InfoSec offers two industry-recognized keynote speakers, panel discussions and multiple breakout sessions focusing on technical and management issues, as well as healthcare and other industry regulations in the security industry. The Southeast’s leading security conference now in it’s tenth year. InfoSec brings technologists and security professionals for a full day of exciting speakers and networking opportunities.

Register today!

Interested in attending?  We’ll have limited walk ups, so ensure your seat at the event by registering now! If you can’t attend tomorrow, be sure to follow us on Twitter (@nashtechcouncil, hashtag #nakedhospital) for pics and discussion highlights.

Special thanks to our Titan Sponsors HealthSpring and Peak 10 for underwriting tomorrow’s event. We hope to see you there!

You can listen to this episode here and read the show notes here.

We’re proud to announce to you all that we’ve moved in with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center at 105 Broadway.  The Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Technology Council were both instrumental in getting the NEC off the ground, and we are very happy to be continuing this close relationship.  This cohabitation is symbolic of Nashville making its mark as a leading city for technology based start-ups.  The Tech Council will continue working closely with affiliate organizations such as the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Nashville Health Care Council on events and projects key to helping the Nashville technology community succeed and grow.

Please take note of our new address, phone and fax numbers:

Nashville Technology Council

105 Broadway, Suite 200

Nashville, TN  37201

Main Line: 615-873-1284

Fax: 615-250-8793

Dr. Laura Myers is a community disaster resiliency professional. Her work has produced a regional resiliency disaster response planning model for disaster response planning stakeholders, including police, fire, emergency management, civilians, and the private sector. Dr. Myers is a disaster preparedness research professor with Mississippi State University and a senior scholar and lecturer with Clemson University. Dr. Myers has published books and articles on disaster preparedness, emergency management, disaster recovery, criminal justice education, organizational ethics, cultural diversity in professions, and the administration of public agencies. She is a residential and online educator and also is a trainer for criminal justice and emergency response professionals. She serves as a consultant to both the public and private sectors on disaster preparedness, business continuity, organizational administration, and criminal justice topics.

Randall Till (MBCP) has over 20 years experience creating and implementing business continuity practices for organizations to help manage operational risks. His expertise spans marketing, management, and application of business continuity practices following a holistic approach to protect company assets and build resilient services.

Throughout his career, Mr. Till has been responsible for creating business continuity programs from inception to maturity, and has successfully established “best-in-class” practices. He has extensive experience working with senior management to promote business continuity within their organizations, and to foster the appropriate oversight for the BC Program.

Mr. Till serves as a member of the Executive Council for the Disaster Recovery Journal. He is recognized as an industry expert and is a regular speaker at industry events, trade shows and webinars. Mr. Till has also taught business continuity classes for the past 12 years. He started as a certified instructor for Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) and has developed and taught his own classes to share best practices in Business Continuity Management.

“The Nashville Technology Council grew 15 percent last year and we expect this trend to continue,” said Andy Flatt, Chair of the NTC Board and CIO, HealthSpring.  “Technology continues to grow in importance in the overall regional growth strategies.  Connections to our educational institutions will continue to be an emphasis and we will strengthen our association with entrepreneurs and a new generation of brilliant innovators who are increasingly making Middle Tennessee their home.”

This year’s Board of Directors includes the private and the public sector organizations that represent all industries including tech services, healthcare, digital, entertainment, education, and nonprofit.  These Board members will be key in supporting the growth of technology in this region.

New board members are as follows:

Katherine McElroy (Partner, C3 Consulting)
Kent Fourman (CIO, Permanent General)
Tom Stephenson (CEO, HMS)
John Kepley (CEO, Teknetex)
Todd Joseph (CIO, Comdata)
Will Weaver (Founder, Emma)
Tim Getsay (CIO, Vanderbilt University)
Bob Deckard (Regional VP, Comcast)
Michael Burcham (President, Entrepreneur Center, Ex-Officio)
Glenn Perdue, (Managing Member, Kraft Analytics, Ex-Officio)

“It has been a pleasure to serve on the Nashville Technology Council Board of Directors over the past six years. The tech community is experiencing rapid growth in jobs in the Nashville area,” said Camellia Petty, Chief Technology Officer, BMI.  “It’s exciting to see progress on several initiatives through the work of the Council. I look forward to the continued involvement by the music industry and our affiliated companies.”

(Click here for a pdf version of this press release.)

Most demographic groups experienced flat-to-modest broadband adoption growth over the last year. The notable exception to this trend came among African-Americans, who experienced 22% year-over-year broadband adoption growth.

* In 2009 65% of whites and 46% of African-Americans were broadband users (a 19-point gap)
* In 2010 67% of whites and 56% of African-Americans are broadband users (an 11-point gap)

By a 53%-41% margin, Americans say they do not believe that the spread of affordable broadband should be a major government priority. Contrary to what some might suspect, non-internet users are less likely than current users to say the government should place a high priority on the spread of high-speed connections.

For more information, click here.

Today we are very pleased to have David Jarrard, President and CEO of Nashville Technology Council member company Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, give us a sneak preview on some of the compelling discussion we will be having at our upcoming Naked Hospital event on August 26th at The Factory at Franklin.  We sold out last year, so be sure to register now to reserve your spot!

Facebook is changing the way we run hospitals. Or, it ought to, if we want to keep our best people, provide the best care, and remain, you know, in business.

Here’s a proposition from the world of the obvious: The “new normal” of information transparency has changed the way we live, how we work together, and what we expect from each other.

It’s also changing the way effective leaders lead today.

At the upcoming Naked Hospital conference, I suspect you’ll rightly hear how healthcare “reform” has made attaining information transparency especially urgent to America’s hospitals — even as it strains rusty IT systems and the sanity of CIOs. Quality of care and quality of balance sheets all hinge on success here, and it impacts just about every operational decision.

But while transparency is changing the healthcare industry, it’s also worth considering how transparency is changing us.

An example: In its 2010 Pulse Report, Press Ganey reported on its survey of 235,000 employees at 383 hospitals. Among its findings:

“Gen X employees (born between1965 to 1983) want frequent and real-time conversations and Gen Y (1984 or later) wants to continuously receive real-time information. They both want to be involved in decisions. Gen X employees place more importance on managing themselves while Gen Y employees have high expectations for full participation and collaboration.”

Sound familiar? It’s a short path between the power of social media (where dialogue and transparency and collaboration is king) to the expectations of today’s workforce. Those Gen X and Gen Y employees want a relationship with leadership; they want engagement; they want information and honesty; they even want some measure of control.

The good news: When hospital leadership engages with these employees in this way, the results can be astounding. We’ve seen hospitals transformed by the power of real transparency and honest engagement with their workforce. A comatose workforce can become an army of leaders and advocates. Market share shifts. Satisfaction scores rise. Votes come in.

Wait…they want some control? Yikes. This can be a very scary proposition for hospitals, by nature conservative and skeptical. But the successful “naked hospital” – the ones that truly embrace transparency in every aspect – will tap a powerful resource that can transform their organization.

How powerful? Ask your Facebook friends.

He is a founding Fellow of Health Care Solutions Group at Vanderbilt University and is on the Board of Professional Advisors for the College of Mass Communications at Middle Tennessee State University. He is also a regular columnist for HealthLeaders.com and a member of the editorial board for CPR Magazine.

Jarrard served as president of The Ingram Group and has been Vice President of Communications for Whittle Communications, Inc., and a partner at MP&F Public Relations. He began his career as a reporter for The Tennessean.