4 Weeks Until Our Napa Summit on June 2-3–Request Your Invitation

We all know it’s important to get out of our boxes at times. By taking in new ideas from leaders outside of our own fields, we can return to face day-to-day challenges with fresh perspective and energy.

Sometimes getting out of the box also means getting out of our comfort zones. But sometimes it’s better (and more fun) to embrace new ideas in a relaxed and stimulating environment that isn’t so uncomfortable.

And that is the point of our annual Napa Summit: The Xconomy Retreat on Technology, Jobs and Growth, the third incarnation of which will take place just four weeks from today. It all starts with a spectacular wine tasting and dinner at the vaunted Silver Oak Cellars Napa Valley Winery in Oakville, CA, on the evening of Monday, June 2 (where I will conduct a dinner chat with former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner).

Then we convene the next morning at the nearby Villagio Inn & Spa for a stimulating day of chats, talks, panels, and special focus sessions in key areas of technology and the economy. The opening talk will be from renowned startup guru Guy Kawasaki. We’re still figuring out the timing for the rest of the agenda. But other keynote speakers include Kiva Systems founder and CEO Mick Mountz, who last year sold the robotics company to Amazon; genomics pioneer Lee Hood, who’ll be talking about a pioneering study of wellness he is embarking on; TaskRabbitt founder and CEO Leah Busque; and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, who’ll be sharing the latest on his new educational game company If You Can.

You can find the full list of speakers on our event page. All told, we’ll have sessions edtech, energy, aging, economics, healthcare, genomics, food and water, cybersecurity, R&D, crowdfunding; investing strategy, and more. This includes three special Deep Dive sessions on Connected Devices; Foodtech; and Design.

This invitation-only summit is our most special event of the year. And this is your chance to get in on it—by requesting an invitation, which you can do here (we have special rates for startups and non-profits, so please ask about that if you qualify). We’re restricting the event to about 90 guests, so act fast.

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.