2019 Conference Schedule

At the Positive Business Conference, you’ll engage with thought leaders and the latest research on positive business approaches that yield extraordinary results. You’ll network with like-minded individuals from diverse industries and participate in practical hands-on workshops. Finally, you’ll leave with a plan to translate inspiration into action when you return to your organization. The agenda will include many opportunities for informal connections to be made between participants.

The conference will begin with registration at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 9th, and the final session will wrap up by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10th. Keep checking back for exciting announcements of additional sessions between now and the conference!

Day 1: Thursday, May 9, 2019

  Sessions Speakers
7:30AM – 9:00AM Registration + Breakfast
9:00AM – 10:30AM Welcome + Opening Sessions Conference Co-Hosts
Andy Hoffman +
Chris Marcell Murchison
The Positive Business Possibility in Today’s Workplace Gretchen Spreitzer (Michigan Ross)
donothing® Rob Dubé (imageOne)
Motivating Behavior Change through Well-Being Michelle Segar (Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center)
10:30AM – 11:15AM Refreshment Break
11:15AM – 12:30PM People and Well-Being Stephanie J. Creary
(The Wharton School)
Thriving in the New World of Work Susan J. Ashford (Michigan Ross)
Working with Well-Being Mindi Cox (O.C. Tanner)
Think Long Term Carl Erickson (Atomic Object)
12:30PM – 2:00PM Lunch
2:00PM – 3:15PM Ross Thought in Action Workshops Session A (Choose One)
How to Build Strength from Within: Learning to Craft Positive Identities Jane Dutton (Michigan Ross)
Applying Improv Comedy to Create Positive Company Culture Mary Lemmer (Improv4) + Erica Marx (Improv4)
Good (and Bad) Lessons on Company Culture from Silicon Valley Jim Price (Michigan Ross)
The Three Transformations: A Science-based System for Sustainable Behavior Change Michelle Segar (Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center)
Micromoves to Build a Positive Workplace Chris White (Michigan Ross)
Leveraging Insights from Consumer Neuroscience to Promote Prosocial Behavior Carolyn Yoon (Michigan Ross)
Measuring the Positive: How to Create and Sustain a Positive Workplace Environment Amy Young (Michigan Ross) +
Michael J. O’Brien (The Pacific Institute)
3:15PM – 3:45PM Refreshment Break
3:45PM – 5:00PM Well-Being and Our World Achyuta Adhvaryu (Michigan Ross)
Vic Strecher (Kumanu)
6:30PM – 9:30PM Dinner at the University of Michigan Museum of Art

Day 2: Friday, May 10, 2019

  Sessions Speakers
7:30AM – 8:30AM Breakfast
8:30AM – 10:00AM Purpose and People Scott DeRue (Michigan Ross) +
Patti Poppe (Consumers Energy)
Facilitated by Chris White
(Michigan Ross)
Not So Random Acts of Kindness Sarika Gupta (Michigan Ross) + Ann Verhey-Henke (Center for Socially Engaged Design)
10:00AM – 10:30AM Refreshment Break
10:30AM – 11:45AM Ross Thought in Action Workshops Session B (Choose One)
Permission to Ask: The Secret of a Giver Culture and How to Use It Wayne Baker (Michigan Ross)
Positive Leadership and Positive Performance Kim Cameron (Michigan Ross)
Leading Positive Change Without Authority Jerry Davis (Michigan Ross)
Building Purpose-Driven Partnerships Kathryn Heinze (U-M) +
Sara Soderstrom (U-M)
The Next Phase of Business Sustainability: Management as a Calling Andy Hoffman (Michigan Ross)
Applying Improv Comedy to Create Positive Company Culture Mary Lemmer (Improv4) + Erica Marx (Improv4)
Purpose Is Not a Buzzword: Why It Matters and How It Really Works Vic Strecher (Kumanu)
11:45AM – 1:00PM Lunch
1:00PM – 2:45PM How Space Shapes Culture Jeffrey Block (Steelcase)
The Purpose-Driven Organization Steve Nelson (UnitedHealthcare) + Robert E. Quinn (Michigan Ross)
2:45PM – 3:15PM Refreshment Break
3:15PM – 4:00PM Owning Our Lives as Well as Our Businesses Ari Weinzweig (Zingerman’s Community of Businesses)
4:00PM – 4:15PM Conference Close

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