The Ottawa Network Presents: Focus on Business
with China and India
Tuesday, March 23, 2010 5:30-7:30 pm

bitHeads Inc.
1309 Carling Avenue
(Entrance at east end of Westgate Shopping Centre)

It’s a global village, and two of the largest villagers are China and India.

You will meet them at the village market, so be prepared to trade. Come hear and interact with our distinguished panel on doing business with China and India. Get informed on the rules and tips for both selling into the market and buying talent, labour and supplies. Also, how does business culture on all sides, Chinese, Indian and Canadian, factor in your success at the market?

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Marvin K. Hough - Executive in Residence, Telfer School of Management University of Ottawa President, Marvin Hough International Research and Analysis (MIRA) Limited.

Marvin Hough draws on 30 years of experience with Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s official export credit agency. Mr. Hough’s most recent assignment with EDC was Regional Vice-President, Asia from April 2005 to December 2007. He joined the Telfer School of Management in June 2008 where he teaches in the EMBA program and supports the Telfer Executive Leadership program through initiatives related to doing business in India and China.

Mr. Hough’s tenure with EDC included positions in both EDC financing and insurance operations. On the Asian front, he managed EDC’s financing operations in both the South Asia and Pacific North Asia regions. His experience also  includes a four-year interchange assignment with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade where he served as a Senior Trade Commissioner in New Delhi, India. His experience in supporting Canadian companies dealing in India spans more than 20 years.

Mr. Hough has also served as EDC’s Regional Director for Mexico and Central America, based in Mexico City, where he played a key role in helping EDC establish its presence in Mexico and grow its business in the region.  In addition to his roles in Asia and Latin America, Mr. Hough also had significant experience with EDC in business development within Canada, having served in senior roles in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa.

Mr. Hough also serves on the Boards of Seneca  Corporation, (a for-profit subsidiary of Seneca College), the Canada-China Business Council, the Canada-India Business Council and  the Hong Kong Canada Business Association ( Ottawa Chapter). He has also taught international business at Seneca College and Algonquin College.

MIRA Limited provides international research and analysis services to Canadian and other companies focused on key strategic markets including India, China and Mexico.

A native of Edmonton, Alberta, Mr. Hough received a Bachelor of Commerce degree (with Distinction) and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Alberta.

Mike Manson - CEO and Co-founder of TaraSpan

Mike has helped launch numerous startups and together with Raj Narula has secured over $40 million in funding for TaraSpan’s clients.   Mike is formerly Senior Vice President and General Manager at Alcatel, where he led a global business unit with software development centers in Canada, California, Belgium, Spain and India.  Prior to Alcatel, he held executive positions at Newbridge Networks in roles spanning product line management, business development and strategic alliances.  Mike is a frequently invited speaker on doing business in India, software business strategies and venture capital fundraising.  Mike serves on the board of directors of TaraSpan Inc. in Canada, and Wesley Clover Communication Solutions Pvt Ltd and PETAN Communication Solutions Pvt Ltd in India.  Currently Mike divides his time between Ottawa Canada and Gurgaon India.

Mike holds a BASc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Ying Hou - Technical Consultant, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

Ying is a technical consultant in Gowlings’ Ottawa office practising in the areas of patents and trade-marks, with a special interest in intellectual property issues in China. She is also vice-chair of the Firm’s China Group.

Prior to joining Gowlings as a Technical Consultant, Ying was a patent attorney in China where she was involved in patent drafting and prosecution involving a wide variety of technologies. She provides services to major Canadian companies doing business in China, as well as assisting Chinese companies to develop business in Canada. During her work in China, Ying was also involved in China-Canada negotiations on a memorandum of intellectual property law, as well as assisting foreign companies in business negotiations.

Ying is a member of Canada China Business Council.

Mark Bolger - Export Development Canada

Having started his career with Export Development Canada (EDC) in 1990, Mark Bolger is currently Regional Manager of Asia with the International Business Development Group.  For over fifteen years Mark has been responsible for managing EDC’s Asian business relationships, providing strategic advice to Canadian companies on export risks and opportunities and fostering EDC’s overall country knowledge of Asia.  He is a regular speaker at Asian business seminars and forums and in particular on advising on China.

