One of the greatest challenges businesses face today is how to remain innovative and relevant amid constant change. Entrepreneurs and business leaders must be ready to adjust and implement new strategies to alter course or capitalize on opportunities in an ever-shifting landscape.

The second annual YPO Innovation Week will help propel member-driven businesses forward in this accelerated environment by bringing together the world’s most dynamic innovators for a chance to connect, challenge conventional thinking and gain actionable, applicable insight. On 8-12 May 2017, YPO leaders who are charged with driving innovation across a diverse range of industries and sectors will take part in a unique initiative comprised of more than 70 signature events, chapter events, forum idea jams, live two-way interactive casts and livestream events across more than 30 countries.

“Every business leader needs to focus on innovation to grow and thrive,” says YPO Innovation Week Chair Keith Alper, a YPO member in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and CEO of Nitrous Effect. “YPO Innovation Week will provide hundreds of opportunities for members to learn from each other and from the most well respected innovators, disrupters, inventors and those in the innovation ecosystem. We hope members can take something back to their business — learn a new process, see something in a different way and bring their teams into the fold.”

YPO Innovation Week provides members with learning and networking opportunities to infuse innovation into their companies, form strategic partnerships, and positively affect their businesses as well as the communities in which they work. YPOers will learn new ideas to put into practice and techniques to apply to their businesses through an invigorating exchange with some of the most cutting-edge entrepreneurs affecting the business world today. Programs in development include idea jams, workshops, live-streamed panels, insider company tours, global conference calls, TED-style presentations and debates. Highlights of programs open for registration include:

• Silicon Summit 2017, 8-10 May 2017, Silicon Valley, California, USA: Leading entrepreneurs and venture capitalists at the ground zero of modern invention will examine how technology can advance cutting-edge concepts.
• InnovNation: Israel Innovation Experience, 9-11 May 2017, Tel Aviv, Israel: Entrepreneurial innovators will explore the questions every start-up has and how communities – like Israel with the highest concentration of startups in the world – can work together to build the next great revolution.
• The Art of the Start – Accelerating Your Start-up Growth, 10-11 May 2017, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Trailblazers and experts from the trenches will share their insights about how to optimize the speed and trajectory of a startup for success at every level.
• Grand Finale for YPO Innovation Week, 11-12 May 2017, New York, New York, USA: World-class experts in finance, hospitality and technology will close the week with in-depth sessions, a “shark tank” style pitch contest and the closing market bell ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite.

This Only-in-YPO experience is the largest global initiative of its kind affecting all YPO members. New programs are being added regularly so check out the YPO Innovation Week website to learn more.