By Robert Pagliarini, Los Angeles Times - It takes guts and determination to invest the other eight hours into improving yourself or starting a business. If you've taken night classes, started a blog or have participated at Toastmasters, you know you are putting yourself on the line.

It's hard work and there is ample room for disappointment, rejection and, yes, dare I say, failure?

It's the F-word that is more obscene and crude than the other, more well known F-word. What is our obsession with failure? People see failure as a colossal mistake. It's not.

When I start a new venture, I feel like I have nothing to lose and

MarketWatch (press release) - SAN JOSE, Calif., May 17, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Project HIRED, whose job search, training, career development, and employer services have helped thousands of people with disabilities for more than 30 years, today announces Carly Fiorina as the keynote speaker for their 25th Annual Recognition Breakfast on Thursday, May 20, 2010, celebrating disabled workers and veterans. This annual event brings together

TMCnet - (PR Web Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Business and professional keynote speaker, Jay Berkowitz, to help businesses harness new technology and improve online sales on The Business Counselor Radio Program hosted by Ian M. Berkowitz which airs of NPR affiliate WXEL in South Florida Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) May 3, 2010 -- The Business Counselor Radio Program hosted by Ian M., Berkowitz on WXEL, the NPR affiliate in South Florida, will feature business and professional keynote speaker Jay Berkowitz to help businesses understand how to use social media to grow their business.

Trading Markets (press release) - Apr 14, 2010 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

General Electric Co. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt will be keynote speaker
at Boston College's commencement on May 24.

Business Wire (press release) - IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Harvard Business School Association of Orange County (HBSAOC) and USC Marshall School of Business Alumni Association today announced the keynote speaker line-up—including Bob McKnight, chairman of the board, CEO and president of Quiksilver, and Tony Hsieh, CEO and president of Zappos—at the upcoming Business Growth Conference. The annual conference—co-hosted by two powerhouse alumni associations in Southern California—Harvard Business School and the USC Marshall School of Business—unites business and industry influencers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and economic visionaries to match talent and business concepts with money and other resources. The all-day event takes place May 6, 2010 at the

Most years, UC Irvine's various schools rarely choose high profile figures to deliver a commencement speech. That won't be the case this year for UCI's Paul Merage School of Business. Jim Albaugh, executive vice president of The Boeing Company, will be the keynote speaker for about 350 MBA students on June 13 at Bren Events Center.

Andy Policano, the business school's dean, says in a statement, "The Merage School has strong, long-standing ties with The Boeing Company and it is our honor to have Jim Albaugh present at our commencement ceremony. Jim is an outstanding leader and role model."

Policano says that

Gifts and Tablewares - NEW YORK, NY - Pierre Pellerin, co-founder of Bleu Lavande, will be the keynote speaker at the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Montreal Conference, being held June 9-10, 2010.

Bleu Lavande, which is located in Fitch Bay, Quebec, is the only Canadian lavender producer with international certification. Pellerin, who established the business with Christine Deschesnes, will discuss the development of a strong brand image and quality products. He will also address the public response to this agritourism offer, sales network and the development Bleu Lavande stores and products.

The ICSC has also revised the hours of the conference's trade show. It

Bizjournals.com - Former BB&T Corp. chief executive John Allison will be the keynote speaker for the second annual Wake Forest University Family Business Center awards ceremony in Charlotte.

The event is scheduled for May 6 at Discovery Place. Four family-owned businesses will be honored.

“John Allison is a leader in the world of business, and we are delighted to have him as the keynote speaker for the awards event,” says Kathy Baker, director of the Family Business Center. “I am sure that our members will take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to hear John Allison’s thoughts on family business as well as his valuable

MarketWatch (press release) - Franklin Covey Co.(FC  7.97, -0.09, -1.12%)  is the global consulting and training leader in the areas of strategy execution, leadership, customer loyalty, sales performance, and individual effectiveness. Over the Company's history, FranklinCovey clients have included 90 percent of the Fortune 100, more than 75 percent of the Fortune 500, thousands of small- and mid-sized businesses, as well as numerous government entities and educational institutions. FranklinCovey has 40 direct and licensee offices providing professional services in 147 countries.

