market messaging.

B2C approaches to Segmentation and Persona development tend to fall short when used within B2B markets. This session will focus on B2B markets by offering foundational models for segmentation and personas that you can then adapt to your particular needs. These models work well for both product development activities and for marketing efforts, and can help to assure that everyone is working from the same assumptions.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Opportunity Analysis
Submitted by: Bill Haines. Bill Haines of Haines-Group [www.haines-group.com]
Product & marketing leader with 25 years’ experience ranging from small & large start-ups, to big company senior manager, to parachute-in rescue operations, and over a decade of consulting with more than 90 projects completed. Through it all Bill has learned a lot about how to wrangle product-centered strategy and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/wwhaines

Session ID#:55 Cease & Desist! How to be ready to enforce and defend all at once.
Description: This session is an introduction to cease and desist demands with an emphasis on how entrepreneurs can prepare their business to not only enforce their IP but also defend the dreaded infringement notice. In addition to providing a basic background on the legal effects of cease and desist demands, this session will provide participants an actionable plan should they discover an infringer or receive a cease and desist demand letter.
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Kevin Staed. Kevin Staed is an associate intellectual property attorney at CreatiVenture Law. Kevin provides legal counsel and support in preparing and prosecuting patent applications as well as providing legal services for trademarks and copyright. After working as an Operations Engineer at a St. Louis fruit and produce distributor, Kevin started law school at St. Louis University School and earned his Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Intellectual Property Law in 2017.

Session ID#:56 Learn How to Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking
Description: In his presentation, “How to Conquer Your Fear of Public Speaking,” Paul Niemann will give you 21 expert tips that you can use immediately to help you overcome the fear you may have about getting up in front of an audience to speak — which is something that most business professionals have to do from time to time. If that describes you .. see you there!
Session Format: Presentation
Category: Other
Submitted by: Paul Niemann. Paul Niemann, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Sales Coach with Southwestern Consulting, challenges you by asking, “How great will you feel when you’re no longer afraid of speaking in front of an audience?”
Paul is on Twitter as @paulniemann.

Session ID#:57 Don’t “Kickstart” Away Your Intellectual Property Rights!
Description: Crowdfunding can be a great way to to kickstart your business – but don’t lose your IP rights while doing it. You will come away from this session with an understanding of what you can say (and what you SHOULDN’T say) while marketing or pitching your product/service, whether on Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or in person with potential investors or customers…. to avoid losing your valuable IP rights. (Presented by attorneys from Intellectual Property Partners, P.C.)
Session Format: Ask the Expert
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Adam Bagwell. Adam Bagwell is a registered USPTO patent attorney. His practice includes all areas of intellectual property law, including preparation and prosecution of patent applications in the United States and abroad, preparation and prosecution trademark application in the United States and abroad, preparation of copyright applications, and litigation in state and federal courts.

Session ID#:58 Illegal Websites – Are You Willing to Gamble With Your Business?
Description: Most websites fail to comply with federal laws and regulations. The penalties are steep and could result in a government shutdown of one of your most important company assets. During this session, we will explore the federal laws and regulations that apply to websites and email lists, including the steep penalties of noncompliance. We will examine the ways most companies fail and will discuss strategies to implement compliance in your business. The focus is on the why and how to comply. Proactive legal strategies can help you avoid enormously expensive and time-consuming situations down the road.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Michele Kelsaw. Michele Marxkors Kelsaw, Attorney at Law, MBA is the founding attorney of MK Legal Planning, a law firm whose mission is to engage in proactive legal planning. Michele works with businesses and individuals to develop legal strategies to avoid the expensive, stressful, and unintended consequences of litigation. She is also a third generation entrepreneur. Her passion is to help business owners grow their businesses and legacies. Visit mklegalplanning.com to find out more.

Session ID#:59 Will Your Business Become Your Legacy? – Why You Should Have a Succession Plan
Description: What will happen to your business, your dreams, your hard work, your assets, your money, your debts, when you pass away or if you become incapacitated? Will this situation leave your loved ones and employees stressed and overwhelmed or tangled up in litigation? Will it leave them frozen without the power to continue to manage the business? Or will you empower those you love and those who work with you to continue your legacy in the event you are unable to continue on as their leader. In this session, we will explore the reasons why you should develop a business succession plan and some of the major issues to address in developing that plan.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Legal
Submitted by: Michele Kelsaw. Michele Marxkors Kelsaw, Attorney at Law, MBA is the founding attorney of MK Legal Planning, a law firm whose mission is to engage in proactive legal planning. Michele works with businesses and individuals to develop legal strategies to avoid the expensive, stressful, and unintended consequences of litigation. She is also a third generation entrepreneur. Her passion is to help business owners grow their businesses and legacies. Visit mklegalplanning.com to find out more.

