SPEAKERS – RMCGC 2008

Keynotes

          

Colleen Abdoulah
President and CEO, WOW! Internet-Cable-Phone
Keynote Speaker, Women in Corporate Growth Breakfast
Wednesday 7:15 – 9:00 AM

Colleen Abdoulah, president and chief executive officer of WOW! Internet-Cable-Phone, has led the company to become the 13th largest cable operator in the US, with operations in five states. Colleen was recently named the 2007 Avista Capital Partners CEO of the Year. Presented annually, the award is given to the CEO of the portfolio company that returned the most revenue to its investors for the year.

Joe Calloway
Business Author, Performance Consultant and Restaurant Owner
Keynote Speaker, Becoming A Category Of One - How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison
Thursday Luncheon 12:30 – 2:30 PM

Joe Calloway ties it all together in this closing keynote that looks at the characteristics of extraordinary companies. Are the people in great companies different from everyone else? It’s certainly not genetic superiority. The fact is that great companies are made up of ordinary people who choose to do things in an extraordinary way. From constant innovation to relentless improvement, it’s a matter of choice.

But the ultimate differentiator is how extraordinary companies create a customer experience that compels loyalty. Business guru Peter Drucker once said “The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer.” That’s the point. At the end of the day, nothing matters without the ability to create and keep customers.

Joe will look at how market leaders begin with a quality product or service, then wrap it with an experience of doing business that clearly sets them apart from the competition. It’s this focus on the customer that drives success in a marketplace that tends to see every business as a commodity.

Howard Putnam
Former CEO of Southwest Airlines
Keynote Speaker
Thursday Breakfast 7:30 – 9:30 AM

As the former CEO of the highly successful Southwest Airlines, Howard led the development and implementation of the "vision" that has guided Southwest to revered heights. Southwest tripled in size and profitability during his tenure, and today, the company is still a corporate model for organizations that place their people first.

As chairman and CEO of the financially failing Braniff International, Howard became the first CEO to take a major airline through Chapter 11 successfully. The reorganization was accomplished so efficiently that Harvard University used it as a model and wrote "The Ethics of Bankruptcy," a case study for ethically leading an organization through turbulence. He has an MBA in Marketing and attended Harvard's Advanced Management Program. He is a founding faculty member of MentorU.com, a distance learning company of world-class business experts and the author of The Winds of Turbulence.

PANELISTS

Vic Ahmed
Serial Entrepreneur, Current President of TIE-Rockies
Panelist, Innovation Session
Thursday 9:45  – 10:45 AM

Douglas Allen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Director of the International MBA Program, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Panelist, Global Dimensions of Growth Session
Wednesday 4:00 – 5:00 PM  View Presentation

Paul Bauer
Clinical Professor of Information Technology & Electronic Commerce, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Moderator, Innovative Session
Thursday 9:45  – 10:45 AM

Michael Britti
Group Vice President, TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions
Panelist, Getting out on Top Part One: Maximizing Value in a Business Session
Wednesday 9:30 – 10:30 AM  View Presentation

Ralph W. Christie, Jr.
Chairman, President and CEO, Merrick and Company
Speaker, Human Capital Dimensions of Growth Session
Thursday 11:00 – 12:00 PM  View Presentation

Rick Dutkiewicz
Chief Financial Officer, Einstein Noah
Panelist, Innovative Ways of Raising Capital
Wednesday 2:45 - 3:45 PM  View Presentation

Dave Garrison
Senior Corporate Counsel, CH2MHill
Panelist, Global Dimensions of Growth Session
Wednesday 4:00 – 5:00 PM

Charlie Fote
Former CEO of First Data Corporation
Speaker, Getting out on Top Part Two: Keys to a Successful Transaction Session
Wednesday 10:45 – 11:45 AM

Jason Hearnsberger
Chief Financial Officer, Trinity Leasing Corp.
Moderator, Innovative Ways of Raising Capital
Wednesday 2:45 - 3:45 PM  View Presentation

Frank Kvietok
Founder, Launch Pad
Panelist, Innovative Session
Thursday 9:45  – 10:45 AM

John Lathrop
Director of Corporate Learning, Institute for Executive & Professional Development, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver
Offering Sponsor, Global Dimensions of Growth Session
Wednesday 4:00  – 5:00 PM

Dan McCallin
President, Timberline Steel
Panelist, Getting out on Top Part One: Maximizing Value in a Business Session
Wednesday 9:30 – 10:30 AM  View Presentation

David Mead
President, The Mead Consulting Group
Moderator, Getting Out On Top, Part One: Maximizing Value in a Business Session
Wednesday 9:30 – 10:30 AM

Brian Meegan
Director, Ireland, Stapleton, Pryor, and Pascoe, P.C.
Moderator, Getting Out On Top, Part Two: Keys to a Successful Transaction Session
Wednesday 10:45 – 11:45 AM

Jon Nordmark
Founder and CEO of eBags
Panelist, Innovation Session
Thursday 9:45 - 10:45 AM

Doug Taylor
Well Dyne RX
Panelist, Innovative Session
Thursday 9:45  – 10:45 AM

Todd Woloson
Co-Founder of IZZE and Partner with Greenmont Capital Partners
Panelist, Innovative Ways of Raising Capital
Wednesday 2:45 - 3:45 PM  View Presentation