We’re going to be changing things up at the March Mass Innovation Nights a little bit. Here are our featured experts for the evening. We’re doing away with the sign-ups — just stop in to say “hello” and get your questions answered.

Tom Valle, Senior Vice President, Jackowitz & Company, is responsible for leading Retained Executive Search assignments for growth-oriented businesses in the Technology, Life Sciences, and Financial Services industries. Tom has also managed senior level searches for many Not-for-Profit clients. He has completed successful recruitments in all major business functions including general management and Chief Executive Officers. In addition to managing search assignment and client relationships, Tom’s search experience includes hiring, training, and directing an in-house research team for a search firm owned by Fidelity Investments. Tom is a graduate of Bowdoin College (with Honors in Philosophy) and received his M.B.A in Finance (with High Honors) from Boston University. He serves on the Career Advisory Networks of both of these schools as well as on the Boards of Directors of two Not-for-Profit organizations. Tom has lectured at Boston University on a variety of topics including Salary Negotiations. He is the author of an Executive Report on Employment Negotiations which was published by Aspatore Books. Tom can speak with Mass Innovation Nights attendees about a variety of issues in their businesses such as the evaluation of internal and external talent, recruitment challenges, and employment negotiations. He is also able to review resumes and offer interview coaching.

Matt Harvey, Vice President, CresaPartners works in the Greater Boston area as a commercial real estate adviser to institutions, companies and organizations. The CresaPartners team helps space users solve business problems by ensuring that their real estate plans align with and support their strategic business goals. His experience includes tenant representation for healthcare, technology, life sciences, insurance, financial services and industrial space users throughout Greater Boston.Bill Moore, B2BCFO, has 20 years of business experience, including 10 years as CFO or CEO for privately held companies. He also was an officer in the US Army and California National Guard for 8 years.

Bill Moore, B2BCFO, has 20 years of business experience, including 10 years as CFO or CEO for privately held companies. He also was an officer in the US Army and California National Guard for 8 years.  After the military, Bill began his financial career at a Big 6 accounting firm, performing audits and preparing tax returns for a variety of manufacturing and service companies in Southern California. After obtaining his CPA certification, he moved to another Big 6 firm’s consulting practice and worked on large SAP installations for Fortune 500 companies, where he optimized the financial reporting his clients received from the IT system to best support running their businesses. He spent the next 10 years working in privately owned manufacturing and service businesses, which included 8 acquisitions or sales of companies. Bill’s unique experience makes him an ideal strategic financial partner for entrepreneurs that want to grow their companies with the proper controls and financing in place.

And, rounding out the Experts Corner crew this month is our own Dan Englander of High Rock Media.  Dan is our website developer and the co-founder of Mass Innovation Nights.  His biography reads like alphabet soup: HTML / XHTML, CSS, RSS, XML, SEO, social network & media applications, Web Standards.  He’s also familiar with working with existing PHP, JavaScript / AJAX code.  Dan will be available to talk with entrepreneurs specifically about website development and content management systems and why they are a great option for cost-effectively getting your company online.

Over the last year, more than 100 companies have launched new products with Mass Innovation Nights.  (If you want to know why, read our “Why Exhibit?” page.)

Frequently people ask us about those products.  What’s our favorite?  What’s the most innovative product we’ve seen?  What products do we use ourselves?  (There are actually several but like any parent, we don’t like to play favorites.  We love all our kids!)

But one thing we want to make sure everyone is clear on – Mass Innovation Nights is for every kind of innovator.  Not just start-ups and early stage companies but small, medium and large companies too.  (We’ve had IBM, Intuit labs and Invention Machines – so don’t be shy, you larger companies.  We want to see you at MassInno too.)

We like to say we’ve had everything from Popsicle drip-catchers (last summer) to the latest iPhone apps.

Innovation isn’t limited to one industry and Massachusetts has a lot to offer outside the high tech arena.  This month we’re featuring a crew from the Life Sciences industry and we’ve got some great mobile applications as part of Mass Mobile Month.  In December we had renewable energy companies.  Our group of  Charter Innovators (April 2009) included a solar powered innovation.

