Columbus Chamber to Host Business Leadership Sessions at Small Business Forum & Leader Awards Nov. 15

Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) November 01, 2011

Small business leaders will be armed with knowledge and insights they need to accelerate their business at the Columbus Chambers 2011 Small Business Forum and Leader Awards. The event, hosted in conjunction with the Chambers Small Business Council, will be held Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown, 50 North Third Street.

Highlighting the forum agenda is keynote speaker Donna James, who is managing director of Lardon & Associates LLC and a corporate director for several public companies including three Fortune 500 companies. In addition to her corporate governance expertise, James has over 25 years of diverse management and leadership experience at the highest corporate levels. James topic will be Persistence toward Good Fortunesharing how in business as in life the ability to rebound, regroup and push forward to a successful conclusion is key.

The Small Business Forum also will feature 24 educational sessions on business-critical topics including Business Development, Funding and Finance, Human Resources, Legal and Regulatory, Marketing and Public Relations and Organizational Leadership. These sessions will be presented by Columbus Chamber members who are thought leaders in their areas of expertise. Topics and presenters include:

Demystifying International Business: The Dos and Donts

Luis Alcalde and Vinita Mehra, Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter, LPA

To the Cloud! A Cloud Computing Primer and Roadmap for Small Business

John Massie, Oxford Consulting

Achieving Success with an Advisory Board

Mary McCarthy and Caroline Worley, Your Management Team, Inc.

Diversity Bridge: Your One-Stop Business Resource

Somers Martin, Columbus Chamber; Ellen Harvey, ECDI;

Douglas Sweazy, Small Business Administration

General Financing Options for Small & Emerging Businesses

Thomas Washbush and Ted Motheral, Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff, LLP

Loan Options for Your Small Business

John Mavrouleas, KEMBA Financial Credit Union

Alternatives for Financing Your Business

Parker MacDonell, Invergarry Partners

Taking Advantage of the Commercial Real Estate Market to Add to Your Bottom Line

Brad Kitchen, Alterra Real Estate Advisors

The Human Age Attracting and Retaining Talent for Small Business

Ken Lazar, ManpowerGroup

So You Want Grandma to Get a Job?

Andrea Applegate, Columbus Chamber

Human Resource - Build Your Bunker

Bill Hutter, Sequent

Employers All Atwitter Social Media Legal Problems and Solutions

Marie-Joelle C. Khouzam, Carlile Patchen & Murphy, LLP;

William A. Nolan, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP; Timothy J. Owens, Lane Alton & Horst, LLC

My Generation: Legal Issues in the Changing Organization

Nicholette Hudson and Amy Ruth Ita, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP

2012 Marketing Forecast: Small Businesses Level the Playing Field

C. Lee Smith, Ad-ology Research

Is it Time to Transform Your Marketing Plan? Eight Small Critical Tweaks to Help Change the Way You See Your Plan to Help Change the Results You Get

Christine Adams, Bascom & Adams Business Solutions, LLC

Internal Branding Drives Profitability

Jason Mlicki, Mlicki

Decision-Making in Business: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Brenda Stier-Anstine, Marketing Works; Dave Bianconi, Progressive Medical; Jeanne Gokcen, FutureCom Technologies; Kevin Gadd, Venture Highway

Quality Translations in Marketing Material and Social Media

Madalena Sanchez Zampaulo, Accessible Translation Solutions

Niche Marketing 270

Michael Daniels, Outlook Media, Inc

Leading with a Limp

Anthony Redic, Servant Leadership Development Institute, LLC

Creating Your Leadership Maxims

Mike Figliuolo, thoughtLEADERS, LLC

Passing the Leadership Baton: Succession Planning

Sadicka White, Servant Leadership Development Institute, LLC

Building Small Business Success

Bill Balderaz, Webbed Marketing

Leading: Be Your B.E.S.T.

Dr. Patricia Larkins Hicks, The Outcomes Management Group, Ltd.

To register and find details about forum tracks, sessions and presenters, as well as information about the Small Business Leader Awards, visit http://www.columbus.org/sbfla.

