Leaders gather for Leadership & Technology Conference

The second annual Leadership and Technology Conference will be on Saturday, March 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Oakland Center.

Fifteen locally and highly recognized speakers are expected at this year’s conference. Some of the speakers include: Scott Monty, head of social media at Ford Motor company, Byron Brooks, vice president of sales for the Pepsi Corp. and Bryan Barnett, Oakland University alumnus and Rochester Hills’ mayor.

Some of the topics covered will be new technologies, effective communication techniques, marketing, social networking, leadership styles, group communication and more.

The goal of the conference is to educate students in the fields of leadership and technology. The program may help students to better understand the specified fields and how to excel in them.

“This is a really good way to bring teams together,” said Steve St. Germain, who has helped plan the conference, “whether they are just getting to know each other or if it will be the last hurrah.”

Students are encouraged to come participate in the afternoon’s activities.

“We’re doing geocaching this year,” said St. Germain. “Its like a GPS based scavenger hunt — every team gets a GPS handset and they try to find everything that’s been planted around you, which could end up being cool souvenirs.”

The other activity scheduled is a case study, which is completely filled.

There is a waiting list to sign up, which is first come, first serve. All those unable to participate in the case study can participate in the geocaching.

The conference is free to all enrolled Oakland students, but not for students enrolled at other universities. For those students or the general public to attend, there is a $30 fee.

To register for the conference (and sign up for the case study if interested), go to http://www.oakland.edu/LTC.