Milwaukee Small Business Times - Nonprofit executives are invited to attend the BizTech Conference and Expo’s annual CEO Strategies event featuring keynote speaker Kay Plantes. Plantes is an MIT Trained economist, business strategy consultant, columnist and author.
Plantes’ background includes a wide range of experience and expertise, including expertise on the economy and business consulting, providing executive management strategies for public and private companies and for nonprofit organizations. She also has state government, federal government and university experience.
Her book, Beyond Price provides leadership teams in for profit and nonprofit organizations, with a step-by-step guide to building a sustainable advantage in the marketplace, and fans say her

MMH.com - AMR Research, a leading independent research firm focused on the global supply chain and its supporting technologies, has announced speakers for its Supply Chain Executive Conference, to be held at The Phoenician Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, June 2-4, 2010.T. Boone Pickens"Keynote speaker, T. Boone Pickens"

The agenda includes a keynote address from T. Boone Pickens, energy activist, chairman of BP Capital Management and founder of the Pickens Plan.  Pickens will highlight hard-won lessons on how emerging energy and physical infrastructure businesses operate as well as their potential to impact strategies for supply chain leaders across industries.

AMR Research will host an award

UB News Center - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Abbe Raven, BA '74, president and CEO of A&E Television Networks (AETN), will be the keynote speaker at the University at Buffalo's second annual Coast to Coast Symposium on Arts, Entertainment and Media (UBC2C NYC).

One of the most powerful women in television, Raven highlights a list of prominent UB alumni from the arts, entertainment and media industries who will speak at the symposium, July 23-25, in New York City's Macaulay Honors College at CUNY.

"Abbe Raven is a most distinguished UB alumna and a prominent leader in the national entertainment and media arenas," said UB President John B.

by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal - Don Peebles, the real estate mogul and D.C. native, will be the keynote speaker at a major annual meeting of local industry leaders, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Business Summit and Expo.

Peebles has flirted with the idea of running for mayor against Adrian Fenty, who is up for re-election this year. After months of planning a campaign, however, he announced in January that his mother-in-law was ailing from cancer and that he needed to attend to his family.

The summit is planned for May 20 at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Hotel.

In a news release from the chamber, Peebles said the

By Linda Wellbrock & Melissa Cloeter, Co-Fo... , The Star-Ledger - NJ.com (blog) - We're excited to announce that Katie Borghese of the Borghese cosmetic line and of Casa di Francesca will be an afternoon keynote speaker at our May 1st Entrepreneur Expose event at Dolce in Basking Ridge.  We are looking forward to having her there and wanted to give you a little background on this dynamic and creative lady.

Katie has long been a student and practitioner of art and home décor.  Growing up in Florida, Katie enjoyed working at her mother’s interior design firm, traveling to flea markets, antique stores and fabric showrooms in search of special items for clients’ homes.  Katie

By Claude R. Marx, Credit Union Times - Jim Collins, the best-selling author of “Good to Great” and “How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In,” will be the keynote speaker at the joint CUNA and WOCCU conference in July.

Collins, a former business professor at Stanford University, does extensive quantitative and qualitative research on companies while researching his books.

MarketWatch (press release) - NEW YORK, Feb 23, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- American Express /quotes/comstock/13*!axp/quotes/nls/axp (AXP 44.78, -1.89, -4.05%) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Chenault will be a keynote speaker at the CLSA AsiaUSA Forum in San Francisco, on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. (ET).

A live audio webcast of the presentation, together with the slides, will be made available to the general public through the American Express Investor Relations website at http://ir.americanexpress.com. An audio replay of the presentation will be available after the event at the same website address.

American Express Company is a leading global payments and travel company founded in

MarketWatch - WASHINGTON, Feb 04, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Harris Corporation Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Howard Lance will be a keynote speaker at the 2010 NAB Show in Las Vegas. In a morning session titled "Dual Utilization of Broadcast Technology for Industry and Government" on Wednesday, April 14, Lance will discuss how the integration of government and commercial technologies can create "cross-over" applications that benefit both sectors.

