Crowds, Competition, and Your New Crystal Ball Presented by TAG E 2.0

Every day you're under intense pressure to make fast and accurate business decisions. Make the wrong choice – especially about your product and service releases – and your competitors will leave you in the dust.

Fortunately, there's help available that can enable you make exactly the right choice virtually every time. This crystal ball will put you ahead of your competition and let you capture market share, but only if you know how to use it. This magical tool? The wisdom of the crowd.

With this wisdom, you can now answer tough, nagging questions like:

• If we reposition our offerings, how will customers react?
• Will my new campaign deliver the results I need?

• Do we need to introduce a new product?

• What is the inherent risk level to my current portfolio?

• Will my new graphics ideas positively impact sales?

Presenter John Barrett will show how many manufacturing and service based organizations (including HP, Turner Studios and Google) are getting the right answers to these tough questions from the wisdom of the crowd. John will share an academically and commercially proven technique that provides the guidance necessary to make timely, informed, and fiscally efficient decisions. A case study will be presented to illustrate the approach.

Get answers to your questions, plus your own crystal ball at the March society meeting...

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011

7:30am – 9:00am

Centergy Building

75 Fifth Street, NW

3rd Floor Hodges Room Atlanta, GA 30308

About the speaker: John Barrett is Vice President of Sales for Infosurv (www.infosurv.com), a full-service online research firm specializing in employee, customer, and market research surveys. John has over 20 years of experience in the Marketing Research Industry, spanning multiple verticals and industries including CPG, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, Retail, Hospitality, Financial Services, Consumer Electronics, Technology, and Apparel. His focus has been on delivering quantifiable results and recommendations to critical strategic business issues and challenges.

Members: Free

Non-Members: $20

To register, go to: www.123signup.com/event?id=vmygb

About Technology Association of Georgia

 

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support its members by generating opportunities for personal, professional, and business growth. By forging strategic alliances, TAG serves as a primary catalyst to foster a rich environment for economic development in Georgia's technology community.

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ATP and TAG Announce 8th Annual CIO Roundtable Event

ATLANTA – February 21, 2011– Atlanta Telecom Professionals (ATP) and Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) are pleased to announce their joint CIO Roundtable event will be March 8th. This annual program is in its eighth year and will be held at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia.

This event brings together a number of Atlanta’s most influential CIOs to discuss the technologies and services that are transforming the current—and future—telecommunications marketplace. From front-burner projects to best practices to their expectations of services and technology vendors, Atlanta’s CIOs will tackle the hot topics and burning questions surrounding the industry.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with our CIO Roundtable participants, other C-level executives, and ATP and TAG leadership; learn how other companies are implementing technology to create a more productive, revenue-generating business environment; and discover what these industry leaders have on the horizon.

This year’s CIO Roundtable participants are the following industry experts:

• Lee W. Crump, Group Vice President, Rollins, Inc.

• Todd Michaud, VP Information Technology, Focus Brands

• Ron Strachan, CIO, Wellstar

• Carrie Wheeler, Chief Information Officer, Cbeyond, Inc.

• Chris Sweigart, Technology Executive Producer , WXIA Atlanta (Moderator)

“We are excited to continue our partnership with ATP for the Eighth Annual CIO Roundtable event,” said Tino Mantella, President of TAG, “Our 2011 panel is an excellent representation of the exceptional leadership we have in Georgia’s technology sector.”

“TAG continues to be instrumental in the success of our annual CIO Roundtable and we very much appreciate their friendship and partnership”, said Rick Loose, President of ATP. “This year’s event will be valuable for all of our attendees and sponsors and we are looking forward to it.”

The annual event is expected to attract over 400 attendees from the technology industry in Georgia. Sponsorships are also available for this event at $1000 and $2000 and include VIP reception tickets and logo exposure. TAG Members are encouraged to go to http://www.tagonline.org/ATP-TAG-CIO-Event.php for more information and to contact Amanda Shook at ashook@tagonline.org or 404-920-2023 for sponsorship information.

About Technology Association of Georgia

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support its members by generating opportunities for personal, professional, and business growth. By forging strategic alliances, TAG serves as a primary catalyst to foster a rich environment for economic development in Georgia's technology community. TAG is made up of over 15,000 members representing technology leaders from over 1500 Georgia-based companies, affiliated technology and business organizations. For more information on TAG, visit http://www.tagonline.org

About ATP: Where Telecom Professionals Connect Online

ATP, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the Atlanta telecom community, was created for the purpose of providing an environment for networking, exchanging important industry information, and recognizing excellence within the Atlanta telecom community. Each month ATP meets the professional development needs of our members by drawing upon telecom and communications thought leaders to share their knowledge and experiences. It is through this exchange of ideas that we provide an avenue for networking to our members in the wireline, wireless, media, technology, and enterprise communities.

