The WorldBlu Conference + Awards 2010, powered by Zappos Insights, brings together this year’s WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces awardees to share their powerful ideas, best practices, tips and strategies with business leaders from around the world. This year’s WorldBlu List of 44 awardee companies have a combined annual revenue of over $12 billion and are located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Since 2007, WorldBlu has been identifying the leading “blu” companies that operate using the principles of openness and transparency, collaboration, and a power-to-the-people ethic to build highly innovative, democratic, and profitable organizations worldwide.

NOW is a crucial time to come learn blu principles and practices in order to:

• Increase employee engagement,
• Boost innovation through transparency and openness,
• Be a talent magnet for Gen X and Y,
• Learn the new model of leadership in a collaborative age,
• Motivate through autonomy, not fear and control,
• Network with other democratic companies,
• Change the way you engage with customers to make them loyal fans for life,
• Learn how to unlock employee potential to create a highly engaged and happier workplace.

At the WorldBlu Conference + Awards, you will soak up new knowledge and lasting inspiration while learning from nearly a dozen speakers (all keynotes!) and engaging with an intelligent mix of thought-leaders from around the world. We believe the entire event will have a lasting, positive, and possibly magical impact on you.

DATES + LOCATION

The WorldBlu Conference + Awards 2010 will be held June 22 - 23, 2010 in the dynamic city of Las Vegas at the beautiful Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa!

We’ve selected Las Vegas because it’s where our main sponsor, and a WorldBlu List Awardee,  Zappos.com is located. Now you can learn from the top leaders of blu companies as well as experience one as well.

Click here to learn more about the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa and book your hotel reservations.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE

The WorldBlu Conference + Awards is open to all WorldBlu Awardee organizations and their employees AND business leaders from around the world.

Space is limited in order to maintain a high-quality experience.

Non-WorldBlu List awardees must apply and be accepted to the event. Application information is included on the registration page.

MAIN EVENT KEYNOTES

SAM CHALTAIN, Global Director, WorldBlu Training + Leadership Development & Author, American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community

Sam Chaltain is the Global Director of WorldBlu’s Training and Leadership Development program and author of American Schools: The Art of Creating a Democratic Learning Community and is the former National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy, a DC-based education advocacy organization devoted to bringing more democracy into public education. He is also the founding director of the Five Freedoms Project, a national program that helps K-12 principals create more democratic learning communities.  Sam’s writings about his work have appeared in both magazines and newspapers, including the Washington Post, Education Week and USA Today. Sam is also the author or co-author of The First Amendment in Schools, First Freedoms: A Documentary History of First Amendment Rights and We Must Not Be Afraid to be Free: Selected Stories About Free Expression in America. Sam is also a periodic contributor to CNN.

DANIEL DEBOW, Co-CEO, Rypple

Daniel Debow is a co-CEO of Rypple, the new way to motivate and align teams. Rypple is web-based software that makes it really easy to give meaningful kudos, get useful feedback, and have productive 1:1 meetings. Daniel was one of the founders and the VP of Corporate Development and Marketing for Workbrain, an enterprise software company. He holds a JD and an MBA from the University of Toronto and an LLM in Law, Science & Technology from Stanford University. Rypple is a WorldBlu List 2009 and 2010 awardee.

MARK DOWDS, CEO, Brainpark

Mark Dowds is the Founder and CEO of Brainpark, a groundbreaking peer-to-peer resource recommendation system for organizations that enables workers to benefit from networked collective intelligence to become smarter and more productive at work. Brainpark increases awareness, transparency, and reduces bureaucracy by enabling a collaborative community to emerge with a democratic voice. Mark believes in the wisdom of crowds and endeavors to create technologies that keeps the company in the hands of the people. Brainpark is a WorldBlu List 2008, 2009 and 2010 awardee.

JOHN ENGLE, Co-Founder + Executive Director, Haiti Partners

John Engle, is co-founder and executive director of Haiti Partners, which works to help Haitians change Haiti through education for students, teachers and leaders. His organization has seven partner schools with 1,500 students, trains 300 teachers per year, and has a 3-year intensive leadership program for 40 school directors, educators, and community leaders. This LEADERS Program uses WorldBlu tools, principles and practices. John has been a consultant with organizations including World Bank, Amnesty International, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Mozambique. John is married to Merline, a native of Haiti, and they have two children, Daniel and Leila. Since the January 12th earthquake they have hosted in their home, which is just outside of Port au Prince, more than 50 volunteers from the US. Haiti Partners is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

TRACI FENTON, Founder + CEO, WorldBlu

Traci Fenton is the Founder and CEO of WorldBlu, whose mission is championing the growth of democratically-run companies worldwide. Traci frequently addresses audiences on organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership and has shared her message with individuals from over 100 countries and for organizations such as Yahoo!, Fox Interactive Media, the CIA, and Harvard University. Traci has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, US News and World Report, The New York Times, Fast Company, BusinessWeek, the BBC, and dozens of other media around the globe. She is currently at work on her first book about how to build democratic companies.

