10.05.20
7th Annual Ideas @ Work Signature Entrepreneurial Celebration Event
Featuring Keynote from Global Innovation Leader and Technology Expert Wendy Kennedy
For immediate release
October 5, 2020, Fort Wayne, Ind.— The Indiana entrepreneurial community, educators, and business leaders can celebrate the entrepreneurial community and be inspired to enact winning ideas by Wendy Kennedy, President and Founder, WKI-wendykennedy.com. Kennedy is a global innovation, design thinking and technology expert; an award-winning professor; and author. Her Livestream keynote talk, on November 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., entitled Ignite the Spark—Inspire Innovation During a Pandemic will be an entrepreneurial event you will not want to miss. Registration is open on the Ideas@Work website page on TheNIIC.Org.
The NIIC offers this opportunity to learn from Kennedy through its annual Ideas@Work signature event. “Our world is amid a Great Reimagination—the next wave of business innovation and expansion—triggered by the pandemic. It is up to each of us how we will move forward by sparking innovation in rethinking our business models, reimagining our core business and realizing our individual creative potential. Wendy’s expertise, perspective, and experience will prompt participants to translate ideas into business opportunities,” said Karl R. LaPan, NIIC President and CEO.
This year, as a posthumous honor of The NIIC’s dear friend and colleague, the event’s new name is The Dr. Daryl R. Yost Ideas@Work Event. Dr. Yost was an incredible educator, innovator, and philanthropic leader in our community. He was instrumental in the formation and execution of the Ideas@Work signature event series and inspired students, educators, and leaders to be active participants in The NIIC’s special signature fundraising event.
During this year’s event, the Mirro Founder Award will be presented to a NIIC client to celebrate outstanding accomplishments during this past year. The NIIC will also introduce a new award at the event: The Daryl R. Yost Excellence in Philanthropy Award.
WKI is no stranger to the Northeast Indiana entrepreneurial community. Four of The NIIC’s leadership team members are WKI Certified Coaches.
“Wendy’s global business building and innovation expertise is a great fit for Ideas@Work because it is more than an event. The WKI methodology has helped innovators put their ideas on the payload of a spacecraft, launch new drug discoveries, and help startups turn their ideas into winning businesses,” said LaPan.
Ideas@Work past keynote speakers include leading entrepreneurs and thought leaders Santiago Jaramillo, CEO and Co-founder, Emplify; Angie Hicks, Co-founder of Angie’s List; Dr. Donald Kuratko (Dr. K.) of The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University; Chuck Surack, CEO and Founder, Sweetwater; J.B. Bernstein, Legendary Sports Marketing Pioneer; and Eric Doden, President, Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
For further information and to register, see https://niic.net/ideasatwork.
About The NIIC
467 new products launched, 189 patent applications submitted or granted, and 2,290 jobs created—that is what entrepreneurs have achieved through The NIIC since its inception two decades ago. The NIIC has also connected Northeast Indiana companies to attract $91 million in grants and capital.
The NIIC is a non-profit, vibrant entrepreneurial community designed to advise entrepreneurs to plan, launch, and grow successful business ventures. The NIIC bolsters innovative companies to move ideas into action. The NIIC is located in a designated U.S. Small Business Administration HUB Zone. In April 2018, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb designated The Northeast Indiana Innovation Park Campus as an Opportunity Zone through the U.S. Treasury. The NIIC is the country’s only ISO9001:2015 registered business incubation and acceleration program. TheNIIC.org. Click here for The NIIC press kit.
About WKI
Since 2005, WKI-wendykennedy.com inc. has delivered robust, innovative, and visual design thinking frameworks for business builders to ideate and find the business value of ideas. The WKI methodology, So what? who cares? why you?® has supported thousands of researchers, scientists, engineers, and other innovators across the globe to discover the opportunity their ideas represent and unlock their full business potential. With certified professionals in more than 20 countries, this unique methodology has been used to explore the business value inside early-stage ideas spanning medical devices, alternative energies, robotics, aerospace, drugs, sensors, and more. Customers include the European Space Agency, Air Force Research Labs, The University of Texas, University of Florida (UF) Innovate, University of Nebraska, Community Health Network, The NIIC, and many others.
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