BUSINESS INCUBATION INSTITUTE

Saturday, May 20

Before conference gets underway, explore important incubation topics in depth at NBIA's Business Incubation Institute.
 
This year we're offering five pre-conference workshops, and if you're arriving Friday night you won't want to miss an evening of baseball. Also, we've arranged a Saturday afternoon tour of Cleveland.
 
Be part of the action—sign up early. Please see the registration form for complete pricing information.
 

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Incubating Dot.coms Corporate Incubation: Tuning Innovations into New Companies Structuring the Deal: Technology Commercialization and New Company Formation Kitchen Incubation 101 Developers Prep Course Registration Information Baseball Cleveland Tour

Incubating Dot.coms

8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
 
Incubation is a powerful way to accelerate the idea-to-market process for e-business startups. Racing to be the first and best among the dot com companies, Internet incubators are springing up across the United States and Europe in "Internet time," and many of them display innovative approaches to incubation. Venture-capital firms not only are investing in companies but now are backing incubators; corporations are setting up their own incubators for e-business strategic partnerships, spin-ins, and spin-offs; and nonprofit incubators are modifying existing programs to accommodate the pace of e-business startups. Gain insights from industry leaders who are currently using incubation to launch successful e-companies and ensure healthy returns on investments. Internet incubator managers and an incubator graduate company will give you practical advice on how to build a Internet incubation program. You'll learn what makes e-commerce entrepreneurs tick and how to create or modify an incubation program to help these companies – and your program – succeed.

Presenters Mike Dickerson is director of eCeleration at eHatchery, a for-profit incubator whose backers include successful Internet entrepreneur Jeff Levy and idealab!'s Bill Gross. Bonnie Herron is director of the Intelligent Systems Incubator, one of the first incubators funded by a publicly traded company that provides business expertise and equity capital to Internet companies both in the incubator and outside its walls. Andrew Olmsted is director of Ventures at The Cambridge Incubator, a privately sponsored incubator affiliated with venture capital funds. Jim Robbins is co-founder and executive director of the for-profit Panasonic Internet Incubator and of the nonprofit Software Business Technology Cluster, both located in Silicon Valley. Moderator: Bela Musits is director of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Incubator, a nonprofit technology incubator program that boasts successful Internet companies among its clients.
 
Workshop materials are included.

Sponsored by euclid Network Solutions, Inc.
 
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Corporate Incubation: Turning Innovations into New Companies

1- 5 p.m.
 
Major corporations are finding that, to reach new levels of innovation and return on investment, establishing an incubator is an excellent way to create new products and enter new markets. Workshop presenters will cover the whys and hows of building a successful corporate incubation program. What is an incubator's role in relation to the parent organization? What are the models for governing an incubator? How are these new divisions and their clients financed? How are entrance criteria for potential clients established? These questions and more will be answered in this workshop. If your corporation is thinking about starting an incubation program, if it has an incubation program, or if you are looking into corporation/incubator partnerships, don't miss this opportunity to hear from those who've been successful.

Presenters* Bob Calcaterra is president and CEO of the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise, an incubation program associated with Monsanto Corp., Saint Louis, MO. Cate Cavanagh is managing director of the Panasonic Internet Incubator and a principal of Panasonic Ventures, Silicon Valley, CA. Workshop materials are included.
*Additional presenters to be announced.

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Structuring the Deal: Technology Commercialization and New Company Formation

1 - 5 p.m.
 
One of the most challenging tasks of launching a new company involved with technology commercialization is negotiating the term sheet, especially when many competing interests are involved. The highly interactive afternoon session uses a new e-business as an example to bring you face to face with critical issues of growing and valuing ventures from the perspectives of four major interest groups involved in the process. Attendees will wear the hat of the entrepreneurial founders, the management team brought in to join the founders, the university or lab, or the outside funding source. Each group will examine the issues critical to its role in the startup and will negotiate with the other groups to develop a term sheet spelling out the conditions for investment in the new Internet firm.

