Last night TAG launched its new Corporate Development Society, which is chaired by John L. Ryan, Director, Business Development, IBM . Ryan began the event by explaining his vision for the new society, (corresponding presentation to be posted soon!) John Yates,  Partner, Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP  then led an expert panel discussion featuring Ronald Goldman, Managing Director, Croft & Bender, LLC; Catherine Dixon   Consultant, Intersect Group; Lorin Coles   President, Alliancesphere; and Dominic Mazzone, Managing Director, Mazzone & Associates. Jay Lambert was at the event and covered the panel discussion pretty well on Twitter:

First one here at #TAGCD. Need someone to come on in to network with. #TAGThink

TAG Corporate Development Society kickoff a good time. Friendly, sharing attendees as always at a #TAGThink event. about 19 hours ago via web
Corp Dev is #TAGThink's 25th society. about 19 hours ago via web
To launch corp dev, John Ryan asked, where are the bus dev groups and alliance groups in TAG? All about connecting. #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web
Wants to be leading org in #atl for companies (esp startups) to find the right resources, alliances, network, investors - #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web
We have some really good competencies here; how do we focus them? - John Ryan #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web Have a backup plan; other options help the buyer stay honest. - Ronald Goldman #TAGThink about 17 hours ago via web Corp dev guys opinion very important, but deal won't happen if the business side doesn't buy in - Lorin Coles #TAGThink about 17 hours ago via web 
 Focus on fewer deals done better. The stakes are much higher now. - Catherine Dixon #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web In a down market, people realize how important their partners are - Lorin Coles #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web Corp Dev panel feels market is up for rest of year, but quantity more so than quality #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web Corp Dev success factors - deal sourcing, prof growth, grow bus locally. #TAGThink about 18 hours ago via web Ecosystem not here yet, but this is an embracing community. Get your skills and come here to use the connections - John Yates #TAGThink about 17 hours ago via web

It was a great event, and on behalf of TAG I'd like to thank John and all of the TAG Corporate Development Board Members for the planning they put into it as well as for their leadership in getting the group up and running. We'll have more information posted about the next Corporate Development Society events, and if you'd like to get more involved please contact Michael Bosarge, the TAG staff liaison for the group, at Michael@TAGonline.org.

Website design technology has elevated to a whole new level over the past 5 years.   Being a part of the "behind the scenes" of the launch of the new TAG Think website has given new meaning to WYSIWYG to me.  In the back-end editor for uploading content to the website, I can actually see the formatting that will appear on the searchable webpage... it's WYSIWYG... What You See Is What You Get!

The Content Management Society will explore topics this year involving advances in technology for website content management.  Join the Content Management Society Group to stay up-to-date on what's going on in Georgia's Content Management Community!

Advances in Technology have paved the way for successes in the Entertainment Industry, especially Film and Gaming...  pefect examples are the movie Avatar and Wii video games!

In the upcoming months, the TAG Entertainment Society plans to explore new technology and bring some fun and informative topics to our platform of programs.

I have attached a couple of resource articles that discuss some of the exciting developments that we have seen over the past couple of years that has created a new "technology phenomenon" in the Entertainment Industry in Georgia.

Eye-popping 'Avatar' pioneers new technology
Source:  SFGate.com

A Closer Look at the Nintendo Wii Atlanta GA
Source: directoryM.com

Join the TAG Entertainment Society Group today and stay up-to-date on what's going on in entertainment technology!

 Plan on attending the Kick-off event for the newly formed Corporate Development Society to hear our distinguished panel of experts discussing the topics affecting corporations in Georgia and to build connections and locate resources to grow your business in 2010.

Topics discussed will include: M&A and Corporate Finance, Partnering and Joint Venture Strategies, and 2010 Trends in Corporate Development.

John Ryan, Director, Business Development with IBM is the Society Chair and he and the rest of the society board are planning events for the upcoming year.  Registration details can be found under the "Events" tab!