2008 Year in Review

Much of the value our members receive from their NCTC membership is through networking and establishing new relationships. In that regard, the value of the organization is directly correlated with the people that are involved with the organization and the willingness of NCTC members to help each other. Our job at the NCTC office is to help facilitate those connections by hosting events, to be an advocate for the local tech community, and to be an ally for your business. The following is a summary of our efforts in 2008 to deliver value for your NCTC membership.

Membership grew from 142 to 200 companies/organizations. View the NCTC Member Directory.
The new NCTC website launched in June and includes:
1. Industry and Awards Calendar - Winning an award is usually good for some free press. Consider applying for one of these awards to help shine the light on your company and our region!
2. NewVa Blog Index – Find out what’s on the mind of NCTC members.
3. RSS Feed - Get NCTC newsletter, events, and updates in your RSS reader.
4. Online Calendar of Events – More than 40 events this year to connect our members to each other and business opportunities.
5. Online payments through Click and Pledge, a NCTC member company.
The NCTC Blacksburg Office opened in February and is located in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.
Bethanne Trexell was hired as the NCTC Office Manager.
More than 40 Member Events in 2008, including:
1. 10 Technology & Toasts – Including presentations on intellectual property, high tech strategy, and green engineering. View the 2008 T&T archive. Slides and video were posted when made available.
2. TechNite – Aneesh Chopra, Virginia’s Secretary of Technology was our Master of Ceremonies. View award nominees, finalists, and winners.
3. Fall Gala - Dr. Chris Neck, “The Rappin’ Professor” was our Keynote Speaker. See pictures from the red carpet.
4. NewVa Tech Expo – This inaugural “show and tell” event allowed NCTC members to learn more about the other technology companies in the region and helped initiate conversations about new partnerships and collaboration.
5. Speaker Series - Featuring the Dr. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, and Bob Metcalfe, founder of 3Com and inventor of Ethernet.
6. NCTC Peer Group Events were held for CEOs, CIOs, Scientific Researchers, IT Professionals, Software Developers, Interactive Designers, Advanced Operations Management, and Sales & Marketing Personnel. If you’d like to know about upcoming peer group events, please join the NCTC mailing list by visiting TheTechnologyCouncil.com.
Efforts to Attract & Retain Talent
1. The NCTC Job Board was launched and offers FREE job postings for members, plus job postings are pushed to over a dozen websites including MySpace, LinkedIn, Craigslist, and Google Base. This is the “technology job index” for our region. Request your login.
2. The Virginia Tech Magazine Editorial appeared in the Fall issue, which mailed to over 180,000 VT alumni, to raise awareness about employment and investment opportunity in the NewVa region.
3. The NCTC Internship Program helped fund 12 internships at member companies. Read what participating companies had to say.
4. “Making the Most of Internships” – This workshop was held in December to help local companies structure and manage their internship programs.
5. To promote regional employment opportunities, the NCTC attended multiple career fairs including those of Virginia Tech (Engineering Expo & Business Horizons), Radford University, and Virginia Western Community College. We collected contact info for students that are interested in staying in the area after they graduate or for internships.
PR and Marketing
1. Numerous articles highlighting NCTC events and member companies have appeared in Roanoke Times, Blue Ridge Business Journal, Valley Business FRONT, and Handshake 2.0, promoting the technology community in the NewVa region.
2. Cory Donovan was interviewed by Gene Morano of Cox Communications regarding technology opportunity in the region. The video has aired many times on WDBJ.
3. Cory also wrote an Op-Ed article that appeared in the August 25^th issue of the Blue Ridge Business Journal.
The NCTC LinkedIn Group was established to connect members. LinkedIn is an online networking tool for professionals. Join the NCTC LinkedIn Group.
The NCTC issued grants to help create 7 new FIRST robotics teams in the NewVa region.

If you’re in the giving spirit (or if you just have some equipment you no longer need), check out the NCTC Wish List for a list of things the NCTC could put to good use.