The TechMaine Annual Conference is Northern New England's premier networking and educational event. Our annual conference is the largest assembly of technology professionals in Maine, and we explore topics that will impact us in the future, as well as ideas on how to improve our businesses today. TechMaine delivers the companies, people, technology and relationships that you need to stay on the leading edge of the IT industry.

The 2009 Annual Conference will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, December 9 and 10 at the Clarion Hotel in Portland. There will be a networking dinner for Speakers, Sponsors and Special Guests on Wednesday evening, featuring a presentation by Dr. Catherine Renault, Director of the Maine Office of Innovation. The all-day Conference will be held on Thursday.

Patty Seybold is this year's Conference Keynote Speaker. With 30 years of experience consulting to customer-centric executives in technology-aggressive businesses across many industries, Ms. Seybold is a visionary thought leader with the unique ability to spot the impact that technology enablement and customer behavior will have on business trends very early.

KEYNOTE: OUTSIDE INnovation: How to Run around in Front of the Customer Parade
Customers are voting with their feet and commoditizing many traditional business models. Do you let yourself be trampled by the stampede, do you get out of the way, or do you try to move up market? And, how can you leverage peoples' preoccupation with social media and mobile apps to create a customer-centric ecosystem that will place your brand at the center of their universe, even if you're not Apple, Google or Facebook? Ms. Seybold will discuss the customer-critical success factors you can use to build your own customer-centric ecosystem.

The full Conference Agenda will be published soon and features sessions including:

• Getting Started with iPhone Development
• Web mashup tools and concepts
• Best/Worst Business Decisions – A Panel Discussion of Award Winning Technology Entrepreneurs
• Finance/Legal Issues in the Tech Sector
• Marketing Technology in a Down Economy
• Print Media in a New Media Environment

For more information and conference registration, visit the Technology Association of Maine website.