Innovation in Technology

Indiana technology company and digital marketing agency Boost Media & Entertainment has signed a number of new clients, including some of Indy’s favorite eateries.

The latest additions are Mesh on Mass, Scotty’s Brewhouse and Skyline Club.

For Mesh and Skyline Club, mobile apps by Boost will allow patrons to peruse menus, specials, and photos, and even book tables directly from their smart-phones.

“Our clientele at Mesh is savvy and sophisticated, and our app is a great way to reach out to people like this, engage them and most importantly, keep them coming back in,” said Ben Bullard, director of communication at Mesh.

Jeff Markowicz, general manager of Skyline Club, said, “Boost is bringing us into ‘The Smart-phone Era.’ Which, if you haven’t noticed, is upon us in a big way.”

Fresh off a TechPoint Mira Award for New Media Innovation, Scotty’s Brewhouse is looking to continue its forward-thinking success by capitalizing on technology business trends and turning its VIP club digital. VIPs no longer need to carry a paper card in their wallet—instead, they can simply show the app on their smart-phone and enjoy VIP benefits and discounts.

 

“New media is all about reaching customers on their terms. The VIP app Boost is creating does just that. Their advice and skill in this area have been invaluable to us,” said Bruce McClain, director of technology for Scotty’s.

Other prominent restaurant customers include patrons of Boost’s successful Talk to Customers campaigns such as Tastings Wine Bar, Caracas Arepas Grill, and King David Dogs — all who say they gained invaluable measured marketing research and customer connection through an innovative online survey program.

Name: Jason Zickler
Company: Boost Media Entertainment
E-mail: jzickler@boostmediaentertainment.com

Jason is the CEO / Co-Founder of Boost. He has extensive design and project management experience in interactive graphics and new media. Jason has received seven Addy awards over the course of his career, as well as numerous other awards.

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• 79% expect customers to increase spending in 2011
• 54% plan to add jobs in 2011 (which is much higher than overall expectations)
• 85% feel there will increased need for their technology products and services in 2011

We posed the question of why Indiana technology and business professionals should attend TechPoint's Innovation Summit and a few other questions to three Hoosier experts. These three individuals are at the top of their game and they also happen to be presenters on panels for the event (so they know a little something about the valuable nuggets of business knowledge they plan to espouse).



The video speaks for itself. Visit the TechPoint website for more information about Innovation Summit. There you can download the full event agenda with the topics of all four breakout sessions and the participating panelists; find out about the "Funding Innovation" plenary panel; and which venture capital, angel and seed funding firms are scheduled to attend the "Capital Connection" venture networking event.

You won't want to miss the keynote address from iconoclast technology author Nicholas Carr. Carr is famous for his controversial articles "Does IT Matter?" and asking the question "Is Google making us stupid?" in his new book The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. Agree or disagree with him, Carr makes us think – and that’s the first step towards innovation.

Of course, one of the best parts about Innovation Summit is the "Innovation Exhibition" trade show floor where you can browse booth after booth after booth filled with new technologies and business opportunities. Make sure you have a healthy supply of business cards, make note of the #Summit10 Twitter hashtag, and prepare yourself for Indiana's largest assembly of technology professionals and entrepreneurs.

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Last week, executives from 41 Hoosier "Companies to Watch" were honored at a gala dinner at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis. Presented by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Purdue University, and the Edward Lowe Foundation, the "Companies to Watch" program recognizes the state’s fast-growing, high-potential firms among businesses with up to 150 employees and between $750,000 and $100 million in annual revenues.

It’s noteworthy that 17 of the 41 companies on this list are in the information technology space, representing areas like software development, IT consulting, e-mail marketing, and healthcare technologies. These high-tech firms are located across the state.

The fact that nearly half of the IEDC’s ‘Companies to Watch’ list are tech companies is more evidence – although anecdotal – of the sector’s continued growth and vitality in Indiana. Hoosier technology firms continued to add jobs even during the trough of the recession in 2008, and Indiana skyrocketed up the state rankings in venture capital investment per capita, from 41st in 2008 to 20th in 2009, showing that funding continues to flow to high-tech innovation here.

The 2010 "Companies to Watch" account for more than $390 million in annual revenues, employ more than 2,000 Hoosiers, and are on pace to create nearly 1,000 new jobs in 2000. The future looks bright for these businesses – as it does for Indiana’s technology community. See the full list of companies.

Mira Awards Celebrate Tech Sector’s Progress During Economic Turmoil
by Mark Hill

Last month, more than 600 of Indiana’s technology executives, opinion leaders and policymakers, educators and economic developers gathered at the annual TechPoint Mira Awards gala in downtown Indianapolis to celebrate more Hoosier high-tech success stories. 

