“The mission of the SFTA is to help its members learn about the business of technology and connect with others who share similar interests, as well as promote the growth, success and awareness of the South Florida regional technology community,” said Lonnie Maier, SFTA President. “In the past we have done that through events, networking, programs and education. This campaign will enhance our programs and extend them to cover the full spectrum of high technology including IT, Life Sciences, medical devices and clean technology. Over time, we will add new programs to assist the technology community to learn, connect and grow.”

In keeping with its focus on “the business of technology”, the SFTA campaign will enhance information exchanges through its “learn and connect” programs. A new comprehensive website to provide a central source of information of interest to the technology community is among the first of the campaign activities to be launched. It includes links to organizations, companies and academic institutions, community organizations, governmental and additional resources, a calendar of events within the region and a blog to encourage an open discussion of subjects of interest to the community. That website can be reached through the SFTA website at www.southfloridatech.org or directly at www.sftechinfo.org.  The South Florida technology community includes organizations and individuals throughout the region extending northward from Miami to the Treasure Coast. SFTA’s approach is collaborative and it works with all groups that support the regional technology community. “All successful high technology communities are collaborative, working together to form a critical mass,” said Linda Gove, Executive Director. “We hope to work with many other organizations to bring the South Florida community closer together.”

“Few people realize how much is happening in technology in South Florida,” said Lenny Chesal, SFTA Chairman. “We plan to tell the South Florida success stories to underscore the region’s current and potential success and elevate the South Florida technology community to the next level.”  SFTA has engaged Next Horizon Communications of West Palm Beach as a partner to facilitate this campaign. Next Horizon is a communications strategy firm that brings extensive experience in building high technology centers of excellence.

About South Florida Technology Alliance

The South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) promotes the growth, success and awareness of the regional technology community in South Florida. Through events, networking, programs and education, we provide South Florida’s technology community with an active forum to grow the business of technology in our region. For more information visit ww.southfloridatech.org

Next Horizon Communications, LLC

Next Horizon Communications, LLC, provides the highest quality strategic counsel for key decision makers facing critical communications issues. The company, based in West Palm Beach, FL, represents clients throughout the world. For more information visit www.nexthorizoncommunications.com

For further information:

South Florida Technology Alliance:
Linda Gove (executivedirector@southfloridatech.org)
954-239-9739

Next Horizon Communications:
Bob Nagro (bnagro@nexthorizoncommunications.com)
561-655-1333

Sponsored by FPL FiberNet

Dynamic companies recognize that it’s not just about having a social presence or a huge number of followers. The main value to businesses resides in how insights obtained through social technologies are integrated into core business processes and are executed at scale.

Today’s customers proactively search for information before speaking with a sales executive, which provides unique opportunities for customized and targeted messaging and to interact with customers and prospects in new ways. At the same time, marketers are challenged to quickly identify where in the sales funnel the customer is and respond to them appropriately. As we look to gain insight into our customers, we also need to effectively collaborate as a team to find ways to respond quickly to them.

How Can Harnessing these New Communication Dynamics Drive Your Business growth?
Interacting with customers via the same channels that they use to source and filter information yields higher engagement ad conversions. As such, if we communicate to customers in social media, then we should integrate social communication internally so that the entire organization is empowered to best serve customers in the medium of their choice.

Expert panelists will explore answers to the following:

• How can you vertically and horizontally align your business to new customer communication channels?
• What business intelligence can you learn from deploying social media listening and monitoring tools?
• How are marketing innovations reshaping traditional marketing campaigns?
• How can new CRM technologies support your client retention and penetration?
• How can you improve collaboration between sales, marketing and production?

Media Sponsored by Roar Media

Speaker Bios:

MODERATOR

David F. Carr
Editor of InformationWeek Education

David F. Carr
Editor of InformationWeek Education

Dave is covering online education and the technological transformation under way in universities and school systems. He previously led the coverage of social business and collaboration technologies for InformationWeek.com and continues to serve as the social business track chair. This Fall, Wiley will publish David’s book, “Social Collaboration for Dummies.” David is a former Technology Editor of Baseline Magazine and Internet World magazine and has freelanced for publications including CIO Magazine, CIO Insight, and Defense Systems. He has also worked as a web consultant and is the author of several WordPress plugins, including Facebook Tab Manager and RSVPMaker. David works from a home office in Coral Springs, Florida. Contact him at http: //twitter.com/#!/davidfcarr” href=”http://twitter.com/#%21/davidfcarr”>@davidfcarr.

PANELISTS 

Chad Grospe
Sr. Account Director-Razorfish

Chad Grospe
Sr. Account Director-Razorfish

With over 13 years of digital marketing experience, Chad Grospe currently leads the marketing initiatives with Razorfish. He oversees the clients’ digital marketing solutions, including social, display, search, mobile and email.

