PDMA

Opening Keynote: Empathy in Innovation

Everyone knows there is a need to create ideas, develop products and flawlessly launch these products into the marketplace. However to do this, more than world-class tools and processes are necessary. The sometimes-overlooked essential innovation ingredient is empathy, the heart of sustainable innovation. Hear about one company’s techniques for quickly building consumer empathy among its business teams. Using stories and case studies, this presentation will delve deeply into the methods that have led to faster, more successful and emotionally rich product launches.

Lab A: Facilitating New Product Discovery & Development - An Introduction to Tools & Techniques

Co-Chairs: Christopher Miller, PhD, NPDP, CEO and Founder, Innovation Focus Inc. and Fiona Haig, Vice President Development, Sagentia Inc.
Speakers: Scott Meyer, Director, Strategic Business Development, Carl Zeiss Meditec and Jon Wyman, Director of Engineering, Instron

Suggested Participants:
Attendees beginning a career in new product development (NPD) in addition to those seeking a refresher in the discovery and development processes or those working in an organizational silo who want to broaden their perspective should consider this NPD boot camp.

Overview:
Using a high-energy, dynamic format, this Discovery Lab will provide a core process and the basic tools to allow the participant to engage in the NPD process dialogue. With this exercise and example-rich presentation, attendees will engage in a straightforward topline review of the process of discovering new ideas and bringing them forward for development. Additionally, the group will explore the importance of process, personal creativity and team dynamics along with many of the other core concepts that increase the probability of NPD success.

To read a sample of Fiona Haig's work, click here.

Lab B: Reinventing Portfolio Management

Chair: David Matheson, PhD, Co-Founder, President and CEO, SmartOrg and Lecturer at Stanford University
Speakers: Stan Chapski, Vice President, Sandisk; Carrie Nauyalis, Product Line Manager, Planview, Inc.; Ward Peterson, Former Senior Vice President, Inspire Pharmaceuticals; Gerald Powell, Global Leader for Create Product Success, Dow Agrosciences

Overview:
As a product development professional, your challenge is to develop products or services that meet - or exceed - revenue and profit goals. Strategic portfolio management can significantly improve your chances for success. Learn how to apply the fundamentals of good portfolio management through lectures, case studies and active participation in a simulation where you will compete to build the highest-value portfolio.

For a video introduction to the lab, click here.

Lab C: Identifying, Building and Delivering Commercial Opportunities in Rapidly Emerging Markets

Chair: Geoff Peters, NPDP, Product Development Manager, Compassion International
Speakers: Ann Calcara, Co-Founder, The Azore Garage; Bharat Chhabria, Director, Ashland Inc.; Jason Hauer, The Azore Garage

Overview:
As companies look to expand geographically to increase revenue and serve a broader customer base, the product development practitioner is faced with new challenges as what works best at home may not translate well in international markets. This Discovery Lab explores how to approach these markets and covers all aspects of discovering, developing and delivering product and service opportunities in a global context.

Lab D: Voice of the Customer in the Real World - Exploring the Myths and Facing the Realities

Chair: Gerry Katz, NPDP, Executive Vice President, Applied Marketing Science, Inc.
Speakers: Dr. Kathleen Gisser, Senior Scientist, Sherwin-Williams Company - Breen Technical Center; Steve Revnew, Vice President of Marketing, Sherwin-Williams Company; Rachel Evans, Principal Research Scientist and Innovation Coach, Intuit; Kim McNealy, Director of Consumer Group Marketing Strategy, Intuit

Suggested Participants:
Individuals who lead or are members of innovation teams and, therefore, may have a need to engage in the Voice of the Customer (VOC) process. Presentations and hands-on activities will target both those who are new to VOC as well as those who are experienced VOC practitioners.

Overview:
This Discovery Lab will allow participants to better define, learn about and master some of the more common techniques for conducting Voice of the Customer studies, with special emphasis on issues associated with certain types of products and services that raise additional difficulties and, especially, the use of social media in VOC.

Lab E: Launch Excellence - Driving Commerical Impact and Success

Chair: Rob Mann, Director of Consulting and Strategy, Wharton Global Consulting Practicum and Principal, PRTM Management Consulting

Suggested Participants:
Beginner and intermediate practitioners in addition to innovation professionals from diverse functional disciplines such as R&D, Marketing, Product Development, Product Management, Supply Chain and Quality.

Overview: 
Back by popular demand, this Discovery Lab will address launch excellence for practitioners across the innovation spectrum. Immersing participants in approaches and lessons from other companies and thought leaders, commercial launches are explored from a cross-functional, multi-disciplinary perspective. By collaborating on insights that can be immediately applied in the workplace, individuals will go home with increased confidence around achieving commercial success.

Lab F: Business Model Innovation for Game Changing Results

Co-Chairs: Chris Dolan, Business Innovationist, Creative Realities and Matt Benson, Principal Consultant, PD3
Speakers: Philippe de Riddle, Board of Innovation; John Lynch, Head Innovation, EMD Millipore, a division of Merck KGaA; Josh Suskewicz, Principal, Innosight; Jay Terwilliger, President, Creative Realities, Inc.; Jeff Varick, Brandmotion, LLC.

Suggested Participants:
Mid- to senior-level product development leaders and innovation managers who are interested in growing their organizations by leveraging innovation across all aspects of their businesses.

Overview: 
Innovation is not limited to new products or services. Business model innovation refers to revolutionizing or reinventing how an organization does business. Some of the most rapidly growing companies today are combining non-product innovation with new products to achieve tremendous success. This Discovery Lab will address organizational need for processes that provide the creativity, techniques and discipline to innovate in areas beyond products and service.

New Product Development Professional (NPDP) Certification Preparation 

Co-Chairs: Ken Westray, NPDP, President, NP Learning LLC and David Newman, NPDP, Director - Software and Electronics, Equipment Engineering, The Coca Cola Company

Suggested Participants:
Individuals who want to gain an understanding of new product development knowledge based upon the requirements of the PDMA’s New Product Development Professional (NPDP) certification program.

Overview: 
The New Product Development Professional (NPDP) Certification is a statement of your professionalism, knowledge, ethics and skills. This daylong session will help those interested in NPDP certification prepare for the required exam. Experts with decades of hands-on experience in new product development will guide you through terminology, strategy, tools, best practices and the Body of Knowledge that you need to know to be successful. The NPDP certification exam is based upon the PDMA’s peer reviewed and vetted Body of Knowledge of New Product Development that includes 10 best practice knowledge topics. Session participants will receive the full Body of Knowledge workbook. If your goal is to be recognized by peers and companies alike for your new product development expertise, then the NPDP certification and this session are for you.

NP Learning, a PDMA licensed and certified training company, will provide each person who registers and attends the NPDP Certification Preparation Seminar its proprietary study tools.  They will be provided, free of charge, access to NP Learning's 300+ online question database.  This is a $400 value to the individual.  The 300+ questions cover each of the 6 key topics that are tested on PDMA’s NPDP exam.  Studies have shown that an individual’s score on the question database correlates to ones score on PDMA’s NPDP Exam.  This is a fabulous tool for people interested in becoming NPDP certified.