Event Notices From July 12

Social Media & Career Search for Engineers & Technical Professionals: Learning how to use social media these days is as easy as turning on a computer. However, customizing social media to suit individual skills and needs takes a bit more work and know-how. The Engineering Society of Detroit will hold a Social Media and Career Search for Engineers and Technical Professionals on Wednesday, July 21 from 8 to 10 a.m. at ESD's headquarters in Southfield. Presented by Hajj E. Flemings, Michigan Tech MBA online program ambassador, This workshop will focus on teaching engineers and technical professionals how to use social media as a career strategy and development tool. Attendees will learn to rewire themselves using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and blogs to connect with companies and identify new career opportunities. Topics covered include establishing a blog as a resume; developing a strong LinkedIn strategy; building your social network before you need it; defining your online personal brand as a career strategy; learning how to listen, engage, and participate online; and learning how to use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and others social channels for career advancement. The cost, which includes a light continental breakfast, is $15 for ESD members and $25 for non-members. For more information or to register, visit www.esd.org.  

Ann Arbor NEF to hear wild success stories: Ann Arbor's New Enterprise Forum will meet Thursday, July 15 for its seventh annual session on "Unusual Entrepreneurs Share Wild Success Stories!" Attendees will hear from a panel of creative, inventive entrepreneurs who have discovered and capitalized upon unusual or untapped market needs to build sucessful businesses. Panelists include Bruce Baker, founder and CEO of Radius Garden. Baker a lifelong gardener with a special interest in bonsais -- and tools. A business colleague's injury while working "as directed" with gardening tools convinced him there was a marketplace niche for better "ergonomically designed" gardening implements. He developed and patented the design of such tools and founded the company in 2004. Also speaking will be Ryan L. Everson, founder and CEO of Computer Doctors Inc. Everson founded Computer Doctors in Davison just days after graduating from Davison High School in June 2008. Soon after, he moved from the original location to a larger, higher-profile location that spurred strong sales growth. For added marketing power, he also purchaed a used ambulance and fitted it with the business logo to make house calls for pick-up and repair. Needless to say, customers and the public remember the company name. The third speaker is James Marks, founder and creative director of VGKids. The company began as vegan grocery in Pontiac that sold sold snacks and groceries in the front of the store, distributed records and zines in the back, and hosted punk shows in the basement. The folks who volunteered and hung out at VG became known as VG Kids. In 1999, the grocery closed and VGKids was reborn in Ypsilanti as a screen printing business -- amd much more. The fourth speaker is Derek Mehraban, co-founder of Ingenex Digital Marketing and LA2M (Lunch Ann Arbor Marketing). Ingenex is a digital marketing agency that focuses on producing results through social media marketing, Web design, internet marketing, digital public relations, and web analytics. To reach future leaders, Mehraban also teaches a New Media Drivers License Course at Michigan State University that focuses on using blogs, social media, and digital public relations to grow a personal or company brand. The moderator is Carrie Hensel, co-founder of Circle Media. Hensel is the company's lead designer, director of creative endeavors, queen of networking, and prime minister of marketing and sales. She is also responsible for determining and meeting the company's business objectives and guiding company strategy and growth. Also, this month's NEF Showcase Presenter will be Ian Dailey, CEO of Ix Innovations. The company has developed a low-voltage instrument for use in the development of small electronic devices such as hearing aids and headphones. The event begins with registration and networking at 5 p.m. with the program beginning at 5:45 p.m. The venue is the usual: Holiday Inn North Campus, 3600 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor. The event is free to NEF members, $20 for non-members and $5 for students. Note that a repaving project has begun on Plymouth Road between Nixon and 23, right in front of the Holiday Inn. Please plan for possible delays in arriving for the meeting! More at www.NewEnterpriseForum.org.

Clean Cities meet to talk hydraulic hybrids: A special Clean Cities - Clean Energy Coalition session featuring John Kargul, director of technology transfer for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, will be held Wednesday, July 28 from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Ypsilanti Library, 5577 Whittaker Road in Ypsilanti. The meeting will cover hydraulic hybrids, a homegrown green technology designed in Ann Arbor and launching in the community this month. The meeting is free and open to the public. Coffee and bagels will be provided. To RSVP, contact Lisa Warshaw at warshaw@cec-mi.org or (888) 818-0987, ext. 711.

KVCC to host social media forum: The explosion in social-media technology and its use in business will be explored in a 90-minute "Focus Forum" at the Michigan Technical Education Center at Kalamazoo Valley Community College on Wednesday, July 28. How such innovations as Twitter, podcasts, Facebook, Linkedin and blogging can positively impact an enterprise's bottom line will be detailed at "Leveraging Social Media for Business" from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The fee is $30. The trio of presenters will be Ray Davidson, assistant professor of computer information technology at Purdue University – Calumet; Mary Jo Asmus, owner and president of Aspire Collaborative Services; and Kevin Brozovich, owner and president of HRM Innovations. They will define social media, suggest which of its forms are most effective for business and how each can play a role in the workplace, how it can be leveraged to enhance business communications, and why companies need a policy for social media. Davidson will paint the social-media landscape, while Asmus and Brozovich will explain how these innovations are being used in their day-to-day business activities. The program will be prefaced by a 15-minute breakfast at 8:45 a.m. and include a question-and-answer session. The M-TEC of KVCC is located on the college's Groves Campus at 7107 Elm Valley Drive, which is off of 9th Street just south of I-94. Visit www.mteckvcc.com for online registration and driving directions. Other information is available by calling (269) 353-1275 or 353-1257.