To date, Grospe has spent 13 years at Razorfish, one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world. As Sr. Account Director, Grospe has responsibilities for leading media efforts – including paid media, search, social media, emerging media, mobile and ad operations. Grospe joined Razorfish (then Avenue A, Seattle) in November 1999 as an account manager where his responsibilities included growing the start-up into one of the industry’s leading digital marketing companies. After the merger with Razorfish in 2004, he joined the east region out of NYC overseeing some of the region’s largest media accounts. In 2007, Grospe moved to San Francisco to help grow a new media practice contributing to the success that led to an eventual acquisition by Microsoft. Grospe then moved to Miami to continue leading Razorfish’s integrated marketing capabilities with local clients.

Fabio P. Dias
Business Unit Executive, North America Channels and General Business, IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS)

Fabio P. Dias
Business Unit Executive, North America Channels and General Business, IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS)

As the Business Unit Executive for Channels and General Business with ICS, Mr Dias is responsible for a team of sales and presales people for all the ICS products across North America in General Business as well as Channels. Mr. Dias has an oustanding team that is focused on social business which currently generates over 100M in IBM revenue. Social Business is an IBM key initiative that has helped several of our customers to bring their organizations to the next level by having people as the center of their investments. Mr. Dias has been with IBM for over 11 years always in leadership sales positions.

Mr. Dias holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Information System from Florida International University and a Masters Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing and Computer information Systems from the University of Miami. He is also fluent in 3 languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish). Mr. Dias currently resides with his family in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Rob Gonda
Innovator, Futurist, Marketer, Technologist
Global Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation for SapientNitro

Rob Gonda
Global Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation for SapientNitro

As creative technical guru, Rob combines his passion for emerging technologies with his keen eye for consumer trend spotting. In his role as emerging technology global lead at SapientNitro, Rob’s marketing vision and technical depth enable translating marketing strategy into technology and vice-versa, choreographing data and marketing technology to enable innovation in customer experience. He is responsible for establishing marketing technology standards, identifying strategic alliances, enabling cross-discipline engagement models and running the marketing innovation lab at SapientNitro.

Rob’s mission is to develop forward-thinking expertise that will ensure clients are always on par with rapidly changing technologies and to maintain SapientNitro’s ethos of evolving.

Mitch Pierce
CEO of SocialExtract

Mitch Pierce
CEO of SocialExtract

Mr. Pierce has over 25 years in consulting and software development with a focus on human-centered computing, CRM automation and contact center Internet integration. Holder of several patents, he has advised many Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell and the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been published in leading CRM and SI publications. Mr. Pierce is the founder and CEO of SocialExtract, which was formally announced at the Milken Global Conference in May 2011, and grew out his long-established contact center consultancy and systems integration firm, Piercetech. SocialExtract is the industry’s’ first cloud-based, big data-mining social engagement workflow optimization platform. SocialExtract is at the very center of the burgeoning use of social media to grow top & bottom lines and to broaden & improve customer service.

Sponsored By FPL FiberNet

FPL FiberNet delivers award-winning broadband services throughout most major metropolitan areas in Florida and Texas with additional connectivity throughout the United States. We offer a wide variety of broadband solutions to meet your specific needs including Ethernet, Dedicated Internet Access, Managed Services, Wavelength services and Colocation. Maximize your broadband performance by choosing our innovative and resilient network solutions in support of your dynamic and business-critical processes and applications. With approximately 9,000 miles of high-quality fiber, we are making sure our customers have access to a carrier-class, reliable network with virtually unlimited bandwidth for growth.

Media Sponsor: Roar Media

Roar Media is a national marketing-communications firm that combines traditional public relations with advanced Internet marketing, including social media and search marketing, to support clients’ business goals. The full-service, strategic consultancy provides companies in diverse industries worldwide with a complete spectrum of integrated solutions. Based in Coral Gables, Fla., Roar Media is comprised of former journalists, Internet marketers and business-development specialists with proven success in leadership positions working with the nation’s top Fortune 500 companies and global brands. For more information, visit www.RoarMedia.com.

Sponsored by tw telecom

Hear from top South Florida Technology CEO’s fielding questions about the industry, including what keeps them up at night and what technology they’re most excited about in the next year.

Learning Objectives:

• Attend this SFTA event to learn how about some of South Florida’s leading Tech companies.
• Discover their growth strategies for 2013 and beyond.
• Understand their ongoing challenges, and how they deal with the issues that face all organizations.
• Get the pulse on South Florida’s environment for new Technology Start-ups.

When:
Thursday, June 20, 2013
5:00 to 8:30 p.m.