Mr. Bolger holds degrees from the University of Ottawa and has previous work experience within Canada’s banking sector.

EDC provides trade finance and risk management services to Canadian exporters and investors in up to 200 markets.  Founded in 1944, EDC is a Crown corporation that operates on commercial principles.

Moderator:  Walter Knitl, The Ottawa Network

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Gowlings Monthly TON “Starting your Startup Series” Presents:

Hiring the “A” Team – A “Mel & Mel” Production on Building for Success
Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Please join our expert panel of Mel Polowin and Mel Mulligan for a discussion on how to build a core “A” team.  Topics for discussion will include:

• factors to consider in identifying the required skills, experience and personality for the team you need;
• how the right team can help attract financing;
• how to attract people to a start-up in today’s climate;
• how to ensure you also hire for “fit” (people prepared to work hard for your company’s success);
• how to protect your IP when hiring; and
• factors to consider when choosing consulting vs. temporary employment vs. permanent employment.

Gowlings is very pleased to host Starting Your Start-Up, The Ottawa Network monthly event stream that combines quality networking with practical advice and insights from industry leaders and subject matter experts.   Starting Your Start-Up focuses on the business basics that are the foundation for launching and building a successful start-up in these promising and challenging times including financing, team formation, business & product development, sales, and marketing.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Melanie Polowin, Partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP

Melanie Polowin is a partner in Gowlings’ Kanata Technology Office, practising in the Employment and Labour Law National Practice Group.  She advises businesses from start-ups to well established companies, on a wide range of employment issues touching every phase of the employment relationship, with emphasis on the high technology sector.

Melanie assists businesses and investors with the employment aspects of corporate life-cycle events, including starting up, financing, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs.  She advises on compensation, termination planning, proprietary interest and non-competition protection, and helps implement effective contracts, policies, handbooks, human resources-management and risk-reduction strategies, based on the practical needs of each client’s business.  Melanie also has considerable experience in managing and resolving employment disputes.

Mel Mulligan, President, Mel Mulligan & Associates

Drawing on over twenty years of progressive experience in business & human resources management, program, product and manufacturing management roles, Mel has worked with a variety of organizations in Canada, USA and internationally.  Over the last number of  years, Mel has focused on assisting in the design and rapid build of new companies, re-positioning or turn around of existing businesses, and he has also participated in conducting due diligence, acquisition and/or integration of 45+ companies located around the world.  He has worked in a number of industry verticals including on-line media; on-line financial and traditional brokerage services; high performance computing (hardware & software) solutions; enterprise software products and services; internet related products, services and consulting; telecom; and, aerospace & defence design and manufacturing.  Mel has also worked with clients in the federal and provincial public service, employee health benefits insurance, investment banking, and commercial construction industries.

Mel and his team can assist organizations attain their objectives through the provision of confidential “on demand” HR management services and solutions.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Rob Miller, VP of Development, AxioPower - www.axiopower.com
Rob Miller began his talk by pointing to the immense opportunities within the green energy industry for investment in growth. “Capacity,” says Mr. Miller, “Is the issue.” At $4M per megawatt, and 25 megawatts on the grid available…that’s a whole lot of green of a monetary kind! “Step One, Get capacity and get connected. Step Two: Get Financing.” Risks include regulations that come suddenly into play and curb the ability of the company to get into the market quickly, or change the value of the product and your bottom line. “This tends to make investors nervous.” Right now, Axio Power is searching for funding, helped by Marathon, and is finding a lot of interest from foreign (China) investors. European banks too understand the compelling and marketable need for green energy producers relates Mr. Miller. Major power companies are getting involved too – for example Enbridge – because it makes such sense. “Sun is free!” explains Mr. Miller. In Ottawa, the opportunity for wind producers is definitely there – find a clear space where wind races at 7 meters per second that isn’t zoned agricultural.

