Sep 10, 2014

Leon Segal to Give Keynote Address at North Bay Innovation Summit Innovationship co-founder's topic: Today is a Prototype for Tomorrow SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Innovationship co-founder Leon Segal, Ph.D., will be the keynote speaker Sept. 19 at the sixth annual North Bay Innovation Summit . The event, presented by SoCo Nexus ( http://www.soconexus.org ), North Bay Angels ( http://www.northbayangels.com ) and the North Bay iHub ( http://northbayihub.com ), will be held at the Sonoma Mountain Village Event Center in Rohnert Park from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Innovationship ( @1innovationship ) is sponsoring prizes for sector winners in the morning competition. The competition is for companies less than five years old, with fewer than 10 people, based in the North Bay or surrounding areas. Segal's keynote address, "Today is a Prototype for Tomorrow" will explore harnessing design thinking to create more effective business leaders in future. ABOUT NBIS The one-day Summit is part of Innovation Week through the North Bay and is dedicated to nurturing innovation by helping North Bay entrepreneurs connect, compete for recognition and funding, and exchange ideas in a panel discussion that inspires the innovative spirit. Panel discussions include innovation experts, successful entrepreneurs, investors and experienced professionals who will share their critical knowledge to help local businesses succeed. The event is a familiar type of environment for Segal. The IDEO alumnus once was a judge on the Android developer's challenge that inspired and initiated mobile application development on the Android platform. Most of the event is open to the public. From 8 a.m. to noon, 15 early stage companies will pitch to compete for recognition and cash prizes in front of a judging panel and with an audience. Following their presentations, a winner will be announced in each of four industry categories: Saas, Social Media, Web, IT and Cloud Health Care and Medical Tech Clean Tech and Sustainable Products Ag and Food Founded in 2007 as the Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster, SoCo Nexus is the North Bay's first incubator. It now houses about 30 groups in a campus-like setting. NBIS TICKETS For tickets and more information about the event visit  http://soconexus.org/north-bay-innovation-summit/ ABOUT LEON SEGAL, PHD Leon has 25 years of experience in human factors, product innovation, and experience design, including leading an IDEO office and work at NASA. His work on empathy and design — and his insight that "innovation begins with an eye" — are cited in several bestselling books. In 2014 he co-authored the booklets  Building Agents of Innovation , which addresses innovation chiefs who need to create a culture of continuous creativity; and  Innovation Leadership Training : Using Design Thinking to Create More Effective Business Leaders. ABOUT INNOVATIONSHIP Teaching design thinking as a method to increase innovation capacity After decades of experience helping organizations prosper at IDEO and in our own practices, we reunited to form Innovationship. We teach design thinking as a method to increase innovation capacity. Services