The Small Business Forum & Leader Awards are produced by the Columbus Chamber and presented by Commerce National Bank with presenting partners Columbus Business First and Honorary Chair Mike Rosati, Rosati Windows. Partners include Alterra Real Estate Advisors, Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, Bartha, Big Lots, CareWorks, CareWorks Consultants, Inc., Columbus Crew, FASTSIGNS Westerville, Hahn Loeser& Parks, LLP, Integrys Energy Services Inc., Kemba Financial Credit Union, Ohio Environmental Council, OhioHealth, Spinelli's Deli, State Auto Insurance Companies, WMNI-AM 920, WRKZ-FM the Blitz 99.7, and WTDA-FM Classic Hits 103.9.

About the Columbus Chamber

The Columbus Chamber helps businesses thrive. It leads business growth, retention and expansion initiatives in the Columbus Region, enhances the business environment and delivers programs and services that enable its members to be more successful. To learn more about the Columbus Chamber, visit http://www.columbus.org.

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12 Healthcare Companies Named Finalists for Innovations in HealthcareSM ABBY Awards, to be Presented September 28th at ABL Organization Event

Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) July 12, 2011

The Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) Organization has announced the names of 12 innovative healthcare companies which have been selected as Finalists for the 2011 ABBY Awards. The ABBYs will be presented at the 13th Annual Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event, on September 28, 2011. The ABBY Awards honor companies, selected from throughout North America, which have developed ways to lower the cost of providing quality healthcare through their medical or information technologies, or innovative approaches to the delivery of healthcare.

The 12 Finalists three each in each of the four categories were selected by a committee composed of ABL Members who are C-level healthcare executives with deep domain knowledge in each of the Award areas. In this, our 13th year of selecting Finalists for the ABBY Awards, the Committee was truly impressed with the caliber of all of the nominees, representing companies from throughout North America, noted Mimi Grant, President of the ABL Organization. Not only are they all innovative, they have convincingly demonstrated that they are currently in use in the United States, and have clinical and financial metrics that prove their product or service reduces the cost of providing quality care.

Four ABBY Award Winners will be selected via secret ballot by the healthcare executives attending the September 28 Event, after viewing presentations made by the CEO representing each Finalist company. Attendance is open to ABL Members and their guests, as well as non-Member senior executives of healthcare providers and payers, health IT, medical technology, and services firms. Details about the Innovations in HealthcareSM Awards Event, to be held at the Marriott Hotel, in Long Beach, CA, can be found at http://www.abl.org/IIH.htm

Finalists in the Healthcare Information and/or Telecommunications Technology Consumer-Facing category are:

Westbend, WI-based GrandCare Systems provides a telecommunications system that enables individuals to remain independent and at home by remotely assessing their activities of daily living and managing their chronic health conditions. It also offers virtual communication and visits with family and caregivers via two-way web conferencing, and stimulates brain activity and fitness with such activities. GrandCare Systems helps relieve individuals feelings of isolation and gives caregivers peace of mind.

Boulder Creek, CAs HeartMaths Revitalize You! Resilience Training program provides a video-based online course for organizations and consumers, teaching how to maximize heart-brain communication for increased physiological well-being and cognitive performance. Research has shown that the heart is a primary generator of body rhythms and powerfully influences brain processes that control the nervous system, cognitive function, and emotion.

Toronto, Ontario, Canadas IDEAL LIFE is a multinational company that delivers secure, reliable remote health management solutions for individuals with chronic conditions on demand, to any location accessible through major brands of cell phones, computers, and other devices. The FDA-approved products are wireless, easy-to-use, and affordable, with an open technology platform that supports customization and integration with existing information-based systems, including electronic medical records.

Finalists in the Healthcare Information and/or Telecommunications Technology Business-Facing category are:

Houston, TX-based Blausen Medical Communications has developed and deployed the Blausen Human Atlas app for smartphones and tablets, utilizing its worlds-largest library of 3D medical animations. Doctors and nurses use the app, at the point of care, to explain often-complex medical concepts to patients. The app contains 300+ topics covering medical conditions and treatments, with easy-to-understand animation and narration. Clinicians report that using the Blausen app has resulted in better-informed, less-anxious, and more treatment-compliant patients and their families.

San Mateo, CAs Extend Health, which operates the largest private Medicare-focused health insurance exchange in the U.S., developed its patent-pending call center solution, Complemax, to shorten average telephone hold times for its customers, while maximizing agent utilization. Using an innovative algorithm, Complemax matches the calling customers location and profile with an agent who holds appropriate credentials to provide service i.e., state licensure, insurance company appointments, and certification to sell specific products in that region.

