Event Archives

Craig Saxton, Founder, Specialty's Café & Bakery
Date: Friday, February 17, 2012
Location: San Ramon

Alliance member Craig Saxton, Founder & CEO of Specialty's Café & Bakery, joined us at our East Bay Regional meeting to share his experiences in building Specialty’s into a successful restaurant business with a unique business model.

Chip Conley, Founder, Joie de Vivre Hospitality
Date: Friday, February 10, 2012
Location: San Francisco

Chip Conley, Founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality and author of “Rebel Rules," “Marketing Matters,” and “How Great Companies Get Their MOJO from Maslow" joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  Chip is a CEO who possesses both a brilliant business mind and a very big heart.

George Halvorson, Chairman & CEO, Kaiser Permanente
Date: Friday, November 11, 2011
Location: San Francisco

George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, joined us for this regional Alliance meeting.  Kaiser Permanente is the nation’s largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, serving about 8.7 million members and generating more than $42 billion in annual revenue. 

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John Hamm, General Partner, Venture Strategy Group
Date: Friday, August 19, 2011
Location: San Ramon

We were pleased to welcome back John Hamm for our keynote discussion. John is an advisor to leaders of all types of organizations worldwide – and has a diverse background as an operating executive, a start-up CEO, a venture capital investor, a leadership coach and an advisor/board member to dozens of technology companies. His newest book, Unusually Excellent, is an essential resource for leaders that brings the fundamentals of leadership together in a new and comprehensive way.

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Rob Majteles, Founder, Treehouse Capital
Date: Friday, August 12, 2011
Location: Santa Clara

Former Alliance member, Rob Majteles discussed the art of "Board of Director Brainstorming" and how Board Members should seek to add value.  Rob often serves as an active board member for the companies in Treehouse's portfolio.  Prior to Treehouse, Rob was the CEO who led his teams to turn around CAMAX Systems (CAD/CAM software) and ULTRADATA (banking software) from near ruin and were successfully sold to larger, strategic buyers.

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Gary Kovacs, CEO, Mozilla Corporation
Date: Friday, June 03, 2011
Location: Santa Clara

Gary Kovacs, the CEO of Mozilla Corporation joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  Gary is responsible for leading the overall direction of the organization and the Firefox Web browser.

John Keagy, CEO, GoGrid
Date: Friday, May 20, 2011
Location: San Ramon

Fellow Alliance member John Keagy, CEO of GoGrid joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting. Cloud computing is one of the hottest new trends and John is a pioneer in the internet infrastructure industry. GoGrid is a global leader in cloud and hybrid infrastructure hosting. John discussed his thoughts on what cloud computing will mean for our industries and our businesses. 

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Paul Limbrey, CEO, Elkiem USA
Date: Friday, May 13, 2011
Location: San Ramon

High-performance researcher and consultant Paul Limbrey joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  Paul discussed methods for improving the performance of an organization based on his very latest research into performance pressure and stimulating improved outcomes from teams.

Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte, Inc.
Date: Friday, April 01, 2011
Location: Santa Clara

Nancy Duarte is an American writer and graphic designer. She is particularly known for her book slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, and as the founder of Duarte Design, one of the largest design firms in Silicon Valley. Duarte also received an award for Mountain View Woman of the Year. She also was the one who changed the slides Al Gore had originally into the documentary slide show known as An Inconvenient Truth.

Charlene Li, Founder, Altimeter Group
Date: Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Location: San Francisco

Charlene Li, founder of the Altimeter Group and the author of the New York Times bestseller, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  She is also the coauthor of the critically acclaimed, bestselling book Groundswell, which was named one of the best business books in 2008.

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James White, CEO, Jamba Juice
Date: Friday, November 19, 2010
Location: San Ramon

Fellow Alliance member James White joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  James joined Jamba Juice in 2008 as President and Chief Executive Officer. Previously, James was Senior Vice President of Consumer Brands for Safeway and was Senior Vice President of Business Development, Gillette North America. James also held executive and management roles with Nestle Purina Petcare Company and the Coca Cola Company.

