Small business software engineers, software business managers, technical developers, IT consultants and accountants are preparing for the second annual Intuit Developer Network (IDN) Conference. Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) announced today that its three-day event will bring together this community of influencers to exchange ideas, discover business opportunities and help develop applications relevant to the small business market.
Held at The Fairmont San Jose December 9-11, 2003, the IDN conference will showcase interactive forums, hands-on innovation lab exhibits and several keynote addresses by industry luminaries. Handspring Co-Founders, Donna Dubinsky, CEO, and Jeff Hawkins, Chief Product Officer, will launch the conference in a keynote addressing their passion for customers and creating products that change people's lives. Not only will they share their inspirations for success, but they will also tell how they made their ideas a reality and the lessons they learned in their entrepreneurial and product development endeavors. Dubinsky and Hawkins created the original Palm Pilot and the Palm operating system, one of the most compelling new products and platforms for developers in recent memory. They will underscore the significance of the developer and influencer community in creating complete customer solutions.
Intuit Office of the CEO members, Scott Cook, Founder and Chairman, and Steve Bennett, President and CEO, will also host keynotes discussing the power of community, game-changing customer-driven innovation and trends in the small business marketplace.
"The Intuit Developer Network is becoming the gateway to reach the small business customer. In the past year, the number of IDN members and the number of applications available on the QuickBooks Solutions Marketplace have doubled," said Mark Bercow, Vice President, Intuit Developer Network. "The Intuit Developer Conference is THE place where community members can share ideas and customer feedback, build alliances and gain the knowledge to develop innovative applications."
Conference Tracks Address Both Developers and Advisors
New for 2003, the Intuit Developer Conference will offer sessions for not only developers, but also for QuickBooks ProAdvisors and other small business influencers and accountants. The collaboration of these key audiences is a win for not only advisors and developers, but for small businesses themselves. Through the alliances that will be built at the conference, developers and accountants will have the opportunity to create more applications that are relevant for the unique needs of small businesses, and accountants and advisors will be aware of these applications and can recommend the ones that are right for their clients.
The 2003 Intuit Developer Conference will offer sessions across three tracks:
- Track 1: Build Alliances — QuickBooks ProAdvisorsSM and developers have a great opportunity to meet each other and collaborate in this track. Both groups together will exchange ideas, discover business opportunities and help develop customer-relevant applications.
- Track 2: Develop Innovative Solutions — Presenters and attendees in this track will share tactics and methods on how to stay competitive, and discuss methods for advancing product usability and the future direction of QuickBooks products and services
- Track 3: Grow Your Business— This track will offer sessions addressing techniques that developers and advisors can use to build their customer bases. Useful research methods, flexible business models and low-cost, effective ways to publicize and market solutions and services will be discussed.
Gold Level sponsors of the 2003 Intuit Developer Conference include Cisco Systems and Intel Corporation. VeriSign is a Silver Level sponsor.
Developers can learn more and or sign up for the IDN Conference at: http://www.idnconference.com. For more information on the Intuit Developer Network, visit http://developer.intuit.com.
