Utah Governor's 2008 Economic Summit

I recently attended the Utah Economic Summit in Salt Lake City. In my opinion, this is one of the best economic conferences available for entrpreneurs looking to expand their knowledge about how to further their company. Some of my impressions:

Product Development Coordination

During the first breakout, I attended the Websites and Branding session where one point they emphasized was the coordination of product development, marketing and sales. Marketing of new products occur long-before the product has finished development. Sometimes sales also happens early (similar to building and selling jet airplanes). The important part is that coordintation between all three elements will assist in a successful product release.

Governor Huntsman's Lunch Address

I'll be the first to admit that I like Governor Huntsman. He is a good politician (if that phrase is possible, Governor Hunstman makes it so). His address focused on Utah's positive economic stability. Utah is a good place to do business and many large companies are moving to or new companies are starting in Utah.

Social Networks

The new hipe is social networking and interacting with those social networks. New applications and web programs are being developed all of the time to take advantage of that vast marketplace.

Allow Employees to "Do What They Want"

OK. That statement needs an explanation. I found out that some software development shops allow their engineers to work on their own projects for a certain percentage of their time. For example, Google requires their engineers to spend 20% of their time working on their own projects. Most of the products Google offers were developed by their engineers on their own time. I think that is a really good idea.

Employees as Users

As I mentioned in my blog post Implementing An Unbiased Approach to Software Development there is a disparate usability issue between programmers of a system and users of a system. Requiring (or suggesting) that employees use the systems they develop will actually harmonize what programmers build and what users need. Frankly, an obvious solution to a common problem.

Home Grown Products

The final breakout session I attended focused on Utah grown products. It was interesting to learn the stories of successful entrprepreneurs and how they started. In the end I left the session with a more determined sense of customer service, hard work, and supporting local businesses.

Overall, the conference was a huge success and I look forward to attending next year.