Let us go forward Together

Jessica Ivins — User Experience

We’ll discuss ways that you work with others to get UX tasks done. We’ll participate in a collaborative UX activity, discuss the process and outcome, and talk about ways that you can incorporate the activity into your work. Whether you’re a seasoned UX practitioner, or someone who’s new to UX, there’s something in this session for you.

Erin Kidwell — Intro to Development

In this class, we will walk through the fundamentals of web development in layman terms. We won't be writing code, this is intended as a lecture to take you through various components of the web and how they work together.

Ample — A Work in Process

Is how you work getting in the way of great work? Kevin Comer and Rob Sloan will show how Ample has evolved their process to create higher efficiency, better results and a more cohesive team effort.

Elmer Thomas (Sendgrid) — Email Marketing

Drawing from his experience at SendGrid, which has delivered over 37 billion emails on behalf of over 40,000 customers, Elmer will teach you the factors that determine whether your email will hit the inbox and the practical steps you can take today to avoid the SPAM folder and ensure that your customers receive the communications they expect.

Sara Morgan

Finding your brand's voice and building a community with strategic (but genuine) marketing, public relations, and social media efforts can seem overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be! As a founder of couple of startups and now a PR firm created for an entrepreneur, by an entrepreneur, Sara is bringing her experience to QCMerge to talk about building a company from the ground up by securing press placements, engaging in social media, and keeping an honest and consistent voice across all mediums.

Sara Chipps

Nate Westheimer

Chris Glass

Todd Henry

Creating great work under pressure is tough. Todd Henry will share insights from his book The Accidental Creative to help you stay prolific, brilliant, and healthy.

Doug Alcorn

Building custom applications is hard, expensive, and risky; but it's the custom code that differentiates our businesses. How can we mitigate the risk and get the most of the money we spend on development? Very few projects fail because of technology problems. The number one success criteria for a project is the level of engagement between stakeholders and the development team. This talk explores that relationship. We'll talk about ways to evaluate your relationships and techniques to improve them. By the end of the presentation you should have a better understanding of what highly effective teams look like and how to engage with them.

Tim Falls — The Big Red Machine Startup Community

How can each individual within the Cincinatti area startup community help make it better? Based on experience building communities around geographies, interests, products, and companies, Tim will provide QC Merge attendees with tangible takeaways to guide each person's contribution to a more awesome community for all.

Greg Hardman

Greg will talk about the revitalization of Cincinnati's brewing heritage and how his Christian Moerlein Brewing Company has taken a leadership position in bringing back a city's brewing culture. He will explore the Brewery District's strategic master plan and how it will create a new energy for the city and be an economic driver through heritage tourism.

Ignite Cincinnati

Ignite Cincinnati is an information exchange for fostering and inspiring our community. In one evening, you hear over a dozen passionate speakers from our creative, technical, and business communities talking about their favorite things for just five minutes each. Presentations will educate and inspire you, and maybe make you laugh in the process.

Cincinnati Reds Game

On Friday, everyone will receive VIP access to the Cincinnati Reds versus the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ballpark. Catch the game from the Riverboat Deck in center field while catching up with the other attendees.