Keynote Speakers Bios

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Keynote Speakers Bios Jeff Peters Senior Producer Electronic Arts Jeff s eclectic career began in the early eighties, within the peak of the arcade industry, including achievements such as being

National Video Game Team, including creating and competing in international competitions on its behalf.

1 Keynote Speakers Bios Jeff Peters Senior Producer Electronic Arts Jeff s eclectic career began in the early eighties, within the peak of the arcade industry, including achievements such as being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for video game related achievements and founding the one and only, U.S. National Video Game Team, including creating and competing in international competitions on its behalf. He further went on to co-found a publishing company to create the industry leading Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. Jeff has been a successful game industry Consultant, Game Designer, Artist, Director, Producer and has also worked with major industry publishers such as Acclaim, Disney, Viacom, THQ, Midway, and Electronic Arts, including creating and bringing over 25 video games to market on just about every gaming platform ever made during his ongoing career. Currently, Jeff is an Executive Producer for Electronic Arts and has been growing a world-class, development studio within Salt Lake City for EA, focusing on games for families and the rapidly growing social gaming industry. Jeff seems to rarely sleep, enjoys writing, any and all outdoor activities and is highly involved in the classic arcade and pinball restoration community, with a personal collection of 50+ arcade games and pinball machines. Tom Dickson CEO Blendtec As an inventor, Tom s drive to simplify people s lives helped him design many home use products starting with The Kitchen Mill, revolutionizing the home grain milling business. His innovations didn t stop with one success. He then designed an all in one kitchen machine with a mixer and a blender built with only a 12 inch foot print. As an engineer, Tom has been blending crazy things in his blenders for years. In October 2006 we captured Tom s extreme blends on film and they became a viral sensation. Since then, Tom has become a celebrity with his whacky extreme blending videos seen on WillItBlend.com and YouTube. Viewed by millions all over the world, Tom has become an icon and has been featured on many local and national news and entertainment programs, newspapers, magazines and blogs. Tom is still innovating, continues to sit on multiple boards and has received many accolades and awards for his inventions. Blendtec today has over 220 employees and is a privately held company. Blendtec is the leading manufacturer of innovative blending and dispensing equipment which is used daily in homes and in the most prestigious restaurants and smoothie shops around the world. If you ve ever had a smoothie from a high powered blender, odds are you ve tasted Blendtec s technology. Tom doesn t believe that any challenge is too hard and is always seeking to find innovative solutions to everyday problems. Oh boy! This is fun! Tom Dickson

2 Breakout Session Descriptions Customer service, loyalty and retention Chad Wassmer Marketing Manager Deer Valley Resort Building loyalty with your customer experience is simple. It s far less expensive to generate customer loyalty and retain customers than to spend marketing money to attract new customers. Here you ll find discussions of approaches to customer retention and customer loyalty from an industry leader in brand loyalty. Do you know UVU? Jeri L Allphin J.D. Director of Alumni Relations, Development and Alumni Utah Valley University 8 years How much do you know about Utah Valley University? It s been through numerous name changes, its mission has changed nearly every decade, and its enrollment growth is unprecedented. Join us for this fun and informative session where you may be put on the spot and your knowledge tested. Everyone will leave a winner after learning a whole lot more about UVU, and why it s now the university of choice for more than 34,000 students. Entrepreneurial process and venture capital Brad Bertoch Venturecaptial.org 28 Years Dave Johnson Concept Consulting 15 Years Do you have an idea or a product that you want to take to the market, but just don t know how to get there? Learn the how-to s of getting your entrepreneurial concept off the ground. We will review the financing and investment sources for entrepreneurial ventures.

3 Funding the future of small business Debbie Harper Vice President / Loan Officer Mountain West Small Business Finance 17 Years We will be discussing 504 loans and how they can benefit small businesses to purchase owner occupied office space. We will discuss the ins and outs of the loan requirements as well as the recent legislative changes, current interest rates, etc. The CDC/504 loan program is a long-term financing tool, designed to encourage economic development within a community. The 504 program accomplishes this by providing small businesses with long-term, fixed-rate financing to acquire major fixed assets for expansion or modernization. Legal issues 101 for start-ups Adam Hull and Alex Natt, attorneys with Jones Waldo Park City will address the important legal issues that face start-up and emerging growth companies. They will touch on business formation and choice of entity issues, asset protection, private placements and the ins and outs of dealing with private equity and venture capital investors. Leveraging Utah s colleges and universities to accelerate rural and regional economics Cameron Martin Associate Commissioner for Economic Development & Planning Utah System of Higher Education 16 Years experience in higher education Shad Sorenson Associate Vice President - SSS/ Wasatch Campus Utah Valley University Led by a coalition of college presidents, industry, and community leaders, the Utah cluster acceleration partnership (UCAP) initiative has convened nine economic development projects to accelerate Utah s economy. Among these projects are UVU s digital media project and four rural initiatives seeking to accelerate Utah s rural entrepreneurial ecosystems. These projects will better align the resources of higher education with the needs and opportunities of Utah s rural and regional economies. This session will review these UCAP projects and highlight how higher education is transforming itself to accelerate rural and regional prosperity.

