GGCC Hosts Big Data for Business Seminar on April 4

The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce (GGCC) invites you to its Big Data for Business seminar on April 4.  The event is sponsored by Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus and M & T Bank.

Why should you attend? Why would you even care about data? Is this seminar even for me? It is. This seminar will help companies plan and implement big data initiatives and is ideal for everyone.

The use of Big Data — large pools of data that can be brought together and analyzed to discern patterns and make better decisions — will become the basis of competition and growth for individual firms, enhancing productivity and creating significant value for the world economy by reducing waste and increasing the quality of products and services.

For example, big data analytics technology is important to heath care. By analyzing large amounts of information – both structured and unstructured – quickly, health care providers can provide lifesaving diagnoses or treatment options almost immediately. Pretty amazing, huh?

The amount of data out there is incredible, and it just keeps growing. It’s what organizations do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic conception.

All companies need to take Big Data and its potential to create value seriously if they want to compete. For example, some retailers embracing big data see the potential to increase their operating margins by 60 per cent. Other early adopters of Big Data are using data from sensors embedded in products from children’s toys to industrial goods to determine how these products are actually used in the real world. Such knowledge then informs the creation of new service offerings and the design of future products

What does that mean for businesses? How can they make better use of the information that flows into their organizations every day?

“This is an exciting topic. We all joke that ‘big brother’ is watching, but we need to know what data is out there and how we can use it to improve our business,” said Marilyn Balcombe, President, Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber.

Big Data – and the way organizations manage and derive insight from it – is changing the way the world uses business information. Lucky for you our keynote speaker – Alton Henley, Sr. Program Director at Montgomery College, Workforce Development & Continuing Education – is expert in the area of data and data analytics and will define what big data / data analytics is, how can data be used to enhance a business & what is future of data analytics. You will also have the opportunity to hear from our featured panelists – Paul Chon, Aver Analytics, Ellen Coren, Chesapeake Public Strategies & Kris Hawley, 270net Technologies – discuss how they use Big Data.

About the Seminar:

• What is Big Data / Data Analytics? What can it do?
• What data should I be gathering and how? (internal / public domain / commercial data)
• I have the data, now what do I do with it? (data-driven decision making)
• How does this impact my product, marketing, target market?
• How to find the information I need without getting swallowed up?
• What are 3 – 5 takeaways that I can start using in my own business

This seminar will help us answer questions like:

• If we take data from any source and analyze how it can help with product development and smart decision making?

And can all of this Big Data and its analysis help answer these questions:

• What will this customer buy next?
• What is the potential value of this customer?
• How influential is a person?
• How can we engage with a person through products and services that the customer has not yet thought of?

Who Should Attend?

Some ask does BIG Data have a place in the small business arena. There are almost 28 million small businesses in the United States, and more than 50% of the working population work in a small business. So we would say yes, BIG Data is suited to small business in ways that it never was for big business. And BIG Data is helpful for medium and large businesses alike. This seminar is for everyone – small, medium, large businesses, business owners, non-profits, sales, marketing professionals, all industry types and more.

Cost: $20 Chamber Members / $30 Non-Members

To register please visit our events calendar at www.ggchamber.org or https://goo.gl/kGmdH7. The GGCC is active in providing business-to-business networking opportunities throughout the year: a collective voice in local, regional, and state legislative affairs, professional development opportunities and other services that enhance the business environment.

The GGCC is located at 910 Clopper Road, Suite 205N, Gaithersburg, MD. To learn more about the GGCC visit us at www.ggchamber.org.

Find us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gaithersburg-Germantown-Chamber-of-Commerce/64339954570. Or on Twitter at: @GGCCNEWS.

About Laura Rowles

Laura authors the blog Your Success is Our Business on MyMCMedia. Laura is the Director of Events & Marketing for the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce - a member-based organization of businesses that have joined together for the purpose of promoting the civic, commercial and industrial progress in our communities. The area's economic well-being is a result of the caliber of work that is done by the Chamber. The Chamber has a major impact on business, income and future growth of the area. My position at the Chamber - Director of Events & Marketing - affords me the opportunity to plan quality events for our Members and market the Chamber is a variety of avenues. At the GGCC, we typically have around 30 events each year including: breakfasts, lunches, after-five's, ribbon cuttings and special events. The consensus is we have high quality events with good energy. In 2012, we had over 2,040 people visit our events. Most our events are free to Members so securing sponsorships for all events. Additionally, I am responsible for planning networking, overseeing the budget and marketing of all events in order to make them successful. Lastly, I coordinate all marketing and communication efforts of the GGCC including weekly email blasts, its quarterly newsletter, all social media platforms, media relations and community outreach.

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