Dan Orr, Vice President of Green Soldiers - www.greensoldiers.ca/solar-farms/
To get financing for green energy, the banks want to see your project approved with a solid contract. Mr. Orr recommends taking it one project at a time, build your business model and prove it out to gain solid investment banking. Canadian banks are getting interested but are still cautious. “You will spend a lot of time and effort on financing,” says Mr. Orr, “but the money is out there.” For solar panels, the time is ripe now for investing with the cost of panels low, and the financing available.” Just make sure, he cautions, to have a panel supplier with a name behind them.  Ottawa is a great area for solar energy with 5-10% better sun than other parts of Eastern Ontario. Mr. Orr does point out that you may have to prepare yourself to chop down a lot of trees and, if the property has waterways, they will prove a major issue as well. Mr. Orr points out that with wind energy being the more mature of the two options, it has more efficiencies – this explains the higher tariff on solar energy at this time.

Adam Patterson, Independent Green Energy
The beauty of Geothermal energy according to Adam Patterson, is it’s 400% efficiency and the fact that it provides you with cheap energy when it is at it’s most expensive.  The homeowner may find it an expensive investment at $30K for their home, but is more content to reap the payback over a longer time than institutional customers who are looking for a fast yield. Ottawa is an ideal location for applying the benefits of geothermal energy with a large variance between outdoor and indoor temperatures both summer and winter. “With the world population continuing to grow and with limited fossil fuels…we’ll be able to help there and look great (to consumers).” Says Mr. Patterson.

Trevor Strauss, NextEnergy Inc., www.nextenergy.ca
Trevor Struass points out the huge growth potential for geothermal energy by stating, “1/2 of 1% of the energy pie in North America is owned by Geothermal. In Denmark, it’s more like 90%.” One of the key risks in this business is the installer channel, where industry regulations are needed to help protect quality. “Build your dealer network, have enough of the right kind of contractors and installers.” Advises Mr. Strauss.

TON Tuesday event summary provided by: Patricia Heard, patricia@pollackgroup.com, www.pollackgroup.com

Bringing local clusters and initiatives together to focus the expertise of experienced management and engineering talents on emerging cleantech opportunities.

We invite you to join the conversation!

Register for the event here.

We are pleased to introduce the panelists for the event:

Rob Miller, VP of Development, AxioPower

Rob joined Axio Power in 2008 from Canadian Hydro Developers, where he was the Project Engineer for CHD’s Ontario wind projects including Wolfe Island (a $475 million and 200 MW project) and Royal Road (18 MW). Rob also worked for Vector Wind Energy as a project manager in Eastern Ontario. Prior to working in the private sector, Rob managed municipal engineering for the municipalities of Whistler and the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Rob has over 15 years of experience with senior-level operations, construction management, and environmental engineering. He is a Professional Engineer with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and a MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of British Columbia.

Matt Cinnamon, Green Soldiers

Mr. Cinnamon currently shares profitable partnerships in several corporations in the Ottawa area. He has a solid 15 years of experience in the construction, heating, plumbing, and electrical industries, housing developments and maintenance contracts for multi-national firms and government entities. His executive experience brings a bird’s eye view to the entire operation.

Adam Patterson, Independent Green Energy

Mr Patterson is CEO and co-founder of Indpendent Green Energy, a partner firm of Sutton Renewables and co-founder of the Geothermal initiatives at both groups.  Adam brings 13 years experience in international trade finance, investment banking and analytics.  As a former investment analyst and presently focused on driving capital into long term resource and energy projects within North America he brings experience in analyzing and working on large scale projects.  Mr Patterson became more heavily involved in the alternative energy space when he began to look for solutions for the financial and logistical bottlnecks associated with the industry. Upon reviewing several methods for making alternative energy a more relevant choice for residential consumers he founded Indpendent Green Energy.  Within Independent Green Energy, we are able to draw upon the experience gained from the management of Sutton renewables Kinersis wind projects both in North America and Europe.  Adam has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph, is accredited with the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association and holds numerous trading and financial designations.

Trevor Strauss, NextEnergy Inc.

Register for the event here.

