Terri Hemmer, left, with Blue Door Network, talks with Phil Gatch during the Business Technology Summit Oct. 29 in Union Township. The summit featured speakers, exhibitors and networking opportunities for small to medium-sized businesses.

Terri Hemmer, left, with Blue Door Network, talks with Phil Gatch during the Business Technology Summit Oct. 29 in Union Township. The summit featured speakers, exhibitors and networking opportunities for small to medium-sized businesses.
By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

Small to medium-sized business owners and employees gathered at the Holiday Inn and Suites in Eastgate Oct. 29 for the inaugural Business Technology Summit.

During the summit, attendees were able to learn more about big data, social media, loyalty programs, cyber security and other technology that they can apply to their businesses.

“We saw very involved exhibitors and a very involved audience,” John Melvin, director of the Clermont County Chamber of Commerce Small Business Development Center, said about the event. “We couldn’t be more pleased.”

Melvin said they received positive feedback about speakers, especially those discussing loyalty programs and social media.

“We had outstanding comments from virtually everybody complimenting us on the attendance, the quality of the speakers, the exhibits,” Melvin said.

Melvin said the attendance at the summit was the highest for the keynote speakers who presented during the morning and early afternoon.

After the lunch, attendees were able to move into breakout sessions.

Melvin said attendance dropped off a bit in the afternoon, but many many attended at least one breakout session.

In addition to different sessions, there were also a variety of exhibits available for guests walk around during breaks.

“It’s been going great,” Cole Hazenfield, a vendor with Professional Telecommunications Services, said about the summit. “A lot of new people are coming in.”

Hazenfield said PTS specializes in IT services including phone systems and WiFi.

Melvin said they had a very positive turnout from vendors who wanted to be a part of the summit.

He said they will be deciding soon about whether or not they want to have the summit next year.

“We are going to discuss it in two weeks,” Melvin said. “I would say with the feedback and all of the data we have pulled together so far, it is encouraging. If we are going to do it again we will have to make a decision pretty quickly.”

The Business Technology Summit was hosted by the Clermont County Chamber of Commerce and Union Township. Other sponsors for the event included PNC Bank, University of Cincinnati Clermont College, BrightStar Partners, Duke Energy, Clermont County Board of Commissioners, and more.

For more information about the summit, visit www.ohbiztechsummit.com.