ROCHESTER, NY - On June 18th, leaders from many of the Greater Rochester area's leading innovation organizations will be coming together for a unique and powerful collaboration event. "The Digital Rochester Innovation Jam Session will bring together many of our region's most influential leaders to identify solutions to the largest barriers to building a vibrant innovation economy in the greater Rochester area," said Josh Bouk, President of Digital Rochester and Senior Vice President of Veramark Technologies. "Xerox has been, and continues to be, a global leader in technology innovation and a strong supporter of the Upstate New York region. So we are thrilled that they have partnered with us to create the first ever Digital Rochester Innovation Jam Session."

The Digital Rochester Innovation Jam Session, sponsored by Xerox, will draw together:

· Large enterprise. Executives who drive the research and technology development efforts through global R&D efforts.

· Research universities. Leaders of our regional research institutions that are driving IP creation and licensing

· Serial entrepreneurs. Those men and women who have repeatedly proven to have the vision and leadership to drive new business creation and technology commercialization.

· Funding partners. The leaders of investor and venture organizations that focus on seed and mezzanine investments.

· Supporting organizations and government. Leaders from the organizations and agencies that support economic development and technology commercialization efforts at the local and state level.

"Xerox and Digital Rochester share a mutual commitment to advancing innovation and business development in the local community. That's why we are partnering with Digital Rochester to bring forward-thinking business leaders together at the Innovation Jam Session," said Edward A. Gala, vice president, Global Experiential Marketing, Xerox Corp. "We have a long history of invention and community involvement and we look forward to sharing insights with others who share our commitment."

The attendees will gather to spend the afternoon considering some of the systemic challenges that inhibit rapid growth of technology innovation and commercialization in our region. They will work together in small groups to explore solutions and begin building a framework that will be developed and leveraged over the coming months and years. And they will consider how their own organizations and resources can be leveraged to support these initiatives. Following the afternoon session, the group will be attending the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival for networking and great musical experiences.

Due to the nature of this event, this is an invitation-only program. If you are an executive leader who would qualify in one of the groups listed above and would like to apply for inclusion, please send a request to Josh Bouk, Digital Rochester's president, at jbouk@veramark.com .

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Digital Rochester is a community of over 5,000 technology professionals and entrepreneurs from across the region working together to strengthen, grow and connect the technology industry value chain. DR events and community services include an array of educational, entrepreneurial, networking and economic development activities designed to create measurable economic value within the tech sector of our region. Digital Rochester was named New York State's 2003 Small Business Not-For-Profit Organization of the Year. http://www.digitalrochester.com

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