Sponsored by TechAmerica, the Social Networks and the Enterprise Unite event will showcase how technology company leaders and employees are establishing a new set of best practices to mine, measure and apply online social networking in the technology industry. April 1 at 7:30 a.m. at Multonomah Athletic Club. TechAmerica Members $125, nonmembers $175.

More than just a hot topic and in the news, Social Media, led by its poster children Facebook® and Twitter ®, has quickly become an integral part of our society. While the use of these tools has become pervasive in our social interactions and many companies have integrated these methods into their outbound marketing strategies, there are fewer examples where Social Media has been used to drive innovation within a technology company.

You will hear from both the industry perspective and the media/marketing perspective on how companies are and should be using these new social media tools foster innovation on company products, services, distribution and customer service. They will discuss collaboration, creating community environments, data mining, facilitating customer feedback and how to integrate this information and collaboration into the company’s product/service development culture. Learn to balance the opportunity promised by Social Media with the real need to protect your Intellectual Property.

Join us for this informative breakfast meeting and learn how your organization can make the most of this powerful tool.

Speakers:

• Kent Lewis, President, Anvil Media, Inc. Kent Lewis is responsible for managing operations, marketing and business development to achieve the search engine marketing agency's mission: to be one of the most respected search engine marketing agencies in the world.

• Matt Hixson, Senior Manager, Business Development, Tripwire, Inc. Matt leads the corporate social media strategy and oversees the team dedicated to its implementation. In this capacity, he introduced the first internal blogs within Tripwire to facilitate the exchange of best practices among employees, led the creation of Tripwire’s online user communities and spearheaded the company's presence on Twitter.

• Allan Schrock, Sr. Researcher, Nike, Inc. Allan Schrock works at Nike as a technology researcher in the research and development group known as the “Innovation Kitchen.” He has managed patent prosecution and contract negotiations for Nike as well. Prior to Nike, Allan worked as a patent examiner for the USPTO. He received a BE in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1988.

Event Details: When: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 Time: 7:30 - 10:00 a.m. Where: Oregon Zoo, Portland, Or Cost: $45 TechAmerica Members, $75 Nonmembers To Register: TechAmerica Oregon(503) 624-5715

Thank you Davis Wright Tremaine for sponsoring this event!

The Research and Development Tax Credit – Benefits, Caveats, and Strategies

Recently, The Fiscal Times identified the research and development tax credit as #8 of the 10 largest big corporate tax breaks*. Although over 17,000 companies claim this credit nationwide, 100 large multinationals receive over half of the 7+ billion dollars in savings each year. Find out what your company can do to receive the same level of benefit the Fortune 100 have been receiving for years.

Many medical device, software, and biotech companies eligible to benefit handsomely from this credit have never applied for it, or are only receiving a small fraction of what they are eligible for. R&D credits reimburse the costs associated with a company’s breakthroughs, as well as the day-to-day activities that bring improvements in products, software, processes, profits, and productivity. The research and development credit was enacted to encourage innovation, and applies to activities throughout an organization – from conceptualization, prototyping and production, through testing and the planning of quality control.

Specific coverage will include:

Identifying qualifying activities throughout your company.

Early stage companies - why it is never too early to claim the credit.

How to effectively lower the cost of process improvement, product testing, patent applications, and other activities not commonly considered as R&D.

Credits for contract manufacturing – the companies who design devices and create software aren’t the only ones eligible.

Potential risks and strategies for getting the most out of the credit.

Who should attend:

CFO’s, controllers, in-house counsel, and others involved in financial management.

Accountants and tax attorneys.

Company owners, angel investors, venture capitalists, seed fund managers, and other investors looking to maximize their investment returns.

Patent attorneys, operational consultants, Lean gurus, and test, and design firms interested in educating their clients on a credit that can effectively lower their service costs.

Once again, we're hosting an Esri GeoDev Meetup on Wednesday, November 29th. Food and beverages will be provided at the meet up.

This event is a social gathering for developers to discuss the latest in mapping, geo technology, geo services, web and mobile mapping apps, app design, cloud solutions, map data or anything else related to solving real-world "geo" problems.

Developers of all levels of expertise are welcome, from seasoned GIS professionals to those new to geospatial development.

At these meet ups, you can:

• Meet fellow PDXers.

• Show us what you got by demo'ing your application or framework.

• Make a name for yourself in presenting an cool new/interesting concept or idea.

Impress someone by sharing your experiences.

• If you're sharp with your GIS and developer trivia, you can win some cool Esri swag

• Make BFFs for life - connect with other developers!

Here's what's on the agenda:

5:30 - 6:30 PM Registration and Social (Pizza and Beverages served)

6:30 - 7:00 PM Intro

7:00 - 8:00 PM Lightning talks

8:00 - 8:30 PM Giveaway, Networking and Social. Two great prizes:

• A voucher for 1000 Service Credits for your ArcGIS Online Developer Subscription

• Giveaway of a DevSummit Registration

Follow us on Twitter: @esrigeodev