5:00 pm ET: Registration opens
5:30 – 6:00 pm ET: Pre-Event Workshop  “Intelligent Network”
6:00 – 7:00 pm ET: Networking
7:00 – 8:00 pm ET: Technology CEO Roundtable on 2013 Business Outlook
8:00 – 8:30 pm ET: Meet the Speakers
8:30 – Conclusion

Join us at 5:30 PM for our
Pre-Event Workshop on “Intelligent Network”
Presented by tw telecom

Speaker Bios:

MODERATOR

Leslie Karft Burke, Managing Editor, South Florida Business Journal

Leslie Kraft Burke
Managing Editor, South Florida Business Journal

Leslie Kraft Burke is managing editor of the South Florida Business Journal, a weekly business newspaper based in Fort Lauderdale that covers Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. She has for nearly nine years supervised the editorial content, plus the research and reporting staff of the award-winning newspaper that is owned by American City Business Journals and Advance Publications. She also supervises work on the company’s daily business news web site that covers local events in the region, and provides networking events and awards for business leaders.
Prior to this appointment, Kraft Burke served as special projects editor of Latin Trade magazine, which provides 350,000 readers worldwide with political, trade and general business news, as well as commentary, regarding Latin America. The magazine is published in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
While living in the United Kingdom, she was personal finance editor of The Scotsman, the national daily newspaper of Scotland, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. In that capacity, she received the “Scottish Media Journalist of the Year 2002” award for investigative work from the United Kingdom’s Association of Investment Trust Companies.

In addition, Kraft Burke was the Scottish Correspondent for Citywire/Reuters during her residency in Britain. There, she provided investment, finance and European stock market commentary, plus breaking financial news content for the London-based magazine and Internet publisher.
She has written for The Boca Raton Observer, The Miami Herald; Miami Today; Ocean Drive; Miami-Metro magazine; The Aberdeen Press and Journal (Scotland); Florida Home & Garden magazine; The Gainesville Sun; and The Daily Business Review. Her work in Florida has received several Society of Professional Journalists and Florida Press Association Awards.
Kraft Burke has completed advanced journalism coursework at the Poynter Institute and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Business Editors and Writers. She also spent eight years of her career in public relations and law firm marketing.
She has a B.S. Degree in Journalism from the University of Florida and an M.S. Degree in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern University’s Criminal Justice Institute. It is the same Criminal Justice Institute from which the head of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, Gregory Vecchi, received his PhD. She is a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma National Criminal Justice Honor Society; and the National Association of Professional Women. She also judges speech and debate events for the National Forensic League.

PANELISTS:

Zee Aganovic, CEO, HiConversion

Dr. Zee Aganovic,
Founder & CEO, HiConversion

Dr. Aganovic is a proven high-tech executive and serial entrepreneur. He has held several key executive positions, including the role of President and CEO of Apptimum, a leader in PC migration software solutions, and a company which was acquired by Microsoft. Prior to joining Apptimum, he built several successful start-up companies, including CyLex Systems, a Florida-based application service provider (ASP), and A-Tech Group, a New Jersey-based engineering and consulting organization. Dr. Aganovic directed CyLex in establishing a tier-one customer base, developing blue chip strategic partnerships, and raising more than $20 million in venture capital financing. CyLex was acquired by Ricoh, the world’s largest copier company. Dr Aganovic has also co-authored one of the world’s first SaaS-specific patents, and is a creative force behind current technology innovation. He holds both masters and doctoral degrees in statistical optimization theory from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Ron Antevy, President & CEO, eBuilder

Ron Antevy, P.E.,
President & CEO, eBuilder

Ron Antevy teamed up with his brother Jon in 1998 to lead e-Builder.  Under his leadership, e-Builder has consistently grown over 30% per year – profitably and without debt. Prior to e-Builder, Ron held various senior management positions in the construction and environmental services industries, including regional Director of Operations for Waste Management, where he managed 19 facilities with 200 employees and annual revenues in excess of $150 million. Ron is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Engineering, with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering. He is member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Florida.  Ron is a member of the Board of Directors of the Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida and the Software Division of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA).

Daniel Cane, President & CEO Modernizing Medicine

Daniel Cane
President & CEO, Modernizing Medicine

Daniel is President and CEO of South Florida based Modernizing Medicine, Inc. – a healthcare company that is revolutionizing the way in which medical information is created, consumed, and utilized to increase efficiency, lower costs, and improve outcomes.

Founded in 2010 Modernizing Medicine has grown to over 100 employees and has raised over $19.1M in funding.  It was named “Best Startup” at the South Florida Business Journal’s 2011 Entrepreneur Awards. In 2012, Modernizing Medicine was the “Business of the Year” and was the #1 Fastest Growing Company in South Florida’s “Fast 50.” Forbes magazine named Modernizing Medicine as one of the top 50 “America’s Most Promising Companies.”