Innovative chocolate process used to create these treats

We’ve had cool gadgets, classes, and services.  Who can forget the nifty glass rimmer, the bartender’s friend?  THAT was a popular exhibit, although maybe not as popular as January’s Taste of Chocolate, Boston chocolate tours.   (Speaking of chocolate, earlier this week we visited Aroa of Boston – they created an innovative process for creating a shiny colorful “shell” for their chocolates.  They “paint” colored cocoa butter on the inside the molds, add a layer of white chocolate and fill with dark or milk chocolate for a unique tasty and pretty treat.)

Innovation is everywhere – and while we’re geeks at heart, some of our favorites are non-tech companies. Help us keep up the awesome variety with great examples of Massachusetts Innovation from every industry!  Submit your products today!

We have a couple of themes this month! We’re a part of Mass Mobile Month with innovators from the mobile space. And, we have companies from the Life Sciences and Biotech arena too! And, of course, there’s our usual wide variety of cool companies! 

Check them out and vote below (scroll down to the poll) for the four companies you’d like to see present! VOTING CLOSED.)  Don’t forget to RSVP too!   We’re back at the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation this month.

Bite — Sustainable Storage Solutions
NormaTec — dynamic compression treats poor circulation
Proportions – Custom Canine Nutrition
Raizlabs — New Interactive Storybook for the iPhone
Searchandise Commerce — online media network for product manufacturers
thredUP — A kids clothing exchange community
Tomophase – 3D Pulmonary Scans without radiation
Tweetworks — iPhone application for Tweetworks
Zoiray – multiplexed immunoassay platform

Special Guests: (From our rescheduled February event)
Dan Hermes Digital Art
careinnovators

Another terrific night with totally cool Massachusetts Innovators, albeit a bit delayed by the snowstorm that wasn’t.  (A few of the companies and experts had to reschedule due to the date change but they will be added to the March and April events.)  A slightly reduced group met at the Waltham IBM Innovation Center to check out the February “class” of new products, do some networking and ask the experts some questions — darn that reschedule.  But we were able to stream the event for the first time — thanks, Steve  Andrada from Andrada Productions!!!

We had some great special guests — absolutely thrilled to have Steve Garfield hanging in the Experts Corner, signing copies of his book Get Seen.  Before MassInno, he had included us in a roundup for local tweetups and promoted the event on his Get Seen website.  (Greenhorn Connect and Bostontweetup.com also helped promote the event!)  Steve even took some pictures and posted them to his more than ample Flickr account.  Larry Begley from .406 Ventures was  a particularly popular Expert conversation.  Check out the video from the Expert introductions in “The Big Room.” Also big thanks to Conversion Associates who came with their new Lytiks tool — it makes Web analytics easy.  They were signing up betas over the course of the evening and we hope to have them back as a full scale presenter when they are ready to launch.

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The Twitterstream was lively as usual — check out the tweets using the hash #min11.  And, once again, our friends at BostInnovation were first out of the box with a #MIN11 recap.   We did get a view to what people did AFTER MassInno with Paul Harvey’s “What I’m Drinking Tonight” blog post.  (Yes, we’re still hoping to get one of the innovative local breweries to join us for a future Mass Innovation Nights.  What do you think, guys?)

Check out our video montage!

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This is a case of if we win, you win too.

Our friends at Intuit (remember Intuit Labs was one of our 2009 Innovators?) are running a cool contest called “Love a Local Business”  and giving away over $100,000 in business grants.  Part of the prize is $25,000 in local radio advertising.  We could use that grant to help publicize Mass Innovation Nights and make #MIN even bigger than it is now.  Plus there’s some cash to help fund further work on our website!  And some cool Intuit tools.  What do you think?

Can you help us win?  It’s really easy to vote and it would be so great to see what we can do together!  (And please leave a nice comment — they use those to help choose the winner!)  THANKS!  You are all totally awesome!

Our Experts Corner is a great resource for start-ups, entrepreneurs and innovators who work with more established companies.  Sign-up for time (Wednesday, February 17  10, #MIN11) with one or more of our experts on-site. (Note: Due to the schedule change, we’ve changed the line-up a bit.)

