Harris H. Simmons
Chairman & CEO
Zions Bancorporation

Lecture Title: "The Right Start: Building Great Relationships with Your Bankers and Other Financial Constituents"

Harris H. Simmons is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Zions Bancorporation; chairman of Zions First National Bank; and a director of Questar Corporation and O.C. Tanner Co. He was president and chief executive officer of Zions First National Bank prior to 1998 and has been an officer of the Company since 1981. He has been president and chief executive officer of Zions Bancorporation since 1990 and chairman since 2002. Simmons first worked for Zions in 1970 and has served in a variety of positions with Zions First National Bank and Zions Bancorporation in more than 30 years with the organization. He is a graduate of the University of Utah and has an M.B.A. from Harvard University. Simmons is a past president of the American Bankers Association.

John Hartmann
New Media Entrepreneur
Former Manager
'Neil Young, Tracy Chapman, Eagles,
Jackson Browne, America, Poco, CSN&Y,
Ringo Starr, etc.
www.theholodigm.com

Lecture Title: "New Media Entrepreneurship
Strategies for Tomorrow"

John Hartmann began his professional career in the famous mailroom of the William Morris Agency. He later served as the Morris office liason to Colonel Tom Parker the legendary manager of Elvis Presley. A veteran agent, personal manager and record executive, John has provided career direction for such luminaries as Chad & Jeremy, Sonny & Cher, Buffalo Springfield, Canned Heat, Peter, Paul & Mary, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Eagles, Jackson Browne, America, Poco, Ringo Starr and many others. Hartmann is a results oriented operational leader with more than fifty years experience in the entertainment industry. His proven expertise in creating and executing career strategies that integrate the performing, recording, film and television arts is evidenced by the quality of artists he was honored to serve. A serial entrepreneur turned educator, his most recent enterprise theholodigm.com presents an Internet based artist management community dedicated to the discovery and development of the next generation of music superstars. Hartmann lectures in the Recording Arts Program of the School Of Film & Television at Loyola Marymount University where the students voted him Professor Of The Year for 2007." 

Tom Patterson
CEO & President, Wize, Inc.
wize.com
http://tpatterson.typepad.com/tp/

Lecture Title: "Getting Wize:
Making Sense of Web 2.0"

Tom has held strategic positions at Procter and Gamble, PeopleSoft, and Respond.com. In his last operating role, he was the SVP of Technology Development and Operations for MarketTools where he managed them through 5 years of rapid growth. Most recently Tom was an Entrepreneur in Residence with the Mayfield Fund before joining Wize as CEO. Tom has earned a BS from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Chemical Engineering as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School. Tom also sits on the Wize Board of Directors. 

Barbara Grant, Ph.D.
Partner
American River Ventures

Lecture Title: "Emerging Technology Ventures...
What is the next Transformation?"

American River Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm started by and for entrepreneurs passionate about starting great companies. John Kunhart, Harry Laswell and Corley Phillips formed American River Ventures with their extensive networks, decades of experience launching start-ups and working inside major corporations, and a shared passion for starting great businesses. Today the investment team has grown to include five professionals, all entrepreneurs at heart who share the same passion. We have been founders, executives or investors in over 70 early-stage companies, from developing the initial product to growing those companies into profitable businesses.

Dr. Barbara Grant joined American River Ventures in 2004. Over the past three decades, she has acquired management, operational and technology development experience working in both start-up companies and major corporations. Barbara was most recently CEO of Siros Technologies, a Silicon Valley start-up that developed innovative optical components and subsystems for the storage and communications markets, While she was at Siros the company raised over $60 million in funding from top-tier venture capital and corporate investors. Prior to joining Siros, Barbara was at IBM for 21 years where she held several executive positions. Her last position was as a Vice President and General Manager in the Data Storage Division, responsible for a $1B line of business. Over the course of her career, Barbara has developed and introduced more than 50 new products. She is the recipient of eight patents and has authored numerous publications in a variety of technology sectors. In 1996, Barbara was recognized for her accomplishments and elected to the inaugural group of the Women in Technology Hall of Fame.

Barbara is passionate about technology and the role it plays in the enterprise and consumer marketplace. She has led or been a member of teams introducing new lithographic materials for semiconductor manufacturing, the flat panel TFT LCD technology utilized in IBM's ThinkPad product line, numerous data processing printer products, and data storage tape and hard disk drives and storage subsystems. Barbara shares her hands-on experience with portfolio companies to help guide them during the crucial phases of mapping out product requirements, product and production launch, and customer adoption.

Barbara's current board memberships include Agoura Technologies, Integrated Materials, Xponent Photonics and Triformix. She is a member of the Research Advisory Board and The Board of Visitors for the University of California, Davis, as well as a member of the SARTA Board of Directors.

In her spare time, you will find Barbara on the golf course or walking her Black Lab Annie.

Barbara holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Arizona State University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Stanford University.

Ann Winblad
Co-Founder, Partner
Hummer Winblad Venture Partners

Lecture Title: "New Venture Creation: Vision, Strategy, Tactics & Implementation"

Ann Winblad is the co-founding Partner of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners. She is a well-known and respected software industry entrepreneur and technology leader. Her background and experience have been chronicled in many national business and trade publications.

Ann has over 25 years of experience in the software industry. She began her career as a systems programmer at the Federal Reserve Bank. In 1976 Ann co-founded Open Systems, Inc., a top selling accounting software company, with a $500 investment. She operated Open Systems profitably for six years and then sold it for over $15 million. Prior to co-founding Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, Ann served as a strategy consultant for prestigious clients such as IBM, Microsoft, Price Waterhouse, and numerous start-ups. In addition, Ann has co-authored the book Object-Oriented Software and has written articles for numerous publications. Ann received a BA in mathematics and in business administration, as well as an MA in education and international economics from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota. Ann also has an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of St. Thomas.

Ann has served as a Director of start-up and public companies and currently serves as a director of Voltage Security, Krillion and Mulesource. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of St. Thomas and is an advisor to numerous entrepreneur groups.