Wozniak and Kawasaki Set to Keynote at NextCon16 – Look for ‘Ah-Ha Moments’


Steve Wozniak - NextCon speaker
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, will keynote at NextCon16 in November

If you attend just one business conference before the end of 2016, put NextCon at the top of your shortlist.

You’ll get to see high-octane speakers like Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, and tech superstar Guy Kawasaki — not to mention executives from LinkedIn and Google.

NextCon16 is a conference for entrepreneurs, small business owners, tech professionals and more.  It’s all about building a business, managing it well, marketing it and, of course, profiting from it.

NextCon, which takes place November 14-16, 2016, is being hosted by Nextiva, a cloud-based unified communications service.

Nextiva itself has grown rapidly over the past few years. So the company executives understand well the challenges of growth.  That experience is part of what motivated this conference.

According to Yaniv Masjedi, Nextiva vice-president of marketing, who spoke with Small Business Trends in a telephone interview, the company didn’t want it to be the typical brand conference focused on products and services.

Instead, Nextiva executives wanted the attention to be on helping all businesses grow and prosper — regardless of whether they are Nextiva customers.

By holding the conference in Arizona, Nextiva also wants to spotlight the thriving tech and business scene there. As Masjedi says, Arizona’s business environment has been instrumental in Nextiva’s own growth.

NextCon keynote speaker lineup

‘Ah-ha’ Moments

Nextiva promises that attendees will experience some genuine “ah-ha” moments. In other words, go with the idea of getting breakthrough ideas.  Look for Ah-ha opportunities like these:

1. Professional Growth Insights

One ah-ha moment opportunity will likely occur on day one. It consists of a “fireside chat” with Darin Brown, CTO of Angie’s List; Neill Feather, president of Sitelock; and Carol Roth, TV host and CNBC contributor.

These entrepreneurs and business leaders will share how they overcame challenges and drove growth.

2. Real-world Marketing That Works

Speakers get down to brass tacks on day two. You’ll hear real-world advice about paid search, brand building, SEO, social media, customer service and more. Other topics include raising capital, women in business, sales and data analytics.

3. Real Life Business Success Stories

Day three is where local business owners talk candidly about how they started and grew their businesses.

Another “bonus” ah-ha moment will likely occur when Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak takes the stage for his keynote.

According to Masjedi, Wozniak will share what it took to create Apple’s culture of innovation, and what other businesses can do to emulate it.

NextCon16 — an ‘Everyone’ Conference

NextCon16 is an “everyone” conference. It’s designed for anyone to get value regardless of role, industry or company size. Students are welcome, too, said Masjedi.

At $499, the price is right for small business, particularly considering NextCon16 spans three full days. Plus, it’s being held in Scottsdale, Arizona, which, in November should be pleasant  just as the weather starts to turn bad elsewhere.

Most sessions will be non-product specific.

“There are tracks for Nextiva partners and customers but that’s not the goal,” Masjedi said. “The bulk of the sessions will apply to any business professional.”

Sessions are divided into four tracks:  building, managing, promoting and profiting in business.

Co-hosted along with the event will be the Rule Breaker Awards ceremony.

NextCon16 takes place at the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, Nov. 14-16, 2016. Learn more at: nextcon.nextiva.com.

 

Steve Wozniak image credit: Nichollas Harrison [GFDL CC BY-SA 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons

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Paul Chaney Paul Chaney is a Staff Writer for Small Business Trends. He covers industry news, including interviews with executives and industry leaders about the products, services and trends affecting small businesses, drawing on his 20 years of marketing knowledge. Formerly, he was editor of Web Marketing Today and a contributing editor for Practical Ecommerce.

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