i.c.stars to Gather, Discuss 'Culture of Innovation' with Illinois CIOs

iOpener conference will bring tech community together to define which elements foster an innovative culture

Chicago (June 30, 2009) - On Friday, August 28, prominent members of the Chicago Information Technology (IT) community, including Hardik Bhatt, CIO, City of Chicago and Steven Elliott, SVP Global Technology & Operations, Bank of America will participate in i.c.stars' iOpener Conference. The conference, in its third year, can be likened to a high power brainstorming session. This year, the iOpener topic is the attributes an organization needs to possess to have a culture that fosters innovation. Known for providing thought leadership to the community through its events and conferences, i.c. stars, a non-profit organization in Chicago for adults with a high school diploma or GED, uses project-based learning and full immersion teaching, providing opportunities for change-driven, future leaders to develop skills in business and technology.

This engaging annual conference draws over 250 participants including top CIOs from Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs, i.c.stars alumni, university students, volunteers and sponsors. Collectively they will be brainstorming on the culture of innovation through a series of moderated simultaneous roundtable discussions. CIOs will facilitate discussions around the criteria that an organization must have in order to develop and grow culture of innovation. The diverse tablemates will provide an interesting perspective from the thoughts of CIOs, entrepreneurs and students on the verge of impacting innovation.

"This topic is particularly relevant in a global competitive environment. CIOs who create and foster a culture of innovation do so through the people around them, their experiences and the conditions they work in," said Sandee Kastrul, president and co-founder of i.c.stars. "CIOs know it's so important, especially in the technology industry, to continually innovate within their organizations, and i.c.stars is committed to expanding what innovative cultures look and sound like throughout the community via the iOpener conference."

The ideas generated at each roundtable will then be used as the criteria to identify the i.c.stars' CIO of the Year award - given out at i.c.stars' annual TechBash event in November 2009.

"This is a very exciting conference that will define criteria for the first-ever i.c.stars CIO of the Year award," noted Kastrul. "Chicago is the Midwest mecca of technology innovation, and we are proud to support and honor those CIOs who support innovation with this prestigious award."

This year's iOpener conference will be held at a soon-to-be-announced premier downtown location on Friday, August 28, from 7:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information on the conference, visit http://iOpener2009.com.

Proceeds from the conference will enable i.c.stars to deliver on its mission to help develop future IT and community leaders.

About i.c.stars

Formed in 1999, i.c.stars is a non-profit organization in Chicago for adults with a high school diploma or GED. Using project-based learning and full-immersion teaching, i.c.stars provides opportunities to develop skills in business and technology. i.c.stars' goal is to develop 1,000 Community Leaders by 2020.

i.c.stars places 100 percent of its qualified graduates in jobs with average annual earnings of $35,700. Before completing the program, participants typically earn around $16,600. In 2006, i.c.stars partnered with DePaul University to ensure that all i.c.stars alumni are admitted to the CTI and SNL Bachelors of Science program. Learn more on the Web at www.icstars.org.

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