Daniel has a BS from Cornell University where, as an undergraduate, he co-founded Blackboard Inc., raised over $100M in venture capital and in 2004 helped take the company public on the NASDAQ (BBBB). In 2011, Blackboard was sold for $1.6B.

Active in the local community, Daniel serves as the vice-Chairman of the Board at the South Florida Science Museum and is a member of the Foundation Board at Florida Atlantic University. He is an active member of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, the Boca Chamber of Commerce, and several local advisory boards.

Today, Daniel works, lives and enjoys life with his wife and three children in sunny South Florida.

Rob Strandberg is the President & CEO of Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC)

Rob Strandberg
President & CEO, Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC)

Rob Strandberg is the President & CEO of Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida (EDC), a public private partnership that assists emerging science and technology companies. In his role he is responsible for oversight of EDC’s business mentor/protégé program, the C. Scott Ellington Technology Business Incubator, EDC conferences, fundraising, administration of the New World Angels and other programs that EDC runs in support of the emerging science and technology community.

Mr. Strandberg has been a CEO of a number of successful technology companies including Orlando based Xytrans, Inc., a Lockheed Martin spinout focusing on high frequency radio and VSat systems as well as highly advanced concealed weapons detection technology, PSC Inc., a global leader in bar code laser/CCD scanners and wireless data collection devices and DATAMAX, Inc., an Orlando based global leader in high performance printers (sold to Dover Corp. for $140M). Additionally, Mr. Strandberg has been a director of such public companies as Sawtek/Triquint, Merix/Via Systems and Quipp/ITW.

Mr. Strandberg has extensive experience in all aspects of growing technology enterprises, including strategic and tactical planning in highly competitive technology markets, financial and operations management, building and leading high performance development teams and all elements of financing for both public and private companies. Mr. Strandberg received his BS/Engineering at Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard University.

Sponsored By tw telecom

For nearly 20 years, tw telecom has delivered managed data, Internet and voice networking solutions to businesses and large organizations throughout the U.S. As one of the three largest providers of Business Ethernet in the nation, we connect more than 18,000 commercial buildings to our national fiber network.

What does tw telecom stand for? A trusted communications service provider for enterprises and large organizations.  Reliable, secure networks with scalable technology and solutions to move your business forward. Superior customer experience that’s both responsive and collaborative.

Silver Sponsors

MDO Partners is a boutique law firm that focuses on Corporate, Real Estate and Immigration Law as well as Global Compliance and Business Ethics. Our firm is comprised of a solid team of attorneys and advisors who are committed to the business goals and best interests of our clients. We deliver value-added services of the highest caliber, and serve as a trusted advisor to our clients through our practical and business-savvy approach.

Sponsored by FPL FiberNet

Dynamic companies recognize that it’s not just about having a social presence or a huge number of followers. The main value to businesses resides in how insights obtained through social technologies are integrated into core business processes and are executed at scale.

Today’s customers proactively search for information before speaking with a sales executive, which provides unique opportunities for customized and targeted messaging and to interact with customers and prospects in new ways. At the same time, marketers are challenged to quickly identify where in the sales funnel the customer is and respond to them appropriately. As we look to gain insight into our customers, we also need to effectively collaborate as a team to find ways to respond quickly to them.

How Can Harnessing these New Communication Dynamics Drive Your Business growth?
Interacting with customers via the same channels that they use to source and filter information yields higher engagement ad conversions. As such, if we communicate to customers in social media, then we should integrate social communication internally so that the entire organization is empowered to best serve customers in the medium of their choice.

Expert panelists will explore answers to the following:

• How can you vertically and horizontally align your business to new customer communication channels?
• What business intelligence can you learn from deploying social media listening and monitoring tools?
• How are marketing innovations reshaping traditional marketing campaigns?
• How can new CRM technologies support your client retention and penetration?
• How can you improve collaboration between sales, marketing and production?

Media Sponsored by Roar Media

Speaker Bios:

MODERATOR

David F. Carr
Editor of InformationWeek Education

David F. Carr
Editor of InformationWeek Education

Dave is covering online education and the technological transformation under way in universities and school systems. He previously led the coverage of social business and collaboration technologies for InformationWeek.com and continues to serve as the social business track chair. This Fall, Wiley will publish David’s book, “Social Collaboration for Dummies.” David is a former Technology Editor of Baseline Magazine and Internet World magazine and has freelanced for publications including CIO Magazine, CIO Insight, and Defense Systems. He has also worked as a web consultant and is the author of several WordPress plugins, including Facebook Tab Manager and RSVPMaker. David works from a home office in Coral Springs, Florida. Contact him at http: //twitter.com/#!/davidfcarr” href=”http://twitter.com/#%21/davidfcarr”>@davidfcarr.