For more than a decade, the Mira Awards have recognized the companies, institutions and individuals who make up Indiana’s thriving technology community. This year’s winners provide ample optimism about our future as a high-tech economy:

They show that technological innovation is a catalyst for growth in every industry, not just IT. The Mira Innovation of the Year award winner is OrthoX, a life sciences company that’s developed an exceptionally strong material to anchor artificial joints to bones (Indiana firms account for more than a third of global orthopedic device sales). In Indiana’s largest industry, manufacturing, new technologies are also bringing new opportunities – the advanced manufacturing Mira award went to EnerDel, the fast-growing maker of high-tech batteries for electric vehicles.

Exact Target is a repeat winner in the Information Technology Mira category, continuing to lead the way as Central Indiana establishes itself as a hub for online marketing. Along with Exact Target, our region is called home by companies like Aprimo, Compendium Blogware, 5 Buckets, Lights Out Intelligence, Market Path, Cantaloupe, Delivera and Formstack. These firms are taking advantage of a titanic market shift that has seen the traditional media sector lose 32% of its market value from 2003 to 2008 while new media (online content and services) gained 102%.

Our Mira winners provide a cross-section of our most innovative companies in areas that represent promising market opportunities. It’s important that we celebrate their success. But the message behind this year’s Miras goes beyond a (well-deserved) pat on the back for the winners. The bigger picture is that that the state’s tech sector continued to grow and build momentum even during the tough times.

This year, TechPoint attracted a record number of Mira nominations. The previous high-water mark was set last year, and before that in 2008. Even during the worst of the national recession, this program generated steadily more and more interest and enthusiasm.

Less anecdotally, the latest Cyberstates report from the TechAmerica Foundation shows that Indiana continued to add tech jobs during the downturn, even as the rest of the private sector was making cuts. 

Investors are also betting on Indiana’s high-tech entrepreneurs. Last year was the worst year for venture capital nationally in more than a decade. But in Indiana, we grew our total venture investment by nearly 70% over 2008 – and 2008 beat 2007 by 40%. I’m proud that the HALO Capital Group managed by TechPoint has added nearly $14 million in seed capital since 2008 to help further this trend. 

Indiana’s technology sector has weathered the economic storms, and seems to have emerged stronger than ever. A recent Kauffman Foundation study that found that more than half of the companies on today’s Fortune 500 list were launched during an economic recession or severe bear market. This bodes well for the Mira winners of the last few years, and for our technology industry as a whole – as the economy continues to recover, tech companies will be leading the way.

TechPoint is working to help keep the momentum going. From improving connectivity in the tech community, improving access to capital and entrepreneurial expertise, and fighting for pro-growth policies at the Statehouse, we’re committed to creating a climate that produces even more success stories like those feted at Saturday’s Mira gala. Learn more about TechPoint’s efforts and the Mira Awards program (including a full roster of 2010 winners) at www.TechPoint.org.

Mark Hill is Managing Partner of Collina Ventures and chairman of TechPoint. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.
 

An elegant black-tie event filled with awards, food, beverages and Indiana tech sector networking, took place Saturday evening at the 2010 TechPoint Mira Awards – An event where the top individuals in the Indiana technology world come together to celebrate a night of their last year’s accomplishments. This year’s event was held at The Westin in downtown Indianapolis.

Now in its 11^th year, the Mira Awards highlight Indiana’s technology sector growth and success stories as well as recognize the most innovative and fast-growing companies, institutions and individuals, who are leading the way in the state’s high-tech economy.

PHOTO CAPTION: James Mason of OrthoX receives TechPoint Mira Award, Innovation of the Year, from TechPoint President and CEO Jim Jay.
 

This year was the biggest year for the Mira Awards, having attracted a record number of nominations for the prestigious and high-status awards that are presented at the distinguished event.

Legendary Indiana investor and filmmaker will receive award at TechPoint Mira Awards Gala event May 15

TechPoint is pleased to announce that legendary investor and innovator  Robert Compton is its 2010 Trailblazer Award recipient for significant and lasting contributions to Indiana’s high-tech economy. The Trailblazer Award is part of TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards program recognizing Indiana’s technology success stories in various categories for industry, institutions and individuals.

Thirty years ago, Robert Compton chose to forsake the security of a systems engineering career with IBM and venture in a new direction as an entrepreneur and investor.  For Indiana’s technology sector, the rest is history – Compton has built an unparalleled record of investing in and supporting firms that became the foundation of the state’s high-tech industry, spawning successive generations of new companies (many of which Compton also became involved in).

