MHTA – The number of organizations supporting MHTA’s upcoming Spring Conference has surpassed 135 with just under a few weeks to go. The conference will be held May 9th at the Minneapolis Depot Renaissance near the riverfront. It will begin just after 8 a.m. with a keynote speech by Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

“We’re seeing people signup to attend from the Dakotas and Wisconsin, so it’s exciting to put together a conference that will focus on how technology is transforming America’s Heartland,” said Andrew Wittenborg, director of outreach with the Minnesota High Tech Association.

Wittenborg says the afternoon general sessions are now in place with talks by entrepreneur and author Dave Knox and the founder of Cuningham Group which helped Epic Systems Corporation transform a Wisconsin prairie into the largest technology campus in the region. For more than 22 years, Epic Systems and Cuningham Group Architecture have been joining forces to bring the organization’s spirit of innovation and quality front and center. Leaders from each firm will share how building infrastructure across the 900-acre campus directly supports the firm culture and positively impacts organizational goals including productivity, talent retention and attraction, and corporate marketing.

Knox recently wrote the book “Predicting the Turn” where he discusses the high-stakes game of business between disruptive startups and Blue Chip companies, teaching readers how to foresee significant changes. Knox is Managing Director of WPP Ventures and Chief Marketing Officer of Rockfish, a WPP agency. Knox consults in the local market and is a seven-year veteran of Procter & Gamble, where he was instrumental in the digital turnaround that led to P&G being named to AdAge’s Digital A-List.

Optimity Advisors is also organizing a breakout session focused on Leading Digital Transformation. It will include Mike Macrie, senior vice president and CIO at Land O’Lakes along with Phil McKoy, CIO at UnitedHealth Group. An update roster of sessions and speakers is available at the Spring Conference Page. A limited number of sponsorships remain available as well. You can sign up to attend and sponsor through MHTA.org.