Reflections on ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum 2009

Now with a couple of days between the conclusion of our ZINO Society largest event of the year, ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum, it is interesting to sit back and reflect on the many things that were really right this year and what we can do next year to make it an even stronger event.

I heard from our ZINO Society members and sponsors over and over again that this was our best ZZIF to date. They were especially impressed with the quality of the 28 entrepreneurs who presented who were carefully selected and coached and felt this was our best slate ever. Another positive comment that I heard repeated many times was the venue selection, including the layout at the Four Seasons Hotel and the efficacious set-up and quality of the food and service. I think it might be interesting to make a couple of lists below on which I would like to ask for your input and opinion. Do you agree with my assessments? What can you add? What would you change? Any comments will be appreciated as we will have our official “de-brief” this week with the ZINO Society team.

ZZIF 2009 – What was really right this year?

· The quality of the selected companies was solid and the 28 ZZIF presenting companies (with their coaches’ help) made the 5 minute presentations very interesting. I sat back and was completely impressed though I had heard all of their pitches previously at screening. There was a vast improvement between the two presentations however.
· The ZZIF coaches were invaluable and their passion for helping the entrepreneurs was apparent with the positive results showcased. It was a highlight to recognize several of the coaches with awards once again this year. The awardees included:
o Vin Ricci of Foster Pepper – Winningest Coach Award
o Jackson Weaver of OneAccord – Rookie Coach Award
o Joe Wallin, Stuart Campbell, Haeryung Shin of Davis Wright Tremaine – Special Teams Coaches Award
o Alan Housley – Most Inspirational Coach Award
· The venue was spectacular. People especially appreciated the view at the Four Seasons Hotel and that the Ballroom had windows so people didn’t feel trapped in a box as they do at many conferences. Ben Trodd, General Manager, Beverly Magee, Director of Sales and Marketing and their entire team could not have been more helpful. Kudos to the entire Four Seasons Hotel team!
· The chevron table and chair layout set-up in the short direction in the Ballroom was conducive to focusing on the presenter and two screens. From my view at the podium, it was great to look out and see so many interested, focused attendees.
· The attendee notebooks were easy to use and included most of the important information that attendees wanted.
· The streaming twitter was a fun thing to follow throughout the forum as produced by Blaine Millet and Clay Loges of SOMEexec.com. Thank you also to the many people who got engaged and contributed to the twitter stream.
· Keynote speaker, Glen Hiemstra’s optimistic message about the future especially as it relates to new companies and startups.
· The ZZIF fund investors selected a quality group of fund finalists (see photos above).
o Non-Technology Best Investment Opportunity Fund Finalists (middle photo above left to right): Sam Sudore of Zero Crossing, that have created electronic tuners for the music industry, Tom Malone of MicroGREEN Polymers, developing economical and eco-friendly packaging materials; and Ken Childress of Harbor Wing, developing unmanned vessels for commercial and defense uses.
o Technology Best Investment Opportunity Fund Finalists (bottom photo above left to right): David Nelson of Giftango, offering virtual gift cards on any internet connected device including mobile phones; Keith McCall of Enroute Systems, improving efficiency for business shipping; and Steve Buckley of Photon Machines, the CSI of materials to speed decision-making and process at geochemical labs.
· The ZINO Zenith Award for Best Investment Opportunity as selected by all attendees was also selected by the fund investors (see top photo above left to right): Cathi Hatch, ZINO Society CEO with John Friess of journey gym and Tom Malone of MicroGREEN Polymers, flanked by Mary Holmes, ZINO Society VP-Business Development.
· The ZINO Zenith Award for Best Presenter to John Friess of journey gym was an obvious “slam-dunk” with his smart use of the Q & A time to demonstrate the device.
· The Puget Sound Business Journal ZINO Zillionaire Investment Forum insert was the best yet. Thank you Emory Thomas and Colleen Alllison and everyone at PSBJ who worked on the ZZIF insert this year!
· Morgan, the omnipresent photographer from Team Photogenic didn’t miss a photo. He was where he should be at all times.
· Our amazing summer intern, Christine Gilbert, who chose to fly all the way home from her East Coast college to be present and help at ZZIF. She just rolled up her sleeves and jumped in wherever she was needed.
· Also pitching in wherever needed, we had smart, talented student volunteers from both SEBA and the Evening MBA program at the University of Washington.
· The pre-ZZIF VIP Dinner for entrepreneurs and investors was a great opportunity to establish connections and relationships in advance of the forum the next day. Keynote speaker, ZINO Society member and author of business book, “Rethink”, Ric Merrifield talked about how we often get hung up on the “how” when what we should really be looking at is the “what” do we want to achieve.
· Having several wineries ( Edmonds Winery, JLC Winery, San Juan Vineyards, 428 Wines) and a brewery (The Pike Brewing Co.) represented during the Awards Reception was a real plus. Some people would rather have a beer than a glass of wine and we gave them that option this time. Perhaps next year, we should also offer a vitamin water or other non-alcoholic option as well.
What do you think we did right that we should be sure to repeat next year?

ZZIF 2009 – What would you change or improve for next year?

· How can we get people back into the room more quickly and effectively following breaks? This year we used chimes, had ZINO staff attempting to herd attendees and had raffle drawings for Passport Unlimited Gold cards and a copy of keynote speaker, Glen Hiemstra’s book.
· How can we make announcing the fund finalists and Due Diligence LIVE! more energetic and interesting? Should we have pre-arranged due diligence questions that expert panelists can use unless they think of other specific questions that they want to ask? We had a great group of panelists this year including Ric Merrifield, Microsoft business scientist and author of Rethink, Hugh Campbell of Cascadia Capital, Trish Dziko of the Technology Access Foundation, Geir Hansen of Silicon Valley Bank, and moderator Stephen Graham of Fenwick & West. A big thank you to each one!
· Do you like having the college companies’ present or should we consider merely including tables in the entrepreneur exhibition area for them to display their companies? Other thoughts on this?
· What do you recommend to help people register and RSVP on a more timely basis? Too many people are waiting until the eleventh hour or not bothering to RSVP at all and then just showing up at the door. We want them to attend, but we would like to be more organized and have them on the list with name tags pre-made and enough food and beverage ordered. We will offer a PRIZE for the best suggestion that helps us solve this problem!
· What do you think of promoting and offering the pre-ZZIF VIP Dinner as an option for all attendees at the same time they are making their ZZIF attendance decisions, for an additional event fee? Even if others attend, should we continue to focus this dinner primarily on the entrepreneurs, fund investors and coaches?

As our vivid memories today of ZZIF 2009 start to fade into the past, any input or suggestions that you can share with us now will be most helpful to us when we begin our planning for ZZIF 2010. I would love to hear your “two cents”! Thank you for your association with ZINO Society ZZIF 2009.