May 1, 2013
Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver

Roundtable Topics:

A Venting Renaissance

Discussion: Venting is having a renaissance, perhaps as a result of technology, art & culture, tides of geopolitical change and removal of barriers to free expression. Venting takes on a wide range of forms, from consumer feedback, product reviews and employee performance ratings to freedom of political expression, online date-rating, copy-cat publishing and combat simulation. We will explore the creation of new businesses spurred by venting, new reputation management challenges and proactive strategies to leverage professional and personal expression.

The Auction Economy

Discussion: Pricing, as an institution, is being overthrown!  Instead, auction-based websites, stopwatch buying, “street bazaar” negotiations, mobile bank app discounts and coupons/alternate currencies are creating business-model revolutions. As a result, the Auction Economy is having enormous implications on producers, marketers and sellers.  We will examine the overall impact: from companies that are shifting business models like IBM, to those moving profitability away from core businesses, to countries like China that are undervaluing currencies, and to those like eBay that have reversed decade-old trends.

Pop-Up Business!

Discussion: “Here one day and gone tomorrow” pop-up stores, ads, office space, food trucks and social destinations are creating a cultural shift. Life span for many corporations has been truncated (witness Blockbuster, Borders and Kodak) and corporate leadership roles often hold less allure than that of “Entrepreneur.”  Mobility and flexibility are all the rage. There is an unexpected, transient quality to the marketplace.

We will discuss how the “pop-up” effect is reshaping the traditional labor market, how companies are creating intra-entrepreneurship opportunities, what the DNA of pop-up talent is all about, and how tricky investments (like crowd-funding) change business consequences.

Business Roundtable: Ideas That Spark the Future of Entrepreneurship

A “town-hall” discussion about the future of business, entrepreneurship, Canada/Asia, Canada and innovation, and more.