• Larry Begley, 406 Ventures — Co-Founder and Managing Director.  Larry brings 30 years of senior executive management, finance, and operational experience in technology and services industries. Prior to founding .406, Larry served on the board of 14 companies, including 5 public and 9 venture-backed companies. Larry is on the board of portfolio companies Ambient Devices, ChosenSecurity, Optaros, RatePoint, Mashery, and ThingMagic. Prior to founding .406, Larry served initially as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and then as a Director of CCBN.com, which facilitated online communication between public companies and the investment community, where he played a major role in the company’s sale to Thomson Financial for $150 million. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of i-Cube and Razorfish, where he oversaw revenue growth from $9 million to $41 million in three years, awarding the i-Cube IPO “Massachusetts IPO of 1998” and the company’s ultimate sale to Razorfish for $1.8 billion in 1999 . From 1988 to 1996 Larry served as Partner, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of The Boston Consulting Group. He holds an MBA-Finance from Babson College and a BSBA-Accounting from Boston College.

• Andy Zimmerman, Brainshark,  VP of Business Development, is responsible for developing and managing strategic partnerships and programs at Brainshark, the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution provider for on-demand presentations.  Most recently, Andy played a leadership role in the launch of myBrainshark.com, a free version of Brainshark’s software that allows users to create, share and track on-demand, multimedia presentations. While myBrainshark was being developed, Andy became acutely aware of the need for businesses and individuals to deliver impactful, far-reaching messages at zero cost. At a time when it takes an average of 100 phone calls to book one sales appointment and when two-thirds of registrants fail to attend live webinars-effective communication tools are critical. Andy can talk to Mass Innovation Night attendees about how to leverage multi-media tools to increase the effectiveness of outreach and prospecting activities, whether it’s to promote your business, your products and services, or your expertise. Prior to Brainshark, Andy launched SaaS offerings for other leading software providers including Theikos (now part of Astadia) and Edocs (now part of Oracle). Andy earned his BA from Brown University and MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.

• Coleby Mantz, Jetty Marketing,  Marketing Strategies for Start-ups:  A long-time marketing professional, Coleby has extensive experience in both corporate and agency marketing environments and has held leadership roles at Parametric Technology (PTC), Tech Pak, and Aviva Labs. She has also worked as an outsourced marketing professional for companies such as Applix (now IBM), Crossbeam Systems, and Progress Software. As the Founder of Jetty Marketing, she has worked with various tech start-ups including matchmine, mobile.messaging.solutions (formerly part of VeriSign), and PODi, in addition to working with more established technology companies. Her company has also helped start-ups outside the technology arena with everything from marketing strategy, planning and budgeting, to campaign development and execution. From start-ups to large, global companies, Coleby has helped businesses achieve their marketing objectives. Coleby holds a BA in sociology from the University of Vermont and graduated cum laude from the F.W. Olin School of Business at Babson College where she received her MBA.

• Steve Garfield is author of the book Get Seen: Online Video Secrets for Building Your Business and is founder of Boston Media Makers. Garfield works with and advises Fortune 500 brands such as AT&T, Kodak, Nokia, and Panasonic, and media outlets including CBS, NBC and PBS. Nationally featured on CNN, Garfield is the Boston correspondent for the pioneering video podcast “Rocketboom” and a longtime video blogging expert. He lectures on new media at Boston University, Northeastern and Emerson College.  Garfield  also serves as an advisor to many of the Web’s early video startups.

Another exciting Mass Innovation Nights event (#MIN11, Wednesday, Feb. 10 POSTPONED TO 2/17) and more cool companies to check out (go to their websites and see what you think!) and support with your tweets, blogs, pictures and video.  Don’t forget to VOTE for your four favorites to present.  (Don’t worry, everyone gets a tabletop demo area.)  If you haven’t done so already, please RSVP now so we get an accurate count on the attendee numbers.  (And check out the list of others who have RSVPed.)  We’ll be back at the Waltham IBM Innovation Center, 404 Wyman Street, again this month.  Let us know what you think!

Alphasoftware
careinnovators
Dan Hermes Fine Art
How2Heroes
HubCast
Kaon Interactive
OnState
Scallop Imaging
VisibleGains

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED:

Winners: Hubcast, careinnovators, OnState & Kaon.  (Note: careinnovators will be moving to our March event due to the rescheduling.)

Wow.  Wowowowowow.  So much news, cool stuff and so many updates, and a chocolate hangover too from our January event.  Blogs are starting to roll already this morning and the tweet stream is still cooking.

As usual, we got some solid pre-show support and our innovators’ friends helped them out with pre-show publicity and plugs.  (Also, fun was the pre-event smack talking and promises being made — scroll down for the comments!)  Richard Banfield’s by-lined article in Mass High Tech mentioned the event too.

