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8:30 AM
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10:00 AM
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Conference Registration
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Exhibit Area
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8:30 AM
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7:00 PM
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Exhibits Open
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Exhibit Area
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10:00 AM
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10:30 AM
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Welcome
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Prairie Rooms
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10:30 AM
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11:30 AM
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How to Market to People Not Like You: Know It or Blow It Rules for Reaching Diverse Customers
If you could grow your business simply by marketing to your existing customers, making money would be a cakewalk. But to generate new revenue, you have to win over the customers you’re not getting. The 2010 Census reveals that one in three Americans is not White. Now, more than ever, it’s important to reach diverse market segments to grow your business.
Diversity marketing is the new norm, and this doesn’t simply mean racial diversity. Diversity comes in many forms: gender, race, age, lifestage, language preference, politics, religion, sexuality, and hobbies or special interests are all ways in which people’s differences are recognized. By recognizing these differences and tailoring your product, message or marketing efforts to reflect consumers’ values, you are validating the importance of a consumer group. It’s about marketing to values, not demographic profiles.
Using real-world examples from successful businesses, “How to Market to People Not Like You” demonstrates how to create a deep, emotional connection between your products or service and new consumers.
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Prairie Rooms
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11:45 AM
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1:00 PM
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Lunch
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Prairie Rooms
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1:00 PM
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2:00 PM
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How to Pitch your Business
This session will cover the basics on how a business presentation pitch can be tailored to achieving a stated outcome or objective that brings into play the perspective of the audience.
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Meadow Room
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1:00 PM
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2:00 PM
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Taming the E-mail Beast
If you would like to get control of your e-mail “beast”, you should attend this program. Learn how to tame your e-mail account, with proven strategies for keeping your inbox efficient and under control by building and administering a personal "e-mail infrastructure". Reduce the mess in your inbox by having “natural” places for your e-mails to go. Learn how to get rid of all those “quick little” e-mails once and for all, as well as how to mitigate or even eliminate much of that annoying junk and spam. Finally feel on top of your e-mail and related activities, rather than feeling it is on top of you.
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South Prairie
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1:00 PM
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2:00 PM
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The Price is Right! Harvest Profits without Sacrificing Value
Cost, competition and value are three variables used when setting the price on products or services. Join Bryan as he gives you ideas on how to apply these three variables to your own situation in order for you to maximize value.
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Central Prairie
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1:00 PM
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2:00 PM
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Time Savers, $$ Makers and Friend Creators: New Technology Tools
Join us for this fast-paced overview covering technologies you can put to work in your business now. This two-part session will focus first on technology tools that will save you time, streamline your operations and boost your bottom line. The second half will cover tools being used by businesses in the mobile world, including: QR codes, smartphone applications, mobile marketing and augmented reality.
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North Prairie
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2:00 PM
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2:30 PM
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Networking Break
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Exhibit Area
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2:30 PM
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3:30 PM
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If you Build It - Will They Come?
Its takes a lot to build a small business these days including defining who you are and telling your story. Your brand identifies your businesses and the perceptions of your clients and customers. In this session we will cover low or no cost tools that can help small businesses monitor their brands and reputations online. We'll also take a look at how your business can be found by customers through search engines. Technology can be complicating, but we promise you will take away 3 simple tools that can open an online world of possibilities.
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North Prairie
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2:30 PM
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3:30 PM
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Knock Knock: It's Your Employees Talking, Are you Listening?
If you want to find out what's really happening in your business, talk to the people on the front lines. Leisa, business expert at ABI, will cover how to let your employees have their say and how to parlay their input into profits and productivity!
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Central Prairie
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2:30 PM
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3:30 PM
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Starting From The Ground Up? Lawyer Up
A look at the legal issues facing startup businesses and their consequences.
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Meadow Room
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2:30 PM
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3:30 PM
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Tips and Tricks for Busy Professionals
In this extended version of Randy Dean’s popular program on “finding an extra hour of productivity” every day, Randy goes deeper into many of the most common areas of productivity loss (and possible gain!) afflicting many busy professionals today: managing multiple projects, maintaining “traction” when dealing with tasks and interruptions, getting more from time spent in meetings, clearing the clutter in your mind for better focus and attention, keeping staff on task, tracking “who owes you what” and getting that information on time, and better managing your calendar and contacts for better time and relationship management.
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South Prairie
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3:45 PM
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4:45 PM
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Can Your Customers Find Your Website? Why Search Engine Optimization is Important
The Internet is becoming the key place for your business to be found by both local and national customers. Sue Pitts, IWCC SBDC director, will take you through the process of developing your website and social networking presence so your company gets on top of major search engine results and is ultimately found by your ideal customer.
