Thursday, February 26, 2009

Attend a FREE Session of RISE Austin

Next week is the Big Week for RISE Austin 2009.

If you live in the Texas Capital and would like the opportunity to see some of our area's finest business professionals present in small and intimate setting... here is your chance.

All day long on March 3rd, 4th and 5th there are over 120 business presentations being conducted at various venues all over town. Each session last 90 minutes. Audience size is limited to 20 -25 people, and the speakers are sharing all sorts of tips and stories.

Many of the sessions are already filled up (My session is full - March 5th at 8:00 AM), but there are several to choose from that will be GREAT. This is an amazing chance to meet and listen to the speakers in a small setting. Participate in the RISE program and make some connections with key people in our business community (yes, it IS always about networking!!!)

Scan the whole list and look for interesting topic and speakers.

Don't know who to go see? Here are a couple of suggestions:

As of this writing there are still a seats available for several FANTASTIC presentations.

I recommend you go and listen to my boss, Ellen Wood (co-founder and CEO of vcfo) deliver her talk "There Is No Parachute - And Other Lessons Entrepreneurs Learn AFTER Take-Off" at 10:30 AM on March 5th. Ellen launched vcfo 13 years ago, and in addition to her hands on experience running the company, vcfo has worked directly with over 800 companies - many of whom are entrepreneurial, high growth businesses. Thus she has seen the ups and down from many angles, and she will share a bunch of great stories and ideas.

Spots are still open to see Colin Pope, the managing director of the Austin Business Journal. His talk, "How and When to Address The Media" , is a must see presentation for anyone who is curious about how to get more PR. If you don't already know Colin, you should know Colin!

Laura Patterson, CEO of VisionEdge Marketing, still has space for her presentation "Creating a Customer-Centric Measurable Marketing Plan". I just finished reading Laura's book. She knows her stuff, so attending her presentation on March 5th would be a good one!

Brett Hurt, CEO of Bazaarvoice would be a great one to attend. He is set for 2:00 on March 5th. Space is filling fast for his presentation, "Establishing the Foundation of a Great Company Culture". Ask anyone in town, and they will tell you Brett is all about having a wonderful culture, and they live that at Bazaarvoice.

Are you a new entrepreneur? Go see attorney Matt Lyons of Andrews Kurth present "Top Ten Legal Mistakes Made by Entrepreneurs" at 2 PM on March 5th. Matt has an impressive career of counseling business owners to ensure they avoid the legal mistakes than can hurt their company down the line. This one will be good!

Leadership Austin president and CEO Heather McKissick will present "Creating Customer Experiences" at noon on March 5th. I am a graduate of the 2008 Leadership Austin Essentials Class and have worked with Heather on several projects. This would be a great presentation to attend.

Richard Balius from Intergistic Solutions will present "What Every Owner Should Know About Compensating Sales People" at 8:00 AM on March 5th. Richard is a great speak and an expert on sales.

I could list two dozen other friends, colleagues, and local experts...all of whom I know and respect. To any of my friends whom I left off, this was just a sampling. I did not want this post would be too long to read.

You can't go wrong with any RISE event you attend.

Have A Great Day.

thom

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