Presenters Terry Collison, Partner, Blue Rock Capital, Wilmington, DE William A. Scari, Jr., Partner, Pepper Hamilton LLP, Berwyn, PA
 

Sponsored by North Carolina Technological Development Authority

 
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Kitchen Incubation 101

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
 
Food-related enterprises are not only a booming industry but also a great economic development tool for rural and urban areas. Shared-use commercial kitchen incubators are one of the best resources for entrepreneurs to develop viable specialty food businesses. If you want to create such a program, this workshop is an excellent place to start. You will learn the development basics and keys to success for any kitchen incubation program. Workshop leader Cameron Wold will discuss the characteristics of urban and rural programs, organizational structures, components of kitchen programs, the importance of identifying and sharing community resources, the training of food venture entrepreneurs, and accessing the appropriate capital and technical assistance to create the program. Reviewing case studies from 14 kitchen incubators, you'll form a strategic plan for your own. At the end of the day, you'll leave with practical tools to help you and your community create a sustainable program.

Presenter Cameron Wold has been called the kitchen incubation guru, and many know him as a community development specialist at the University of Colorado at Denver.
 
Lunch and workshop materials are included.

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Developers' Prep Course

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
 
Developing a nonprofit business incubator can be a complex and difficult undertaking. Potential pitfalls include lack of consensus on the mission and unrealistic expectations about returns on investment. Lessons gleaned from successful development efforts can help you avoid these and other common traps. We've recruited the instructor from NBIA's acclaimed Fall Training Institute to present this overview course that frames development issues into a concise 60-step process. Learn how to conduct a feasibility study and develop a business plan, locate and attract prospective clients, create a self-sufficient incubator, and achieve intended goals. Whether in the conceptual stage or already knee deep in development, you can't afford to miss this workshop!

Presenter Jonathan Gorham is president of Gorham Associates. Since 1991, Gorham has taught more than 1,000 economic development professionals incubator feasibility and management techniques. Gorham has consulted extensively in incubator development and comanaged the business development programs at Yale University's Science Park in New Haven, CT.
 
Lunch and manual are included.

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Workshop Registration

Please see the registration form for complete pricing information, including the full conference package or Saturday-only registration. Register early; all courses have limited enrollments. If you would like to change to a different workshop on-site, there will be an administrative charge.
 
Registration will be open during the following times on Saturday, May 20

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Cleveland Indians vs. New York Yankees

Friday, May 19, 7 p.m.
 
If you're arriving Friday, take yourself out to the ballpark for the American League Champion Indians vs. New York Yankees match. Chat with newfound colleagues over a 'dog and a brew at the new Jacobs Field. Tickets are limited and will be offered on a first come, first served basis, so register early!

Ticket price: $19. Limited to two per registered attendee. Pick up your tickets between 5 and 7 p.m. at the third floor conference registration desk. If you arrive after 7 p.m., pick up your tickets at the hotel front desk. The stadium is within walking distance–simply take the walkway from Tower City Center to Jacobs Field.

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University Circle and The Heights: A Tour of Cleveland

1 – 5 p.m
 
For a lovely introduction to our host city, sign up for this afternoon tour of an area once called the cultural center of Cleveland. University Circle and The Heights offer glimpses into the history and artistic splendor of the region. The first stop is Lake View Cemetery, a 285-acre outdoor museum and one of the most impressive horticultural spots of the region. A docent will guide you through the Garfield Monument–the sanctuary for the 20th President of the United States and his family–and the Wade Memorial Chapel with its Tiffany-designed Venetian glass mosaic. The tour continues on through Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights, neighborhoods renowned for some of the most opulent mansions and landscaping in the country. Along the route, a guide will tell the story of Cleveland and its industrial roots. At the final stop, the Cleveland Art Museum, you'll experience an art collection that is ranked among the best in the world, with its more than 30,000 works of art that represent more than 5,000 years of art history. You may also see the newly renovated Severance Hall, home of the renowned Cleveland Orchestra, and the Fine Arts Garden, a 15-acre public landscaped park.
 
Ticket price: $45 per person. Includes bus transportation, guides, and admission fees. Please register by April 11. Pick up your ticket at the third floor registration desk and meet your tour guide in the hotel lobby at 12:45 p.m. The bus departs the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel at 1 and returns at 5 p.m.
 

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