• 5:30 pm Reception and networking Hors d ’oeuvres served, cash bar • 6:45 pm Kevin O’Connell Jazz Quartet Stage Performance Innovation Awards Ceremony • 7:30 pm Keynote Address: Mark Thompson • 8:30 pm Networking and dessert REGISTER HERE

Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania will hold its annual i xchange, a premier business technology networking event, which last year attracted more than 600 business and community leaders. The event includes the 13th Annual Innovation Awards ceremony to recognize the companies, individuals and institutions that best exemplify the spirit of innovation in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Mark Thompson, co-author of the international bestseller Success Built to Last, will be the keynote speaker. Through in-depth interviews with international leaders, this book unlocks the unique insights and skills of hundreds of people, from executives, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders and billionaires, to the presidents of nations and the leaders of small and large organizations. Thompson helps companies embrace rapid change, ignite growth as leaders, and engage with influential people who are driving the future of their brands.

Thompson is a venture investor, management advisor and former board member of private and public companies such as Rioport, Inc., which popularized the MP3 player. He was chairman of Integration, Inc., a communications semiconductor company, and of VMAX, which was the exclusive distributor of Micron PCs in China.

Thompson is also co-founder of the Stanford Realtime Venture Design Lab and a visiting scholar at Stanford. He serves as faculty at the prestigious World Economic Forum and John F. Kennedy University. He is a former member of the board of Best Buy Enterprises, Korn Ferry International, Interwoven and Teletech and was an investor, board member and advisor to many other technology and media startups.