2010 InformationWeek 500 Conference Announces Details of 'The Growth Imperative'

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- InformationWeek 500 Conference announced the speakers and presenters for its 'The Growth Imperative' session at this year's event, taking place September 12-15, at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Southern California.  The conference's opening session will highlight the critical combination of creativity and execution in business, taking CIOs through a journey that starts with big, mind-expanding ideas and concludes with real-world examples of business growth and innovation through the use of technology.

The 2010 InformationWeek 500 Conference's 'The Growth Imperative' session will kick off with two distinguished innovators who will share mind-bending ideas around science and innovation:

• JoAnn Kuchera-Morin, who founded CREATE (Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology), and works on the Allosphere, (a 3D immersive theater that maps complex data in time and space), will show how scientists are able to map data both visually and sonically for phenomenal affects in science, math and art.
• Woody Norris, a serial inventor of electronics, tools, and cutting-edge sonic equipment – such as the LRAD acoustic cannon – will not only talk about and demonstrate some of his inventions but also his process for innovation.  He won the 2005 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his invention of a hypersonic sound system.

The second part of the session will focus on corporate business technology innovation, and feature three dynamic business technology executives, who will reveal in rapid-fire vignettes how IT is engaging customers and generating new sources of revenue at their companies:

• Bill Martin, CIO of Royal Caribbean, will discuss how the innovative cruise vacation company is using real-time analytics to improve the guest experience and the bottom line.  Martin will also show how wireless and other technology innovations enhance the guest experience on the world's largest cruise ship.
• Shawn Keim, Director of Development for Wet Seal, will show how the retailer of teen clothing for girls is combining mobility and social networking to drive sales.
• Dave Bent, Senior VP of eBusiness Services and CIO of United Stationers, will discuss the company's IT-led transformation from a wholesale distributor of business products to a provider of electronic commerce, marketing, merchandising, logistics, and other revenue-generating services to its suppliers and reseller customers.

"Driving growth will require both imagination and execution. It will demand that leaders think differently and creatively about new frontiers of opportunity, and how technology will, as it always has, lead the way," said Fritz Nelson, VP and Editorial Director of InformationWeek, and InformationWeek 500 Conference Co-Chair.  "But the thinking and the imagining are only part of the journey.  Success requires leaders to take risks and to follow through; to make the sharpest ideas become reality.  The conference's 'The Growth Imperative' session will walk CIO attendees through how to move what seems to be the impossible to the possible."

Additional keynote speakers at the 2010 InformationWeek 500 Conference are:

• Bestselling author Nicholas Carr — who has famously questioned the role of IT (Does IT Matter? 2004) and has posited that "the cloud" is the ultimate culmination of the commoditization of technology (The Big Switch, 2008).  In his latest provocative tome (The Shallows, 2010), Carr shows us how the technology of the Internet is changing the way we think – not just what we think, but the actual process of thinking; and perhaps not for the better.
• Peter Hinssen – one of Europe's esteemed thought leaders in the field of technology and its impact on business life and society.  His focus is on the consumer adoption of technology, on the impact of the networked digital society, and on the fusion between business and IT.  Hinssen collaborates with organizations in the areas of IT Strategy, Transformation, Fusion and Coaching, both within Belgium and far beyond.

For more information, go to: www.informationweekconference.com.

In its 19th year, the InformationWeek 500 Conference celebrates the 500 most innovative users of business technology.  Past overall winners include CME Group, National Semiconductor, Con-way, and Principal Financial Group.  The event also honors the Chief of the Year, the top CIO in the country as selected by InformationWeek's editors.  Last year's winner was federal CIO Vivek Kundra.

This year's InformationWeek Conference is sponsored by iRise, Teradata, Workday, VMware, IBM, Qwest Business, Riverbed , Dell, Rimini Street and SuccessFactors.

Attendance at the InformationWeek 500 Conference is limited to maintain an intimate setting and foster dialog among executive participants.  General attendee registration can be found online; only qualified registrants will be accepted.  Media credentials are also extended by request; interested media should contact Winnie Ng-Schuchman.

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