Gowlings Monthly TON “Starting your Startup Series”, Continues The 2 Part Seminar Series on Business Plans

Part 2 – Preparing A Business Plan To Raise Capital
Tuesday February 9th, 2010 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
160 Elgin St., 26th Floor

In Part 1 of our seminar series on business plans, “The Business Plan You DON’T Take To The Bank”, we discussed how a business plan can be used to help your Company stay focused on primary business objectives and to operate more efficiently.  Part Two of the series will focus on the role of the Business Plan when your start-up is raising Capital.

Our panel for the Feb 9th event will consist of experts on various sources of capital, including: Senior and Subordinate Debt (working capital loans, asset financing etc), Government (OCE, IRAP etc) and Equity (Convertible Debt, Preferred Shares etc).  The panel will be moderated by Anil Dilawri of Hill and Knowlton.

Gowlings is very pleased to host Starting Your Start-Up, The Ottawa Network monthly event stream that combines quality networking with practical advice and insights from industry leaders and subject matter experts.  Starting Your Start-Up focuses on the business basics that are the foundation for launching and building a successful start-up in these promising and challenging times including financing, team formation, business & product development, sales, and marketing.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Moderator: Anil Dilawri, the Director of Investor Relations Consulting at Hill & Knowlton Canada. - Anil provides strategic counsel to organizations on how to effectively communicate to the investment community. Anil also leads the executive presentation training service at Hill & Knowlton Ottawa. Anil has a vast amount of experience in communicating with members of the North American and European investment communities. This community includes sell-side analysts, buy-side shareholders, prospective institutional shareholders, venture capitalists, retail shareholders, and financial media.  Anil’s experience includes working with companies in many industries such as metals and mining, technology, automotive manufacturing, packaged food, oil and gas, and financial services.  Before joining Hill & Knowlton Anil was the Director of Investor Relations (IRO) for March Networks Corporation where he was the strategic leader and day-to-day contact for a number of key stakeholders. Prior to March Networks Anil was at Cognos Inc. (now IBM), where he held several senior positions in investor relations, product marketing, and research and development.

Panelist: Kevin J Carroll BA, MBA, Director of Commercialization, OCE Centre for Commercialization of Research - As Director of Commercialization for OCE’s Centre of Commercialization of Research,  Kevin helps high-potential early stage companies build the capacity to become sustainable global competitors by providing management expertise, advice and investment.

Kevin joined the Centre for Commercialization of Research in July 2008. Kevin has over 17 years of experience in the Telecom Industry, with extensive knowledge of Information Systems and a proven track record directing and managing multi-million dollar operations. Kevin is the former Leader for IT Procurement at Nortel, in this capacity, he managed cost saving programs in resource management and led the global outsourcing of Information Technology for Nortel which resulted in large corporate cost savings. Kevin has held several senior positions at Nortel including key roles in IT Business Operation and Portfolio Management for strategic partners such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon. Additionally he serves on the Board of  a number of private, not for profit and charitable organisations. For the last 9 years Kevin has held the position of President for Kevin James Consulting Ltd a small consulting firm based in Ottawa.   Kevin holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Master of Business Administration and is ITIL certified. Kevin and his wife Sue have four wonderful children and reside in Ottawa, Ontario.

Panelist: Robert Shaw, Account Manager, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) - In his capacity as Account Manager at BDC, Robert consults regularly with executives from a variety of fields and companies to help provide flexible long term growth financing and strategic consulting services.

Prior to joining BDC, Robert spent several years with an Asset Based Lender and over seven years in the high tech with Entrust and Corel. Robert holds a BA (Economics) from The University of Western Ontario and has completed the Canadian Securities Course as well as other courses in accounting and finance.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

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Startup Boot Camp

April 23rd, 24th, and 25th, 2010

With the generous support of our event sponsors, The Ottawa Network is pleased to host our second Startup Boot Camp event.

More sponsors to come…

This exciting event is designed is to bring together entrepreneurial minded people from Ottawa’s technology sector to lay the groundwork for new venture creation. The most promising company proposal judged at the end of the weekend will receive a $5,000 cash reward for incorporating within 90 days.