PANELISTS 

Chad Grospe
Sr. Account Director-Razorfish

Chad Grospe
Sr. Account Director-Razorfish

With over 13 years of digital marketing experience, Chad Grospe currently leads the marketing initiatives with Razorfish. He oversees the clients’ digital marketing solutions, including social, display, search, mobile and email.

To date, Grospe has spent 13 years at Razorfish, one of the largest interactive marketing and technology companies in the world. As Sr. Account Director, Grospe has responsibilities for leading media efforts – including paid media, search, social media, emerging media, mobile and ad operations. Grospe joined Razorfish (then Avenue A, Seattle) in November 1999 as an account manager where his responsibilities included growing the start-up into one of the industry’s leading digital marketing companies. After the merger with Razorfish in 2004, he joined the east region out of NYC overseeing some of the region’s largest media accounts. In 2007, Grospe moved to San Francisco to help grow a new media practice contributing to the success that led to an eventual acquisition by Microsoft. Grospe then moved to Miami to continue leading Razorfish’s integrated marketing capabilities with local clients.

Fabio P. Dias
Business Unit Executive, North America Channels and General Business, IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS)

Fabio P. Dias
Business Unit Executive, North America Channels and General Business, IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS)

As the Business Unit Executive for Channels and General Business with ICS, Mr Dias is responsible for a team of sales and presales people for all the ICS products across North America in General Business as well as Channels. Mr. Dias has an oustanding team that is focused on social business which currently generates over 100M in IBM revenue. Social Business is an IBM key initiative that has helped several of our customers to bring their organizations to the next level by having people as the center of their investments. Mr. Dias has been with IBM for over 11 years always in leadership sales positions.

Mr. Dias holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Information System from Florida International University and a Masters Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Marketing and Computer information Systems from the University of Miami. He is also fluent in 3 languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish). Mr. Dias currently resides with his family in Pompano Beach, Florida.

Rob Gonda
Innovator, Futurist, Marketer, Technologist
Global Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation for SapientNitro

Rob Gonda
Global Head of Emerging Technology & Innovation for SapientNitro

As creative technical guru, Rob combines his passion for emerging technologies with his keen eye for consumer trend spotting. In his role as emerging technology global lead at SapientNitro, Rob’s marketing vision and technical depth enable translating marketing strategy into technology and vice-versa, choreographing data and marketing technology to enable innovation in customer experience. He is responsible for establishing marketing technology standards, identifying strategic alliances, enabling cross-discipline engagement models and running the marketing innovation lab at SapientNitro.

Rob’s mission is to develop forward-thinking expertise that will ensure clients are always on par with rapidly changing technologies and to maintain SapientNitro’s ethos of evolving.

Mitch Pierce
CEO of SocialExtract

Mitch Pierce
CEO of SocialExtract

Mr. Pierce has over 25 years in consulting and software development with a focus on human-centered computing, CRM automation and contact center Internet integration. Holder of several patents, he has advised many Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Rockwell and the Royal Bank of Scotland and has been published in leading CRM and SI publications. Mr. Pierce is the founder and CEO of SocialExtract, which was formally announced at the Milken Global Conference in May 2011, and grew out his long-established contact center consultancy and systems integration firm, Piercetech. SocialExtract is the industry’s’ first cloud-based, big data-mining social engagement workflow optimization platform. SocialExtract is at the very center of the burgeoning use of social media to grow top & bottom lines and to broaden & improve customer service.

Sponsored By FPL FiberNet

FPL FiberNet delivers award-winning broadband services throughout most major metropolitan areas in Florida and Texas with additional connectivity throughout the United States. We offer a wide variety of broadband solutions to meet your specific needs including Ethernet, Dedicated Internet Access, Managed Services, Wavelength services and Colocation. Maximize your broadband performance by choosing our innovative and resilient network solutions in support of your dynamic and business-critical processes and applications. With approximately 9,000 miles of high-quality fiber, we are making sure our customers have access to a carrier-class, reliable network with virtually unlimited bandwidth for growth.

Media Sponsor: Roar Media

Roar Media is a national marketing-communications firm that combines traditional public relations with advanced Internet marketing, including social media and search marketing, to support clients’ business goals. The full-service, strategic consultancy provides companies in diverse industries worldwide with a complete spectrum of integrated solutions. Based in Coral Gables, Fla., Roar Media is comprised of former journalists, Internet marketers and business-development specialists with proven success in leadership positions working with the nation’s top Fortune 500 companies and global brands. For more information, visit www.RoarMedia.com.

