BlackBerry's Thorsten Heins, Author and Influencer Seth Godin, Google CFO Patrick Pichette to be Keynote Speakers at Upcoming Communitech 2013 Tech Leadership Conference

WATERLOO REGION, ON, Feb. 13, 2013 /CNW/ - It holds the promise of being the best Communitech Tech Leadership Conference yet, as the lineup of keynote speakers and breakout session speakers comes together for the 2013 event in Waterloo Region on March 7th. BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins, coming off the worldwide launch of the BB10, will share his insights with the Region that is home to Canada's top tech company. Seth Godin, best-selling author, businessman and marketing pioneer and author of 14 books, is adding Waterloo Region to the locales where he has shared his expertise. And Patrick Pichette, Sr. VP and CFO of Google, will provide his perspectives based on nearly 20 years of experience in financial operations and management in the telecommunications sector.

"We're pumped about the calibre of speakers and the level of discussion that is going to take place at this year's Tech Leadership Conference," said Iain Klugman, CEO of Communitech which hosts the annual conference. "This is the must-attend event of the year for the tech community in Southwestern Ontario."

Communitech's Tech Leadership Conference is the largest one-day gathering of tech professionals in Waterloo Region, bringing together an audience of more than 500 people drawn from private industry, startups, the investment community, the academic community and government to network, listen to leadership lessons, and share their own experiences. The day features: a Tech Expo Showcase of companies; keynote speakers; networking by industry plus breakout sessions; and a closing reception.

The lineup of breakout sessions and speakers includes:

Colin and Julie Angus: Dynamite Duo - Lessons in Teamwork

• This dynamic pair of adventurers, writers, film-makers and outdoors-people are best-selling authors who have collectively written five books, and their films have been aired on National Geographic Channel, CTV Travel and more.

Ali Asaria: A culture of Innovation and Disruption

• Ali is the founder of Well.ca which is Canada's largest online health, baby and beauty store. He asserts that we've become so lost in a culture of startups and venture capital, that we've forgotten the importance of real technological innovation and disruption, the topic he will address in his breakout session.

April Dunford: The Future of Marketing: What Startup Marketers can Teach Us

• April is the co-founder and Managing Director of RocketScope, a hybrid marketing accelerator and analyst firm focused on marketing best practices and strategy. April will take Tech Leadership attendees through the changing playing field of marketing, where the best marketing is no longer de facto done by the biggest teams.

Mike McCauley: 0 to Google in 18 months: The BufferBox Story

• Mike is co-founder of BufferBox, a network of automated package delivery lockers which allows consumers to ship parcels and online purchases directly to pick-up stations, solving the problem of failed deliveries by offering 24/7 pickup. Other startups can benefit from the BufferBox experience.

The Tech Leadership Conference will be held March 7^th at Bingeman's Conference Centre, 425 Bingeman Centre Drive, Kitchener beginning at 8 a.m. with breakfast, registration and the opening of the Tech Expo, and closing at 4:40 p.m. following the program completion and reception. To register, go to: http://www.techleadership.ca/

About Communitech
Communitech www.communitech.ca  is the regional hub for the commercialization of innovative technologies supporting and building a Southwestern Ontario tech cluster of close to 1,000 companies that now generates more than $30B in revenue. A member of the Ontario Network of Excellence (www.oneinnovation.ca), which is funded by the Ontario government, Communitech supports tech companies at all stages of their growth and development - from startup companies, to rapidly growing SMEs, to large global players - to create greater numbers of successful global businesses for Ontario and for Canada.

SOURCE: Communitech Ltd.

Shelley Grandy, Sr. PR Advisor, Communitech, 905-866-2656 or [email protected]