Many successful ventures start with great teams, and this venue will broaden your exposure to like-minded and capable potential partners with complimentary skills. You will be in “startup mode” for the entire weekend –it may not be for everyone– and this will be a great test of how well it suits you. Naturally, the mix of attendees, innovative ideas brought forward, event guidance skills and everyone’s effort and interest will determine the outcomes.

More>>

Innovation is the engine driving Ottawa’s economy. Come hear and interact with our distinguished panel on various aspects of innovation. What is the role of innovation in the business context and economy? What management structures and behaviours are needed to establish and sustain it, and what characteristics constitute the individual innovator. Finally, thoughts on Ottawa’s prognosis for continuing to be a centre of innovation.

<Click here for registration details>

Claude Haw, President and CEO OCRI

Claude leads OCRI, Ottawa’s lead economic development agency. Prior to OCRI, Claude was Managing Partner and founder of Venture Coaches, a venture capital firm which invested in thirteen technology companies.

Claude has been actively involved with more than 30 tech companies over two decades from start-up to acquisition and IPO. With more than 30 years of experience in a variety of technical, management and venture investing roles in the technology sector Claude has been instrumental in the success of many Ottawa-based companies including Venture Coaches, DragonWave, Newbridge Networks and Mitel Corporation.

He is a director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, a charter member of TiE Ottawa, and a past board member of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA). Claude is also a founder of The Ottawa Network and of Mindtrust, and served as a long-standing member of the annual Ottawa Venture and Technology Summit (OVTS) organizing committee.

As VP of Corporate Business Development at Newbridge, he managed strategic investment programs, from start-up to exit, in more than 20 companies. As VP and GM of the Newbridge ATMnet Business Unit, Claude grew the unit from inception to a $200-million-per-annum business. Also at Newbridge, Claude managed the Severn Bridge Investments fund, investing in 12 companies and returning more than triple the invested capital. He also held senior management positions at Mitel Corporation and Leigh Instruments.

Claude holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Lakehead University, has completed the Canadian Securities Course and is a member of Professional Engineers of Ontario. He has been a guest lecturer at universities on entrepreneurship, business planning and venture investing.

Tom Duxbury, Sprott School of Business

Tom is a new technology specialist who has been creating products, building teams and launching ventures for thirty years. He has held founding and senior executive roles in many entrepreneurial ventures, including DragonWave, Gridpoint, Newbridge/Alcatel, Mitel, and Pika Technologies. A widely patented inventor, Tom currently teaches innovation management at Carleton’s Sprott School of Business while completing his PhD there.

David Hudson, Director of Lead to Win

David V. Hudson is the Director of the Lead to Win program and is a student in the doctoral program at Carleton University¹s Eric Sprott School of Business. Until December 2008, Mr. Hudson was Nortel¹s Vice President for Advanced Research and Technology Labs. Since 1988, he held increasingly responsible management positions in Nortel both in engineering and product line management. Mr. Hudson worked in all of Nortel Networks¹ product lines, including enterprise, mobility and metro. He has held the Nortel seat on a number of university advisory boards. Mr. Hudson received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.

He graduated from the Systems Design program at the University of Waterloo and his graduate work focused on pattern recognition and signal processing applied to earth resources imagery.

Moderator: Walter Knitl, The Ottawa Network

<Click here for registration details>

Gowlings Monthly TON “Starting your Startup Series”, Announces a 2 Part Seminar Series on Business Plans.

Part 1 – The Business Plan You DON’T take to the Bank
Tuesday January 12th, 2010 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Many new start-ups write a business plan with the sole purpose of raising capital.  However, a good business plan can be very useful for other reasons. It can help your start-up to: bring together your ideas and research into a structured format; to clarify and communicate business purpose to staff; to predict and plan for future scenarios and to set overall business strategy such as marketing strategy; and targets and objectives, including sales and financial targets, so that you can monitor your start-up’s performance.

The first seminar in this 2 part series will focus on how a business plan can be used to help your Company to stay focused on primary business objectives and to operate more efficiently.  The 2nd part of the series (Tuesday, February 9, 2010) will focus on the role of the Business Plan when your start-up is raising Capital.

