Tickets to the 2017 Valley Business Keynote are available to purchase online for $25.00 each.
July 18, 2017 - 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM - JMU Forbes Center For The Performing Arts  

​2:45pm is when registration starts
3:00pm or before is when the doors to the Concert Hall open
3:20pm is when the welcome video begins
3:30pm is when the first speaker will start
4:45pm around this time is when we will close the event
5:00pm-7:00pm is the Networking Reception at Forbes

2017 Featured Speaker - Steve Rizzo

One of the biggest challenges that people in business face today is staying optimistic and motivated to be at their best for more than just a few days. “Nothing keeps people from being productive and achieving their goals more than harboring negative feelings or having a bad attitude during the process.” Steve Rizzo
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In this Entertaining and Content-Rich program, Steve engages the audience with laughter as he challenges each attendee to SHIFT their focus and way of thinking to discover Increased Productivity, greater Enthusiasm and New Levels of Success; regardless of their circumstances.
          
Steve will show you how to…
> SHIFT  your way of thinking to get the results they want.
> Train yourself to feel good, be resilient and stay motivated throughout the day. Every day!
> Enjoy yourself during the process of achieving their goals.
> Create lifelong habits for success and happiness in business and in life

​Steve Rizzo is the Attitude Adjuster.  You can’t attend one of his keynote speeches seminars or read his books and leave with the same attitude.  Steve is a personal development expert, comedian, motivational speaker and author.  His popular PBS special brought him into millions of homes.  It's no surprise that he's been inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame, an honor bestowed upon fewer than 200 speakers worldwide since 1977.

​Perhaps one of Steve's greatest achievements was the stellar degree of success he achieved as a comedian, being chosen as a Showtime Comedy All-Star and sharing the stage with Jerry Seinfeld, Rodney Dangerfield, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres and many more giants of comedy.

2017 Opening Speaker - Jennifer Owen-O'Quill

Jennifer Owen-O’Quill is an executive coach, facilitator, organizational consultant, and leader. She has spoken at national and regional events from California to Chicago. With over 20 years of experience, she has coached leaders and their teams to execute institutional culture change through effective organizational management and leadership development. Leveraging change and conflict to deliver creative, constructive results is both a passion and talent of Jennifer’s.

Jennifer's leadership roles range from Fortune 500 companies, to the local food pantry, to organizations like Chicago’s 44th Ward. Jennifer had led both start-up and established companies and organizations in Chicago and Los Angeles; locally, she has provided coaching, training and facilitation for Carilion Clinic, Goodwill Industries, Global Metal Finishing, Crowning Touch Senior Moving Services, CMR Institute, Corvesta Inc, and Interactive Achievement.

In every case Jennifer’s passion for leaders shines through. She loves coaching leaders to thrive, and understands intimately the connection between a thriving leader and a thriving organization. Her goal is to ground leaders deeply in their core vision and values, so that they can lead with ever greater clarity, integrity, and authenticity.
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Outside her work in leadership development, Jennifer has been a semi-professional ballet dancer, loves hiking, sailing and solving puzzles, and is active in ministry. Jennifer and her husband David live in Roanoke, VA with their son Daniel.

​Creativity INC: Creating Innovation Environments that Work
What does it take to get people to bring their best new ideas to the table?
How can leaders foster creativity and innovation in ways that deliver results?
We hear all the catch phrases and buzz words: Design Thinking, Creativity and Innovation Spaces, being a Great Place to Work,
but the question I hear from leaders most often is simply,
 
“How can I get started?”
 
There is a simple two word answer to that question, and it doesn’t require big capital investments and lots of infrastructure. It does take intentional effort.
As we kick off a great afternoon together, I’ll share those two key ingredients that innovative teams have, and three simple steps that will get you started on the path to your own version of Creativity INC. I look forward to being with you to kick off 2017’s Valley Business Keynote!