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10 Reasons to Attend the AUTM 2015 Annual Meeting

By Gayatri Varma posted 12-03-2014 10:14

  
The AUTM 2015 Annual Meeting takes place Feb. 22 – 25 in New Orleans. Register before December 16 and save $175 off the onsite registration. I could probably come up with 101 reasons for you to attend the Annual Meeting, but I know you're all busy making your plans to attend, so I'll stick to my favorite few.

1) Networking
If you've been to an AUTM Annual Meeting, you know what I'm talking about. 70 percent of attendees agree with me and say they come back, year after year, primarily for the excellent networking opportunities. If you haven't been to an AUTM Annual Meeting yet, what are you waiting for! And once you are signed up for the meetings, don’t forget to sign up for the bourbon tasting event too!

2) You'll gain a new superpower
Do you ever have days where you wish you had the power to be in more than one place at one time? Well, at the AUTM Annual Meeting, you can. This year each attendee will get access to all of the session recordings. Now you won't have to choose between two great sessions happening at the same time. Just don’t tell your boss, they might expect you to do this on your return from the meetings.

3) Get inspired on why and how great ideas happen!
The AUTM Annual Meeting is known for offering top-notch keynote speakers and industry experts. This year is certainly no exception. Our keynote speaker, Steven Johnson, is a bestselling author with unmatched insight into how ideas emerge and spread and how they affect the world today. Johnson’s work on the history of innovation has inspired a six-part series on PBS: HOW WE GOT TO NOW.

4) Freebies!
This year AUTM is offering four free mini-courses which will allow you to sample AUTM Professional Development courses. These 3-hour mini-courses will help you decide if a particular course is right for you, helping you make more informed decisions on your future professional development choices.

5) AUTM meets Shark Tank
During the business plan competition, which takes place during the Venture Forum on Tuesday, our panel of seasoned venture investors will judge university-related startup companies as they compete for a $10,000 cash prize. A little birdie told me this year the competition is fierce! The business plan competition offers a unique opportunity to learn what makes a successful pitch. Learn what worked, what didn’t, and why so you can better your own pitching technique. As an added bonus, the AUTM Venture Forum offers an excellent opportunity to hear from, and interact with, some of the top institutional and corporate venture investors in the country.

6) Get the inside scoop from industry
Get the inside scoop on the technologies that interest industry! At the Industry-Academia Partnering Forum, companies provide 5-minute presentations about their technology interests. Your next licensee might be presenting! After the reverse showcase, attend the reception, or reach out for some one-on-one partnering using AUTM Connect.

7) RTTP, CLP, CLE
The AUTM Annual Meeting offers a lot of choices for taking your career to the next level. The meeting offers RTTP credits for those pursuing Registered Technology Transfer Professional designation, CLP credits for those pursuing the Certified Licensing Professional designation, and CLE for attorneys pursuing Continuing Legal Education. Learn more!

8) Learn how startups are built and entrepreneurs are taught
At the Fireside Chat, Steve Blank discusses customer discovery, lean startups and the I-Corps program. His bestselling book The Startup Owner’s Manual is credited with launching the Lean Startup movement. Blank’s hands-on Lean LaunchPad class was adopted by the National Science Foundation to train the nation’s top scientists and engineers to take their ideas out of the university lab and into the commercial marketplace and has since expanded to many other agencies and institutions.

9) Add on courses
Add a professional development course to your registration and pack in even more learning! Full-day pre-meeting courses include:

AUTM Marketing CourseSM
AUTM Startup Business Development CourseSM
AUTM Technology Valuation CourseSM
AUTM Negotiation CourseSM

You can learn more about the add-on courses here.

10) New Orleans is more than Mardi Gras
New Orleans is one of America's most culturally and historically-rich destinations. Steeped in a history of influences from Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and beyond, New Orleans is home to a truly unique melting pot of culture, food and music. Click here to learn more about all that New Orleans has to offer, but don’t forget to get a Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s!

See you in New Orleans!
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