GoDaddy.com’s chief scientist, Dave Koopman, will be featured speaker at Wednesday's Innovation Show hosted by Spokane networking company, LaunchPad INW.

The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to evening at the Mirabeau Park Hotel, 1100 N. Sullivan.

Koopman will discuss technology innovation during the noon to 1 p.m. lunch. Afternoon sessions will feature area tech leaders, followed by a trade show and a networking party.

Afternoon sessions will include comments by GreenCupboards CEO Josh Neblett, Mitch Williams of Gravity Jack, based in Liberty Lake, and Ed Reese, founder of Sixth Man Marketing. 

Admission is $35, free for LaunchPad members. For details go to www.launchpadINW.com

Tony Bonanzino knows a few things about business.

He's the featured guest at Friday's LaunchPad INW event, an Entrepreneur and Small Business Community discussion starting at 11:30 a.m. at the LaunchPad location, 120 N. Stevens in downtown.

Bonanzino was one of the original group of investors who took over the operation of the Hollister Stier Laboratories in the 1990s after previous owner Bayer chose to close the operation.

He became CEO and guided the privately funded company into new areas of growth. Just this week the contract pharma unit of Hollister Stier — now called HollisterStier Jubilant — announced it's lined up $90 million in deals.   In 2007, Jubilant, an Indian life sciences company, purchased Hollister Stier.

He will also discuss the business he helped start with his son after he left the company. A networking follow-up will take place at Nectar Tasting Room.

Cost is $10 per person payable at the door. College students with valid ID and LaunchPad paid members attend for free.  RSVP to ginger@launchpadinw.com.

Two area events this week give business managers and employees a chance to redirect their energies and find creative solutions to problems:

On Tuesday (Dec. 13) Norm Jewett is presenting a morning workshop on “Turning Problems into Profits.” The event will run from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at ITT Technical Institute, 13518 E. Indiana in Spokane Valley. Jewett is a dispute resolution specialist, mediator and attorney.

The event registration is a “$15 donation.”  For details, visit this page.

On Thursday, LaunchPad INW will host a “Dealing with Change and Transitions” workshop from noon to 2 p.m. The event will be at the LaunchPad center in downtown Spokane. The workshop presenter is Jeremy Swain.

Swain will look at ways organizations and individuals define and deal with change. Registration is encouraged by going to this link.  LaunchPad members and guests pay $39 for admission.

Area companies and their successes through innovation will be highlighted Oct. 20 in a public event hosted Oct. 20 by LaunchPad Inland Northwest.

The sponsored event will start at 3 p.m. at the Meadowwood Technology Campus in Liberty Lake. The event will include a speaker’s panel and breakout sessions afterword, said Bill Kalivas, co-founder of LaunchPad INW.

The evening winds down with a trade show and networking from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

 Rebecca Lovell, chief business officer for GeekWire, will discuss Seattle’s globally competitive technology community.

 The event is free for LaunchPad paid members, $25 for others ($5 for college students). Registration can be made at Launchpadinw.com.

LaunchPad INW and Leadership Spokane are co-sponsoring a Tuesday afternoon session as part of an ongoing effort to nurture and support young professionals.

The free event will include a keynote by Tyler Lafferty, founder of the Spokane companies Seven2 and 14Four. The two digital media companies provide marketing and agency work for clients across the area and the country.

The session starts at 4 p.m. at LaunchPad’s Spokane office at 120 N. Stevens. For more information, go to LaunchPadINW.com.  

The ongoing series is called Next Generation Leaders, and has the objective of nurturing and encouraging area young professionals to work together and develop personal and business relationships.

What was once the Agilent Technologies company campus has become the Meadowwood Technology Office Park. It’s at 24001 E. Mission in Liberty Lake. Developer Jim Frank is converting the tech office-manufacturing center into a cluster project focusing on growing area companies.

Your chance to get a good view of what’s happening to that large building comes on Oct. 27, when LaunchPad INW hosts an Emerging Trends in Technology session there, from 3 to 8 p.m.

At 3 p.m., a panel discussion will focus on cloud computing.  Tom Wilburn (in the photo), a Cisco VP for US/Canada Security and Mobility Sales, will also deliver a keynote at 4:30 p.m.

LaunchPad membership is not required to attend the session.

You can register and RSVP for $10 per person online, at http://bit.ly/cG7yzm. Tickets will be  $20 at the door.

For further information, contact Bill Kalivas, bill@launchpadinw.com.

We didn’t make up that description.

Tonight is when Seattle tech guy Chris Pirillo gets his chance to sound off on social media, at an event hosted by LaunchPad INW.

Pirillo got to town all right today. The picture here is the proof. He quickly posted a comment on his blog saying that may be stretching it a bit.

No. We don’t like the term “social media guru” either. My suggestion: media maestro.