Compton’s track record is truly a Hoosier high-tech ‘who’s who’ – firms like Software Artistry, Aprimo, Exact Target, Interactive Intelligence, Vontoo, IndianMathOnline, Compendium Blogware, Compression Engineering, Mezzia, Sci-Tech Ventures, Veregon and Warsaw Orthopedic (which went on to become Sofamor Danek, the world’s largest spinal medical device company, with Compton as its President). In all, he has been active in more than 40 businesses in software, telecommunications, healthcare, medical devices, and education.

“When you try to chart the progress of Indiana’s technology sector over the last two decades, most roads seem to lead back to Bob Compton,” said Jim Jay, TechPoint’s President & CEO.  “He has been a catalyst for bringing so many new innovations to market, for making Indiana a hotbed for online measured marketing – the list of achievements goes on and on. 

“This award only confirms what every Indiana technology entrepreneur knows to be true – Bob Compton certainly blazed a path that all of us continue to follow.”
 

Compton’s involvement in entrepreneurship doesn’t end with his direct involvement in for-profit ventures.  He also serves as a Trustee of the Kauffman Foundation, a $1.8 billion institute dedicated to accelerating entrepreneurial activity.  His recent exploits as a filmmaker – most notably the documentary “2 Million Minutes” – has explored the critical role of education to success in an entrepreneurial, knowledge-based economy, taking a look at the differing approaches employed by the U.S., China, and India.

“Bob is a venture capitalist in two senses of the phrase – he invests both intellectual and financial capital in companies and causes that he cares about,” added Mark Hill, Chairman of TechPoint and managing partner of Collina Ventures. “Indiana’s tech community has certainly been a beneficiary of his work, and this Trailblazer in Technology recognition is a well-deserved and long-overdue expression of our appreciation.”

For the last decade, TechPoint’s annual Mira Awards have put a spotlight on Indiana’s high-tech all-stars, understanding that celebrating success is one way to create more of it. The Mira Awards are Indiana’s largest and most visible technology awards program; learn more at http://www.techpoint.org/Mira/.  This year’s Mira Gala awards ceremony will be held on May 15th at the Westin – Downtown Indianapolis. Tickets are available for purchase through the website.

About TechPoint
TechPoint is Indiana’s only statewide technology initiative, representing industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses, colleges and research universities, and local economic development organizations. The group’s mission is to accelerate Indiana’s emerging and vibrant information technology sector by: promoting the successes of information technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of IT companies; and advocating appropriate public policy.  TechPoint is an initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. Visit www.techpoint.org. 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MIRA AWARDS GALA
LEARM MORE ABOUT BOB COMPTON

Most-welcome news is starting to arrive. Believable reports of abating economic turmoil increase daily, accompanied by fresh intelligence that the crushing global recession is nearing its long-awaited end.

As Indiana commences on recovery over the coming months, we all need to refocus our efforts to accelerate recovery and replace lost jobs.

The task of creating jobs is not going to be an easy one, but it does represent a unique opportunity. Although the Hoosier state lost thousands of jobs as the global economy nose-dived over the past 18 months, the state did enter the worldwide fiscal era of carnage in dramatically better financial shape than its neighbors. Now is the time to leverage that enviable position and advance Indiana quickly.

How can these new jobs be organically created over the coming months and years?  Earlier in September, BusinessWeek magazine had a most interesting comment for Hoosiers to consider:

“Name an industry [presently in the United States] that can produce one million new, high-paying jobs over the next three years. You can’t, because there isn’t one. And that’s the problem.”

Adrian Slywotzky, a partner for national management consultancy Oliver Wyman, went on to illustrate for BusinessWeek readers how real American innovation from the mid-20th century – the transistor, cellular telephony, photovoltaic solar cells and others – all became building blocks for new industries and the subsequent creation of millions of new jobs. The paramount task at hand, according to Slywotzky, is for American entrepreneurs, scientists and business professionals to redouble their efforts and produce the next set of truly transformational building blocks.

Those of us living in Indiana would do well to consider how real innovation can dramatically accelerate our own respective position in the national – even global – economy.

“How so Indiana?” one might say. Take a look at Indiana University. Through some amazing and creative collaboration, IU is now a player in the top ranks of supercomputing horsepower. That gives the state an attractive tool for transformational development and innovation through the university’s Big Red supercomputer, which is already available to entrepreneurial businesses and technology entrepreneurship in the state.

Take a look at Purdue University. The Boilermakers raised more than an eyebrow or two when Purdue pulled down a $105 million grant from the National Science Foundation – the largest in the university’s 140-year history – for earthquake research and education. Purdue will now lead no less than 14 other major research universities in this endeavor, positioning even more firmly the state’s outstanding resources, such as Discovery Park in West Lafayette.

The list of Indiana technology innovation and Indiana technology research assets, emerging business technology and the positive impact on Indiana technology jobs and Indiana economic development goes much farther.