Gowlings is very pleased to host Starting Your Start-Up, The Ottawa Network monthly event stream that combines quality networking with practical advice and insights from industry leaders and subject matter experts.  Starting Your Start-Up focuses on the business basics that are the foundation for launching and building a successful start-up in these promising and challenging times including financing, team formation, business & product development, sales, and marketing.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network. Click here for registration details.

Jason Flick - Co-Founder and President at YOUiLabs - Jason Flick is a successful serial entrepreneur, and the product visionary in the company. Jason brings 18 years of technical and business leadership to the role of President. His most recent success was Flick Software, a mobile solutions and products venture whose customers included Intel, Rogers Wireless, U.S. military, and Sybase. Prior to founding Flick Software in 2002, he was co-founder and CTO at N-able Technologies, where he architected one of the most scalable IT systems in the world, built and managed the engineering team. Prior to N-able Technologies, Jason was Director, Systems Integration with Eftia, a leading OSS vendor, where he owned a $23M P&L business unit. His other roles and adventures have included COO, Canadian Health Systems and Vice President Engineering, TouchNet.

Andrew Bailes - VP Finance and Planning at Cryptocard - Andrew has had a strong career in the telecommunications and IT industries - both inside and as a management consultant. He has extensive experience in business and commercial planning, budgeting, modelling and business strategy, holding a wide and varied set of positions. He negotiated the multi million-dollar purchase of a mobile phone operator in Ghana and carried out the business modelling for a £2.5bn PFI bid for road maintenance. He managed the quantitative business case that enabled WorldCom to bid more than £3bn for a 3G mobile license. Andrew holds a MA in Mathematics and Management Studies from Cambridge University and is currently completing his Masters in Business Administration at Queens and Cornell.

Glen Orsak - Glen Orsak is veteran business advisor and coach to business leaders, owners and entrepreneurs.  Glen recently left Deloitte after a 20-year consulting career, 10 as a partner and leader of the firm’s Strategy and Operations practice in Ottawa.   In this role, he sold and delivered projects ranging from small strategic interventions through to multi-year, multi-million dollar business planning and implementation engagements.  He is now working with small businesses in management support and advisory roles where he drives the development of strategies and plans to strengthen business fundamentals and to position companies for rapid growth.  In addition to his consulting heritage at Deloitte, Glen holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at UWO and a certificate in common sense from his days growing up on a farm in Manitoba.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network.  Click here for registration details.

Starting your Startup - First Customer Traction

Tuesday Dec 8th, 2009 - 5:00pm - 7:00pm

If you attended previous sessions of the Gowlings Starting your Startup series, you heard over and over again the importance of first customers to your overall business and its growth. In this session we have a panel of experienced executives that can help you to identify, contact, and collaborate with potential customers. From a technical perspective our panel will help you understand how to integrate customers into your development process so that your offering becomes a “need to have” within your customers’ minds and budget priority list. You’ll also hear how a local company started and grew their business from day one leveraging key lead customers.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network.  Click here for registration details.

Scott Annan - Scott has spent the last 10 years managing web-based software development projects first as an executive for a global fortune-500 company and more recently as an entrepreneur. Scott co-founded Mercury Grove (www.mercurygrove.com) 5 years ago and has built custom software solutions for industry leaders including Tempur-Pedic, Applebee’s, and Proctor & Gamble, and recently launched Network Hippo (www.networkhippo.com), a viral-growth network relationship management website. Scott’s unique and sometimes controversial views on software development, social media, and entrepreneurship has made him a popular speaker and contributor to numerous events and blogs.

Cuong Nguyen - Cuong has been in software and telecommunication product development industry for over 25 years. Since 1995, he has been holding senior management positions at various technology companies in the Ottawa area. At each company, he’s responsible for the product design and development and drives the product growth strategies. Throughout these years, Cuong comes to recognize that one of the key contributor to the success is to engage customers early in the product development life-cycle. The past two years have seen Cuong working on and leading the development of the SaaS enabling technology and products at Wrapped Apps Corp. Prior to Wrapped Apps, Cuong was VP of Product Development and Supports at FreeBalance, VP of Engineering at Watchfire, VP of Application Development and Professional Services at i4i, and VP of Engineering and CTO at Milkyway Networks.  Cuong graduated from the University of Waterloo with a bachelor degree in Mathemactics and Computer Science.

