2019 Programming

High-Speed Networking

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Looking to connect with other like-minded individuals in the tech industry? At this session, you’ll sit down for several nano-size meetings with other professionals. This isn’t a job interview. It’s a chance to discover a potential new career path, make connections, learn about exciting projects and practice your conversation skills before you head out to the expo floor. You never know who you’ll sit next to!

Career Track: Upstairs, Room B

Inspiring Internships

11 a.m.-noon

Looking for an internship? These temporary positions can enhance your résumé and give you valuable work experience. Most of them come with a paycheck, too! At this session — geared toward potential interns and companies looking to start hiring them — representatives from companies with successful internship programs share their experiences and the career opportunities they offer. And an internship adviser talks about how to get hired.

•  Mieko Ozeki, Vermont Intern Program, a project of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility — moderator
• Jim Graves, Norwich University 
• Nathan Brown, C2
• Brent McGlynn, VEIC 

Career Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Leveraging Blockchain to Build Startups and Jobs

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Blockchain developer” is the top-trending job in LinkedIn’s recent U.S. Emerging Job Report, with a 3,300 percent growth rate over the past four years. Blockchain, the technology that powers Bitcoin, has been proving its value for many key industries and remains one of the most promising solutions in a world looking for more privacy, security and transparency. Blockchain enables peer-to-peer and decentralized transactions, and its uses are still emerging. Speakers in this session will explain how blockchain helps solve specific business problems while offering an exciting career path here in Vermont.

• John Burton, Board Chair of the Distributed Ledger Governance Association — Moderator
• Chris Curtis, Vermont Attorney General’s Office
• Jonathan Ellerman, RCS Global
• Laura Seach, Trace
• Amit Sharma, Finclusive

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Switch It Up

12:30-1:30 p.m.

Feeling burned out on your current career? Been out of the workforce for awhile and wondering how to get back in? Want to try something new and not sure where to start? Whether you just graduated college or hit a wall at work and need a boost to get over or around it, this workshop is for you. Hear from a career coach and others who’ve been there about how to zero in on your unique skill set and determine what’s next. You’ll leave this workshop feeling energized and ready to rock.

• Joanne Jastatt, Leadership & Career Coach
• Andrea Suozzo, Seven Days 
• Isaiah Keepin, Perficient
• Mo Citro, UVM Medical Center

Career Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Public Meeting of the AI Task Force

1-2:30 p.m.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning offer great potential for the future of society. In 2018, the Vermont legislature created a task force to study AI and make recommendations for how the state could grow and/or regulate it. For a year, the task force has been deliberating and talking with the Vermonters about their hopes, questions and concerns. At this public meeting, attendees can share their thoughts — and get an update on the group’s progress.

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Trust.IT: Trust as the Backbone of Business

3-4 p.m.

In this age of data breaches, polarizing views and an ever increasing pace of business, it is more important than ever to build your company on the basis of trust — trusting yourself, your team, your tech and your customers. Join Vermont entrepreneurs and moderators Gwen Pokalo and Bonnie Reese from the Center for Women & Enterprise as they discuss building companies with trust as the backbone.

• Gwen Pokalo, Center for Women & Enterprise
• Katie McCurdy, Pictal Health
• Marina McCoy, Waste Free Earth
• Heather Dalton, StrollRunner
• Molly Yanus, Echo Consulting 

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary