Tenth Annual Business Forum

The 10th Annual Business Forum will be held in Charlottesville on December 6 and 7, 2007, at the Darden School of Business. Workshops include Transforming Ideas into Enterprises, Delivering Innovation through Social Networking, Information Tsunami – Email to Twitter and Beyond, and Crash & Learn – Anatomy of a Failure.

The keynote speaker will be Frank Cappiello, who will present his take on The New American Economy – A View from Wall Street. The Friday morning panelists for Live Fire - The Angel Round represent three of the top angel groups in the United States, from Connecticut, Ohio and New York.

The Charlottesville Venture Group has put on this conference for the past nine years. This year's event is presented by the combined resources of the Charlottesville Venture Group and the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council. On October 2nd, the group will announce their new name, and celebrate their joint venture.

UPDATE: The 11th Annual Business Forum is scheduled for October 30 and 31, 2008. For more information about the CVG Annual Business Forums see the Annual Business Forum blog. For program and registration, see Virginia Annual Business Forums.

Charlottesville Podcasts

The Charlottesville Podcasting Network has a great new look. Recent podcasts include Part Two of an interview with Dean Robert Bruner talking about the future of the UVA Darden School of Business and the upcoming academic year. (Part One of the interview)

Earlier this month, Coy Barefoot interviewed Michael Belfiore, author of the new book, Rocketeers: How a Visionary Band of Business Leaders, Engineers, and Pilots Is Boldy Privatizing Space. They discuss the future of the emerging private industry of space exploration, and competitions like the X-Prize. The October 2007 X-Prize competition is the Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

Open Source Retreat

The folks at Open Source Connections have just announced an open source Retreat in Charlottesville, beginning at the end of August. Their course description for Multigen Creator, by visualization master and course instructor Dean Abernathy, is exceptional. Professor Abernathy is best known for overseeing the modeling for Rome Reborn.

The Friends of BGN get a $750 discount for the August courses. There are more details at BGNentrepreneur.

2007 VPTC-CVG Tech Awards

The Virginia Piedmont Technology Council-Charlottesville Venture Group announced the 2007 Tech Award winners last night at their Farmington Gala banquet.

The Rocket Award, sponsored by Environ of Charlottesville, went to ADI Engineering for their speed in moving from concept toward commercialization.

The Spotlight Award, sponsored by the University of Virginia, went to SNL Financial for actions spotlight the Virginia Piedmont as a world-class technology leader.

The Breakthrough Award, sponsored by CIT for a remarkable breakthrough or quantum advance, went to DiaKine Therapeutics.

The Navigator Award, sponsored by Barton Malow, went to Richard Crawford, founder of Virginia Active Angels Network (VAAN), for significant leadership in the local or regional high-tech community.

The Red Apple Award, sponsored by the University of Virginia, went to Paula White, Crozet Elementary School, for doing the most with resources available in exciting and preparing students for the possibilities in technology. Paula White will also receive the Keiter Stephens Tobey $2,500 Technology in Education Grant.

VPTC Chairman Gary Henry was honored with the Community Award, sponsored by NTELOS, for demonstrating commitment to improving the quality of life in Central Virginia through community involvement.

The new 2007 Chairman's Award went to VPTC Board members Dave Keller (NTELOS), Tracy Linkous (Diffusion Pharmaceuticals), and Michael Latsko (Explore Learning).

A Special Judges Award went to Red Apple Award finalist Larry G. Richards of UVA Engineering who has been bringing Engineering Kits into middle school science and math classes through the Virginia Middle School Engineering Education Initiative.

UPDATE: Brian McNeill's Daily Progress article on the event.

VPTC+CVG Tech Awards Gala

VPTC+CVG , the technology and entrepreneurship-focused business alliance in Central Virginia, is preparing for this Tech Awards Gala honoring the individuals and organizations who have made noteworthy contributions to the marketplace and community in the past year, through the creation, commercialization, or application of technology.

Come see what Crutchfield, Blue Ridge Numerics, M•CAM, Adenosine Therapeutics, Frontline Test Equipment, the Neon Guild, Dr. Frank Friedman, Sen. Emily Couric, and Jim Lansing have in common!

For detailed event information, see VPTC+CVG, BGNentrepreneur or