CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Foyer C

Breakfast

Grand F 

Welcome & Intro to Keynote

Description Coming Soon

Grand F 

Keynote Speaker – Dean Darren Dahl

The keynote and opening address will be delivered by Dr. Darren Dahl, Dean of the Saunder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Dahl is one of the world’s most prolific and impactful innovation and marketing scholars, with many top tier publications on creativity, new product development, and social influence. He is ranked #5 in the world among marketing researchers.

Grand F

Developmental Workshop

Twelve to sixteen developmental papers will be presented and discussed in roundtables facilitated by senior innovation scholars and JPIM editors; titles, authors, facilitators pending

Coffee Break/Networking

Buffet Lunch

Please note that the buffet will only be open for the first 20 minutes, from 12:15 PM to 12:35 PM.

Grand F (gen)

JPIM Then, Now, and into the Future

A panel discussion of former, current, and incoming JPIM editors in-chief with remarks delivered by Dr. Jelena Spanjol, Charlie Noble, and others followed by audience Q&A

Grand F, B & C
Please note that Special Session 1 in Grand D. Nothing will happen in Grand F during this time.

Special Session 1 and Competitive Sessions 3A & 3B

PDMA Dissertation Competiton and PDMA Doctoral Consoritium Dissertation Proposal Competition will present and discuss winning doctoral work; titles, authors, and session chairs pending.

Grand F

JPIM 40th Anniv. Reception and Awards

+ Global Student Innovation Challenge Posters

Awards for Best Conference Paper, Best Doctoral Student Paper, Most Promising Developmental Paper will be presented, the Global Student Innovation Competition finalist teams will present their posters and attendees will vote for the winner, and recognitions given for major contributions to JPIM over 4 decades

Meeting Place: 50 S. Leonor K Sullivan Blvd (Boat Dock)

Optional Add-On Ticket: Riverboat Tour

Ticket must be purchased directly through the tour website: Purchase the 6-7pm cruise on September 14 for $29 (all taxes and fees included) directly at the link below.
Riverfront Cruise Tickets

Meeting Place: Outside Conference Hotel Entrance (St. Louis Union Station Hotel)

Optional Add-On Ticket: St. Louis Ghost Tour

Ticket must be purchased directly through the tour website: Purchase the 8-9pm tour on September 14 for $23.38 (all taxes and fees included) directly at the link below. Use the promo code provided with your paper acceptance and conference registration confirmations. The code provides a 15% discount.
Ghost Tour Tickets

Breakfast and Networking

Foyer C

JPIM Editorial Board Meeting

Grand B

Grand D

Innovation Training and Bootcamp

Delve into PDMA’s BoK v3.0. In this interactive session, instructor Teresa Jurgens-Kowal will provide an overview and insights regarding the seven sections of the newly released BoK v3.0.

Grand F, Grand B & Grand C

Special Session 2, – 4A, 4B, & 4C

Six to eight competitive papers will be presented and discussed: titles, authors, session chairs pending.

Coffee Break/Networking

Grand F

Workshop: Teaching Innovation in the Age of Generative AI

Plenary Session

Teaching Innovation in the Age of Generative AI.” Dr. Oguz Acar of King’s College London will present and discuss a framework and practical ways of incorporating this new and rapidly evolving technology into innovation courses and teaching. He designs and delivers workshops and webinars on this topic for global higher education audiences and teaches of the first and largest online courses on generative AI pedagogies for more than 6,000 attendees in over 150 countries.

Coffee Break/Networking

Grand F, B & C

Competitive Research Sessions- 5A & 5B

A panel discussion or set of presentations on a significant innovation topic.

Lunch

Grand F

Academics and Practitioners: An Important, but Underleveraged Partnership

Innovation managers and service providers want to stay on top of the latest learning in the field, but as they look to academic researchers, they can’t get past abstracts of researchers’ scholarly articles to understand and implement useful findings. Academic researchers want to create knowledge that will move the innovation field forward, but have trouble forging relationships with businesses and consultancies to gather study data and develop theories. Facing these and other challenges, how do industry practitioners, service providers, and academic researchers meaningfully partner with one another to achieve their goals? In this talk, Professor O’Connor draws on her significant expertise in academic-industry innovation projects to present proven approaches for overcoming difficulties and build bridges across groups, including identifying and resolving bottlenecks, and laying out a plan for PDMA’s research, practice, and service communities to collaborate well with one another.

Grand F

Harnessing the power of AI in healthcare

Global healthcare is at an inflection point. There are sicker patients in more places and fewer clinicians than ever to support them. Through the design, development, and seamless integration of connected technologies we can turn data into actionable insight. Directed actionable insights will predict and prevent dangerous and costly complications from hospital to home, while allowing clinicians to focus their precious time on the patients they care for. In this presentation we’ll cover examples of the why, how, where of AI-enabled healthcare.

Coffee Break/ Networking

Grand F

Individual Panelist Presentations

Drs. Aric Rindfleish of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Frank Pillar of RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany will present views on AI in innovation, rooted in their considerable expertise in emerging technologies and highly relevant to innovation managers and practitioners.

Grand F

Bridge Session Panel Discussion

Foyer C

PDMA Welcome Reception – AI Whiskey

Foyer C

Breakfast

Grand F

Welcome 

Grand F

Aligning for Innovation Success: An Innovation Process for Predictable Outcomes

Despite significant investments in innovation, many organizations find their initiatives over budget, overdue, and under-delivering. The root cause? A lack of alignment and confidence in a common direction. This presentation delves into the organizational challenges that impede innovation success and proposes a unified innovation process as the solution. Our presentation aims to: Examine the consequences of misalignment and lack of a common innovation direction within organizations. This presentation will highlight the importance of a unified innovation process that provides a common language and direction for product teams. It will showcase how a well-defined process can foster a customer-centric culture, streamline value creation, and deliver predictable, impactful innovation outcomes.

