Fall Meeting Sessions
Thursday, October 26th
General Session #1
Mark Jeffries
The Art of Business Influence
8:30 - 10:15 a.m.
Join us for this session as Mark Jeffries, a former stock broker turned author, shows you how to grow effective influence, achieve communication excellence, and to master “Selling without selling.”
Within this highly innovative, engaging, and entertaining experience, you will discover techniques, concepts, innovative thinking, and cool ideas to increase impact, style, and influence.
General Session #2
John Manzella
Economic Trends, Global Trade, Labor, and What’s Ahead
10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Pandemic-related realities and the fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war continue to impact the U.S. and global economy, while complexities with China add new risks. Combined with the energy revolution, shifting demographics, and challenges with the USMCA and Europe, these issues are shaping our future. What does this mean to you? John Manzella, a world-recognized speaker, author, and nationally syndicated columnist, analyzes economic trends, examines trading relationships, reveals Chinese dangers, and explores critical issues involving labor, skills, automation, and immigration in this highly informative session. Additionally, he will offer survival strategies and provides insight into what's ahead.
General Session #3
Paula Davis
Teaming Up Against Burnout
1:15 - 2:30 p.m.
Between the pace of business, doing more with fewer people, and the general pressures of life, are your teams in danger of burning out? Paula Davis to the rescue. Paula is a former lawyer who left the profession and earned a masters degree in positive psychology. She is widely recognized as a uniquely talented speaker who will share her work in burnout prevention and building resilient teams. You won’t want to miss this presentation in which Paula will deliver actionable strategies that are grounded in research, humor, and her own experience in burning out as a lawyer.
General Session #4
Al Statz
ASP Mergers and Acquisitions, an M&A Advisor’s Perspective
3:00 - 4:15 p.m.
We’ve seen a lot of ASP M&A activity in recent years and eventually all closely-held ASPs will experience an ownership change. In this session, seasoned investment banker Al Statz of Exit Strategies Group will share insights on current market conditions and address several of the questions ASP owners and executives have when contemplating an exit or acquisition.
Questions such as … What are an ASP owners’ exit options and the implications of those options? How are ASPs valued? How is it that two ASPs of similar size can sell for very different values? What are the benefits of monitoring equity value over time? When and how should owners begin planning an exit? What are acquirers looking for and how can management incorporate that point of view into strategic planning? What do employees, suppliers and customers look for when an ASP is acquired or merged? What lessons can ASP owners learn from those who have exited before them? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead?
Friday, October 27
General Session #1
Ajay Agrawal
AI and the Shift of Power
8:30 - 10:15 a.m.
While many applications of machine intelligence enhance productivity, some applications have an even more profound effect: they shift power. For example, certain skills become more valuable than others, thereby shifting power from some types of people to others. Certain jobs become more important, shifting power from some occupations to others. Certain firm-level characteristics become new sources of competitive advantage, shifting power from some companies to others. Certain market characteristics become more salient, shifting power from some industries to others. Finally, certain country-level characteristics become more critical, shifting power from some nations to others.
When AIs simply improve upon existing predictive analytics and power structures are left unchanged, the strategic implications are limited. In these cases, success depends primarily upon well-managed implementation. The objective is enhanced operational efficiency. Decisions concerning when, where, and how to deploy these AIs require oversight from the COO, but not the CEO. These AIs are tactical, not strategic.
However, when the implementation of AIs lead to shifts in power, the implications for strategy can be significant. In this talk, business academic and machine-learning expert Ajay Agrawal explores state-of-the-art machine intelligence in several domains against the backdrop of power. How are these technological advances poised to impact jobs, markets, and nations via strategies for deploying capital, allocating labor, competing for customers, and enhancing society? And what can we do about it?
General Session #2
Ryan Campbell
What’s Your Pink Cadillac? The Unconventional Road to Becoming #TurbulenceTough
10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
How do you bounce back better? Not just from a bad day or tough quarter but life’s most challenging moments. At just 19, Ryan Campbell became the youngest person and first teenager to fly solo around the world. Two years later, he was diagnosed as a paraplegic following a serious plane crash. After 6 months in a spinal rehab ward and a year-and-a-half-long journey of recovery, Ryan considers himself to be Turbulence Tough.
Ryan will take you on a journey to understand the role of resilience and the path to mastering this learned and constantly refined skill. Take One Step: the approach to not just achieving but overcoming. The importance of understanding the big picture yet focusing solely on the controllable.
Slow Down: the importance of slowing down in turbulence. Utilizing turbulence as a teacher by dedicating time and space to analyze, extract and store. Finding a way to take an easily forgettable moment, extract the lessons, and place them in an unforgettable drawer.
Step Back: the importance of utilizing joy to build a culture of resilience. Stepping back, prioritizing the things that make you smile like a kid in order to show up better in all areas of your life. Asking the critical question, What's Your Pink Cadillac?