Ann Arbor IT Zone Kicks Off February with a LeadersConnect Breakfast and the Creativity Forum

Ann Arbor IT Zone Kicks Off February with a LeadersConnect Breakfast and the Creativity Forum ANN ARBOR, Mich., Jan. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ann Arbor IT Zone will kick off February with Rob Pasick's LeadersConnect Breakfast Series, "Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders," followed by the Creativity Forum, "Can You Make it in the Market and Still Be Moral?" Rob Pasick's LeadersConnect Breakfast Series, co-sponsored by the Ann Arbor IT Zone, Inner Circle Media, Nicola Books, Pfizer and Zingerman's, is designed to bring together business leaders, consultants and educators in a dynamic learning forum. LeadersConnect is held the first Tuesday morning of every month with registration starting at 7:15 a.m. and program from 7:45 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the Ann Arbor IT Zone, 330 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor. The cost is $15 for members, $5 for students and $25 for non-members for pre-registration or $30 at the door and includes a Zingerman's continental breakfast. The February 2005 LeadersConnect program is: Feb. 1 - "Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders." Author John Baldoni will discuss with Rob Pasick and attendees the topic of his book, titled "Great Motivation Secrets of Great Leaders," identifying motivation as a top- of-mind business issue where good leaders must provide opportunities for their team members to build on their talents and develop their skills. For more than 20 years as a consultant, Baldoni has been helping managers become more effective communicators. He is the author of four other books on leadership and also speaks frequently on leadership topics in the corporate, law enforcement, military and university communities, including the Univ. of Michigan. The Creativity Forum is a pack-your-own brown bag lunch event that explores the mind's power to create. Moderated by Jan Nichols, of Market Arts, the program combines audience participation, fun games and conversation with guests who have something to say about the power, the process and the payoff of thinking creatively. The Creativity Forum takes place the first Friday of every month during lunch, from noon till 1:15 p.m. at the Ann Arbor IT Zone. Free to members of the IT Zone, the cost is $5 for non-members. The February 2005 Creativity Forum is: Feb. 4 - "Can You Make it in the Market and Still Be Moral?" Rebecca M. Blank, dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a professor of economics at the University of Michigan, will explore the questions of how to make it in the market and still be moral when you have something to sell that someone else wants to buy as well as how to balance self-interested behavior with a concern for the well-being of others. In addition, she will discuss the co-existence of sound business practice with principled behavior. Blank was senior staff economist with the Council of Economic Advisors during the first Bush administration and was appointed to the Council under President Clinton. About the Ann Arbor IT Zone Michigan's premier non-profit organization dedicated to the development of the state's information technology environment across multiple market sectors, the Ann Arbor IT Zone fosters and promotes the area's information technology industry by offering services to established and new information technology companies. Its educational series, Hi-Tech Tuesdays, IT Forums and Boot Camp, help educate, retain and attract the diverse talent required to accelerate Ann Arbor and the surrounding region's leadership position in information technology. For more information or to register online, visit http://www.annarboritzone.org/ or call 734-615-9310. Source: Ann Arbor IT Zone CONTACT: Jessica Annaloro of Eiler Communications, +1-734-761-3399, jessica@eilerpr.com ; or Susanna Thomashefski of Ann Arbor IT Zone, +1-734-615-9310, sthomas@annarboritzone.org Web site: http://www.annarboritzone.org/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment