SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Sep 18, 2012) - The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) (http://www.washingtontechnology.org), one of the largest statewide associations of technology companies, IT departments and individual technology professionals in North America, today announced the speaker lineup for its third annual TechNW: North to Innovation. This one-day conference will be held on October 3 and builds on the success of the previous two years to bring together technology leaders from the Northwest and beyond to share their vision, passion and insights about the tech industry.
TechNW will showcase hot topics such as the future of ecommerce, the evolving gaming industry, and cloud computing. The conference will also feature two VC panels (early and growth-stage), and an opportunity for selected entrepreneurs to meet for "speed dating" sessions with eight VCs from the Northwest and Silicon Valley. Panels and speakers are as follows:
Next Generation Ecommerce Panel - "The Future of Ecommerce"
Eric Best, CEO, Mercent (moderator)
Kelly Dachtler, co-founder and COO, TheClymb
Chris Teso, CEO & founder, Chirpify
Jeff Warren, VP of partner marketing, Expedia
Maria Zhang, CEO & founder, Alike
Morning Keynote
Spencer Rascoff, CEO, Zillow
Early Stage VC Panel
Bill Bryant, venture partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson (moderator)
Bob Abbott, general partner, Norwest Venture Partners
Ray Bradford, investment partner, Kleiner Perkins
Cindy Padnos, founder & managing director, Illuminate Ventures
Neil Sequeira, managing director, General Catalyst Partners
Gaming Panel - "Surviving and Thriving in Times of Change"
Ed Fries, CEO, Halcyon (moderator)
Pete Parsons, COO & board member, Bungie
Paul Thelen, founder & CEO, BigFish Games
Jordan Weisman, CEO, Harebrained (Co-Founder, Serious Play)
Growth Stage VC Panel
Michelle Goldberg, partner, Ignition (moderator)
George Bischof, managing director, Meritech
Stewart Gollmer, managing director, Tenaya Capital
Scott Hilleboe, managing director, Revolution Growth
Glenn Solomon, senior partner, GGV Capital
Big Data Analytics Panel - "Defining Big Data"
Kate Matsudaira, VP of engineering, Decide (moderator)
Larry Drebes, CEO & CTO, Janrain
Asa Kalavade, founder, CTO & SVP of engineering, Mobile Intelligence
Aaron Kimball, co-founder, Wibidata
Stephen Purpura, CEO & co-founder, Context Relevant
Cloud Fireside Chat - "Cloud Security - Myth vs Reality"
John Connors, partner, Ignition (moderator)
Simon Crosby, co-founder and CTO, Bromium (Founder, Xensource)
Cloud Panel -"Evolution of the Cloud"
John Connors, partner, Ignition (moderator)
Simon Crosby, co-founder and CTO, Bromium (Founder, Xensource)
Charlotte Yarkoni, SVP of cloud services, VMWare
Cloud Fireside Chat - "The State of Cloud Computing"
Matt McIlwain, managing director, Madrona Venture Group (moderator)
Andy Jassy, SVP, Amazon Web Services
A full list of panel descriptions can be found at http://j.mp/Ol75mj.
Event Details:
When: Wednesday, October 3, 2012 -- 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Where: Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101
Register: http://j.mp/Qkl1l7
Cost: $175 for WTIA members; $250 for non-members
About the Washington Technology Industry Association
The Washington Technology Industry Association, founded in 1984, is one of the largest statewide associations of technology companies, IT departments and individual technology professionals in North America. With more than 800 members representing more than 100,000 employees in Washington State, the association is a catalyst for sharing expertise, fostering collaboration, delivering key business services and advancing the value and global impact of technology companies doing business in Washington. The association's corporate sponsors are Aditi, AH&T Insurance, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, F5 Networks, HTC, Microsoft, Northeastern University Seattle, RealNetworks, Regence BlueShield, Vertafore, Verizon Wireless, and Wells Fargo Insurance Services.
For more information, go to www.washingtontechnology.org.