Play quizzes, have fun, and network

Over the years as we have organized the conference, a common theme that we hear is about more networking opportunities. Like other years, we are working hard this year as well to find new ways for you to meet the type of people that you want to.

If you look at the agenda, you will notice that there is plenty of time for networking (we will give more tips on how to network in a subsquent post), but how about starting some networking now.

Yes, we have just launched a quiz program for you to start networking the fun way. You build a team, participate in quizzes, and network in a more informal atomosphere. For those of you who cannot make it to the quiz, there is the option of an online quiz (you can participate in both quizzes also).

Ray Kurzweil joins impressive list of keynote speakers

Who could have been a better speaker than Ray Kurzweil to speak on innovation? Not only is Kurzweil an entrepreneur (he has successfully founded and developed as many as nine businesses in such diverse areas of technology as OCR, music synthesis, speech recognition, reading technology, virtual reality, financial investment, and cybernetic art - in almost all cases leveraging artificial intelligence), he is also a visionary and futurist. And for a lot of people like me, he inspires us as a prolific writer and blogger.

Kurzweil joins what is emerging out to be an excellent slate of keynote speakers that includes Kofi Annan (UN Secretary General), Clayton M. Christensen and Howard H. Stevenson (both professors at Harvard Business School), and Rajat Gupta (senior partner at McKinsey).


- Posted by Jay Dwivedi

Marketing TiECon East 2006

The marketing team finally had its first "real" meeting. It is amazing how much work can be done virtually. We all recognize that marketing TiECon in 2006 is a monumental task since we are looking to make a monumental improvement in attendance.

And who will market TiECon East 2006?

You! Being a non-profit organization means that we do not have the resources for advertising. Every dollar that is spent on marketing means that either we raise the registration fee (something no one wants) or we cut back on the quality of the conference (again, something that no one wants).

So we are relying on people who already know TiE as an organization or have attended other TiE conferences or events to reach out to their colleagues, peers, and friends. If you see the value in being a member of this organization or attending the events, particularly TiECon, then we ask you to let others know about it. And in doing so, if you need our help in any way, just ask. You can simply shoot an email to the TiE Boston office.

Posted by Jay Dwivedi

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Tags: tiecon - innovation - marketing - entrepreneurs

TiECON Blog

Hello!

We are about 4 months away from TiECON 2006. Things are falling into place and the level of activity amongst the organizers has increased perceptibly. The flurry of emails, the weekly phone calls, the planning meetings – all of these have reached a new heightened level of intensity.

I have had numerous conversations with Sanjay, one of the co-chairs, on projects that I could be involved in and the one that seemed right up my alley was the “Blog” project (I am trying to come up with a better name for this but for now “Blog project” it is). I am an official blogger (if there is a term like this) for MIT Sloan. I maintain a journal on my life at Sloan for applicants, students and others interested in the school to know more about Sloan. It is fun to write a blog for many reasons. One, you chronicle your life digitally which is very cool, two, there is a high probability you will be recognized because of your blog and three because you will never be bored with nothing to do.

We have great plans for the TiECON blog project. We envision the blog site to be a place where business leaders will share anecdotes about their lives, their business endeavors etc. In addition, our charter members will talk to us about various things they are involved with. The coolest part is the podcast initiative. Given the fact that many of the potential bloggers are very time constrained, we thought of an easy way for them to blog. Instead of typing away at their computers and uploading document we figured it would be much easier for them (and way cooler!) to record their thoughts and upload them so we can hear them as podcasts. And for those who prefer the tried and tested interview method, we are more than happy to conduct interviews either in person or over the phone and publish them for all our readers.

As you can see this is not going to be a traditional blog site. Journal entries will be mingled with podcasts, interviews will be sprinkled throughout the site and our organizers will chime in every now and then with key learnings and funny anecdotes. Obviously, our blog project will become a success story only if we have readers and writers. I personally think it is the writers who will draw the readers. If you would like to write a blog or you know someone who you would like to recommend please do get in touch with me – I am always ON as far as email goes. My email address is achitrapu@sloan.mit.edu – I look forward to hearing from you.

Anu Chitrapu

TieCON East 2006 conference is being organized

TiE Boston is organizing a conference titled "Innovation in a Flat World". This blog attached to the conference is another medium for disseminating information relevant to the theme of the conference.

Blogs will feature news headlines and news analysis that capture the essence of the conference theme. Enjoy, provide comments, and let us know what else you would like to hear about....

United press recently carried an article about the growth of entrepreneurship in India. There is a growing awareness that in order to continue the current pace of growth, India has to invest in education, infrastructure, and innovation.

Stepping beyond the traditional barriers attributed to a developing country, India is prepared to move ahead and do what it takes to get to the top, say Indian innovators and analysts. For more details, continue to read on Growing Indian innovation