Session ID#:60 Publishing as a Path to Becoming an Industry Thought Leader
Description: Have you ever read an article on a major media outlet and wondered if being published would really be that beneficial for YOU? Maybe you told yourself to just forget about it because “you’re not really a writer, what would you write about, and who wants to deal with the rejection?”

Publishing is not out of reach, and it can establish you as the go-to Thought Leader in your industry if you have a plan and execute it well.

This workshop with published author and coach, Dixie Gillaspie, takes you through the steps to creating your Thought Leadership Positioning Plan including content creation, choosing the right media outlets, submitting your work, and promoting your published articles. You’ll leave with an outline for your personal plan and a method for brainstorming article ideas.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: Marketing Execution
Submitted by: Dixie Gillaspie. Dixie Gillaspie is a consultant, coach, firestarter, and confirmed coffee fanatic. She’s allergic to “can’t” and in love with story. The author of “Just Blow it Up: Firepower for Living an Unlimited Life”, she is also a previous Executive Editor at The Good Men Project and a contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur. She’s been working with entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders to step into their power and accomplish the impossible for more than 20 years. Dixie is on Twitter as @DixieDynamite.

Session ID#:61 Two Keys to Avoiding (or Recovering From) Founder Burnout
Description: Yes, Founder Burnout is a thing. A very real thing. But it isn’t inevitable and it can be cured.

Starting a business is exciting. And scary. And exhausting. But then comes the less sexy, and just as challenging work of running that business, nurturing that business, and growing that business. It is natural for the entrepreneur/Founder turned manager/CEO to hit some brick walls.

Burnout happens when there is just no more energy left to tackle another brick wall.

In this workshop expect to be supported as you go deep and get honest with yourself, because we’re going to break down two of the primary reasons Founders run out of energy, and how you can plug back into your natural energy source to avoid, or recover from, burnout.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: HR-Related
Submitted by: Dixie Gillaspie. Dixie Gillaspie is a consultant, coach, firestarter, and confirmed coffee fanatic. She’s allergic to “can’t” and in love with story. The author of “Just Blow it Up: Firepower for Living an Unlimited Life”, she is also a previous Executive Editor at The Good Men Project and a contributor to Forbes and Entrepreneur. She’s been working with entrepreneurs, founders, and business leaders to step into their power and accomplish the impossible for more than 20 years. Dixie is on Twitter as @DixieDynamite.

Session ID#:62 Take Your Pick! Get Noticed 6% or 98% of the Time. Tough, huh?
Description: Who wants to get ignored? Did you know? Emails are opened 6% of the time; text messages are opened 98% of the time. How much would people understand if they missed 14 out of 15 words that you said? The first key to success is getting noticed. In traditional business, Email is the workhorse, but text messages are much, much more effective! When combined with personal relationships, there’s nothing better! Come learn about the EZcard – a hybrid digital business card / mobile website / smart-phone app that I developed in 2017 that costs less per month than a typical lunch, but can revolutionalize any business. In this workshop, we will “build” a Free EZcard for some lucky entrepreneur, and learn 7 Principles of grabbing people’s attention with effective text marketing.
Session Format: Town Hall
Category: Go-to-Market
Submitted by: Greg Sanders. Dr. Greg Sanders, with a PhD in Sociology and 30 years of university teaching experienced, recently became an inventor and entrepreneur in 2016 to take his insights into group communication and apply them to the business world. With a focus on what works, “Dr. EZ” helps not only solopreneurs and businesses to simplify their digital communication, but schools, churches, and non-profits to get noticed and get heard! Greg is on Twitter as @drgregsanders.

Session ID#:63 Brain Hacks for Becoming a Better Leader
Description: As leaders, we place high demands on ourselves. And the world places high demands on us as well. We are expected to move people, move the needle, even move mountains. Success as a leader is intrinsically linked with our ability to adapt. And yet, unprecedented internal and environmental demands on our attention, energy, and abilities can create resistance to change and adaptation.

But there is one other thing you can move to actually increase your ability to adapt and effectively manage all of those demands. Your body. In this workshop you will experience ways to use your physical body to engage neurological pathways in order to reset and rewire your brain for increased cognitive clarity, energy, and executive function.
Session Format: Workshop
Category: HR-Related
Submitted by: Philip Penrose. Philip Penrose is a Neuro-Performance trainer and coach using brain-based methods to empower and accelerate personal transformation. Philip is on Twitter as @PhilipPenrose.

Sponsors

ProductCamp St. Louis 2018 was free for attendees/participants, thanks to support from our generous sponsors.

Gold Sponsors for ProductCamp St. Louis 2018

Pendo
Mueller Prost
Objex Design

Silver Sponsors for ProductCamp St. Louis 2018

CreatiVenture Law SiriusDecisions
Pragmatic Marketing Intellectual Property Partners P.C.

Producing Partners for ProductCamp 2018

St. Louis Product Management Group St. Louis Makes