Jutila Center SEEDesign Forum and Expo Is this Thursday, 11 am to 7 pm

HANCOCK, MI - The SEEDesign Forum & Expo, hosted by the Finlandia University Jutila Center, is this Thursday, September 15, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

All activities take place in the Jutila Center Auditorium on the main level of the Jutila Center building. The event is free and open to the public and attendees are welcome to come anytime.

The Forum & Expo showcases the considerable impact that creative disciplines have on the Copper Country and western Upper Peninsula region. The events share information and tools for business innovation and offer opportunities to network with areas leaders in business, design, and marketing.

From 11:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m., a Speaker Forum will feature four lectures, each beginning at the top of the hour. The presenters are Matthew Monte, president of Monte Consulting, Houghton; Katrina Aho, interior designer for Gartner's Gallery, Hancock; and Karyn Olsson, co-owner of the Upper Peninsula Marketing Department, Inc., Houghton.

At 2:00 p.m., Keynote Speaker Maureen Monte, leadership and strategy consultant for IBM, will present a talk titled, "Driving Creativity and Innovation in the Workplace through Strengths-based Leadership."

At 4:00 p.m. three design teams of professional designers and marketers, each team matched with a local business, will unveil their makeover concepts for that business, and the winner of this Business Makeover Challenge will be announced. The design teams will be on hand to answer questions.

From 3:30 to 7:00 p.m. the Expo portion of the event includes information booths from the area's copy editors, web developers, architects, landscape designers, large format printers, graphic designers, videographers, and interior designers.

From 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce will host their monthly Business After Hours event. Both Chamber members and non-members are welcome. Beer and wine will be served, along with hors d'oeuvres prepared by Kangas Café and Catering of Hancock.

The SEEDesign Forum & Expo is an initiative of the Finlandia University Jutila Center for Global Design and Business. Funding has been provided, in part, by the Finlandia University Campus Enrichment Committee, Thrivent Financial, and Monte Consulting. It is supported by the Copper Country Community Arts Council and is a program of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.

For more information, visit www.finlandia.edu/seedesign or contact Fred Knoch at 487-7510.