Coffee Break/Networking

Grand B, C, D, & E

Breakout Sessions

IDEATION & DISCOVERY

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

Elevated Insight Techniques for Product Managers

Grand B

Jay Nakagawa, Dell Technologies

The Non-Obvious Way to Engage Organization Support for Innovation

Grand C

Doug Hall, Dexter Bourbon Distillery

Alignment of Corporate Strategy and Portfolio Management by Application of New Product Magement

Grand D

Jack Hsieh, Maestro Project Management

Break 

Grand F

Outstanding Corporate Innovator (OCI) Presentations

2024 Award Winner- Announced Aug ’24

Grand F

Lunch

Grand B, C, D & E

Breakout Sessions

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

99 Problems but Discovery Ain’t One: Finding the Right Problems to Solve

Grand B

Alex Coutney & Travis Duncan, BJ Health Systems

Beyond Brainstorming: Leveraging the Power of Creativity in Product Development

Grand C

Karin Anne Davis, Pink Pigs Fly

A Novel Systematic Product Managers Framework

Grand D

Nishant Parikh, Mastercard

Innovation Executive – closed session

Grand E

Atif Rafiq, Ritual

Grand B, C, D & E

Breakout Sessions

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

How to Generate Awesome Ideas

Grand B

Maggie Nichols & Gregg Lemmon, Eureka! Ranch

AI Superpowers: Accelerate Decision Making and Market Success

Grand C

Luke Freiler, Centercode

The Agility of Saturday Night Live

Grand D

John Krewson, Sketch

Innovation Executive – closed session

Grand E

Atif Rafiq, Ritual

Foyer C

Coffee Break/Networking 

Grand F

Global Student Innovation Challenge Presentation

GCIS Student Teams

Grand F

Driving Radical Innovation: Strategies for Long-Term Growth and Resilience

Chris Elmore

Grand F

Closing Remarks – Day One

Meeting Location TBD

Offsite PDMA Excursion – Anheuser-Busch Brewery

Join us for an off-site excursion Monday night of the PDMA Conference in St. Louis! Experience the rich history and craftsmanship of Anheuser-Busch with our special visit to the iconic brewery. For just $95, attendees can indulge in an unforgettable tour of the Stables, Historic Brewhouse, and Beechwood Aging Cellars, while also enjoying a delightful happy hour in the indoor Biergarten.

Indulge in our Bier Bundle Buffet, featuring a mouthwatering selection of appetizers, sides, and desserts, all complemented by complimentary water, tea, and soda pop. Plus, toast to the occasion with our open bar, offering a variety of beer and wine options.

Foyer C

Breakfast

Grand F

Welcome Day 2

Global Student Innovation Challenge Award

Grand F

AI Decision Sprint

Join Atif Rafiq, a seasoned Silicon Valley and Fortune 500 executive who has managed over 10,000 knowledge workers and spent the last three years exploring AI’s real-world applications, as he delves into the revolutionary future of knowledge work at PDMA’s annual event as the keynote speaker. You’ll discover why the new frontier of knowledge work necessitates human and AI collaboration, how AI excels at overcoming the challenges humans face, and how it’s possible to achieve unprecedented growth by utilizing this collaboration. Atif will share specific insights on how AI enhances human contributions, enabling companies to move at 10X speed and improve problem-solving efforts. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn actionable tips, and understand the transformative potential of the human-AI collaboration for driving innovation. Companies cannot afford to fall behind in this new frontier of knowledge work, especially when the upside is limitless. Sign up now to be at the forefront of this exciting revolution!

Coffee Break / Networking

Grand B, C & D

Breakout Sessions

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

Ask a Professional Stalker: Unveilling the Secrets of UX Research

Grand B

Martha Valenta, Biogenerator Ventures

Innovation for Everyday Products

Grand C

Terry Carroll, Hillphoenix/Dover Food Retail

Building Innovation Governance and Culture at James Hardie

Grand D

Shion Hung, James Hardie Building Products

Foyer C

Networking 

Grand B, C & D

Breakout Sessions

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

SAE’S Idea Engine: SAE’s “Bad Idea” for Driving a Culture of Innovation

Grand B

Steve Ezar, SAE

Deliver Customer Value with Product Thinking

Grand C

Valerio Zanini, 5D Vision

Leveraging AI for New Product Development

Grand D

Brian Collard, Novaisys

Coffee Break / Networking

Grand B, C & D

Breakout Sessions

DEVELOPMENT & DELIVERY

INNOVATION TOOLS & GOVERNANCE

Gut-Level Design: How to Trust (but Verify) Your Innovation Intuition

Grand B

John Eaton, Re: Build Tekna

Overcoming Common Failure Points in Product Launches

Grand C

James Whitman, Growth Guidepost

Connect, Co-Create, Innovate- Power of Community-Driven Product Innovation

Grand D

Diana Stepner, Chan Zuckerburg Initiative

Grand F

Lunch

Grand B & C

Workshops

Workshop B

Radical Product Thinking

Grand B

Radhika Dutt, Radical Thinking

The AI Design Sprint

Grand C

Mike Hyzy, Daugherty Business Solutions

Foyer C

Networking

Grand F

Closing & Gamification Winner

Must be present to win!