Solent’s Collaborate2Innovate 2011 Now Sold Out

Event to build Profitable Partnerships for Organisations in Solent Region

The organisers of Collaborate2Innovate (C2I) 2011 have now closed the event registration after over 500 people registered for this year’s C2I event on Tuesday 1st November 2011, in response to overwhelming interest from local businesses wanting to attend the Solent region’s major collaboration and innovation event.

Collaborate2Innovate is now in its third year and is dedicated to building profitable partnerships between organisations in the Solent region. The event is both a conference and exhibition and offers entrepreneurs, businesses and innovation specialists the opportunity to meet and network with like-minded people and create rewarding partnerships.

Nigel Vaughan, Solent Synergy and C2I Organiser comments, "We have had a huge interest in the event, fulfilling registrations in record time and demonstrating the significant impact that collaboration and innovation is having on the Solent region’s businesses and entrepreneurs. As the response to the event’s announcement shows, the content is comprehensive and compelling and attendees will benefit from very relevant, interesting and informative sessions."

C2I 2011 has a range of sessions available to those attending which cover the key issues and topics that businesses in any stage of growth may experience. The aim is to provide information on how a business, whether small, medium or large, can grow and prosper. The sessions are as follows:

Business Funding and Investment – This session entitled "Angel, Venture Capital or Bank funding - what's best for your business" is presented by Barclays Corporate, Altitude Partners and experienced local business angels and discusses securing the right funding for a business, which can be critical at all stages of its development.
Attracting and Retaining Talent – Presented by Paris Smith and Matchtech, this session explores how best to find the right candidate through some trade secrets, how to use financial incentives such as bonus schemes and share options to motivate and retain your talent and how to protect your business through growth.
Healthcare Innovations – This session looks at how innovations developed by local enterprises can be vital to helping the NHS deliver better healthcare, for example Telehealthcare. The Programme Director at NHS Procure will present how procurement methods could help businesses to develop their products for use in the NHS.
Technological Collaboration – Presented by Thomas Eggar, Grant Thornton and the University of Portsmouth, this session will look at accelerating technological development by collaborating with others. It may be a well proven approach, but it can often be a challenge for businesses to implement effectively. Speakers will explore case studies to highlight advice on collaboration.
Social Media MasterClass – Andy Larkin from Whatify magazine will explore using social media to enhance innovation. He will demonstrate the tools needed to run and measure the impact of your social media campaigns and support his presentation with a series of case studies.
International Opportunities - Presented by BDO and UKTI, this session will look at the opportunities and challenges in growing your business internationally and provide valuable information about the best routes to market.
The Future of the Workplace in Cloud Computing Environment - Vail Williams and Nigel Baker will explain how the workplace is changing to reflect new working practices and also how businesses can take advantage of these changes.

Nigel Vaughan, comments, "These sessions will provide highly valuable information and ideas to help individuals and businesses at all stages in their development. We hope to prepare both SMEs and larger organisations for what may lay ahead. In addition to these insightful sessions, we also have a 1-to-1 Networking event for participants to meet with like-minded businesses which we hope will identify potential partnerships and encourage collaboration. We also have two clinics where attendees can go to for free 1-to-1 advice on any PR, marketing, website or SEO issues."

The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership Board will also be making an appearance at C2I with its ‘Big Debate’. Attendees are being given the chance to put their questions and queries to the LEP panel to find out the future of the Solent's Economy.

The registration for C2I 2011 may be closed, but many delegates have not yet signed up for their session choices. The organisers urge all attendees to make their choices as soon as possible as due to the large numbers of attendees registered, some sessions may reach capacity quickly.

For further information on C2I and its various sessions, please visit www.collaborate2innovate2011.co.uk or contact C2I’s press office on c2ipr@mccint.com.

Press passes for the event are available. Please contact c2ipr@mccint.com to register your interest. Collaborate2Innovate 2011 takes place in The Holiday Inn (near INTECH), Winchester on Tuesday 1st November 2011.

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Venue: Building 1000, Lakeside, Portsmouth