REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 16, 2004 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Tom Peters, business thought leader and author of “Re-imagine!,” has chosen Microsoft
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Office Live Meeting as his exclusive Web conferencing provider for a series of online business seminars titled “Take It Live with Tom Peters Powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting.” In this series of seminars, Peters and his guests will interact with participants worldwide to offer timely insights and discuss topics that challenge today’s business leaders, including geographically dispersed work forces, career development, business excellence in a disruptive age and more. Participants will need only a phone and a PC with an Internet connection to participate in the business seminars.
“Tom Peters is one of our most requested speakers, and he continues to help business professionals discover their potential for excellence,” said Janice Kapner, group marketing manager in the Real-Time Collaboration Business Unit at Microsoft. “Together, Tom Peters and Live Meeting deliver an exciting and interactive forum to discuss the business challenges that are top of mind for today’s corporate leaders.”
The first seminar in the series, which featured Peters discussing the female consumer with special guest Martha Barletta, author of “Marketing to Women,” attracted more than 700 attendees. Peters selected Barletta for her expertise on this important topic.
Live Meeting empowered Peters and Barletta to deliver a visually rich presentation from different locations to engage the audience. In addition, Live Meeting allowed Peters to interact with meeting participants in real time through instant polling, ongoing questions and answers, and an online survey, empowering the audience to deliver immediate feedback, exchange ideas and communicate directly with the presenters.
The “Take It Live” seminars were developed to provide today’s business leaders with valuable information to drive business excellence, and initial participants are finding the content interesting, applicable and informative. In a survey following the inaugural seminar, an overwhelming 96 percent of attendees rated their overall experience as good or higher, and 98 percent said they would recommend the event to a colleague or friend. In addition, 91 percent of attendees said they felt that the seminar was valuable to their work life and role at their company.
Participants provided positive feedback on the use of Live Meeting to attend Peters’ seminar, noting, “This was a deeply informational meeting, not just a sales talk. I have attended many Live Meetings … and would choose Live Meeting to host an online meeting any time!” and “This was so easy!! Thank you! … I would love to gather information about this Live Meeting service.”
“Doing these seminars with Live Meeting gives me a chance to talk to people all over the country without having to make too many complicated arrangements,” said Tom Peters. “I have been using Live Meeting for over a year and love the way I can interact with my audiences and bring them into the discussions. Live Meeting allows me to hold a meeting or seminar at any time with people joining from around the world. That’s cool.”
Details for Peters’ next Live Meeting seminar, “Outsource-Proof Your Career,” are provided below:
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What: Tom Peters discusses one of the most controversial business issues of the day: sending U.S. jobs to countries offshore that pay lower wages.
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When: Thursday, Aug. 19, 9–10 a.m. PDT
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Where: Details can be found at http://www.placeware.com/go/tp_june/ . Those interested also can register for the complimentary seminar on this site.
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Guest: Daniel Pink, contributing editor at WIRED magazine and author of “Free Agent Nation”
More information on “Take It Live with Tom Peters Powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting” and upcoming seminars can be found online at http://www.placeware.com/go/tp_june/ .
About Tom Peters
Fortune calls Tom Peters the Ur-guru (guru of gurus) of management — and compares him to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and H.L. Mencken. The Economist tags him the Uber-guru, and his unconventional views led BusinessWeek to describe Tom as “business’ best friend and worst nightmare.” Tom describes himself as a prince of disorder, champion of bold failures, maestro of zest, professional loudmouth (as a speaker he’s “a spitter” — according to Dilbert), corporate cheerleader, lover of markets, capitalist pig and card-carrying member of the ACLU.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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