4 Low hanging fruit and the exciting world of new technology G. Michael Alder, Director Technology Transfer Office Brigham Young University 5 Years Kent Millington Director, Technology Commercialization UVU 20+ Years of experience in technology transfer and 40 years in business Would you like to consider licensing some exciting product related technology developed at our local universities? Kent Millington from UVU and Mike Alder from BYU will share some tips on finding and licensing the best new inventions to create new products for your existing company or to form a startup company. A list of patented inventions will be available for you to look at and consider. Proactive tax ideas every business owner should know J.W. Davies CPA, CVA 14 Years with Cook Martin Poulson, PC Partner for six years We will discuss some commonly missed tax ideas business owners can employ to minimize the amount of income tax they have to pay. Look, paying your taxes is important but let s not give Uncle Sam a bonus. For example, are your children helping in your business and are you paying them in the most effective way? Protecting company brands & technologies Brent Winder, attorney at law, has over 10 years experience in the area of intellectual property law. To successfully compete, companies must always be engaged in the development of new brands and new technologies. However, as the economy languishes, companies may be forced to cut legal budgets In these key areas. This presentation by attorney Brent Winder from Jones Waldo will focus on strategies for companies to preserve critical intellectual property rights while keeping costs lean, as well as some of the more common mistakes that cause companies to lose valuable intellectual property rights or step into legal entanglements that could have been avoided.

5 Rural prosperity through USDA-Rural development s rural business & cooperative programs Luann Wilson, Business & Cooperative Program Specialist Worked for USDA Rural Development for 23 years, 12 years in business & cooperative programs Promoting a dynamic business environment in rural America is the goal of rural development, business and cooperative programs (BCP), business programs (BP). BP works in partnership with the private sector and the community-based organizations to provide financial assistance and business planning. BP helps fund projects that create or preserve quality jobs, and/or promote a clean rural environment. The financial resources of BP are often leveraged with those of other public and private credit source lenders to meet business and credit needs in under-served areas. Recipients of these programs may include individuals, corporations, partnerships, cooperatives, public bodies, nonprofit corporations, Indian tribes, and private companies. Surviving the housing slow down Wasatch County Housing Where did it go, When will it return Eric Allen Metrostudy Director Utah / Idaho Region Been in the industry since 1998 / 13 yrs Educate yourself on surviving the housing slowdown and making the best decisions for your future stability. This class will cover all aspects of tracking economic and housing market conditions; when they change, why they changed and how to plan for the recovery. The housing market conditions are changing, therefore being ahead of the curve as the recovery gains momentum is essential for your business. The 4 r s of recruitment Right Person, Right Job, Right Now, Retained Brent Newren Service Area Director Provo Center DWS, over 20 years Joe Knudson Connection Team Supervisor Summit/Wasatch County DWS, 6 years Learn tips on how to attract the right person(s) to apply for your positions. Review the 10 most challenging behavior based interview questions that you never asked. Interpret the telling information from the answers the applicants give. What questions are you prohibited from asking. How to offer the right wage for the right job. Learn how to do all of this quickly, efficiently, and effectively. Then keep the right person for the right job by offering the right training, which will reduce costs by better retention.

6 Wealth creation, preservation & protection for businesses and individuals Jared Moss Moss Law Office 6 yrs Joe Tesch Tesch Law Office 42 yrs Have you been working hard your whole life and now don t know what the next step is to protect all that you have built? We will walk you through setting short-term and long-term goals to protect and grow assets, and minimize income and estate taxes. We hope to educate you in current tax savings, efficiently transferring wealth to future generations, while protecting the needs and wants of the present generation.

CERTIFICATE IN DIGITAL INNOVATION

CERTIFICATE IN DIGITAL INNOVATION www.d3ilabs.com 1 (203) 305-8395 chris.wasden@eccles.utah.edu Table of Contents What is it?...3 Why is it so unique?... 3 Who is it for?...4 When is it?...5 How much is