The Chicagoland Chamber’s annual Exchange is the largest networking opportunity of the year for Chicago area businesses, drawing over 1,000 attendees including entrepreneurs, small business owners, executives and business community partners. This year’s Exchange has been revamped from past years to provide more engaging keynotes, informative breakout sessions and a chance to network with top technology, business and marketing leaders.
New research from the Boston Consulting Group shows that small and medium businesses that leverage technology grow faster and create more jobs than those that do not. Technology plays a vital role when it comes to business growth, job creation, and the growth of the local Chicago and national economies. Through our collaboration with global technology leader Microsoft, this year’s Exchange will deliver indispensable insight into key opportunities for business growth, with a special focus on how technology can significantly transform and fuel growth for businesses of all sizes.
During the event, you’ll hear from esteemed speakers, including:
• Daymond John, branding expert, star of ABC’s hit business-themed show “Shark Tank,” and entrepreneur who grew his fashion brand to deliver $350 million in revenue in a single year.
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• Derek Kennedy, Partner at renowned research and consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, who will deliver deep insights from the latest research on how technology fuels business growth for small and medium sized businesses.
• Thomas Hansen, worldwide VP of Microsoft’s Small and Medium Sized Business (SMB) Group, who will share perspectives on business growth and the amazing stories of SMBs that are using technology to fuel their success.
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• Theresa E. Mintle, president and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, who will highlight key opportunities for Chicago businesses in 2014 and lay out a compelling vision for the growth of the Chicago economy.
Emcee
• Carol Roth, CNBC Contributor, Entrepreneur and New York Times Bestselling Author
About Daymond John
An entrepreneur in every sense of the word, Daymond John has come a long way from taking out a $100,000 mortgage on his mother’s house and moving his operation into the basement. John is CEO and Founder of FUBU, a much-celebrated global lifestyle brand, and a pioneer in the fashion industry with over $6 billion in product sales.
He is an award-winning entrepreneur, and he has received over 35 awards including the Brandweek Marketer of the Year, Advertising Age Marketing 1000 Award for Outstanding Ad Campaign, and Ernst & Young’s New York Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
His marketing strategies and ability to build successful brands has made him a highly influential consultant and motivational speaker today. His marketing firm Shark Branding offers advice on how to effectively communicate to consumers through innovative means and connects brands with the world’s top celebrities for everything from endorsements to product extensions. John is also an author of two best-selling books Display of Power and The Brand Within. In 2009, he joined the cast of ABC entrepreneurial business show the Shark Tank by acclaimed producer Mark Burnett. Millions of weekly viewers tune into the show as John demonstrates his marketing prowess and entrepreneurial insights.
About Derek Kennedy
Derek Kennedy is a Partner and Managing Director of the Boston Consulting Group, a 6,000-strong management consultancy with 80 offices around the world. Based in San Francisco, Mr. Kennedy advises many of the leading global technology firms on topics ranging from strategy to operations. Previously, Mr. Kennedy was a Partner in a London-based software solutions firm and new business incubator, which he helped grow from 25 employees to 1,200 in a few years.
In the course of his work and academic career, Mr. Kennedy has researched the needs and performance drivers of small businesses as well as economies as a whole. Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Cornell University.
About Thomas Hansen
Visionary technology executive at Microsoft since 2001, Thomas Hansen is currently the worldwide vice president of Microsoft’s Small and Medium Business (SMB) organization at Microsoft’s corporate headquarters in Redmond, Washington. In this capacity, he is responsible for a global team of sales, marketing and partner management professionals to ensure Microsoft’s ecosystem of partners delivers technology-based high value experiences meeting the unique needs of over 100 million SMB’s across the world.
Before Microsoft, Thomas worked for IT organizations including Naspers, Dell and Olivetti in various leadership roles.
About Theresa E. Mintle
Theresa E. Mintle is the fifth President and chief executive officer of the 110 year-old Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. She directs public policy, programs, communications and business growth initiatives to make Chicagoland the most business-friendly region in America. Prior to joining the Chamber, Theresa spent 27 years in public service working at the federal, state and city levels of government.
Most recently, she served as the chief of staff to Rahm Emanuel, mayor of the City of Chicago where she drove modernization of internal business systems; advocated for investment in infrastructure; reformed personnel policies, and coordinated several key initiatives.
About Carol Roth
Carol Roth is an on air contributor for CNBC, "recovering" investment banker, entrepreneur/small business owner, investor and author of The New York Times book, "The Entrepreneur Equation."
Carol has helped her clients complete more than $2 billion in capital raising and M&A transactions.
She was named a Top 100 Small Business Influencer (2011, 2012 & 2013) and also acts as a spokesperson and influencer for a number of companies and brands that are seeking to reach a broader audience, with a focus on those looking to reach small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Carol also has an action figure made in her likeness.
About the Boston Consulting Group Research
The Boston Consulting Group surveyed 4000 small and midsize business (SMB) decision makers in 5 primary markets (Germany, India, China, Brazil, and the United States) and conducted secondary research in an additional 19 markets in a study commissioned by Microsoft. The survey was conducted in 2013 and BCG's report was released in October 2013.
BCG discovered dramatic differences between tech-savvy SMBs that were using the cloud and other advanced technologies, as compared to those who were not. The tech-savvy SMBs grew revenue 15 percentage points faster and grew jobs nearly 2 times faster than those who were not using much technology. The study also revealed that these growth trends were consistent across market types (i.e., developed or emerging), industries and gender of company ownership. For example, in emerging markets SMB tech leaders were just as quick as their peers in developed countries – sometimes even more so –to embrace new technologies and grow their revenues and jobs. Another key finding of the study: Microsoft is the technology of choice for tech-savvy SMBs. Among tech-savvy SMB users, 57% rated Microsoft as their partner to prepare their companies for new and changing technology.
BCG’s report, Ahead of the Curve, is available for download here.
Overall Event Agenda:
Time
Session
2:00PM - 3:30PM
Keynote Presentation - Fueling Business Growth
3:45PM - 4:45PM
Breakout C: International & Emerging Markets
Breakout D: Business Development
7:30PM
Trade Floor Closes
Registrations are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Pre-registration closes at Noon on March 27, 2014, space permitting. Requests for reasonable accommodations must be made by March 27, 2014.
Questions? Contact Kelly Tracy at 312-494-6790 or ktracy@chicagolandchamber.org.
