3rd Annual Irvine Entrepreneur Forum to Feature Director of Strategy at IBM Venture Capital Group Drew Clark as Keynote Speaker

 The 3rd Annual Irvine Entrepreneur Forum, the signature event for the Irvine Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, will be held March 1, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine California featuring Drew Clark, Director of Strategy and Co-Founder at the IBM Venture Capital Group.  Clark is a chief strategist with IBM's key business imperatives including Sustainability/Cleantech, Information Management and Cloud Computing, where he works closely with the global venture capital community across multiple IBM brands and industry units to help drive new business opportunities.  

Serial entrepreneur

A serial "entrepreneur", Clark has led a range of internal startup initiatives, including a key role in the formation of IBM's Internet Division.  Later, Clark led IBM's search, knowledge-management, social media and Web 2.0 initiatives.  Named IBM "Search Czar", Clark is responsible for managing search and information retrieval products and solutions across IBM.  

"The Irvine Entrepreneur Forum is designed for entrepreneurs to roll up their sleeves to learn about startup business strategies and tactics that will deliver results to emerge businesses, find funding or an investment," said Christopher Lynch, Vice President Business and Economic Development for the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.  "It is about current companies and service groups coming at the same time to support entrepreneurs with mentoring and services to help them launch their companies."

Angel and venture capitalist in Southern California will receive complimentary registration to encourage networking among CEOs, business development executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and academicians to connect in sharing experiences and exchanging ideas.  Just in case, there will be Tech Expo tabletops for entrepreneurs and service provider companies to present business models, products and services.   

The content to fill it with the skills

No forum initiative is complete without the content to fill it with the skills and knowledge that some entrepreneurs may lack in starting a business.  The program combines "here's what works" insights of real world, best practice practitioners with the big picture viewpoints from respected thought leaders.  Some of the most prestigious Southern California leaders in finance, marketing, legal and growing a business will lead sessions for all attendees.

About Irvine Chamber of CommerceThe Irvine Chamber of Commerce represents approximately 1,000 local companies and is a premier business member organization dedicated to serving as advocates for pertinent issues affecting the local business community, during serving as a vehicle to promote business and community development in Irvine. For more information about the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, please call 660-9112, or visit www.irvinechamber.com.