In his NAB Show address, Lance will focus on how commercial broadcast technology has increased the performance and reduced the price of military equipment for many intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications -- including the

Charlotte Business Journal (blog) - Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan delivered his first speech as the Charlotte-based bank's leader on Monday as the keynote speaker for the N.C. Bankers Association's annual Economic Forum.

Moynihan's speech focused on his expectations for the economy in 2010. To sum it up: He expects a long slow recovery with lingering unemployment trouble.

He confirmed his commitment to North Carolina, mentioning the bank will remain based here.

Moynihan, 50, also defended BofA's combination of commercial and investment banking services, an area strengthened with the purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co. a year ago. The timing of his comments follow recent proposals on

Roanoke Times - Radford University is preparing to launch its Centennial Celebration, and light post banners that read "Celebrating the Century, Forging the Future" now line the campus perimeter.

The official celebration will be observed beginning Jan. 1, according to a news release from the university.

The Centennial Service Challenge -- which asks Radford students, faculty, staff and alumni to donate community service hours wherever they live -- will course through the yearlong celebration, Gary Ellerman and Barbara-lyn Morris, who are serving as the co-chairs of the Centennial Steering Committee, said in the news release.

Ellerman, a retired professor, and Morris, a member of Radford College's

San Leandro India West - San Leandro,CA,USA - The unexpected question posed by renowned corporate strategist Prof. C.K. Prahalad drew chuckles from the 150 entrepreneurs, business-owners, and IT professionals attending his talk Sept. 18, organized by the Southern California chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs at the Sheraton Cerritos hotel.

Prahalad teaches corporate strategy at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. A prominent consultant, he has received many honors and has co-authored several books including the 2004 best-seller, “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profit.” Last year, he was named the world’s most influential management thinker by The Times of London’s annual survey

Autochannel (press release) - Andy Grove, former Intel chairman and CEO, provides a keynote address on the critical importance; and business opportunity and viability; of moving transportation from oil to electricity.

Andrew S. Grove was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1936. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1960 with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree and received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963. Upon graduation, he joined the Research and Development Laboratory of Fairchild Semiconductor and became Assistant Director of Research and Development in 1967.

In July 1968, Dr. Grove participated in the founding of Intel Corporation. In

PR Web (press release) - Ferndale, WA, USA - Brian Lawley, CEO of The 280 Group, recently won this years "Excellence in Thought Leadership" award at the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM) annual conference. The "Excellence in Thought Leadership" award is the only industry award of its kind, and is awarded to individuals who are considered experts in the field of Product Management and who have made significant contributions.

"This award recognizes the need for excellence in the area of product management…" said Mr. Lawley "…winning the AIPMM award for Excellence in Thought Leadership is one of the highlights of my 20 years work in the area

CRN - Manhasset, NY, USA - Even though he was credited in turning around IBM (NYSE:IBM)'s misfortunes, it looks as though former CEO and chairman Lou Gerstner won't be able to save Carlyle Capital Corp., an affiliate of private equity giant The Carlyle Group of which Gerstner is chairman.

The Carlyle Group's publicly traded Carlyle Capital Corp. defaulted on approximately $16.6 billion of debt. The company said that the remaining indebtedness is expected to soon to go into default.

CCC is the Washington-based investment firm's mortgage bond fund and is the latest casualty of the U.S. credit crisis. In total, Washington-based Carlyle Group had $74.9 billion under management

RedOrbit - Dallas, TX, USA - "My name is John, and I am your friend."

That was John C. Maxwell's cordial welcome and light-hearted expression Thursday morning, and it filled the auditorium at CrossRoads Fellowship with laughter and smiles for the third annual Sewell Leadership Event.

The 60-year-old leadership guru repeated the phrase several times throughout the all-day seminar to a sold-out audience of 1,400 -- at times after a hard-hitting or challenging concept that pointed at the heart of every individual and the way they view others.

Promising life-changing principles for successful leadership and relationships, Maxwell delivered his influential message with skill and ease through four speaking sessions