Irvine, CAs PathCentral, Inc. offers a scalable web-based anatomic pathology laboratory information system that seamlessly integrates all of the critical components of a pathology practice's day-to-day operations into a single platform. PathCentrals system quickly and inexpensively interfaces with hospital electronic medical records, doctors offices, and a wide range of laboratory instrumentation. It reduces costs through improvements in operating efficiencies and enhances patient safety using state-of the art specimen identification and tracking.

Finalists in the Medical Device category are:

Cleveland, OHs Chart SeQual Technologies Eclipse 3 Personal Ambulatory Oxygen System provides reliable continuous flow and pulse dose options in a 24/7 portable device that satisfies both stationary and ambulatory oxygen needs. Eclipse 3 lowers operational costs by reducing monthly deliveries and simplifying inventory management and space; it also uses less electricity than traditional stationary concentrators. Clinically, studies have shown that active oxygen therapy patients have 80% fewer hospitalizations than inactive patients.

Austin, TX-based Vermillion, Inc.s OVA1 is the only FDA-cleared blood test intended to help physicians identify the likelihood of a womans ovarian mass being malignant prior to surgery, thus facilitating her referral to the most appropriate specialist (i.e., a gynecologic oncologist) for her initial surgery. Incorporating OVA1 into physicians preoperative assessment may also help reduce the number of second surgeries, therefore reducing overall healthcare costs.

South San Francisco, CAs VitalWears VitalWrap System provides heating, cooling, and compression through a family of body-part-specific therapeutic wraps, combined with a base unit and tubing set. This continuous thermal therapy reduces pain and dependency on pain medication, and minimizes tissue damage and scarring. In an orthopedic rehabilitation field study, VitalWrap was shown to reduce recovery time in half.

Finalists in the Approaches to the Delivery of Healthcare category are:

Aliso Viejo, CA-based CareMeridians continuum of post-acute care and rehabilitation options to people with life-altering injuries (i.e., brain, spinal cord) and medically complex illnesses, merges a skilled healthcare team with state-of-the-art technology in community-based settings. With over 1,400 admissions and discharges in recent years, CareMeridian has experienced successful outcomes in 96% of those cases, returning one-third of its short-term admissions directly home and another 40% to acute rehab environments for intense therapy prior to the ultimate discharge home. The companys 44-day average length of stay is less than half of the benefit days that most patients have in their long-term care plan.

San Fernando, CAs Partners in Care Foundation Institute for Change developed and disseminated the In-Home Palliative Care (IHPC) program in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, providing home visits to patients with serious chronic illnesses and an estimated life expectancy of one year. The IHPC significantly reduced ER visits (20% for those receiving the intervention vs. 33% of usual care patients), hospitalizations (36% vs. 59%), and hospital use by 4.36 days. Overall cost

The Mac Observer Accepting Submissions for 2009 Awards

Durham, NH (PRWEB) December 4, 2008

Editors at The Mac Observer are searching for the best new Mac, iPod and iPhone related products. In January, editors will be at Macworld Expo handing out Editors Choice Awards for the best new products released between last year's Macworld Expo, and the start of this year's show.

"I am so pleased with how well our TMO 2008 Editors Choice awards were received and we're very excited about 2009," said TMO President and Mac Geek Gab co-host Dave Hamilton. "I look forward to working with the staff to evaluate all these great products at Macworld Expo and share them with all of our readers and listeners."

2008 Award winners included products from Ambrosia software, Apple, El Gato, nova media, The Omni Group, Eye-Fi, AudioEngine, Data Robotics, SmileOnMyMac, Adobe, and FileMaker.

Award winners will receive notification during the expo, and will also be highlighted in The Mac Observer's Editors Choice Awards round up.

Exhibitors interested in having their products considered for the 2009 Editors Choice Awards need to enter by December 30, 2008. The Mac Observer will honor confidentiality agreements for products that will not be announced prior to Macworld Expo 2009.

For more information, including where to send product information, go to: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2008/11/18.8.shtml>

About The Mac Observer

The Mac Observer features daily in-depth Macintosh industry and product news, columns, and reviews, with the goal of ensuring that its readership is as thoroughly informed as possible. TMO's experienced columnists cover news ranging from stock market updates and industry opinion to technology overviews and product reviews, making it a critical resource in understanding the currents of the Mac industry. The Mac Observer can be found online at http://www.macobserver.com.

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