TAG Education Collaborative Announces 2011 WEBChallenge Scholarship Competition for High School Students

9th Annual WEBChallenge to focus on Engaging Students in S.T.E.M. Learning

Atlanta (February 17, 2011) — TAG Education Collaborative announces registration for their 9th Annual WEBChallenge Scholarship Program begins February 16, 2011. In this year’s challenge, each team will have until April 1, 2011 to build an application of their choosing (simple game, tutorial, etc…) that will teach other students a topic of the team’s choice related to science, technology, engineering or math (S.T.E.M) in a new and engaging way.

Teams will develop a Web-based application using a systems development process that is typical of a real-world development, on a smaller scale. Students will develop plans and track progress in the planning, constructing, testing, and implementation phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).

New Awards Program for Teachers - An additional program has been added to the WEBChallenge this year. For the first time, faculty members that support the winning teams will receive a stipend for their supply budgets. “This is a tough time for teachers to have the tools they need to teach at their best. We recognize that teams that perform the best have solid faculty involvement. By rewarding those educators, we are able to help provide the best teachers with a few more tools,” said Dan McDade, Chairman of the TAG Education Collaborative Board and President of Point Clear LLC.

Eligibility – To be eligible teams must meet the following basic eligibility criteria –

• Teams will consist of two to four high school student team members and each team must have a primary contact person and register between February 16 – March 23.
• Each team must represent a school or approved school organization; including home schools. Students from different schools may participate on a single team .
• Each team must be represented by a faculty advisor. This may be anyone who represents the school organization. Faculty advisors may represent multiple teams from the same school.

Judging and Scholarship Awards – Final web applications must be submitted by April 1, 2011. Judging will be conducted by members of the business community with scholarship prizes given in the following categories. Scholarship awards will be given at an Awards Program on May 4, 2011.

• Best/Most Useful Concept
• Best/ Most Effective Implementation
• Best Documentation Package
• Judges Prize for Best Overall Creativity
• Grand Prize for Best Overall Entry

“We expect this year’s competition to be the most competitive yet. Not only do we expect more teams and participants, we have consistently attracted some of the best STEM students in the state. This program gives students an opportunity to showcase their skills by developing web-based applications that can make a difference in the classroom,” says Michael Robertson, Executive Director of TAG Education Collaborative.

The TAG Education Collaborative is dedicated to strengthening Georgia's future workforce by uniting Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) resources with leading education initiatives while emphasizing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Tino Mantella, President of Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) added, “The WEBChallenge program is one of the major initiatives to improve the workforce readiness of students in Georgia. While this has been a hot topic lately, TAG has been working to improve the readiness of our future workforce through the WEBChallenge program for nine years. This really gives our students a forum to learn real life development skills and to show their knowledge of STEM topics.”

For more information on the WEBChallenge, visit www.tagedonline.org or contact Michael Robertson, Executive Director of TAG Education Collaborative at mrobertson@tagonline.org .

About TAG Education Collaborative

TAG Education Collaborative initiatives include a student internship program, the WebChallenge competition for high school students, and the Vine Event, a fundraiser launched in 2009 which has raised more than $80,000 to support STEM education. The TAG Education Collaborative provides middle school and high school programs designed to provide these students with hands-on activities that enable them to gain an appreciation for the opportunities available in STEM careers. For additional information, visit TAG Education Collaborative or contact Michael Robertson at (404) 920 – 2038 or mrobertson@tagonline.org

Media Contact:
Katie Sewell
Director, Business Services
404-920-2027

Expect to Connect: Georgia's Hub for Techies

Atlanta, GA – February 10, 2011 – The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) thrives on connecting IT professionals to achieve mutual advancement.

"Sometimes I spend so much time writing code and working long hours on company and personal projects that I forget that there are other people like me out there," noted one TAGthink.com forum member.

Indeed, one of the paradoxes of the IT world is that users will often isolate themselves for hours on the computer, when the ultimate purpose of the technology they are creating or debugging helps to connect people.

TAGthink is a non-profit that succeeds by connecting IT professionals from all walks of life. Through TAGthink's services, employees and employers meet, entrepreneurs encounter investors and researchers connect with industry.

The organization offers a variety of events in the Atlanta area for networking, training, and education. One such regular meeting is termed "TAG Breakfast Series," a monthly meeting where experts and guest speakers fly in from all over to illuminate the attendees in a specific niche.

Another recurring event includes the "CIO Certification Series." This five-week training program helps train aspiring and existing CIOs and CTOs to learn tools and techniques essential to success in these positions.

TAG seeks to inspire and assist aspiring entrepreneurs in Georgia and the region by bringing in top-notch guests and industry high achievers. "Why should the Silicon Valley in California dominate the IT scene? We have a lot of talent and opportunity on the East Coast, too," said one forum commentator on TAGthink.com.

TAGthink.com has many online opportunities as well. It holds regular webinars for training on various topics, and members benefit from participation in a variety of forums.

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