Article posted on Nov 19
Okay, so I know what you’re thinking: “You know, I really need a cool, local event to find out what the heck is goign on, and meet the hooked up people that are going to help me advance my career, and save my but when I need some real experience, some capital, or just a friend.”
Well, lucky you… there is just such an event later this week down at BYU.
Want the lowdown? Well, here it is:
Come ride the lift to Silicon Slopes, Utah’s tech corridor, at the Rollins Center for eBusiness’ semiannual eBusiness Day.
Silicon Slopes is the term for the area in Utah along the Wasatch Front with more than 5,200 high-tech and life science companies.
“Many believe Utah can become like Silicon Valley,” says John Richards, managing director of the eBusiness Center. “The keynote speaker and panel sessions will focus on how to overcome obstacles standing in the way of this vision.”
Josh James, president and CEO of Omniture, will discuss this year’s theme of Silicon Slopes as the keynote speaker at 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 21 in 151 Tanner Building. The event will include speakers, discussion panels, raffles and lunch.
The event will include panel discussions where prominent business leaders discuss key issues facing high-tech companies in Utah. The issues to be discussed are how Utah’s image could limit its high-tech potential, whether college students are adequately prepared to join the workforce, and if there is enough capital available to fund powerful high-tech companies.
“Students should come to eBusiness Day because it will provide them with a chance to be a part of something big,” says Joshua Nicholls, student lead of eBusiness Day. “Silicon Slopes is an emerging label in Utah, and this is a great opportunity for students to get involved in a powerful discussion about things that really matter here.”
In addition to the discussion panels, Utah technology companies will set up booths in the Tanner Building atrium for students to network and learn more about the state’s role in advancing the technology industry.
“Students will be able to rub shoulders with some of the hottest companies in Utah tech today including Omniture, Move Networks, LanDESK, DirectPointe, IM Flash Technologies, etc.,” says Mark Adams, community development liaison for the Silicon Slopes initiative.
For additional information and a detailed schedule of events, visit ebizday.byu.edu.
Also, you’ll forgive me for chiming in with my two cents on this one… Personally, I am super excited to see Silicon Slopes, Omniture, and Josh James really pushing the Utah brand, and also helping to connect and enable entrepreneurs, investors, and all of us tech heads here.
But personally, I also want to add, that I don’t necessarily want Utah to “become like Silicon Valley…” Now, this may sound like I am disagreeing with the intentions… not at all… jsut adding to them (and seeing how many times in one paragraph I can use three dots in a row :). I think there are actually several key differences here in Utah that I really treasure. One of the key ones in my mind is loyalty. Employees here really stick with a company and help it succeed, instead of jumping to the next opportunity across the street when things ge a little shaky. I watched this help us when the bubble burst, and I expect to watch it help us again now. This is only one of the many differentiator of Utah… Anyone want to chime in with your own lists?
So let’s be as industrious as the Romans, as Cultured as the Greeks, and damned determine as the Russians. Let us be as well educated (and heck, as well funded), and as open-minded to global opportunities as silicon Valley. But let us also be everything that makes us “us”.
That said, I really support what these folks are doing. I couldn’t be more excited to see the energy and focus that Josh (and you too Mark) are bringing to the concept of what Utah can be. New blood, new ideas. Let’s go kick some @%^. (expletive deleted 
+2 to not wanting to copy, in name or in practice, silicon valley. While the name ‘Silicon Slopes’ is intended to unify and project a high tech image it really just smacks of ‘me-too-ism’.
Remember that episode of Seinfeld? The one where they explain how you can’t give yourself a nickname, they can only be conferred on you by someone else? Same deal here. When the state reaches a critical mass that causes national media to notice then they anoint with the appropriate moniker. Until then, however, its like the 150 lb. acne covered guy fluttering about a dance while introducing himself as ‘Casanova AxelRod Steel’.