Free Business Topics in Chicago

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  • Small Business Ownership

    Jennifer Davis, President & Co-Founder, Davisware, Inc.

    Owning your own business can be a challenge. Jennifer, a working mother, shares the fascinating story of her startup with sweat equity and personal growth along the way. Her personal account of what works and what doesn’t, and how to balance it all, is perfect for those in business or with an entrepreneurial spirit. MORE >

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  • Six Sigma and Finance Intersections

    Diane Davidson, Finance Transformation Leader, Clever Fox, LLC

    As a practitioner with a Six Sigma Green Belt, I am seeing demand for Six Sigma principles being used in the Finance industry. Six Sigma is typically viewed as a tool only used for Supply Chain, Logistics or Operations. Finance organizations are using Six Sigma principles such as Value Stream Mapping and Kaizen Events to bring standardization and efficiencies to their business processes. MORE >

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  • Rearchitecting Work: POSSIBILITY PARTNERS UNLEASHING POTENTIAL

    Dianne M. Michels, HR Possibility Partner, Author, Rearchitecting Work Speaker, possibilitypartners.org

    A Blueprint for "Unlocking the Power of Human Resources to Unleash the Potential of Human Beings" . . . enabling organizations to set bold goals that can be achieved with more PREDICTABILITY, INNOVATION, and EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT! MORE >

    Learn about the key paradigm shifts that provide the foundation for the changes in conditions, relationships, cultural norms, and leadership approaches that can transform people's relationship to work from a burden to survive to a possibility to thrive . . . while producing results that meet or exceed revenue, profitability, and growth goals of the enterprise.

    You will be introduced to the 10 design principles that support the paradigm shifting changes in assumptions, beliefs, and behavioral practices that enable people to go beyond learning new skills to expanding their adaptability, flexibility, resiliency, and self-directedness in a world that is increasingly more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

    The 10 design principles include:
    Ch. 1 Alignment between HR and the CEO
    Ch. 2 Unlocking the Power of HR to Unleash the Potential Within Your Workplace
    Ch. 3 The Power of Possibility - "There are no mistakes; only possibilities" Tina Fey
    Ch. 4 Leadership Beliefs and Behaviors that model mutual respect, trust, transparency . . .
    Ch. 5 Inspiring Ownership for Results vs. Holding People Accountable
    Ch. 6 Igniting Results: Expressing Our Value vs. Proving Our Worth
    Ch. 7 Participating, Contributing, Self-Expressing vs. Checking Off Our To Do Lists - "Only do what your heart tells you." Princess Diana
    Ch. 8 Celebrating Diversity as a Competitive Edge!
    Ch. 9 Recruiting: Creating Raving Fans - "Transforming often dreaded interview interrogations into life-affirming conversations.
    Ch. 10 Communications: Creating Psychological Safety so People can Speak Candidly With One Another Regardless of the Hierarchy -
    "Relationships determine the quality of our lives, and conversations determine the quality of our relationships."

    Can be presented virtually via ZOOM.

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  • Preliminary Blocking and Tackling to Start a Debt or Equity Capital Raise

    Barrett Willich, CFO, Bear & Kenmore LLC

    In this presentation, we will do a quick introduction to things to think about and how to start preparing when you are ready to raise debt or equity capital. After this presentation, you will have a better idea of advisors to connect with as well as tasks your internal team can start preparing. We will also walk you through the key milestones of a process. MORE >

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  • Power of Stories for Business

    Valerie Fuson, Author & Certified Speaking Coach, Empowered Speaking

    Whether you are a CEO, entrepreneur, sales professional or business expert, your story is the deciding factor of why people will do business with you. Valerie’s talk shows how to bring your stories to life to attract the ideal client and increase profits.

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  • Optimize Your Customer Journey! Rebuild Your Marketing & Sales Infrastructure For Revenue

    Troy Sandidge, Keynote Speaker • Emcee • Fractional CMO • Podcaster • Author, Strategy Hackers

    Are sales nonexistent? Marketing not working? Have you evaluated your customer journey through the eyes of your customer? Are you optimized to give the right value at every stage? Are your marketing and selling initiatives aligned with revenue-generating activities? Is your business stuck on awareness mode desperately needing to switch to sales, acquisition, and conversions mode? Let's break down how to stop marketing for fans and start marketing and selling to drive revenue! MORE >

    Takeaways:
    • Learn a 5-point customer journey blueprint that you can modify to fit your current situation.
    • Discover how to expand your marketing and sales tactics and effectiveness using your actual customers as advocates.
    • Debunk myths and old "best practices" many businesses still use that's costing sales and repeatable buyers.

    Best For:
    • New Entrepreneurs & Startups Looking To Improve Marketing & Sales ROI
    • Businesses With Small Or No Marketing Team Or An Army-Of-One Marketing Leader
    • New Marketing & Sales Managers for Small Businesses

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  • Non-Profit Business Strategies

    Lea Ann Skogsberg, Founder, Dollars and Sense

    With 30 years experience, Lea Ann offers customized talks on using social media, blogging, endowment, creating access for middle income donors, fundraising, new business models, grantwriting and trends across sectors.

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  • Navigating Disruptive Change: Communicating you Care in the Moments that Matter

    Linda Carlisle, Founder, Fractional Comms & Culture Advisor, COMM-ext, LLC

    Navigating change is a high risk in the best of times. In a world where 2/3 of the American Workforce is Disengaged, disruptive organizational change can be catastrophic. But what if there were a way to navigate change while simultaneously re-engaging and re-energizing your people and building a high-performing culture? The secret to navigating disruptive change while building the high-performance culture of tomorrow is effectively communicating that you care in the moments that matter. MORE >

    In this talk, we will explore the many people-related risks that organizations face when navigating the inevitable change they will face in today's fast-paced business environment and a handful of earnest, high-integrity communication techniques that will help your people navigate change while maintaining high psychological safety and rebuilding their engagement, alignment, and excitement about your company and their work.
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  • Murder by Meeting: Reviving the Workplace One Meeting at a Time

    Marie Genevieve Pawlak, CEO, Prime Alchemy a division of Planning101 Group

    Life is too short to be killed by meetings! Whether virtual or in-person, meetings should be an opportunity to connect, learn, encourage, and get things done. So, how do you make your meetings better for everyone? MORE >

    In this fun and engaging talk, we'll dive into the seven ways people unknowingly sabotage meetings and, more importantly, how to stop them. You will laugh, cry, and maybe even admit that you’ve been guilty of a few meeting crimes yourself. But don’t worry, we’re here to help!

    Join us to discover:

    The seven deadly meeting sins that drain energy and productivity.
    Practical tips to transform your meetings into productive, engaging sessions.
    Techniques to foster better communication and collaboration, whether virtual or in-person.
    Real-life examples of meeting makeovers that have led to remarkable results.

    By the end of this session, you'll walk away with a clear action plan to make your next meeting not just good but great. Say goodbye to boring, ineffective meetings and hello to a more vibrant, productive workplace!

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  • Millennials Are Uniquely Designed for Innovation. Now If I Could Just Understand Them!

    Pamela Bozeman-Evans, Founder & Senior Consultant, ProPlanProject

    Our 21st century problems are very complex and require our best and brightest to solve them. Millennials are uniquely prepared for the challenge. Their parents have positioned them for success and they will boldly transform our world. MORE >

    While this should be exciting news for the corporate and nonprofit community, today's multi-generational workplace struggles to find the sweet spot between Gen X experience and Gen Y exploration. Pamela Bozeman-Evans describes the myths and realities of multi-generational workplaces, and offers best management practices for the "new norm".
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