The 2009 programme

Monday 23rd March – Regional Research and Business Conference


Organised by the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council, the 4th Regional Research & Business Conference aims to bring together stakeholders in research and stakeholders from the business world. It helps people from the public and private sectors to meet professionals and find concrete solutions to strengthen the transfer of technology.

Round tables

 Morning - Regional Innovation Strategy
 Afternoon - Research and Innovation: a response to the world recession

Workshops

 Morning - « Health and biotechnology » / « The advantages of SHSs in research and development » / « The international network of research and innovation agencies »
 Afternoon - « New tools for creating innovative businesses » / « Presentation of new Enterprise Cluster strategies » / « Towards a Higher Education and Research Centre (PRES) in Champagne-Ardenne »



Tuesday 24th March 2009 – Innovact Forum

2-day programme under the patronage of the President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy.



Good Practice Workshops (45 minutes)

 09.30 - Financing start-up - Havens in the wilderness
Financing the beginning of the (risky) adventure of a young innovating company: who, what, how and above all what you should not do... to find capital, in what timescales and conditions that are compatible with your development plan. This workshop will attempt to respond to decisive questions for financing your start-up. • Presented by Thierry Merquiol, CEO, Wiseed • Vincent Lemonde, CEO, Nooméo • Christophe Raynaud, Manager, ISAI gestion


 10.15 - International/export - Opening perspectives for growth in Europe
European co-operation is a proven catalyst for innovating companies that are looking to develop: technological partnerships and access to new markets. How do you prepare in the right way? Essential factors for success: intellectual property, partners, consortium agreement, etc? What are the best stakeholders and networks to support it? How do you finance projects? An example: KIS-PIMS, a project to develop services in the renewable energy sector (planning, installation, maintenance and recycling) • Presented by Jacques Gautray, European Partnership Department at OSEO • Vincent Morfouace, senior consultant at TECHNOFI (TECHNOFI coordinates the KIS-PIMS partnership for which OSEO is a partner and funds the support system)


 11.00 - Legal - Shareholders’ Pacts: a protective tool
Essential for fund raising, shareholders pacts govern the relationship between the founders and financers. The foundations and key points of this contract explained to raise funds from Business Angels or investment funds: what is a Shareholders’ Pact? What protection does it provide? What are the main clauses? When does it intervene in the fund-raising process? • Presented by Olivier Sanviti, partner in Gramond et Associés • Paul Berrux, Associate Director, Multeam


 15.00 - Management - Working with an incubator or getting support to define and validate the fundamentals of the business
• Presented by Gilles Talbotier, Director, GRAIN


 16.30 - Writing a good Business Plan…
The business plan: the entrepreneur’s bible! The best sales tool for your project...The summary of your value proposal... This means it must be prepared in a way that describes your ambition, captivates future investors and your close colleagues and delivers what you promise! Arguments to highlight in order to convince. Summary of good practice when preparing your business plan and its executive summary. • Jacques Cochard, Partner, Tykya


Conferences and round tables

 14.30 - Opening round table (in the conference hall) - Sustainable development: a great opportunity for growth! (60’)
In a fast changing world economy, the companies that last are those that know how to adapt to emerging market forces and transform the risks, constraints and rules into opportunities. Sustainable development is shaping up to be THE area of world growth in the 21st century...A challenge that no company, even a young one, can afford to ignore! How can you integrate this problem into your strategy to transform it into a factor of growth and profitability for your company? • Presented by Stéphane Berstein, CEO, Actine Stratégies • Bruno Rost, President, Audemat • Léna Spinazzé, Associate Director, Be Citizen • Willy Rohdmann, CEO, Skywater
This conference will be followed by the launch of the Actine Stratégies Sustainable Prizes

The Actine Stratégies Sustainable Prizes, conceived and organised by the advertising agency Actine Stratégies and the magazines Le Nouveau Consommateur and Le Nouvel Entrepreneur, reward creative projects by businesses, citizens and associations in the field of innovation and sustainable development and particularly in sectors that contribute to improving the quality of daily life. At Innovact every March, a panel of experts from innovative organisations and businesses will choose the winners. This year’s president is Jean-Louis Caffier, a journalist who is heavily involved in environmental issues.

 15.45 - Entrepreneurs’ success stories (45’) (good practice workshop room)
Not enough success stories in France? Of course there are! There are many of them... Who can still say that French companies are not successful? Beyond a few names that immediately come to mind, France has many businesses and companies that have grown from nothing to 15 or €20,000,000 in years and are profitable! Of course, the road to success is scattered with obstacles... "They did it! Why not you?" • Presented by Emmanuel Libaudière, Associate Director, MarTech & Finance • Marc Rougier, CEO, Goojet • Patrice Magnard, CEO, Maxicours • Stéphane Taramini, Partner, Darkskyne


Conference hall

 09.45 - History and opening speech (60 minutes)
With financial, network and programming partners and French and European economic and political figures. Laure Reinhart, Executive Director General responsible for Innovation, Oséo Geraldine Barry, Head of Unit, Intellectual Property and Scientific Collaboration, European Commission.


 14.00 - Inauguration of the Agro-Resources Universities (30 minutes)



 16.00 - Presentation of the European Innovation Prospect Trophies
3 winners will be given a financial grant and a trophy by the President of the 2009 Jury, Luuk Borg, Secretary General of Eureka and responsible for the Eurostars European funding programme. The 3 prize winners will have the opportunity to present their own projects.


