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SSTI is hosting an informational call on May 8 at 3:30 PM ET to provide helpful hints on applying for the 2013 Excellence in TBED awards. Knowledge is power, and this is a great opportunity to gain a competitive edge by learning more about the application process. We also will share tips on writing an outstanding application. The awards recognize exceptional achievements in expanding research capacity, commercializing research, building entrepreneurial capacity, increasing access to capital, and improving competitiveness of existing industries.

SSTI is excited to launch a new service to permit our members to better connect with each other. The new Member Listserv is already proving to be a valuable resource to better facilitate the exchange of ideas and expertise among SSTI members. You can join the discussion right now by becoming an SSTI Member. Contact Noelle Sheets sheets@ssti.org or visit http://www.ssti.org/benefits.htm to join today.

Let's face it, chances are your achievements, as wonderful as they are, likely will go unrecognized unless you start telling people about the good work you are doing. SSTI wants to hear how your organization is succeeding in growing tech-based economies and we'll share your outstanding work with the entire country. Learn more about how to submit an application for the 2013 Excellence in TBED awards today.

Two important and timely topics for regional innovation strategies will be the topics explored through a series of hour-long webinars SSTI will be offering in April: 1) improving the partnership between regional innovation programs and the nation's foundation community; and 2) the role the private/nonprofit accelerator model plays in tech-based economic development. Participation in these and selected other SSTI webinars to be announced in the coming weeks will be free thanks to generous funding from the U.S.

Capture national attention. Tell us your story, win an award, attend SSTI's Annual Conference for free, and share on a national platform all of your enviable accomplishments. Those are the simple steps that make up SSTI's 2013 Excellence in TBED awards program. Now in its seventh year, the awards are dedicated to recognizing and showcasing innovative approaches and impressive outcomes from tech-based groups working to improve their state or region's competitiveness. We'll begin accepting applications on April 16 with applications due June 11.

SSTI would like to visit your city and bring 350 of our closest friends! Bids for the 2013 conference are due January 14. To request a conference information packet and discuss this exciting opportunity contact Noelle at sheets@ssti.org or 614-901-1690.

Yes, it could happen. SSTI's 17th Annual Conference in 2013will be the first conference since NASVF members became SSTI members expanding SSTI to include more than 350 organizational members nationally. It is our hope that this conference inspires more collaboration, creativity and economic success around the nation. Your organization could host SSTI's 17th Annual Conference during the fall of 2013. The nation's greatest thinkers and practitioners for building tech-based economies could descend on YOUR city to build momentum for and place a spotlight on the work you are doing.

Online registration for SSTI's 16th Annual Conference in Atlanta ends Friday, October 26, at 5:00 PM EDT. But even if you miss the deadline, you can still attend by registering on-site. On-site registration will open at 8:00 AM on Monday, October 29, in the Grand Foyer of the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center. Let your colleagues in the Southeast know they can still join us in Atlanta! See our registration page for fee details...

At SSTI's 16th Annual Conference, you will have the opportunity to explore comprehensive, flexible programs and innovative, "lean" models to support and cultivate faculty entrepreneurs. Join National Science Foundation's Rathindra "Babu" DasGupta, the University of North Carolina's Judith Cone and Marnie LaVigne from the University at Buffalo as they discuss what universities need to do to create a class of Faculty CEOs. Learn more about this session...

At the upcoming SSTI Annual Conference in Atlanta, SSTI staff will present on the role foundations have played in support of Venture Development Organizations (VDOs), accelerators, and other regional economic development organizations. Through research and interviews with various foundations, SSTI staff have identified nearly 200 examples of foundation grants to organizations that support a regional innovation system.