Our “satellite” location at the IBM Innovation Center was anything but satellite with one of our biggest crowds.  AND, we could all fit, sort of, in the big room for the presentations, which was so nice.  Then it was off to see the tabletop demos, network, and talk with the Experts.

One of the first blog posts in  is on the WaySavvy Blog.  And, while we had a fabulous time at IBM, we’re not abandoning our Museum roots (and the nifty space, and the public transportation access that goes with it.)  We’ll keep the flow of information coming on that score.

We also had a great post from our new friend Oleg Shilovitsky who really captured one of the main reasons we make the Innovator’s slots open to all kinds of companies. Paul Geffen’s “Thoughts and reflections on the social network” visited with most of the innovators and wrote up a great review.  BostInnovation was there too!  Doug Haslam added Mass Innovation Nights to the round up of his week.

As usual, we loaded up our YouTube channel with the footage from Bobbie’s Sony HandyCam HD but we’re looking forward to the “professional” footage from the team at Black Screen Studios.  @TalentCulture added their video coverage to the mix.

More soon!

When Scott Kirsner, author of the Boston Globe’s Innovation column and blog, invites you to a dinner meeting at the Microsoft NERD Center, you clear your calendar.  (Actually, first you get out the reading glasses and make sure your name didn’t get on the list by accident or auto-fill, especially when you see people like Bijan Sabet, David Beisel, Jeffrey Bussgang, Bill Warner, and Mike Hirshland also on the list.)

Scott originally called the group Cultural Commandos (we also threw out ninjas, ronin, knights, and others over the course of the evening — will be interested to see what the morning brings in terms of labels but it sounds like the Cultural Revolutionaries is the nom du jour.  Look for tweets with #CRBOS.) These are individuals who are spearheading what Scott has labeled “cultural change” initiatives — projects and events designed to reinvigorate the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation here in Boston.

Scott’s goals were simple — make sure we all knew each other and facilitate an exchange of ideas and best practices. Microsoft provided the space and the BBQ and beer.

Just the introductions alone were a goldmine of entrepreneurial spirit.  While the events ranged widely, from Mobile Monday to DART Boston’s Pokin’ Holes events to Open Coffee to programs like Stay In MA and websites like Greenhorn Connect, there was a striking similarity to the Commandos.  Every person had chosen one spot along the entrepreneurial evolutionary chain, staked out a spot and vigorously started supporting that spot.  For example, Stay in MA, DART, Greenhorn, and Innovation Open Houses target the entrepreneurial students and millennials, helping them build a network and encouraging them to stay in the area after graduation.

It is impossible to report on every conversation and grand idea from the evening but there were several themes.  (Apologies for mistakes, miss-hearings or outright errors now.)  Bill Warner proposed a “Play Big” theme or mantra.  He says he likes “winning” and he wants to see important companies in many industries based here.  In order to grow those important companies, we need to play big.  Hubspot’s Brian Halligan wants to see Massachusetts recognized as the leader in the world of marketing, and not Madison Avenue marketing, but digital marketing.  Bijan wants to see more encouragement of “experimentation with crazy ideas.”  Several people brought up “access” and “relationship building.” Nabeel Hyatt talked about dinner parties where connections were made and ideas vetted over food.  Kate from MoMo pointed out the power of an open bar.  Tim Rowe looked around the table and astutely congratulated everyone on their ability to focus and get something done in the area they feel passionate about.

At Mass Innovation Nights, we agree wholeheartedly with Bill Warner’s “Be louder” statement.  We’re about getting the word out about all the cool products, innovative services and terrific people in the region.  We use social media to amplify those messages as a group.  So let us amplify the messages from this evening’s event.

• Bill’s “Play Big” — swing for the fences.  We want to see YOU create the next big thing.
• Open up your door.  Hey Big Company founders and CEOs.  Have you heard about “Open Office Hours”?  Start keeping them.  Or, get yourself out into the community.  When was the last time you went to WebInno, or MoMo, or Mass Innovation Night?  Same for you, Angels.  Come on out!
• Think about your local entrepreneurs as you do the Red Sox or the Celtics or the Patriots.  They are your local team.  Sure there may some Monday morning armchair quarterbacking but you can still root on the home town boys  and girls.

