2017 Agenda

Day One: Wednesday, February 15

8:30AM          Innovation Tour Check-In, Centennial Hall Main Lobby [aka the Innovation Lounge]

9AM – 12PM  Innovation Tours

SOLD OUT — Manufacturing Innovation Tour: Heritage Coffee Roasting Co (link is external). headquarters, Taku Smokeries (link is external) and Alaskan Brewing Co (link is external). Get a glimpse inside these local businesses and how they operate. This tour is limited to 20 people and includes coffee and beer tastings [because who doesn’t want that first thing in the morning?].  

Alaska Historical Technology Tour: Includes a guided tour of historical Alaskan innovations from pre-historic times to present day at the Alaska State Museum. The tour will wrap up at the historic Treadwell Mine with a guided tour through the Treadwell Mine historic district. This tour will show you the remains of the mining and hydroelectric facilities as well as The New Office Building, the only remaining structure.  

SOLD OUT — New Kids on the Block – Downtown Business Tour: Get a sneak peek into some of the newest businesses in Juneau.  You’ll hear about the operations of our newest “budding” businesses including the marijuana cultivation facility at THC Alaska and the Rainforest Farms (link is external) dispensary. Then you’ll see our downtown gin/vodka/whiskey distillery Amalga Distillery (link is external), and our newest local brewery Barnaby Brewing Co (link is external). Guests of Rainforest Farms will have the opportunity to explore Juneau’s first Cannabis Dispensary! Visitors will have the chance to see, smell, and learn about the different products offered and experience what it is like to visit your local cannabis retailer.

Research & Development Innovation Tour: This tour includes a stop at the Juneau National Weather Service Forecast Office (link is external) where you will gain an understanding of the weather forecast process and methods used. We’ll then go to the UAS Anderson Bldg in Auke Bay to visit a mariculture lab that’s growing seaweed.  The tour will end at the Ted Stevens’ Marine Research Institute, Alaska’s largest fisheries research facility. Attendees will go on a short tour of the facility and end with a Science on a Sphere presentation.

12PM              Registration Opens, Innovation Lounge

1PM                Innovation Start-Up, Ballroom 2 & 3

  • National Anthem and Alaska Flag Song by Sherry Patterson

  • JEDC Welcome: Innovation Summit 2017: What & Why by Brian Holst and Dana Herndon

  • Welcome Comments by Mayor Ken Koelsch

  • Welcome Comments by President Richard Peterson, Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

  • Innovation Ecosystem in Alaska by Ky Holland and Juliet Shepherd

2PM                “Innovation is Everyone’s Business” by Summit Speaker Robert B. Tucker, Ballroom 2 & 3  

3PM                Coffee Break, Innovation Lounge

3:20PM          Innovation Shorts Round One  Egan, Hickel, Ballroom 1

  • Three simultaneous sessions of 10-minute Innovation Short presentations. Presenters discuss a big idea, exciting research or a new perspective on a variety of topics.

4:30PM          Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame Ceremony, Ballroom 2 & 3   

  • The Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame celebrates and honors outstanding individuals who put Alaska on the map as leaders in innovation and to contribute to Alaska’s growing culture of innovation.

5:15PM          Networking Reception, Innovation Lounge

  • Meet & Greet with Alaska Innovators in the Davis room portion of the lobby

6PM – 8PM    Investing in Entrepreneurs Evening Session,  Ballroom 2 & 3

  • Creative Performance: Juneau Dance Theater .Juneau Dance Theatre (JDT) presents “Feeling Good”, a jazzy ballet set to music by Nina Simone. The choreography by JDT Artistic Director Zachary Hench has been created and adapted for unconventional dance spaces, showing how art has to ability to live and breathe in unexpected new ways.

  • Opening Remarks

  • “Innovate Alaska (Government)” by Commissioner Chris Hladick, Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

  • “Evaluating Innovation Potential” by Summit Speaker: Angela Rodell, CEO of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation

  • Pitch Contest featuring five Alaskan entrepreneurs. The Pitch Contest will be moderated by Juneau Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Craig Dahl. 

THURSDAY, February 16

7:30AM          Doors Open, Innovation Lounge

8AM                Innovation Launch, Ballroom 2 & 3

  • Lauren MacVay, JEDC Board Chair

  • Path to Prosperity winners announced

  • Big announcements

  • Senator Dennis Egan

8:45AM                     “Innovation is Alaskan’s Business” by Summit Speaker: Geoff Larson, Co-Founder of Alaskan Brewing Co. , Ballroom 2 & 3

9:30AM                      Innovation Shorts Round Two Egan, Hickel, Ballroom 1

  • Three simultaneous sessions of 10-minute Innovation Short presentations. Presenters discuss a big idea, exciting research or a new perspective on a variety of topics.

10:30AM        Coffee Break, Innovation Lounge

11AM              Mini-Sessions, Egan, Hickel, Ballroom 1

  • Innovation Masterclass: Tools and Techniques for Transforming Your Business: Robert B. Tucker, Ballroom 1

  • Innovation to Launch (I2L): Ky Holland and Rachael Miller, Hickel

The workshop will offer activities to learn more about tools and programs that support reduce the risk of new venture creation.

  • Innovation at Alaskan Brewery: Geoff Larson, Egan

12:30PM        Networking Lunch

  • Get your food in the Innovation Lounge and feel free to eat and mingle around Centennial Hall

1:30PM          Building Alaska’s Capacity to Innovate, Ballroom 2 & 3

  • Chancellor Rick Caulfield, University of Alaska Southeast

  • President Johnsen, University of Alaska

  • Commissioner Johnson, Department of Education &  Early Development

  • Global Innovation Award winners (link is external) – presentation by Alaska finalists.

2:45PM          Innovation Lab: A Hands-On Opportunity to Innovate, Ballroom 2 & 3

  • Conference participants will form into groups of ten and spend 2 hours following the Rapid Prototyping for Entrepreneurs protocol to ideate, iterate, and build on concepts presented during the Innovation Summit. This fast-paced, generative, inclusive formula to create ideas were used to build Google Glass, Self-driving cars, Microsoft outlook, and many more. After orientation and introduction, participants will quickly pick one of the products or concepts presented at this summit and begin. Hosted by the Renewable Energy Alaska Project. 

5PM                Make the Connection, Ballroom 2 & 3  

5:30PM          Cheers to 30 Years Party, Innovation Lounge