FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                
 

CINCINNATI – (October 15, 2007)– Cheryl Perkins, Founder and President of Innovationedge and former Chief Innovation Officer at Kimberly-Clark, will share her innovation expertise in her keynote address titled, “The Keys to Sustainable Front End Innovation,” at this year’s Tri-State PDMA (Product Development & Management Association) Conference in Cincinnati.

This year’s theme is, “Tools & Methods for the Front End of Innovation.” The event is sponsored by the Cincinnati/Tri-State Chapter of the PDMA, and will be held Oct. 18 at the Sheraton Cincinnati Airport Hotel.

Packed with top-caliber experience, tools, methods and new ideas, the conference is geared to new product development, R&D, marketing and business growth managers and executives. Joining Perkins at the conference are innovation leaders from GE, Sunny Delight, Strategyn and Pretium, to name a few. Perkins’ keynote presentation will provide a holistic view of her structured innovation model that includes strategy, leadership, culture, structure, process and metrics.

 “The ‘fuzzy front end’ of innovation is the point at which business leaders begin to blend their knowledge of markets and competitors with newly-discovered insights about the needs of their customers. Those who successfully navigate the fuzzy front end of innovation give us many clues into what works and what doesn’t,” said Cheryl Perkins, Founder and President of Innovationedge.  “Truly innovative companies don’t rely on a one-size-fits-all approach to innovation, but learn to leverage their unique capabilities and competencies with new understanding of how to grow in multiple areas including business models, processes, products, services and customer experience. It’s a complexity best managed by using structured innovation tools and processes to ‘cut cubes out of fog.’”

The event will provide participants with cutting-edge techniques and practical tools for product development. Methods and approaches will be explored that top companies of all sizes use to deliver unique, high-value, innovative products that fit customer’s needs.  

About Innovationedge     

Innovationedge is a strategic innovation company founded by Cheryl Perkins to lead companies to identify and transform insights, designs, technologies and capabilities into total solutions and new-to-the-world innovations. The company’s fearless champions of innovation break barriers to help executives define their strategy, develop capabilities, design a winning organizational structure and deliver breakthrough innovations through a robust growth pipeline. Innovationedge also gives inventors an edge by crafting winning business propositions and creating strategic corporate partnerships that deliver commercial success. 

About PDMA     

Tri-State PDMA is the local chapter of the national Product Development and Management Association, the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. The mission of the Cincinnati Chapter of PDMA is to build a vibrant community of practitioners, academics and service providers that share experiences and knowledge of the principles, practices and processes of effective product innovation. More information is available at www.tristatepdma.org.

For more information, visit www.innovationedge.com, or contact:  

Amy Spreeman
Marketing Strategy and Communications
aspreeman@innovationedge.com
920-967-0475