Watch this space for links to other posts by the Innovation Cultural Revolutionaries.  Meanwhile, think about your dream list of people you want to connect with.  Who are they? And what you think we can and should do to help move the local innovation economy in a positive direction?

For additional info, check out Greenhorn Connect’s write-up and Shawn Broderick’s.  For folks who are interested, Jeff offered up a presentation he gave to HBS students on “What Makes the Boston Start-Up Scene Special”:  PowerPoint and video.

Additional updates:  Scott’s own post about the event, Bijan’s explanation of his “crazy” comment and Bobbie’s PR/Marketing-flavored commentary.

Our January Experts Corner offers all kinds of great resources!  What questions do you need answered? What didn’t you find under your tree in December? (More coming too.)

Paul D. Sorkin, Weingarten, Schurgin, Gagnebin & Lebovici LLP, has been a practicing patent attorney for over 16 years and was an electrical engineer for 8 years before that.  He can talk, generally, regarding plans for protecting ideas with patents, copyright, trade secret, trademark, etc., as well as issues regarding licensing and ownership.

Bill Scher is with Adventus/Sandler, a global sales training and professional development consulting firm.  He has spent over 25 years in sales and sales management. Bill’s areas of expertise are training around helping emerging companies with new business development; shortening sales cycles, relationship building and defining sales process. Bill comes to Sandler from the technology sector, where for the last 10 years, he held Regional Sales and Channel Account management positions with some of the nation’s leading enterprise IT systems and security software vendors and  partners such as Software Spectrum, NAI Solutions, Symantec, and Open Channel Solutions. His clients included Fortune 500 companies in verticals of finance, healthcare, software, bio tech, education, state and local government. Bill has been utilizing Sandler Sales methodology his entire career. During that time, Bill has attained, Business Dev Rep of the Year, President’s Club, has been awarded Sales Star of the Year, and the Symantec Extra Mile Award. Early in his career, Bill held executive sales and finance management positions with leading automotive retailers in New England including Toyota, and Volvo.

Andy Komack is founder and President of KoMarketing Associates, LLC, an online marketing agency focused on providing the B2B community with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC), & Social Media Marketing services.  Andy has been building online marketing strategies for clients since 1999. He has worked with many well-known brands including Hallmark, HP, & John Deere, as well as many established and growing technology and manufacturing companies.  Working in the disciplines of Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Advertising, and Social Media Marketing, Andy’s approach is to combine business strategy, creative energy, and a focus on defining & measuring the ROI of online marketing initiatives.

Inbound Marketing Content-where to start? Confused about inbound marketing content?  Meet with Kelley Kassa of Midnight Oil Writing to discuss what you currently have and what you really need.  Inbound marketing content is not just for large companies; the key is to determine what will make a difference while meeting budget requirements.

About Kelley:  Kelley Lynn Kassa’s foray into professional writing began as a 12-year old, when she won a statewide contest and cash prize for her non-fiction work. Since then, she has gone on to a successful career as a corporate writer, marketer and public relations executive, working with many high-profile companies, including IBM, eHarmony and others. In addition to her ghost-written work for her clients, which have appeared in numerous business and trade magazines, Kelley has been profiled in the Boston Globe, Complete Woman magazine, Boston Irish Reporter, and the Irish Emigrant.

Connie Wright is Managing Director, Business Solutions for Accounting Management Solutions, Inc. This group focuses on public, private and emerging businesses, with a concentration in the technology and life sciences arena.

As an expert on internal control and process improvement, including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and SAS 115, Wright also leads the firm’s mergers, acquisition and IPO practice, having helped develop the AMS Rapid Diagnostic(TM), versions of which are used to prepare organizations for exit. Since she has worked on both the buy and sell side, Wright is able to help deliver an organization that is better prepared for a transaction, allowing deals to close faster and more efficiently.

Wright joined AMS in 2004 from The Resources Connection (Nasdaq: RECN), a professional services firm she was instrumental in establishing while at Deloitte & Touche. She also opened the firm’s Boston office where she served as the managing director and built its New England practice to more than $10 million in annual sales. Previously, Wright held various positions at Deloitte & Touche, including, senior manager of the company’s audit practice, working with clients in both the United States and Germany.

Wright is also an in-demand speaker, addressing various groups with insightful discussions on topics such as:

• Internal controls for small and medium-sized businesses
• Mergers, acquisitions and IPOs
• Finance process improvement