Next Meeting

Speaker:
Rajat Paharia,

Founder and Chief Product Officer, Bunchball

Wednesday July 6th 2011

Summary:

Gamification is an emerging trend that is influencing product design and marketing programs. If you haven’t heard about it yet, and you are in product marketing or product management, you will. Simply, gamification is adding elements of game mechanics into marketing programs and actual products to more deeply engage the user. These principles have been applied to physical therapy, social sites such as four square, numerous loyalty programs, and user training by Microsoft. Nissan even developed an in dashboard game to motivate fuel efficient driving behavior.

Come hear Rajat Paharia, founder and chief product officer, of leading gamification vendor Bunchball speak on the principles of gamification, best practices in creating compelling gamified experiences, and the results Bunchball has see in real-world implementations. This presentation will get your creative juices flowing and show you how you can use game mechanics to attract users, keep them engaged and turn them into loyal fans.

Speaker Bio:

Rajat Paharia is the founder and Chief Product Officer of Bunchball. Rajat’s skill set combines a unique understanding of technology and design that stems from a four year career at design firm IDEO where he was co-director of the Software Experiences Practice. While there he worked with clients including AT&T Wireless, Avaya, Microsoft, McDonald’s, HP and Philips. Prior to IDEO, Rajat worked at Philips Consumer Electronics, IBM Research and ViewStar. He has a Masters degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, with a focus on Human Computer Interaction, and an undergraduate degree from the University of California Berkeley.

Find out more and register here...

Next Quarterly Workshop

Topic: Presenting with Impact

Saturday June 18th 2011 from 8:30-12:00noon

Speaker:

Mayla Clark, MC Training

Summary:

As product managers, you are judged every day by your ability to communicate clearly and convincingly. When these communications are dynamic and purposeful, you get your ideas and insights across with ease whether speaking to peers, customers, sales or the executive staff.

Do you speak at quarterly business reviews? Your company briefing center? To cross-functional teams or senior level decision makers?

In any high-stakes situation your skill in speaking with impact and conviction helps you complete complex projects, gain needed support and acquire critical resources.

In “Presenting with Impact,” Mayla provides you with proven presentation strategies and real-time feedback to show what it takes to immediately establish your credibility and competence with key stakeholders.

SESSION TOPICS

You will Learn

1. A five-step process to reduce the stress of planning and organizing a presentation.
2. Tools to help you deliver your presentation in an engaging and authentic manner
3. How to unlock the power of visuals (PowerPoint/Keynote) to enhance, not overwhelm, your message

You will leave this workshop with a specific template for planning your next presentation as well as a detailed checklist for assessing your strengths as a presenter and areas to improve. You will also receive a copy of Mayla’s new article,“Dull to Dynamic, Cluttered to Compelling. Communicating Effectively with PowerPoint.”

*** Optional – Bring 2-3 slides on a flash drive to present to the group. You will receive constructive feedback and a DVD of your talk. We encourage you to do this – you will get a lot out of it!

Speaker Bio:   
For over 20 years, Mayla Clark has helped thousands of accomplished professionals communicate more skillfully to meet their critical business challenges. She specializes in working with corporate, legal, non-profit and university leaders. Her clients include Apple, Breast Cancer Connections, Cisco Systems, Echelon, McManis Faulkner Law, NetApp, Rambus, Stanford University, Sun Microsystems (now Oracle), WL Gore Medical and Yahoo. She has taught in the Business & Management programs at U.C. Berkeley, Davis and Santa Cruz and was an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University for 10 years where her 11-week course, “Effective Oral Technical Presentation Skills,” was part of the MBA curriculum for engineers.

WHAT OTHERS SAY

“Mayla provided the perfect mix of positive and critical feedback, helping me refine both the content and delivery of my presentation to 1,400 attendees at our technical conference.” Vice President, NetApp

“Mayla’s coaching style of working to an individual’s natural strengths makes this program one that delivers results every time!” Learning & Development Manager, Rambus, Inc.

“I’m convinced working with Mayla got us off on the right foot.” Author, Forces for Good, one of Economist Magazine’s Top Ten Books of 2007

Find out more and register here...

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