SOU Professional Development Workshops

SOU offers adult education courses to help working professionals find programs and resources that will push their careers to the next level. Their online and evening classroom degree programs offer flexible scheduling to allow busy professionals to participate. There are also financial aid resources and employee reimbursement programs that might be applicable. Find out more about these programs by contacting Stacey Derrig at the Higher Education Center in downtown Medford. Here are a couple of specific workshops coming up:

Creating a Culture of Innovation and Positivity
Date: Thursday, Sept. 26
Time: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: $165
Location: Higher Education Center, Medford; Room 129B

Description: This course features key approaches used by some of the top innovators and creative organizations in the world. Explore how many inventors and innovators have learned to naturally access heightened states of creativity to solve today’s problems and provide tomorrow’s solutions while maintaining thriving cultures where ether teams function at the their best.

Facilitator, Chris Harding: After spending 20 years in the music, film, and television industries working with his team to create award-winning movies, music, and TV programs, Chris Harding now serves as a consultant to such innovative organizations as Walt Disney Company, Intel, Amgen Biotherapeutics, Cisco Systems, Toyota, Microsoft and many more. Among his favorite endeavors in the last decade, Christopher spent three years working on a creative visualization project for the IMAX film industry with the late Professor Stephen Hawking.

Intentional Process for Strategic Planning
Date: Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019
Time: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Cost: $165
Location: Higher Education Center, Medford; Room 129B

Description: Being innovative to grow your business is great, but you need a plan. You need to know the right questions to ask and in what order. Developing strategy helps you look at key questions to be prepared for the changing world. In this workshop, we will step through about a dozen critical questions, which you will apply to your specific business or breakthrough ideas. This will be hands-on, so you can bring your answers back to your company or organization. We’ll be looking for the red flags as well as the golden opportunities. You will come away with the beginnings of a business plan/strategic plan that you can take home and expand.

Strategic planning is more art than science. Yes, there is a process, but there’s also a lot of jumping around and revisiting. Getting it in writing is key…then you can keep your eye on the ball, measuring your progress, and deliberately pivot if needed (and there often is!); versus just sliding along and hoping for the best. It is highly recommended that more than one person for each company or entity attend the workshop together.

Presenter, John Lamy: John has fifteen years of experience as a management consultant for technology firms around the globe, following a long history in research and development engineering management for Silicon Valley companies. John moved to Jacksonville in 2005 and, more recently, has enjoyed contributing his expertise to his adopted community. John and his wife like to sail, bike, kayak, ski and spend time with their amazing grandson. John holds a B.S. from MIT and MBA from Cornell.