Thank you for a successful event

Read more about the 2013 Eyes on the Future event!

RBJ Coverage

The average attention span dropped to 8 seconds in 2012. Is your company “fast” enough to get noticed? Business today moves at breakneck speed. How are companies in the Greater Rochester, N.Y., region planning to capture the attention of investors, employers or the media in 2013?

Fast Company editor Robert Safian will provide the keynote address at the 2013 Eyes on the Future Economic Summit on Wednesday, May 15, at St. John Fisher College. Co-hosted by Greater Rochester Enterprise and the Small Business Council of Rochester, the event is free and open to the public. Sponsors include AAA, Brand Networks, the City of Rochester, Dixon Schwabl, Exium Partners, Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation, Harter Secrest & Emery, High Tech Rochester, MCC, Mengel Metzger Barr, M&T Bank, Net@Work, OS-Cubed, Rochester Business Journal, Simon Graduate School of Business, Steelcase, St. John Fisher College, Time Warner Cable, Visit Rochester, Wegmans, WHAM-1180 and Xerox.

Safian’s presentation, “Is Your Company a Fast Company?” will provide three distinct guidelines to help companies and businesspeople determine if they are “fast” and how to ensure future success. Attendees will walk away with the tools necessary to assess and implement a “fast” approach to business.

As the editor and managing director of the award-winning monthly business magazine Fast Company, Safian oversees all editorial operations, in print and online. Since Safian’s arrival in 2007, the magazine has earned a reputation for highlighting the “new” in business while keeping reverence to “tried and true.” Safian previously served as the executive editor of Fortune and an executive editor at TIME.

“This event is a great opportunity to gain insight from a national expert, check in with the local economy and network with area business leaders,” Greater Rochester Enterprise President and CEO Mark S. Peterson said. “We are confident that Robert Safian will give an excellent presentation, and we look forward to showcasing the best of our region for him.”

This is the sixth Eyes on the Future Economic Summit. On average, the event draws more than 1,000 business leaders from throughout the Greater Rochester, N.Y., region. This year’s summit will once again feature the Eyes Expo, a premier business networking event that showcases the region’s innovative organizations. The Expo opens at 7 a.m., and the summit begins at 8:30 a.m.

"Since small business remains such a critical driver of the economic success of our region, it makes perfect sense for the Small Business Council of Rochester to take a leadership role in this event as a co-host with GRE,” Small Business Council of Rochester President Tim Mason said. “We look forward to working with GRE to develop a program that encourages our members continued investment in the Rochester region, while encouraging them to support this event with their attendance."