Morning Recharge: Walk trails, yoga, tennis

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Attendee Breakfast

Framing the Future: Leadership for a Time of Discontinuity
John Kao - Leading authority on innovation, business creativity, organizational transformation and emerging technologies, and author, Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity 

Disruption has become an all-to-familiar term in the management lexicon, but it is even more accurate to describe ours as an era of discontinuity, one in which old maps no longer suffice and we are challenged to create new ones in order to successfully navigate towards an uncertain future.

To read more about this presentation, click here. 

Leadership Story Spotlight
Sheila Talton - President & CEO, Gray Matter Analytics; Board Director, John Deere, Sysco Foods, OGE

View from the Top
Akin C. Ceylan - COO Home Entertainment & Global Content Delivery, Lionsgate Entertainment
Theresa Miller - Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Information Technology, Lionsgate Entertainment

We’ll enjoy a “fireside chat” with the COO and CIO of a major entertainment industry player on the front lines of digital disruption.  They will share with us how COOs and other C-suite executives view the intersection of business strategy, technology, and leadership in the midst of sweeping industry wide disruption.

Transition Break
 

TechChella Where Technology Leaders Gather 

Wear your best festival attire!

SIM & TechServe Celebration & Opening Reception 

SIM & TechServe come together to celebrate (and contribute) to the SIM Foundation programs that support the development of technology workers – a valued and shared interest by all of us.  

You will enjoy a night of exceptional networking, fine food and drink and wonderful entertainment under the stars of the California desert. 

Nightcap Reception
If you're not quite ready to call it a night, join us at the bar after dinner for informal networking. 

SIM Chapter Leader's Breakfast
 

Executive Summit & Talent Forum Opening  
The New Normal: Recruiting and Retaining Technical Talent in an Age of Disruption 

Mark Roberts, CEO, TechServe Alliance
Mark Taylor, CEO, Society of Information Management (SIM)

The pandemic has wrought tremendous disruption to the business landscape and the world of work.  Against the backdrop of the perennial shortage of technical talent, the expectations of IT and engineering professionals have changed dramatically.  Mark Roberts of TechServe Alliance and Mark Taylor of SIM will kick-off the discussion of the key trends impacting the recruiting and retention of technical talent: 

• Increased expectations of IT and engineering professionals to dictate how, when, and where they will work     

• The challenge of maintaining company culture in remote and hybrid work environments 

• Expectations of greater workforce diversity and social responsibility    

General Session
The IT Talent Challenge: IT Leaders and Staffing Executives Speak
Panel of CIO (Chief Information Officer) and Staffing Leaders

Moderators: 

• Mark Roberts - CEO, TechServe Alliance  
• Mark Taylor - CEO, SIM  

Panelists: 

• Sunny Ackerman - President/Americas, SThree  
• Erica Hausheer - CIO, Teradata1  
• Joel Leege - EVP & Chief Strategy Officer, Randstad   
• Lance Ralls - Chief Technology Officer, ThreeSixty Group   

While many of the fundamental drivers of success in business remain constant, the environment in which technology leaders and staffing and solutions firms operate has changed dramatically.     

In this candid discussion moderated by the leaders of Society for Information Management and TechServe Alliance, CIOs and IT staffing executives will focus on how best to respond to and leverage the seismic shift in the business and employment landscape including the ‘Great Reassessment.’ employee demands for remote work, and the unprecedented difficulty in hiring and retaining internal teams and technical talent.      
   

Executive Women's Lunch 
A must attend networking event that brings together executive women leaders. Hear personal and professional stories of triumph and participate in roundtable hot topic discussions. TechServe will be inviting women executives from the SIM community to join us for this important networking opportunity. 

Sponsored by:   

TechTalent IMPACT! Talks 

Fast paced, IMPACT! Talks feature three compelling speakers sharing powerful ideas in the space of 60 minutes. These brief high impact talks are designed to disrupt ordinary thinking and inspire you to reimagine what is possible.

"She'll be Ready. Will you?"

• Sandy Marshall - Founder/CEO, Project Scientist  

Diversity of thought drives innovation. Achieving gender equality is important for workplaces not only because it is the right thing to do, but because it is fundamental to our nation’s economic performance. Organizations such as Project Scientist are preparing a powerful new generation of young women to be STEM leaders. Are you positioned to attract and retain the next generation of female STEM innovators? 

The Journey of the Athlete

• Ryan Drummond - VP of Employer Partnerships, Game Plan 

The scarcity of tech talent has pushed the concept of hiring for skills and potential rather than just educational background or degree to the forefront. There’s no doubt that athletes possess highly desirable workplace skills, honed on and off the field, like critical thinking and strong communication. But with all that time spent training and competing, it is challenging to reach and recruit them when they are ready to transition to the workforce.    

Ryan Drummond, VP of Employer Partnerships at Game Plan, focuses on life after athletics for about 150,000 athletes and works with employers who want to establish a talent pipeline from college and professional athletics. In this session, Ryan will share his personal story to illustrate the mutual value both companies and athletes receive when they engage with one another.    

Minus The Illusion

• Torin Ellis – Corporate Diversity Strategist 

Minus The Illusion is a mashup of all things corporate from EEOC statements and press releases to employee engagement and vanity metrics that some refer to as people analytics.  Truth is far too many have fallen short and this comes back to leadership.  This conversation is about high expectations and trust - neither of which are nebulous. Minus The Illusion is the one talk that will change your relationship with power.

