Every company sells something. The cornerstone of all business is creating the best product or service and reaching a target customer-base that has the potential to purchase that product or service. The continuing evolution of the Internet, mobility, social media and analytics has redefined both the customer relationship and how companies achieve sales. This theme will be explored at the North Carolina Technology Association’s (NCTA) [2] State of Technology [3] conference, on Thursday, April 25 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham.

The conference has assembled B2B and B2C leaders from varying industries and companies to discuss the evolution of marketing from an art to a science. Organizations are recognizing that technology is more integrated into the way that everyone consumes information and have had to adapt in order to remain competitive. The keynote presentation from Craig Hayman, General Manager of Industry Solutions for IBM, will set the tone for the conference and a closing keynote presentation from Patrick Revoisé, noted author and Chief Neuromarketing Officer for Sales Brain, will conclude the conference by looking at evolutionary marketing and how to access the “buy button” of your customers. Also tentatively confirmed is Sharon Decker, Secretary of Commerce for the State of North Carolina, who will bring remarks at lunch.

In addition, the event will feature panel discussions on:

• Where Digital Meets Physical
• CIO Meet CMO
• Leveraging Customer Intelligence
• Building Your Brand in the Age of the Customer
• The Double Edged Sword: Transparency v. Privacy
• The Evolution of Marketing

Executives from the following companies will be participating on the panels: American Board of Anesthesiology, Bandwidth, Belk, Carolina Hurricanes, Carolinas HealthCare, CARQUEST Auto Parts, City of Charlotte, City of Raleigh, Coca-Cola Bottling Company Co., FHI 360, Inmar Analytics, Match.com, Premier, Inc., Replacements, Ltd., and Wells Fargo.

“The emergence of the tech-savvy consumer is changing the way companies develop and offer their products and services. We are excited to offer a wide array of executives who will share how technology is helping them identify, secure, and keep their customers more effectively,” said Brooks Raiford, NCTA president and CEO.

Early bird pricing for individual registration ends Thursday, April 11.

The title sponsor for this year’s event is IBM. Additional sponsors include: Cisco, Time Warner Cable Business Class, Carolina Advanced Digital, Vocus, Freudenberg IT, DukeNet Communications, CCCi, DataChambers, Beacon Technologies, Business North Carolina, Business Wire, Crossroad Public Relations, Lenovo, Triangle Business Journal, Windstream Hosted Solutions, Keiger Graphic Communications, and V4 Productions.

For more information or to register, please visit www.StateofTech-NC.com [4], or contact Marc Montoro at mmontoro@nctechnology.org [5] or 919-890-0773.