SOUTH FLORIDA TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE RELOCATES TO THE
TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INCUBATOR, FORMS PARTNERSHIP

Boca Raton, FL – The Technology Business Incubator (TBI) announces that South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) is its newest resident tenant.

SFTA’s move to the TBI, located in the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, is a win-win for both entities and offers distinct partnerships advantages: SFTA is in close proximity to and can draw on talent from multiple tech entrepreneurs, and TBI tenants can be mentored by SFTA’s established tech experts.

Another benefit, TBI tenants, which comprise 23 early stage high-tech companies, can now attend SFTA events at a reduced member rate. The next event is Social Technology: How the Convergence of Marketing and Technology Blazes Pathways to Business Growth, sponsored by FPL FiberNet.  It will be held on Thursday, May 23 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm at The LAB Miami.

About the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University

Established in 1985, the 94-acre Research Park (www.research-park.org) is home to

25 technology companies working in conjunction with the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and the FAU College of Business.  The Research Park also hosts the Technology Business Incubator with 23 startup technology companies, each of which receives business and consulting services with the goal of becoming established businesses and permanent residents in the Research Park.

HDG Mansur (hdgmansur.com) is the development partner for the Research Park, with leasing provided by Avison Young (avisonyoung.com).

About South Florida Technology Alliance

The South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA) promotes the growth, success and awareness of the regional technology community. Through events, networking, programs and education, we provide south Florida’s technology-related companies, academic institutions, entrepreneurs, governments and related organizations with an active forum to grow the business of technology in our region.

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]]> http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/south-florida-technology-alliance-relocates-to-the-technology-business-incubator-forms-partnership/feed/ 0 http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/linguasys-gratuates-fa/ http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/linguasys-gratuates-fa/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 01:11:16 +0000 Linda http://www.southfloridatech.org/?p=3433

LINGUASYS, INC. GRADUATES FROM THE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS INCUBATOR AT

THE RESEARCH PARK AT FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

Boca Raton, FL– The Research Park at Florida Atlantic University and Enterprise Development Corporation (EDC) announce that LinguaSys, Inc. has graduated from the Technology Business Incubator™ (TBI). The company’s genesis was at the TBI, which fosters entrepreneurship and offers a unique brand of assistance to startup technology companies. Under one roof, resident TBI companies find resources for mentors, investors, community collaborators, and business services, coordinated by EDC, all in close proximity to FAU research and faculty.

LinguaSys is an international provider of human language technologies, producing highly customized text analytics, translation and natural language user interface software. LinguaSys serves some of the world’s largest mutual fund and technology companies, commercial banks, hoteliers, digital forensics suppliers, governments and the military, providing secure, flexible and fast enterprise and mobile translation, analytics and natural language processing solutions.  Along with its revolutionary software for developing new languages and creating natural language understanding applications, LinguaSys is the first natural language processing company to offer a true interlingua-based system.

LinguaSys’ unique translation technology attracted the attention and venture capital funding from Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and regular on the Shark Tank television series.

“The TBI is an exceptional facility, and we are proud to have launched our business there,” said Brian Garr, CEO of LinguaSys. “It provided us with a stimulating work environment and a variety of resources which helped us to be successful.”

Garr was previously CTO of Globalink, a Machine Technology (MT) company, from 1995-1998 when Globalink was sold to L&H. He started the MT business segment for IBM’s Software Group and managed IBM’s Speech Recognition Group. Garr has been an advocate and frequent global speaker on MT and Speech Reco. In 1998 he was honored with the Smithsonian Institute’s “Heroes in Technology” award for his work in Machine Translation.

“LinguaSys is an excellent example of how the Technology Business Incubator can nurture a startup, allowing a new venture to hone and perfect technology, and ultimately launch into a successful international enterprise,” said Andrew Duffell, President & CEO of the Research Park. “Brian and his talented team are an inspiration for current and future residents of the TBI. We congratulate them on successfully graduating and look forward to celebrating their continued success.”

The TBI is a location and knowledge resource center for entrepreneurs emerging fromFloridaAtlanticUniversity– students, recent graduates and faculty – as well as regional entrepreneurs. It is currently home to 35 early stage high-tech companies as well as the New World Angels and the Institute for Commercialization of Public Research. Resident companies collaborate and find the resources they require to make their business a success. The co-working environment incorporates independent entrepreneurs, programmers and service providers for the startups to bond with and draw talent from, adding to the entrepreneurial culture.