Randy Whitcroft - Randy is the founder of Ideas2Revenue, and the author of the “Building Sales Momentum Through Client Focused Development” program (www.firstcustomers.com) which is a simple step by step guide on how to identify, contact and integrate real world clients into your development and overall business processes.  Mr. Whitcroft has over 18 years sales and sales management experience within the technology sector. After leaving his successful career with companies including Rational Software (IBM), and Corel, he spent a number of years working as a virtual sales executive and sales consultant for a number of key local technology companies. During this time, he gained a great deal of experience and an inside view into a number of technology companies at various stages of growth,. His company offers a number or packaged services to help companies of all stages infuse customers into all aspects of their business.

This event is provided at no cost for members of The Ottawa Network.  Click here for registration details.

Focus on Interactive Entertainment - Definition, Wikipedia - The phrase Interactive Entertainment also known as video games refers to the business of producing and distributing products and services, or the products and services, of which the entertainment value (or outcomes) can be influenced by users through direct feedback.  Come hear our distinguished speakers talk about interactive entertainment, their role in it, what it takes to run a successful business, and Ottawa’s strong play in this industry. Also, does it go beyond the definition as entertainment, and what value does it bring as a tool to life’s other endeavours including business influence, education and training?  Come join us for what should prove to be an interactive discussion!!

Scott Simpson, CEO & Co-founder, Playbrains - Scott is the co-founder and CEO of Playbrains, an emerging development studio in Ottawa, Canada. Playbrains released its first game title to critical acclaim on console and PC this summer and is dedicated to digitally-distributed fun, blurring the lines between downloadable and retail games. Scott is also the CEO of the award-winning services company bitHeads and is a member of the board of directors for ITAC and Interactive Ontario. Scott is a contributor and advisor to many of Ottawa’s tech start-up success stories.

Nick Iannitti - Director of Communications, Fuel Industries - Nick is responsible for developing and implementing strategies for evangelizing the Fuel Industries brand to media and to industry. An avid member of the digital community, he has written and researched extensively on the subject of social media, gaming and marketing, and the role of agencies and creative studios in the changing media landscape.Nick also manages Fuel’s social media services division-in this capacity, he has developed and implemented online strategies for a number of international brands, including HBO, Microsoft, Fox Home Entertainment, Ubisoft and others. Over the course of his career, Nick has worked as a PR specialist, advertising writer and strategist, and as manager of communications and development for a national non-profit organization.He has recently spoken at the CMA’s Digital Marketing and nextMEDIA conferences in Toronto, as well as at the 2009 Television Animation Conference on the subject of Branded Entertainment. Nick holds a degree in Mass Communications from Carleton University in Ottawa.

Kenton White, Adjunct Professor, Carleton University - Kenton has over 20 years experience in media and telecommunications. In the late 80’s, Kenton worked in Los Angeles on numerous feature films and television properties (some you may have even heard of!). Through the 90’s he made the transition to digital media and the internet age, working first for DARPA and later joining Nortel here in Ottawa. Most recently Kenton was the founder and CTO of DISTIL Interactive, an award winning creator of eLearning and serious games. Kenton has a PhD in Physics & Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona.

Joshua Ostrowalker - Chief Technology Officer, Magmic Games - Joshua has worked on leading edge technology products since 1995. After completing a degree in Computer Science at Carleton University, he was one of the first members of the Java Research and Development team at Corel. Upon joining Beduin Communications in 1998, he developed a personal information manager as part of a suite of applications for Java-enabled devices. Joshua went on to work for Sun Microsystems after Sun acquired Beduin, and helped to build an XHTML Basic browser and MIDP 2.0. In his role as VP of Technology at Magmic Games, Joshua continues to drive innovation and growth in all areas of development.
<Click here for registration details>