January 25th, 2011
kristileejohn

IT outlook for 2011 - NCTA event

It was nice to see a good turnout at yesterday’s NCTA Annual Meeting & Tech Expo in RTP, NC.   The chatter was positive and lots of talk centered around the increase in job opportunities. One of our partners, Hire Networks, mentioned that business was great and there were lots of opportunities.

Also backing up the positive outlook for 2011 was Michael Smith, Vice President at Gartner Research. His keynote centered on the “2011 IT Outlook”. Here are some key takeaways from his presentation, or at least those that caught my attention!

  • 70% of productivity growth in the U.S. comes from IT
  • 2009 was the worst year for IT (I know, big surprise!)
  • Predictions for 2011 include a 4.5% increase in IT spending
  • Top 3 high-growth industries include manufacturing, government and banking
  • 56% of companies are using social media with Facebook being the most used platform
  • Mobile technologies will be the hottest ticket over the next couple of years with the dominate platforms being Android and Apple

So here’s to a much better year and wishing all of my peers much deserved success.

Oh and if Rick Smith of LocalTechWire is reading this post he won’t be surprised by this next statement but I have to say that its always disappointing to see the low percentage of women vs. men at these events. I know that there are several women in technology here in the Triangle but I would love to see more! Maybe we need more women in technology events….thoughts??

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Oddly enough when asked to write about herself, Kristi was at a loss of words. After all, her job is to write about others, which is obviously why she chose a career in public relations. Wait a minute...stop right there... we are living in a world of transparency these days right? So, let's be upfront, Kristi didn't choose a career in PR, it chose her. After a college professor told her that she should apply fora PR internship (could it have been because she had the loudest mouth in class? Nah, probably not), she took her advice.

Off she went to interview at a place few could barely pronounce, a firm by the name of Brodeur Porter Novelli. The agency focused on technology PR and that sounded interesting to Kristi. After all, she was the first in her group of friends to get a car phone (you remember, the 10 pound bag that mostly consisted of the battery, right?). Yep, she is that old.

After almost getting someone fired for hiring her on the spot, she began her PR career. And she hated it. What were they talking about...pinging networks, online auctions, VOIP phones...and why does anyone care? And then it happened. She got her first feature article in Internet World (yes that used to be a top tier trade pub). This was addictive. Finally her ability to talk to anyone about anything was paying off.

Since that fateful turn of events, Kristi has worked with several technology companies includingTogetherSoft as the public relations manager where she was responsible for building credibility for the company, its products and its management which helped lead to a successful $210m acquisition by Borland Corporation.

Kristi also served as a director at RFBinder Partners (previously Ruder Finn), where she was responsible for building the agency's high tech practice both in RTP as well as in Boston, MA. Prior to RFBinder she served as public relations manager for OpenSite Technologies, which sold to Siebel Systems for more than $500 million in May 1999.

In 2003, Kristi joined business partner, Shawn Ramsey, to start Crossroads Public Relations. In this role, Kristi gets to leverage her extensive experience to help entrepreneurs build successful companies by harnessing the power of PR. With an amazing team of PR professionals, she enjoys blending traditional PR, social media and business experience to help clients achieve their end goals.

When she isn't working, Kristi spends her time with her husband and daughter. When she does get a free minute to herself, you can usually find her at a local coffee shop enjoying her non-fat half vanilla half caramel hold the whip latte.

Kristi has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing from Meredith College. In addition, Kristi is also a winner of the Business Journal's 40 Under 40 award.