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Presentations
Meeting Presentations
PATCA's monthly dinner meetings feature topical presentations on a broad range of consulting themes, designed to both inform and inspire. To ensure that you have access to this material for later use in business building—or if you need to miss a meeting—we'll post presentations here, in PDF format, for you to easily access and review.
March 2008: Vantage Point: Three Views on Consultants Marketing
For the first time, PATCA hosted a spirited panel discussion featuring three successful PATCA consultants, each with a different vantage point and a valid point of view. All of them are effectively reaching new customers through the marketing techniques that they employ, and all of them are effectively leveraging the benefits that PATCA members receive.
February 2008: "Ask The Expert!" Everything You Wanted To Know About Consulting Contracts (coming soon)
Our interactive Feb 7th "Ask the Expert!" meeting with business lawyer Ian Stock of EntrepreLaw included a robust discussion primarily focused on consulting contracts. Ian explored the pros and cons of three critical means of protecting yourself and your consulting business. Ian also gave examples of how consultants can protect themselves by negotiating key contractual terms, to limit their liability, before signing a contract.
January 2008: Search Engine Optimization - Best Practices Basics
PATCA's January meeting speaker was Kevin Dean, an Internet Marketing Consultant, with WSI Internet Consulting and Education in Fremont. Dean's topic was "Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Best Practice Basics - A Short Course." SEO has been becoming more and more important to consultants, as we seek ways to find new clients through our web sites and online search engines.
The informative session provided plenty of quick tips that enabled each consultant to immediately improve their position in search results.
November 2007: Are Your Taxes Too High? Year-End Tax Update for Consultants
PATCA's speaker for its November meeting was William M. West, a San Jose CPA who has deep knowledge of tax regulations that all consultants and small business owners should understand. West provided tried-and-true tax saving tips and discussed the hot topics currently in the news.
October 2007: Protect Your Consulting Business from IT Security Nightmares
Increasingly security - or concern about the lack of it - is touching all our lives. But as consultants whose success is critically dependent on our reputation and integrity, we have a greater responsibility to protect our clients' data and intellectual property.
At PATCA's October dinner meeting, Ed Correia, the founder and CEO of Sagacent Technologies, talked about some of our most important concerns, such as data loss, laptop theft, and mobile computing issues.
September 2007: Independent Consultant Compliance: What are your risks? What steps can you take to protect your independent contractor status?
Our September speaker, Michael Soffel, VP of Operations for ICon Professional Services, presented a wealth of facts, case studies and recommendations on the steps consultants can take to maintain their independent contractor status - and to survive a client's audit by the IRS or EDD.
July 2007: Offshore Contract Engineering: Is the Luster and Glamour Wearing Off for American Corporate Management?
Berg Presentation
Kwan Presentation
Maclay Presentation
PATCA's July 12 dinner meeting featured PATCA member panelists, Brian A. Berg, Walt Maclay and Mark Kwan, as technology experts who shared their experiences, perceptions, and current Silicon Valley insights on this evolving and controversial topic.
June 2007: Differentiating Yourself In The Commodity World, by Michael Luckman
Michael Luckman, CEO of Achievex Corporation, has trained sales and marketing professionals from top companies such as Milton Bradley, Playskool, and Gund was the speaker at PATCA's June 14 dinner meeting and presented an exciting talk on the secrets to Differenting Yourself In The Commodity World.
May 2007: Crucial Technology Concepts for The Busy Consultant, by Sean K. Murphy
Learn
the best nuggets of today's marketing wisdom - especially for busy consultants and entrepreneurs who don't have time to read all of the latest books on business strategy. Sean K. Murphy of SKMurphy, Inc. was PATCA's May 10 speaker
that presented wisdom gleaned from authors like Clayton Christensen, Geoffrey Moore, Peter Drucker, and William Davidow, who provide a strategic framework for high technology marketing.
April 2007: Ten Warning Signs of an Unhealthy Start-up, by Dr. Richard Caro While new clients are the lifeblood of a consultant's business, not all new clients are equal. It is far better to find a new startup client likely to grow into the next Google, than a new startup client which will fail within the year - potentially leaving your bills unpaid. Wouldn't it be useful to know in advance the warning signs of failure in a potential startup client? Dr. Richard Caro, Founder of Tangible Future, Inc., was PATCA's speaker for the April 12, 2007 dinner meeting to discuss these signs.
March
2007: Legal Essentials Series for Consultants and Contractors
Workshop, by Judy Player
March 2007: Legal Solutions Series for Consultants and Contractors Workshop, by Lisa Chapman Attorneys Judy Player and Lisa Chapman, both PATCA members presented a comprehensive March 28 workshop covering a number of topics most important to consultants and contractors.
Topics included the legal aspects of your consulting practice, including incorporating, contracts, NDAs, and document retention requirements.
January 2007: Should You Bill Hourly or Fixed Priced?, by Joel Williams and Leonard Ginsburg
Consultants are divided on the billing question, as well as those who bid some jobs hourly and other jobs for a fixed fee. PATCA's January dinner meeting featured PATCA members, Joel Williams of Williams Consulting and Leonard Ginsburg of Production Robotics, who presented the important advantages and disadvantages of each method of doing business - and to find out which method is right for you.
June 2006: Time Strategies for Consultants - To Maximize Results, by Zoobi Ahmed, Spectrum Insights Zoobi Ahmed of Spectrum Insights was PATCA's speaker for the June 8, 2006 dinner meeting. Time management is one of the most talked about topics in the personal and professional development field. Successful time management strategies take the focus away from doing more work in less time, and help consultants to deliver improved results and a more rewarding career.
May 2006: Get The Most Out of the Google Platform, by Grace Davis, Google
Grace Davis, Group Manager of Google's Global Tech B-to-B Markets, shared some little-known tips about free or low-cost Google services that deliver a competitive edge to individual consultants, small firms, and growing enterprises; and answered a number of questions from the audience.
April 2006: Develop a Plan to Make the Most of Your Marketing Budget, by Helen Kennedy, Kennedy Consulting Services
Do you struggle to find the right mix of tools and techniques to get the best results from your marketing budget? Kennedy presented a one-hour workshop covering: What elements are the key to a good marketing plan? Why is your company's brand and identity so important to your marketing strategy? How can you integrate your online and offline marketing messages? How should you select the appropriate media and technologies to deliver your design concepts?
March 2006: Igniting Innovation and Transformation by Prasad Kaipa, PhD.
Innovation occurs only when people bring their passion to work, align their personal aspirations with organizational goals, and step outside their box. He says, "By discovering our personal DNA, we can include and transcend our limitations instead of accepting the status quo and being a victim. And only by stretching beyond our limitations can we innovate and transform ourselves and our organizations."
August 2005: Communication Power by David Woodward, InnovationLink, Inc.
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