XSITE-ment Mounting—Agenda Posted for Xconomy Summit; Still Looking for a Few Great Startups

Just two weeks and two days to go until XSITE 2010—the Xconomy Summit on Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. The second annual iteration of one of New England’s biggest celebrations of entrepreneurship—with the theme “Building the Next Economy”—goes down on June 17 at Babson College in Wellesley, MA. We’ve got more than 40 speakers lined up for the event. And now, we have posted the full (and almost complete, minus just a few speakers and panelists) agenda, including our four breakout sessions and a late-breaking Angel Tsunami plenary panel moderated by the always entertaining John Landry.

Those breakout sessions are: Designing the Next Economy (a look at how New England’s cluster of 3D design software companies is helping to boost innovation); Getting Smart About Energy (featuring the region’s leading companies promoting smart grid and energy efficiency technologies); The Mobile Health Connection (on the ways wireless technology is changing patient care and personal health); and When One Product Won’t Cut it: The Return of Biotech Platforms (on new attempts by biotech startups to build whole pipelines of drugs around their fundamental IP). For each panel, we have fantastic moderators and speakers from across our region.

And they are just part of a day that includes keynote appearances by Peter Diamandis, founder and chairman of the X Prize Foundation; Richard Pops, chairman, president, and CEO of Alkermes; Rod Brooks of iRobot and Heartland Robotics fame; Peter Hecht, CEO of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals; Bob Metcalfe of Polaris Venture Partners—and Eric Giler, the CEO of WiTricity, who will open the afternoon plenary session with a live demonstration of his company’s wireless power technology at work.

We are still looking for a few great startups to appear in the closing Xpo, where a dozen of New England’s hottest and most interesting new companies in life sciences, energy, and IT will give short presentations, with the audience voting for is favorite in each track. If you are part of a great startup, or want to recommend one, just email us at: [email protected].

It’s also a great time to get your tickets. The Saver Rate is set to end tomorrow—and acting now will save you $145 per ticket off our regular rate. We’ve also set aside specially priced tickets for those working at startups less than three years old and with 20 or fewer employees. That Startup Special price is just $195—a cool $400 off our full rate! Register here for a great day surveying the New England innovation landscape.


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.