These breakout sessions address important issues of both IT leaders and tech staffing executives. Smaller by design, these educational sessions allow an opportunity to engage in candid conversations and to connect with speakers and attendees in both communities.   

Breakout 1: Combating Candidate and Credentials Fraud in Tech Hiring 

Moderator: Mike Hammond - Attorney, HMN - Hammond Neal Moore 

Panelists:

• Karen Moore – Senior Vice President, Veremark 

• Sean Slater - VP, Client Service and Delivery, Brixton Group 

• Matthew Ripaldi, CEO, Talent Group 

With IT talent in short supply and the explosion of remote work, the incidence of candidate and credentials fraud has increased dramatically.  From exaggerated credentials and candidate impersonation to a hostile state actor intent on cyber intrusion and IP theft, the consequences range from the merely disruptive to the catastrophic. 

During this session, the panel will outline the scope of a problem that plagues both internal IT organizations and technology staffing firms alike. The discussion will then turn to successful strategies being employed to combat candidate fraud including new technologies that hold the promise of leveling the playing field with those intent on deception.   

Breakout 2: Transcending the Transactional Relationship: Cultivating Partnerships 

Moderator: Mark Taylor – CEO, Society for Information Management (SIM) 

Panelists: 

• Mark Griesbaum - Managing Partner, Affinity4U, LLC

• Eugene Holtzman – CEO, Mitchel Martin Inc. 

• Surej KP – President, Intelliswift Software, Inc. 

• Lance Ralls - Chief Technology Officer, ThreeSixty Group 

A good supplier meets a client’s needs with good service in a cost-effective manner.  But what does it take to transcend being merely a good supplier to becoming a truly valued partner?  What qualities and behaviors are sought by clients? Similarly, what can clients do to enable their staffing firms to be more effective and deliver greater value?  In this candid conversation, IT leaders and staffing firm executives will explore what each party can do to move beyond transactional relationships to cultivate true partnerships.     
 

Breakout 3: The Role of DEI and ESG in Recruiting 

Moderator: Dan Fellows – CEO, Get Optimal 

Panelists: 

• Torin Ellis – Diversity Strategist 

• Bertina Ceccarelli - CEO, NPower  

• Marina Perla – CEO, Mojo Trek  

• Caren Shiozaki  - CIO, Fortium Partners 

While a discussion of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and Environment, Social & Governance (ESG) are part of most corporate mission statements, what it means in practice varies widely.  From how compliance and progress within IT organizations and among their suppliers are measured, to the relative emphasis of DEI and ESG among other corporate priorities, expectations can often be murky and sometimes lack measurable accountability.   

In this candid discussion, we will hear from both IT leaders and staffing firm executives on how they have engaged on these issues internally and within the context of the client-supplier relationship.  Going beyond catchphrases, the panel will explore the expectations by various stakeholders, including their workforce, to adopt socially conscious policies and practices. The session will also delve into the potential impact of DEI and ESG policies on the pool of qualified candidates in the face of the perennial shortage of technical talent.  

Breakout 4: Introducing the Most In-demand IT & Engineering Job Skills for 2023: Building a Pipeline to Meet Today's Talent Need  

Presenter: Peter Velikin – CMO, CEIPAL 

Today’s talent shortage spans every industry, but it has hit the technology and engineering sectors especially hard. This shortage, particularly in the tech industries, is better understood as a skills shortage, rather than just lack of candidates, resulting from rapid digital transformation in the wake of a pandemic, which has changed the way we work. So, what are these highly desirable skills that employers are searching for in the Engineering and IT industries and which are the most in-demand skills for 2023? CEIPAL, an AI-powered total talent acquisition platform, analyzed data from over 10,000 candidates to answer that question. In this session, learn the top skills, most coveted job roles, and hottest locations, as well as the latest salary information and other hiring insights to ensure your recruiting efforts lead to more successful placements in the year ahead.   
 

Ryan Jenkins, Generations Keynote Speaker, Millennial and Gen Z Author, Workplace Loneliness Expert 

Connectable: How Leaders at Any Level Can Move Teams from Isolated to All In 

Remote work, advancing technology, and an always-on work culture are fracturing our relationships resulting in deep disconnection. A colossal 72% of global workers feel lonely at least monthly; with 55% saying at least weekly. Feelings of isolation and loneliness among employees are on the rise, and contribute to a real and growing mental health problem that affects both individuals and organizations. You’ll learn how addressing the issues―and finding practical, effective solutions―can transform an isolated workforce to one that’s happier, more engaged, and more productive in their efforts. 

Combining a decade of leadership consulting and firsthand workplace loneliness research, Ryan Jenkins distills everything you need, showing you what’s causing today’s loneliness, the role inclusion plays in solving it, and how you can decrease loneliness and increase belonging, engagement, retention, and performance with employees at every level―including yourself.  

Audiences Gain: 

• An awareness of loneliness, the modern causes, and its impact on business. 

• Ability to identify workers in need of belonging and how to deliver it for them. 

• The 4-step Less Loneliness Framework™ to create connected, driven, and high-performing teams.