DECEMBER 7, 2005 - "LESSONS from SOFTWARE ENTREPRENEURS, v. 1.0"
SPEAKER: Philip Crawford, founder of NewsletterMonkey.com
SPEAKER: Mark Gehring, chief technology officer of Emageon, Inc.
WHAT: Accelerate Madison provides "lessons" from our information technology sector, in the spirit of sharing knowledge and best practices from true experiences.

Mark Gehring co-founded Ultravisual Medical Systems in 2000, and has been chief technology officer of Emageon, Inc. since the successful merger of the two companies in 2003. Emageon provides an enterprise-level advanced visualization and infrastructure solution for the clinical analysis and management of digital medical images within health care provider organizations. Mark offers tips for success based on his company's track record, including:
• Attracting and serving customers "nationally" since the beginning;
• Technology attributes that create a value proposition for the target market;
• Navigating the company's growth from startup through IPO (Feb. 2005);
• "Perfect fit" scenarios for merger / acquisition activity, including the very recent acquisition of Camtronics Medical Systems, based in Hartland, Wis.

NewsletterMonkey.com launched in April 2005 as an email marketing ASP. Founder Philip Crawford shares this story along with a few lessons he's learned from his entrepreneurial experiences, including:
• Bootstrapping from initial investigation through startup and first year;
• Choosing to co-brand with a market leader, SurveyMonkey.com;
• Establishing operations in a "virtual" environment;
• Working collaboratively on marketing, customer support, and product updates.

OCTOBER 13, 2005 - "THE CROQUET PROJECT"
SPEAKERS: Julian Lombardi, Ph.D., and Preston Austin
WHAT: Get ready to be 'wowed!' Witness a new software environment where anything can be created or represented; where everything can be modified; where development and user environments are one in the same. The Croquet™ Project is a complete development and delivery platform that enables massive numbers of people to carry out highly collaborative work. Croquet's 3D wide-area visual environment makes it possible for large numbers of people to enjoy shared telepresence, shared authorship of complex spaces and their contents, and shared access to network-deliverable information resources.
• Croquet is designed to be an operating system for the post-browser Internet.
• Croquet utilizes a highly portable virtual machine that runs bit-identical on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and ultimately on its own hardware - yielding complete interoperability.
• Croquet is truly built in open source. Its future depends on how well applications are designed and built on the core Croquet technology.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2005 - "WIRELESS = MOBILITY"
SPEAKER: Bruce Alexander
Sponsor: Cisco Systems, Inc.
WHAT: Once upon a time, researchers discovered that radio frequency waves could be used for more than just radios. Many decades later in the 1980s, the commercialized wireless marketplace truly began as we know it today. Accelerate Madison welcomes Bruce Alexander, a nationally-known expert on wireless and mobility technologies. During an interactive presentation with our audience, Bruce informs and entertains us by sharing his unique perspectives regarding the past, present and future of RF/wireless technology, including:
• Some emerging applications driving today's wireless marketplace
• The critical issues of security and wireless management for your business
• Architectures: indoor vs. outdoor
• Mobility = lifestyle (what will be our future?)
• A live demo of what's cool, and new!

MAY 19, 2005 - "TomoTherapy, Inc.'s Story: Innovation & Inspiration"
SPEAKER: Thomas "Rock" Mackie, Ph.D.
Sponsor: LaFollette Godfrey & Kahn
WHAT: TomoTherapy's Co-Founder, Chairman of the Board, and Director of Research discusses these themes:
• Innovation and entrepreneurism extending back to a big concept/idea in 1990;
• The "technology transfer story" from UW-Madison research labs to a company of high-growth potential with exclusive license on 70 patents issued worldwide;
• The role of information technology and IT professionals within the company;
• How to build and grow a company in Madison, Wis., based on lessons learned;
• Quantifying a global marketplace and some predictions for TomoTherapy's future.

JANUARY 20, 2005 - "How Games are Reshaping Business & Learning"
SPEAKERS: Dr. James Paul Gee, Dr. Kurt Squire, and Constance Steinkuehler
Co-Hosts: Accelerate Madison, and Wisconsin Technology Network
Sponsor: eInnovate
WHAT: The Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Laboratory focuses on creation and implementation of compelling learning content via games and simulations, mobile learning and repository systems. Gaming technology has been universally adopted by a huge and powerful "gamer generation" of 90 million people in the United States alone (ages 15-35, approximate). We are in an age of media convergence where peoples' fundamental relationships with media are changing. This program explores profound ways in which "games" are forever reshaping learning in the business environment. Internationally-recognized experts from the Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab discuss and demonstrate current research, technology tools, and learning content, while addressing questions such as:
1. Why are video games setting a new standard for learning?
2. How, and why, do modern video games reflect cutting-edge research on learning?
3. What are the implications of video games for workplace learning?