If you’re serious about job creation – and you should be – consider gathering with us on Sept. 29 for the statewide Innovation Summit. The Summit’s keynote speaker Clayton Christensen is the Harvard avatar responsible for defining disruptive innovation and how to achieve it. He will be joined by dozens of successful innovators, technologists and finance professionals striving to ignite Hoosier innovation.

Will you be part of the Hoosier solution to drive real transformation and innovation? Join us.

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New film from businessman Bob Compton examines entrepreneurship in China and the country’s rise to a global superpower

INDIANAPOLIS (September 14, 2009) — The Indiana premiere of Win in China, Bob Compton’s new documentary on the explosion of entrepreneurship and new venture creation in China, will be part of TechPoint’s Innovation Summit at the Indiana Convention Center on Sept. 29.

Compton, creator and executive producer of the provocative documentary on global education, Two Million Minutes, said he wants Indiana CEO’s and university students to see his new film to better understand the challenges they will face from a tidal wave of Chinese entrepreneurs.

“In Communist China, the country’s heroes are not sports stars or entertainers but entrepreneurs, because they create jobs, wealth and strengthen communities,” Compton said. “Indiana has many successful entrepreneurs who have advanced the state’s economy, but the Chinese are investing in entrepreneurship education, infrastructure and venture capital on a scale unimaginable to Americans.” 

He continued, “Remember what you saw at the Beijing Olympics, and imagine that scale of money, talent, energy and coordination being applied to building the entrepreneurial sector of China’s economy. Now double everything. The Politburo’s efforts are on a massive scale, and Americans are entirely unaware.”

“The point of the film and my desire to reach out to the TechPoint Innovation Summit audience isn’t to criticize Hoosiers or Indiana businesses – quite the opposite,” Compton said. “Indiana’s tech sector is our state’s future, and I believe this film can be a catalyst for renewed commitment to Indiana’s new venture initiatives by Innovation Summit attendees.”

Win in China is a 60-minute documentary film that centers on the largest, most lucrative business plan competition in history. Organized as a Donald Trump-like TV show, it was broadcast across China on CCTV3 and serves as a metaphor for the country’s dramatically increased entrepreneurialism.

Win in China follows the path of China from Cultural Revolution and abject poverty to the Entrepreneurial Revolution and rise to be the third largest economy in the world. It vividly illustrates the role entrepreneurship has played in the dramatic changes China has undergone over the past 30 years.

The Indiana premiere of Win in China will follow the national plenary panel at the Innovation Summit entitled “Funding Innovation,” which will feature Bob Compton and other venture capitalists from both coasts including:
 

• Mathias Schilling, Senior Partner at BV Capital – San Francisco
• Michael Arpey, Managing Director, Customized Fund Investment Group, Credit Suisse – New York
• Michael Brown, General partner of Battery Ventures – Boston

The panel is sponsored by Alerding Castor Hewitt LLP and will be moderated by David Castor, partner at the firm.

The keynote speaker for the luncheon at the Innovation Summit will be renowned innovation expert, entrepreneur, bestselling author and Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen.

The screening is scheduled to begin at approximately 5:15 p.m. at the Indiana Convention Center. You must be a registered Innovation Summit attendee to attend the screening. Early-bird tickets cost $150 in advance or $175 after Sept. 22. Visit http://www.techpoint.org/summit/ for more information about TechPoint’s Innovation Summit.

About Win in China
Win in China is a documentary film about the world’s largest and most lucrative business-plan competition, held not in the United States or any western country, but in communist China. Over 120,000 entrepreneurs compete for prize money in excess of $5 million with the winner receiving nearly $1.5 million dollars to invest in a new business plan. Documentary filmmaker Ole Schell was given unprecedented access to the show’s creator, the contestants and the judges. His documentary opens a window into Chinese capitalism, which differs in many ways from Western capitalism. Beneath the game show’s surface lies a nuanced, subtle view of Chinese business practices, ambitions, ethical norms and competitive behaviors. For more information, please visit www.WinInChinaMovie.com.

About TechPoint
TechPoint is Indiana’s only statewide technology initiative, representing industry stakeholders including publicly-traded companies, private businesses, colleges and research universities, and local economic development organizations. The group’s mission is to accelerate Indiana’s emerging and vibrant information technology sector by: promoting the successes of information technology companies and professionals; supporting the formation, expansion, and attraction of IT companies; and advocating appropriate public policy. Visit www.techpoint.org.

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CONTACTS:
Joshua Hall, TechPoint, 317-464-5416, jhall@techpoint.org
Meghan Devitt, Dittoe Public Rel., 317-202-2280, ext. 11, meg@dittoepr.com