About the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University

Established in 1985, the 94-acre ResearchPark(www.research-park.org) is home to 24 technology companies working in conjunction with the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science, the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine and the FAU College of Business.  The Research Park also hosts the Technology Business Incubator with 35 startup technology companies, each of which receives business and consulting services with the goal of becoming established businesses and permanent residents in the Research Park. www.Facebook.com/ResearchParkFAU @ResearchParkFAU

HDG Mansur (hdgmansur.com) is the development partner for the Research Park, with leasing provided by Avison Young (avisonyoung.com)

About LinguaSys, Inc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       LinguaSys solves human language challenges in Big Data and social media for blue-chip clients around the world. Its natural language processing software provides real-time multilingual text mining, Machine Translation and fast, cost-effective natural language interfaces (NLUI).  The solutions are powered by LinguaSys’ Carabao Linguistic Virtual Machine™, a proprietary interlingual technology, to deliver faster and more accurate results. Designed to be easily customized by clients, the solutions can be used via SaaS or behind the firewall. Headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, LinguaSys is an IBM Business Partner. www.linguasys.com @LinguaSys33431

About Enterprise Development Corporation

Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida (EDC) is a nonprofit organization that assists start-up technology companies in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-DadeCounties. EDC provides entrepreneurial support services to high growth potential companies through ; Business Incubation; production of two major conferences and management of New World Angels, Florida’s premiere angel investment group.

The success and sustainability of  EDC is due to the generous support of our board sponsors For more information, please visit www.edc-tech.org.

TBI space is rented on a first-come, first-served basis after thorough review of the TBI online application. For more information, please contact Christine Burres, ccannon@edc-tech.org.

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]]> http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/linguasys-gratuates-fa/feed/ 0 http://www.southfloridatech.org/past-events/april-25-2013/ http://www.southfloridatech.org/past-events/april-25-2013/#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:53:14 +0000 Linda http://www.southfloridatech.org/?p=3101 Join Us Tonight for

April’s Membership Networking Meeting

Sponsored by

Cyberslacking in South Florida:

Toes in the Sand, Heads in the Cloud?

Recently, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer sparked a debate on the virtues of telecommuting by recalling Yahoo’s work at home employees back to their offices. Please join us for an presentation and discussion on the subject of telecommuting by Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet and Technology Solution Professional with Microsoft Corp. In this presentation, Jason will provide his own interesting perspectives on the subject and what the decision means for those of us in south Florida and across the nation that currently telecommute.

Jason Perlow, Sr. Technology Editor at ZDNet is a technologist with over two decades of experience with integrating large heterogeneous multi-vendor computing environments in Fortune 500 companies. Jason is currently a Technology Solution Professional with Microsoft Corp. His expressed views do not necessarily represent those of his employer. A long-time computer enthusiast starting the age of 13 with his first Apple ][ personal computer, he began his freelance writing career starting at ZD Sm@rt Reseller in 1996 and has since authored numerous guest columns for ZDNet Enterprise and Ziff-Davis Internet. Jason was previously Senior Technology Editor for Linux Magazine, where he wrote about Open Source issues from 1999 to 2008. In his spare time, Jason is an avid amateur chef and food writer, where his work reviewing New Jersey restaurants has appeared in The New York Times. He is also the founder of the popular food web site eGullet and blogs about restaurants and cooking at OffTheBroiler.com.

When:
Thursday, April 25, 2013
5 – 8:30 p.m.

Having co-founded the firm in 1992 along with Michael Daszkal, Jeff focused on helping business owners achieve success by increasing cash flow, expanding revenue streams, reducing expenses, protecting assets, and implementing business processes. A frequent public speaker on this topic, Jeff was passionate about educating the business community which earned him national recognition as a “Pathfinder” by the AICPA and as the “Small Business Leader of the Year” by the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.

Jeff was instrumental in helping to create several Daszkal Bolton divisions such as Strategic Business Solutions, Benchmark Financial, White Knight, Family Office, and turning a fascination with sports and professional athletes into a division called “Game Plan”.

Outside the office, Jeff was just as passionate and dedicated to numerous charitable causes. He served on the Board of Directors for the Bone Marrow Foundation and was Chairperson of the annual “Sports Legends” Event. He was the Corporate Chair of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Light the Night Walk” for many years in honor of his son Jason’s fight with the disease. By spearheading fundraising efforts and helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities, Jeff served as a role model who inspired clients, associates, and friends to get involved. Jeff also took a leadership role in the professional community and served with the South Florida Manufacturers Association as Treasurer, Board Member, and Member of the Executive Committee.

Michael Daszkal commented that “Jeff was one of South Florida’s best accountants when it came to entrepreneurs and family owned or closely held businesses. His passing is a tremendous loss not only to family, friends, clients and the community at large. Jeff was instrumental in the growth of our Jupiter office which will remain strong, as will the entire firm.  I and all the Partners will work hard to support Jeff’s family and take care of Jeff’s clients, while preserving his vision and legacy at the three offices he helped build here at Daszkal Bolton”.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Jeff attended Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School in Clark, New Jersey, graduating in 1983. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Accounting from American University in Washington D.C. in 1987. Jeff was a Certified Public Accountant through the State of Florida, and a member of both the American and Florida Institutes of Certified Public Accountants.

Jeff is survived by his wife Mirka, his two children, Jason and Lexi, as well as his brother Brian Bolton, and his parents Joel and Barbara Bolton.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family asks that donations be made to the Jeffrey A. Bolton Children’s Education Fund, 2401 N.W. Boca Raton Blvd., Boca Raton, FL 33431.

Funeral arrangements will be posted on our website www.daszkalbolton.com as soon as information is available.

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]]> http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/community-mourns-unexpected-death-of-daszkal-bolton-co-founder/feed/ 0 http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/2013-south-florida-it-hiring-shoots-up-64-of-it-leaders-plan-to-hire/ http://www.southfloridatech.org/news-headlines/2013-south-florida-it-hiring-shoots-up-64-of-it-leaders-plan-to-hire/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:32:54 +0000 Linda http://www.southfloridatech.org/?p=3288  SFTA Member PROTECH Releases its 11th Annual South Florida Tech Leadership Survey and 9th Annual Tech Talent Survey Results

BOCA RATON, FL– April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – According to two just-released surveys by Boca Raton-based Information Technology (IT) search and staffing firm, PROTECH, IT budgets and salaries continue to increase while employers show increased concern about losing key technology staff.

Average 2013 IT budgets increased to 11% from 10.2% in 2012.  The 11th Annual Tech Leadership survey also revealed 64% of Tech Leaders plan to increase IT staff this year (up by 22% compared to 2012).  And 53% of Tech Executives are concerned about losing top IT talent.

The top reason continues to be compensation with a 67% response (up from 58% a year ago) followed by lack of career path.  “Demand outpaces supply for many key tech career disciplines which drives the higher salaries” stated Deborah Vazquez, PROTECH CEO.

Employees received an average 2012 pay increase of 5%, up from the 3% they received in 2011.  “Many of our clients here inSouth Floridaand other markets we serve are struggling with retention and unwelcomed turnover due to sharp increases in temp contract rates and salaries” said Vazquez.

“This valuable local IT market data shows how strongly our region is trending.  I’m pleased to see strength in IT budgets and job market conditions inSouth Florida,” said Linda Gove, SFTA Executive Director.

PROTECH surveyed over 750 IT Director to CIO level executives for its 11th annual Tech Leadership Survey; and over 18000 IT professionals for its 9th annual Tech Talent survey. All participants are located inFlorida’s Broward, Miami-Dade andPalm Beachcounties.

Additional survey highlights:

Economic Outlook: The number of Tech Executives who perceive the current health of the overall economy as “Getting Stronger” this year was 60% versus 56% in 2012.

The top three technology-related priorities for 2013 are “Infrastructure Upgrades” (34%); New Large Applications Development endeavor” (33%) and  “Web site redesign” (20%).

72% of tech leaders reported the IT function is viewed as “critical” within their organizations (up from 56% in 2012).

About South Florida Technology Alliance (SFTA)

The SFTA promotes the growth, success and awareness of the South Floridatechnology community. Its member roster includes South Florida’s leading high-tech, high-growth companies. Through events, networking, programs and education, the SFTA provides south Florida’s technology-related companies, academic institutions, and entrepreneurs with an active forum to grow the business of technology. For more information about the SFTA, visit www.SouthFloridaTech.org.

About PROTECH

PROTECH is a leading provider of IT staffing, placement and professional services for South Florida and tri-state New York employers with a guaranteed turn-around time of 48 hours for the most difficult to fill positions. For more information, visit www.protechfl.com.

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Download the 2013 South Florida Tech Talent Survey

Download the 2013 South Florida Tech Leadership Survey

For 28 consecutive years, the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce has honored a Business Leader, Business, and Small Business Leaders of the year for their achievements in the business community and their contributions to the overall betterment of South Palm Beach County.

They are are proud to continue that tradition at the 2013 Boca Chamber Business Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 17th at the Woodfield Club where they will honor an SFTA Platinum Sponsor member Host.net as the 2013 Business of the Year.

About Host.net
Host.net is a multinational provider of network infrastructure services focusing on colocation, cloud computing and storage, and network transport and transit for education, finance, government, healthcare and other enterprise organizations as well as wholesale and carrier clients. The company operates multiple enterprise-class data centers connected to an extensive fiber-optic backbone delivering Internet, MPLS and layer 2 communications using a wide array of last-mile options. It serves customers in most major metropolitan regions of North America as well as portions of Europe. Founded in 1996, Host.net is headquartered in Boca Raton, FL.