Prasad Kaipa, Ph.D., Founder, Kaipa Group
Date: Friday, November 12, 2010
Location: San Francisco

Dr. Prasad Kaipa,who has evolved a refreshingly unique approach to Executive Coaching and Education, joined us for this regional Alliance meeting. By combining Business, Science & Technology and Spirituality, Prasad has developed an integrated framework to "Ignite the Genius Within" executives. Prasad discussed "Leadership in the Age of Scarcity."

Bob Johansen, Author, "Leaders Make the Future"
Date: Friday, October 01, 2010
Location: Santa Clara

Futurist, Distinguished Fellow with the Institute for the Future, and author of the visionary book Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World, Bob Johansen, joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  Bob discussed how leaders must adapt from the chaotic world of today to the uncertain, but challenging world of tomorrow. He also discussed the importance of understanding the technological, economic, societal and environmental trends and how recognizing them is not only the key to success but survival.

Eamonn Kelly, CEO, Global Business Network
Date: Friday, August 20, 2010
Location: San Ramon

Eamonn Kelly, CEO of Global Business Network, the renowned California-based, future-oriented network and consulting firm, and a partner of the Monitor Group joined us for this regional Alliance meeting.  Eamonn is the author of “Powerful Times” and led an in-depth discussion about his views of the future.

Mike Depatie, CEO, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurants
Date: Friday, August 13, 2010
Location: San Francisco

Alliance member, Mike Depatie, CEO of Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, spoke to our SF members about how he developed his philosophies on focusing on hiring the right employees and creating a culture where employees will be happy and, as a result, delight their customers.  Kimpton Hotels have regularly earned #1 ratings for customer satisfaction in their industry.

Avery Lyford, Partner, Blueprint Growth Partners
Date: Friday, August 06, 2010
Location: Santa Clara

Alliance member, Avery Lyford, Partner with Blueprint Growth Partners, led a discussion with our South Bay members about the seven essentials to achieve exponential growth. Avery was a contributor to David Thomson's recent book, Blueprint to a Billion.

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Andrew Meikle, Human Performance Researcher
Date: Friday, June 04, 2010
Location: Santa Clara

High-performance researcher and consultant Andrew Meikle joined us for this Regional Alliance meeting.  Andrew discussed methods for improving the performance of an organization based on his very latest research into performance pressure and stimulating improved outcomes from teams.  Andrew’s professional career began in 1988 when he was one of only 12 contracted athletes in the original Uncle Toby’s Ironman Series. Whilst he enjoyed considerable success as an ironman – consistently placing in the top 10 – the podium proved mostly elusive. And so began a quest to understand fully the dynamics of human high performance and what sets the highest achievers apart.

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Noah Alper, Founder, Noah's Bagels
Date: Friday, May 21, 2010
Location: San Ramon

Founder of Noah's Bagels.  Noah has almost four decades of business experience. He is a serial entrepreneur, whose experience includes concept creation, marketing, retailing, food service and sales management.   He is the author of Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today's Entrepreneur.

Paul Kingsman, Executive Coach
Date: Friday, May 14, 2010
Location: San Francisco

Paul Kingsman is an Olympic medalist in swimming, and since retiring from competitive swimming, he has applied the same success habits he developed in sport to business.  He has achieved big results with some of the world’s best known companies, both in his New Zealand and in the U.S. He’s managed Speedo New Zealand and worked as a high net-worth advisor for both Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

Nilofer Merchant, CEO, Rubicon Consulting
Date: Friday, April 02, 2010
Location: Santa Clara

Nilofer Merchant, CEO, Rubicon Consulting, is a sought after global high-tech industry thought leader and trusted strategic advisor for companies such as Adobe, Symantec and VMWare.  She is the author of the book, "The New How," which is about how people and companies can collaborate.