 17.30 - Carrefour des Possibles, « Innovations cocktail » (60’ then networking with carriers for 1 hour – ends at 20.00)

Organised jointly by the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council and FING. 10 innovative projects will be presented during the evening: new usages, services, techniques or organisations presented by entrepreneurs, artists, researchers and associations…


Hosted events/business/off

 08.30 - Business Angels’ School (finishes at 16.00)
Jointly organised with France Angels. Why become a Business Angel and how can you be part of the businesses of tomorrow?

 10.00 - Meeting of the European Innovation Prospect Trophies jury (ends at 13.00)


 10.45 - Launch of the bi-regional Matéralia centre and round table (ends 12.30) (Amphithéâtre Clovis)
Organised jointly by the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council and P2MI.

 12.00 - European Brokerage Event (finishes at 18.00)
Organised jointly by the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Chamber of Commerce and the EEN network. Non-food recycling of renewable resources and industrial co-products.

 14.00 - University of Agro-Resources (finishes at 16.30)
Jointly organised with the IAR centre. A Wallonia showcase, come to see the people that work there and what they can do.

 All day - Entrepreneurs College coaching


 All day - Business meetings _


Wednesday 25th March – Innovact Forum

2-day programme under the patronage of the President of the Republic Nicolas Sarkozy.

Les ateliers bonnes pratiques (45 minutes chaque)

 09.30 - Human Resources - Building THE right team and recruiting talents that work together
Building a team that works well right from the start of the business is essential for a young innovative company. It makes reaching objectives easier, builds credibility and makes the company stand out in its market for customers and its many partners. But what’s the best way to integrate the human dimension? How do you prepare and optimise your recruitment? What are the personal aspects you have to be particularly careful about? How do you measure them? We will review the resources and tools that could help you structure your team and make the most of all the talents you have actual disposal. • Presented by Béatrice Seille, Associate Consultant, Eurhéa Conseil • Marc Dubourdeau, CEO, Ambiotis


 10.15 - Industrial Property - Intellectual property: a competitive advantage/a strategic weapon
Protecting an innovation to develop a competitive advantage, reassuring future investors, gaining the interest of international partners, increasing assets. If protecting an innovation is essential to a company’s success, not protecting it may weaken it in the face of partners and future customers. What is the best protection strategy? Should the innovation be kept a secret and how can that be done? What are the best methods of protection? When should you register a patent? • Fred Sonnenberg, European trademark Attorney, 24IP


 14.00 - Marketing – Selecting a market and defining an offer
The success of a young innovative company is inextricably linked with the fact that the innovative offer must match the needs and expectations of its market and more specifically the needs of its users. But how do you know if your offer is perceived as "high added value"? How you know which is the best commercial strategy to adopt to reach your company’s goals? A market needs study may give you answers to these questions and help you reach your ambitions. You can’t improvise success; we will show you how to confirm your offer is relevant and define the commercial strategy to adopt. • Maxence Dhellemes, Partner, Actemis • An entrepreneur


 14.45 - Finance – National subsidies, the CIR and regional subsidies: the example of Champagne-Ardenne
• Christian Orfila, responsible for the Tax Credit Research Division, Ministry of Higher Education and Research • Catherine Quintallet, Responsible for Innovation, Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council


 15.30 - Present your business and its added value in five minutes
Any presentation is a sales act! It is all the more important to be successful as sometimes you only have three minutes to get people’s attention and win them over. Financers judge by appearances and sometimes the first impression is the most lasting. If it’s good, that’s all the better, if it’s bad... it’s all in the preparation. How do you "sell yourself" and convince people of your added value in ONE minute, TEN minutes, in the same way as in an hour? • Emmanuel Libaudiere, Associate Director, Mar-Tech & Finance


Conferences and round tables

 11.00 - Enterprise clusters: the power of working together to develop ambitious projects quicker! (Duration 60’) (in the conference hall)
Innovation is an essential component of growth and employment. For almost 4 years, enterprise clusters have been an important vector for development for innovative companies that take part in collaborative R&D projects. Groups of large and small companies, training centres and research laboratories around a common project, these are at the heart of the renewal of our economic fabric through innovation and have proved their worth for young innovative companies. How do you work with Enterprise Clusters? What projects do you mount? What can we expect of them? • Presented by Emmanuel Libaudière, Associate Director, MarTech & Finance • Thierry Stadler, Director, Industries & Agro-Ressources Cluster • Laure Reinhart, Executive Director General responsible for Innovation, Oséo • Philippe Berna, CEO, Kayentis


Confrence hall

 10.00 - The Entrepreneur’s Minute (Duration 30’)
Presentation of four or five companies in four minutes, selected from exhibitors


 10.30 - Launch of the 9th JCEF C2EI competition (Duration 30’)
The Young French Economic Chamber (JCEF) is launching for the ninth consecutive year its European Young Innovative Enterprise Competition (C2EI). Increasingly mature and successful with entrepreneurs, this competition rewards companies, organisations, local government organisations, associations and individuals from all sectors of activity for their actions in favour of progress and sustainable development for the community.


 14.30 - The Entrepreneur’s Minute (Duration 30’)
Presentation of four or five companies in four minutes, selected from exhibitors


 16.30 - Presentation of the 13th Innovact Trophy (Duration 30’)

This rewards a young innovative company at Innovact for its development potential. In 2008 it received €6,000 and in 2009 will receive €6,000 from the two partners, Multeam and Technopole Made In Reims, as well as two days worth of consulting from the Multeam.


Business events

 All day - Entrepreneurs’ College coaching


 All day - Business meetings