DiversityBusiness.com's latest event, the 9th Annual National Multicultural Business Conference brought together 850 people from all over the United States. Once again, the diversity business world came together under one roof, to network, to learn from one another, to exchange ideas, approaches and strategies, and, in the case of some, to be formally recognized for their hard work and commitment to multicultural markets in the United States.
Participants took full advantage of the speeches, workshops and panels-as well as the social and networking aspects of the conference. Produced for small business owners and the corporations, government agencies and academic institutions that utilize their services, the DiversityBusiness.com conference offered a solid platform for the kind of interactivity, exchange and networking that is usually missing from daily business life, due to physical distance, busy work schedules and other factors.
Companies formally honored at the conference were the winners of the Div50 and the Div500 listings, which honor, respectively, the Fortune 500 companies and government agencies most dedicated to supporting diversity and the nation's top diversity-owned businesses.
"We're looking forward to another dynamic, successful year of multicultural business," said Kenton Clarke, CEO of DiversityBusiness.com. "The U.S. is so vast, and business moves so fasts, that were it not for events such as this one, the key underpinning of lasting, rewarding business relationships-face-to-face contact-would slowly fade into the background. Each year we see new faces, and they bring fresh ideas, new perspectives, strategies and of course new technologies and processes.
Conference Highlights
Perhaps the most valuable take-away for conference attendees were the new personal connections forged during the event. Held at Disney s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, participants were able to network, attend speeches, take part in workshops and socialize.
Keynote Speakers at the conference included Kevin Brown, Chief Procurement Officer Dell, Kathy Ireland Super Model / Actress / Business Owner, Dr. Leonard Greenhalgh, Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Phoebe Eng, Author, Founder of Creative Counsel. The conference was hosted by Judge Glenda Hatchett and former Miss America Ericka Dunlap.
Sponsors
Major Sponsors for the event included: Dell, Coca-Cola, Raytheon, AT&T, U.S. Postal Service, Office Depot, Wal-Mart, Major League Baseball, Time Warner, Toyota, Disney, Verizon, Northrop Grumman, Nationwide, Apple, United technologies, Pitney Bowes and Lockheed Martin.
The Div50
The Div50 is a listing of the top 50 corporate and organizational buyers of diversity products and services throughout the country. It represents the voices of over 650,000 diversity-owned (Women, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Indian, Veterans and other diverse groups) businesses in the U.S., in sectors such as technology, manufacturing, food service and professional services. The Div50 is produced annually by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural B2B Internet portal that links large organizational buyers to multicultural product and service suppliers.
Over 650,000 women and diversity owned businesses had the opportunity to vote in the 2008 online election.
The Div500
The Div500 List honors the nation's top diversity-owned businesses. It is a classification that represents the top 500 U.S. diversity-owned (Small Business, Women, African American, Hispanics, Asians, Native Indian and other minority groups) businesses in sectors such as technology, manufacturing, food service and professional services. Ranging in revenue size from $1 million to over $2 billion, these companies represent the nation's top multicultural earners and challenge the long-held notion that a diversity-owned business is small or insignificant.
The Div500 is produced annually by DiversityBusiness.com, the nation's leading multicultural B2B Internet portal that links large organizational buyers to multicultural product and service suppliers.
A complete list of the winners is available at: www.DiversityBusiness.com/Div50
