Knowledge M Hosts Innovation Guru, Tampa

Businesses in Tampa have an opportunity to take their innovation up a notch with the arrival of Guy Kawasaki on February 28. Kawasaki will be the keynote speaker at The Art of Innovation event at The Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa.

Kawaski, an entrepreneur, bestselling author and Silicon Valley venture capitalist, played a critical role in marketing Apple's Macintosh computers in the 1980s and was named an Apple Fellow in 1995. He is currently managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and co-founder of Alltop.com, an "online magazine rack'' of trending topics on the web.
 
"We're trying to help inspire small businesses to break out of their shell and be more competitive and innovative in their sector,'' says Charise Strandberg, social media marketing manager for Celestar Corporation, which is coordinating the event. "We want Tampa to jump to the next curve, to be in that thoughtful set of innovation.''
 
What does innovation really mean? What does it take to innovate? How do today's businesses innovate to remain competitive? Kawasaki will speak to these things and more, as he provides hands-on learning with specific actions that can be implemented after the event. The topics will be tailored toward the audience and will include strategic steps to creating new products and services, how to break down barriers to innovation, and how set and achieve high goals. 

Attendees will include large and small businesses from the Tampa Bay region, including Florida Blue, Bank of Tampa, Digital Hands and 352 Media.

"A lot of businesses are doing the same thing day after day,'' says Strandberg. "We want to break out of that, to make Tampa an innovation hub. We're only going to do that by bringing people like Guy to Tampa.''

For more information and to register, visit Knowledge M, a division of Celestar.

Writer: Megan Hendricks
Source: Charise Strandberg, Celestar Corporation
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A Florida native and longtime Tampa Bay resident, Megan Hendricks graduated from the University of South Florida with a master's degree in business administration. She worked at the USF College of Business and has extensive community experience including the Tampa Bay Partnership's Talent Dividend Advisory Board, Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Emerge Tampa Bay, Ekhos, and Bar Camp Tampa. She is a former board member and newsletter editor for Creative Tampa Bay. Megan enjoys telling the stories that make Tampa Bay a unique, diverse cultural experience.