By Brenda J. Trainor
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis while the non-essential labor force is “safer at home,” perhaps you have time to think about that great new business idea. And when you are ready to make your pitch, will you have the marketing and communication skills necessary to sell your idea and bring your innovation to reality?
MADIA Tech Launch can help you virtually with its next online meeting on Tuesday April 7 at 7 p.m. “Marketing 101 for Tech Companies” will be presented by Jeanette DePatie, the Top Beanie at Propellerhead, a consulting practice based in Duarte. This on-screen meetup is free but requires registration thru Eventbrite: madia_meetup_virtual_april_2020.eventbrite.com.
You may have a great idea for your boss, or you may have come up with a great new application of your favorite technology. Scientists and engineers often have their own language, but if you want to introduce an innovation, you’re going to have to convince financiers, investors, venture capitalists, even family-members to give you money and resources to develop your cool new product or service, and eventually you’ll have to convince an audience to pay attention to your new idea and then persuade consumers to buy your innovation.
MADIA Tech Launch has regular monthly meetings that normally include dinner and drinks but this month, the meet-up will be an online experience because that is what we do during a pandemic, so you’ll have to prepare your own snacks and beverages, and MADIA will still bring you the good information. At this virtual meet-up, Jeanette DePatie will deliver some of the tools you need to convince others to collaborate with you, invest in your ideas, and communicate persuasively and effectively to a wide range of people.
DePatie has extensive experience advising technology companies, and has tools that she has used to raise millions in venture capital and to build campaigns for companies like Twitter, DirectTV, Intel, Sony, and WB. In this workshop, she’ll provide ideas about personal communication styles that will help you convert your geek-speak for different audiences: from specifications to stories, using nonverbal cues to get better results, and to use your voice with confidence not arrogance. DePatie will advise how to effectively use acronyms and other mnemonic devices as only a Propellerhead can. And she’ll show you some of the needed tools for your business idea to help you personalize your pitch for profit, and to have short and simple presentations that get results.
The COVID-19 crisis has reinforced the importance of technology innovations and adaptation. Now is a great time to think about your skills and to develop innovative uses of technology. MADIA Tech Launch (madiatech.org) is a nonprofit whose mission is to ensure that our local region supports the technical, scientific, and industrial companies and our local workforce that create entrepreneurial technology innovations.