BLAKE JONES,  CEO, Namaste Solar

Blake Jones is the President and Co-Founder of Namaste Solar, a 100% employee-owned solar electric company based in Colorado.  Namaste Solar is one of the fastest growing private companies in the nation with a #56 ranking in the 2009 Inc 500 and was awarded the 2009 Innovations Award by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) for its unique employee ownership structure.  The company is democratically managed, has no external investors, has no majority stockholder, and is 100% transparent with all company information – including salaries.  Namaste Solar is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

VANESSA LAWSON, Comedian, Zappos.com

Vanessa Lawson has been hitting the stage as a comedian for nearly a decade. She brings her magnetic personality and unparalleled energy every time she performs. She lives and works in Henderson, NV as a Senior Trainer on the Pipeline Team for Zappos.com. Vanessa started her comedy career in California, performing in local clubs as a stand-up comedian and also as part of a traveling improv troupe called The UnScriptables. Since then, she’s worked with Second City in Las Vegas and had a long-running weekly comedy/trivia show. Her company break came in 2008 when Tony Hsieh, CEO of the Zappos Family, called her to the stage in front of the entire company without any prior warning! She entertained the 900+ employees and has been asked to perform at every All Hands Meeting since. She can be seen on countless YouTube videos and on the Zappos Family’s recorded livestream event from April 2010 on ustream.com.

BOBBY LEWIS, Co-Founder + Director, The Link School

Bobby Lewis is the co-founder and director of The Link School, a small, private, democratically-managed high school based in Buena Vista, Colorado that teaches students through experiential learning, expeditions, service projects, and rigorous academics. It also uses consensus-based democratic decision-making, where all staff as well as students have an equal input in core decisions. From the small daily decisions to big decisions such as staff hiring, every member of the community must be on board before they move forward with an idea. The Link School believes that students are much more invested in their own education when they know that, rather than school being done to them, they have a genuine voice in shaping their own experience. Students then take responsibility for their academic program and community and ensure that it is helping them be prepared for life. The Link School is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

ANAND PILLAI,  Sr. VP + Global Head of Quality, Talent Transformation & Leadership, HCL Technologies

Anand Pillai is the Sr. Vice President and Global Head of Quality, Talent Transformation & Leadership Development at HCL Technologies, based in Noida, India with nearly 60,000 employees worldwide and over $4 billion in annual revenue. HCL transitioned to a democratic model in 2005 and calls their management approach, “Employees First, Customers Second,” which is about reversing the corporate pyramid. Anand has helped lead that transition and as a result has received much recognition, including being recognized as “HR Professional of the Year.” Anand has been featured in the book Leading with Wisdom along with 30 other leaders (Steven Covey, Abdul Kalam) and will be featured in the forthcoming Leadership is a Decision to be published by London Business School. HCL is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

STEVE PRIEST,  Chief Wisdom Officer, DaVita

Steve Priest is Chief Wisdom Officer (CWO) and Senior Vice President of Operations at DaVita, Inc., a $6 billion Fortune 500® company healthcare company located in Denver, CO, with more than 34,000 ”teammates” (employees) who participate in regular Town Hall meetings to give employee the opportunity to have a voice in key strategic decisions. Steve oversees the award-winning DaVita University (DVU) training and leadership-development programs. DaVita is a WorldBlu List 2008, 2009 and 2010 awardee.

ROBERT RICHMAN,  Product Manager, Zappos Insights

Robert Richman is the manager of Zappos Insights, the division of Zappos providing companies with tools, training and community to create strong cultures and deliver great service.  Since joining the company in May 2009, he has worked with the Insights team to grow the business from a proof-of-concept web site to a thriving division with a suite of services for businesses at every level, from free tours to the immersive 2-day bootcamp.  Previous to joining Zappos, Robert developed online strategies for best-selling business books, published by Harper Collins and Wiley.  His other client work included The Tony Robbins company, Landmark Education, Billboard Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and the National Leadership Institute.   Robert received a Bachelor of Science in Film at Northwestern University, and also graduated from Georgetown’s Leadership coaching program.

KATHLEEN HAMBURGER, CEO, 3i Infotech North America

Kathleen Hamburger is the CEO of 3i Infotech North America, headquartered in Mumbai, India and Edison, NJ, and is responsible for its strategic direction of operations in the US, Canada and Mexico. 3i Infotech has over 5,700 technology professionals globally and more than 500 large enterprise customers in 50 countries across five continents. The company has grown from generating annual revenues of $10 million in its first year to $550 million currently with a rate of growth averaging 45 to 50 percent annually.  3i Infotech is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

RAZOR SULEMAN,  Founder + CEO, I Love Rewards

Razor Suleman is founder and CEO of I Love Rewards, a high-growth, web-based rewards and recognition solution provider. Under Razor’s leadership I Love Rewards has been recognized as one of Canada’s fastest growing companies and a Top Employer for several years running. In 2007, Razor was named the BDC Young Entrepreneur of the Year for his innovative vision and business acumen, and in 2009, Razor was named a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. I Love Rewards is a WorldBlu List 2009 and 2010 awardee.

CLOSING KEYNOTE

TONY HSIEH, Author of Delivering Happiness and CEO of Zappos

In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making Fortune magazines annual Best Companies to Work For list. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing. His first book, Delivering Happiness, will be published on June 7th. Zappos is a WorldBlu List 2010 awardee.

AGENDA + PROGRAM (subject to change)

MONDAY, JUNE 21, 2010 | PRE-EVENT

Location :: Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa

1:00 - 6:00pm | REGISTRATION

5:00 - 7:00pm | NETWORKING RECEPTION

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