Business takes flight!

All-day event focuses on the skills and resources needed to take your business into the stratosphere.

From the pages of In Business magazine.

Red Bull may give its drinkers wings, but the In Business Expo & Conference offers attendees the kind of business advice, information, and wisdom they can use to soar above the competition.

Mark your calendar for Dane County’s premier business event, the IB Expo & Conference, scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the Alliant Energy Center. With more than 100 exhibitors anticipated, well over 1,200 attendees, and dozens of expert speakers, the IB Expo & Conference has everything needed to make your business reach new heights of success.

This year’s event kicks off with a keynote presentation from Jason Young, a former senior-level manager at Southwest Airlines and author of The Culturetopia Effect and Servicetopia. He will share the real inside story behind the success of Southwest, a company consistently rated number one in customer service and employee satisfaction.

Attendees can visit the expo floor and gain business insight from informative and entertaining seminars at the main stage for free, while the keynote breakfast costs $35 per person or $230 for a table of eight.

Other educational opportunities throughout the one-day event will cover a range of timely topics, including steps for making your LinkedIn profile more engaging; first aid at work; team building exercises employees actually love; using augmented reality technology, like Pokémon Go, in your business; the best networking ice breakers; and much more.

Additionally, visitors to the exhibit hall can participate in a lively passport game and collect stamps from exhibitors in their IB Expo Passport for a chance at winning a number of exciting prizes, including a grand prize package from The American Club in Kohler, Wis., valued at $2,505.

Be sure to stick around once the Expo wraps up for an evening networking reception on site featuring entertainment from Piano Fondue.

Preregister now at www.MadisonBusinessExpo.com to make your check-in faster on the day of the event.

The Southwest Way

Successful Practices of a Market Leader

Southwest Airlines has given the business world a textbook example that providing fabulous customer service and maintaining high employee morale in a low-cost environment is possible — and profitable — in today’s corporate world.

But what’s the real story? As a key developer of Southwest Airlines’ legendary customer-service and leadership-training programs, Jason Young knows that great culture does not just happen. A customer service value can be created and nurtured to flourish into a customer-service culture. And employees can be treated as true partners in the success of the business through shared values, shared vision, and shared effort.

As a former senior-level manager at Southwest Airlines, Young learned the value of a successful workplace culture. During his 10 years with the airline, Southwest was consistently rated number one in customer service and employee satisfaction. Young was a key driver in creating and developing the company’s innovative training programs for its successful leadership and customer service culture that have become renowned in today’s business world.

Driven by the need to extend his unique insight in leadership development to others outside Southwest, Young left the airline to launch his own consulting practice to focus on corporate training and development services specializing in leadership, customer service, and team building. Today, as president of LeadSmart Inc., Young shares his vision in developing successful corporate cultures with forward-thinking companies, including Starbucks, IHOP, Radio Shack, and Tyson Foods, to name just a few. He has even returned to Southwest Airlines to extend his knowledge as a corporate training consultant in the leadership development area.

In addition, Young has captured his philosophy of creating high-performance cultures in his books, The Culturetopia Effect and Servicetopia.

At the Oct. 19 IB Expo & Conference, Young will draw on his own experiences as a business leader and share the real inside story behind the success of Southwest. Best of all, you’ll learn how you can take these proven organizational principles to your team or company. You won’t want to miss this inside knowledge from the man who knows it best!

The keynote breakfast costs just $35 per person or $230 for a table of eight. Reservations can be made online at www.MadisonBusinessExpo.com.

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Win a $2,505 grand prize from The American Club

IB Expo passport game & prizes

At the IB Expo & Conference, attendees are encouraged to travel throughout the exhibit hall to make meaningful connections in order to earn stamps and win prizes.

Each attendee will receive a passport upon entry to the hall and will earn a stamp after making a meaningful connection with an exhibitor. Attendees will be eligible for various prize drawings based on the number of connections made.

Attendees who successfully make 21 meaningful connections at the expo will be entered into the drawing for the grand prize: a resort, spa, and golf package at The American Club in Kohler, Wis. This prize package is valued at $2,505.

Attendees can also qualify with fewer connections for a wide variety of additional prize packages valued from $50 to $3,300.

Winners will be announced at 3:50 p.m. on the main stage. Attendees must be present to win.

For a list of all prizes, visit MadisonBusinessExpo.com.

Continue networking after hours

Stick around when Expo is done

Networking continues at the IB Expo & Conference after the exhibit hall closes.

Attendees are encouraged to attend the evening networking reception in the atrium of the Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Energy Center. There will be a cash bar, complimentary appetizers, and musical entertainment provided by Piano Fondue, which takes the dueling pianos concept to the next level with a full stage production, custom light show, stand-up comedy, and much more.

Similar to our popular IB Introductions networking events, this informal session is a great way to cap off your day by enjoying a cocktail and connecting with other area business professionals and exhibitors.

After hours networking is free to attend and everyone is welcome.

Click here to sign up for the free IB ezine — your twice-weekly resource for local business news, analysis, voices, and the names you need to know. If you are not already a subscriber to In Business magazine, be sure to sign up for our monthly print edition here.