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North Prairie
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3:45 PM
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4:45 PM
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How to Keep Customers Rushing Back for More
We all know that the customer is king. In our increasingly competitive business environment, it’s more important than ever to cater to customers’ needs, desires and provide customer service that goes way beyond basic politeness and courtesy. The best and smartest companies are finding that listening to what customers want and delivering on every promise, no matter how small, keeps customers happy and coming back for more. And terrific customer service doesn’t have to break the bank: it’s not about spending more to keep customers happy, it’s about truly understanding the customer experience from a personal point of view.
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South Prairie
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3:45 PM
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4:45 PM
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Start Ups? Listen Up!
Join Christian Renaud, founder of Startup City Des Moines and a panel of startups companies from his incubator as they talk up startups. learn what they are doing differently to support startups and hear from the companies they serve about what works and what doesn’t in the first few years of business.
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Central Prairie
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3:45 PM
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4:45 PM
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Successful Food Entrepreneurs and Local Food Finance
Adam Hohl will share how he started growing produce for institutions/wholesale and cover the positive/negative experiences along the way. Linda will focus on business development leading up to opening the first retail coop grocery in metro Des Moines. She will review the process that the steering committee followed including the creative financing that was used to open the doors in less than 3 months from the time of incorporation! Craig will cover Food and Coop Finance Opportunities under Iowa's State Small Business Credit Initiative.
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Meadow Room
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5:00 PM
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8:00 PM
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Evening Reception
The EntreFest! evening reception provides an opportunity for attendees to have fun, visit exhibitor booths, network and enjoy light hors d’ oeuvres all in one location!
New this year is muscial entertainment by, Locusic a local music streaming service. It's a bit like Pandora, but for local bands. You open the web app, pick a genre, and music starts to play from the local scene - wherever you happen to be. It detects your location and plays music from bands based within 50 miles of you (or your home location if you prefer). Locusic is currently live in our first test market - central Iowa (a 50 mile radius around Des Moines) and has plans to expand nationwide.
Locusic is a great way for bands to find new fans - specifically fans that are local to the band and can come to their shows. Locusic is free for listeners and bands. It's supported by ads from local businesses.
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Exhibit Area
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7:30 AM
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8:30 AM
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Buffet Breakfast and Morning Greeting
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Prairie Rooms
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7:30 AM
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1:30 PM
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Exhibits Open
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Exhibit Area
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8:30 AM
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9:45 AM
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The Biz Info Smorgasboard
In a ‘speed-meet’ setting get advice from a buffet of business experts – come ready for answers to your most burning business questions!
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Prairie Rooms
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9:45 AM
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10:15 AM
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Networking Break
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Exhibit Area
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10:15 AM
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11:15 AM
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State Resources to Help Your Business Succeed!
When it comes to starting and growing a successful business, you need every edge you can get! Sometimes you need an “edge” in marketing; sometimes you need an “edge” in finding capital. Being certified as a “Targeted Small Business” (TSB) in Iowa can give you an edge in doing business with the State of Iowa or accessing low-interest financing! Find out how simple it is to become to a certified TSB and discover a new edge to help your business succeed! NOTE: The TSB Program of Iowa targets businesses owned by women, minorities, or the disabled. This workshop will also touch briefly on three new and exciting State programs that provide financing to small business owners, regardless of gender or ethnicity (State Small Business Credit Initiative, orSSBCI).
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South Prairie
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10:15 AM
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11:15 AM
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The Entrepreneur’s Lens: Finding Your Focus
Fear of the unknown is a constant hurdle for entrepreneurs working to build winning companies. When composing your business model, on what future opportunities and potential pitfalls must you focus to ensure a clear picture of continuing success? Multimedia pro Todd Razor will share his vision for capturing innovation in a fast-moving start-up scene.
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Meadow Room
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10:15 AM
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11:15 AM
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The Fest! Entrepreneur Panel
A Fest! Favorite. Our 2012 entrepreneur panel promises to offer up both thorns and roses for the Iowa business experiences over the past year.
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Central Prairie
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10:15 AM
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11:15 AM
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The Mobile Marketing Future: Why Your Company Needs to be Mobile Now
Mobile devices are everwhere. Almost everybody has one in one form or another. Josh will cover mobile growth and why having a mobile website is a must for your business!
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North Prairie
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11:30 AM
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12:30 PM
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Capstone: Failing With Flair
No Risk, No Reward... and if you do fail, do it with style! Ever been paralyzed with fear? Fear of failure? Just SO you know, failure's gotten a bad wrap!! Learn how to turn fear into flair with a little word called CHAOS . . . Creativity Humor And Other Stuff!
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Prairie Rooms
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12:30 PM
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1:00 PM
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Closing Remarks
Prize Drawings.
Thanks for attending EntreFest! 2012!
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Prairie Rooms
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