OREANDA-NEWS. August 19, 2016. Eastman and East Tennessee State University’s College of Business and Technology announce IDEAcademy, a free, multi-day event featuring thought leaders in the world of innovation and leadership on September 13-14. The event, focused on the theme “Leading Innovation and Change,” will feature regional speakers and a keynote by entrepreneur and author Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media, a boutique marketing firm and production company.

Prior to founding her own company, Randi worked at Facebook where she created and ran the social media pioneer’s marketing programs from 2005-2011. She is the author of Dot Complicated, a New York Times bestseller, which follows Randi’s personal journey on the front lines of Facebook and her thoughts on how technology is changing our lives.

The event hosts, David Golden, senior vice president, chief legal & sustainability officer, and corporate secretary at Eastman, Dr. Brian Noland, ETSU president, and Dr. Dennis Depew, dean of the College of Business and Technology, are pleased to welcome the following regional speakers and guests: Jennifer Adler, assistant director of Roan Scholars Program, ETSU; Brendan Boyd, Eastman Innovation; Michael Cadore, president of Magnus Solutions; Jose Castillo, founder of Think Jose; Lafe Cook, director of Dobyns-Bennett Band; Owen Foster, director and chief student affairs officer of Aether; Hannah Harvey, storyteller and professor; Michael Hubbard, director of Performance Excellence for Kingsport City Schools; Steve Marshall, chair of Mass Communication at ETSU; Morgan Munsey, ETSU student; Jim Welch, director of Elizabeth Griffin Research Foundation; and Randy Wykoff, dean of the College of Public Health at ETSU.

The main event will be held at Eastman’s Toy F. Reid Employee Center in Kingsport, Wednesday, September 14 from 9:00-3:00 (lunch provided). Two satellite events are scheduled for September 13 at The Foundation in Bristol (11:30-1:00 lunch) and Millennium Center in Johnson City (5:30-7:00 dinner).

Online registration is now open to attend one or more of the IDEAcademy events at www.IDEAcademy.com. Seating is limited. Attendees must register by September 7. Event agendas and speaker biographies are also available on the website.

IDEAcademy is part of an ongoing leadership development series endowed by Eastman to provide free, world-class leadership training to our communities. For more information, contact Chrissy Idlette, Eastman Global Public Affairs Representative, or Andrew Amodei with East Tennessee State University.

About East Tennessee State University
East Tennessee State University was founded in Johnson City in 1911 as a training school for teachers. Today, ETSU is comprised of nine colleges and two schools: College of Arts and Sciences; College of Business and Technology; College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences; Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education; James H. Quillen College of Medicine; College of Nursing; Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy; College of Public Health; Honors College; School of Continuing Studies and Academic Outreach; and School of Graduate Studies.

ETSU enriches the Southern Appalachian region through a number of unique programs, such as Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies; a master’s degree concentration in Storytelling; a College of Medicine that is one of the nation’s leaders in fields of rural medicine and primary care; and an All-Steinway Department of Music.

ETSU is governed by the Tennessee Board of Regents and accredited by the Committee on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.