Conference Keynote Speaker James M. Phillips, Managing Director, Pinnacle Investments

Jim Phillips holds BBA and MBA degrees from the University of Memphis , graduating with academic honors. He was formerly Vice President of Notel Networks; President & Co-Founder of SkyTel - the nation's largest messaging company; President & Vice Chairman of Telular Corp.; Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Motorola, PCS and Multimedia divisions, where his team invented the cable modem. He was instrumental in the development of the wireless local loop cellular voice and data telephone, alarm and telemetry systems.

Jim also Co-Founded iPIX Corporation where he served as Chairman and CEO. During his tenure with iPIX, he led the company to become what Forbes called "the Kodak of the Internet." The company revolutionized imaging across the internet, inventing virtual tours that are a staple on real estate, hotel & entertainment websites and the only 360x360 security camera system used by the White House and many government agencies and corporations. In addition, through the acquisition of Bamboo.com and Picture Works, Jim oversaw the development of the popular image submission process utilized by millions of e-Bay users everyday. He also holds patents in cell phones, PDA and data modem design.

While furthering his management career, Jim served as CEO in residence and special advisor to the Private Equity Groups at Morgan Keegan & Co. As Founding Chairman and Executive Director of the FedEx Institute of Technology (FIT), he helped establish this leading research park on the campus at the University of Memphis . Information Week called FIT "the technology industry's newest center for innovation" and WIRED Magazine compared it to Media Lab and MIT. Jim also founded and served as Chairman and CEO of Snowflake Corporation - a leader in biometric identification.

In 2004, Jim was named one of Information Week's Innovators of the Year. That same year, he became Chairman and CEO of Luminetx Corporation and led the development and commercialization of a breakthrough medical device called the "VeinViewer" Time Magazine named this milestone the "coolest medical invention of year" and Red Herring Magazine featured Luminetx Corporation at the top of the list of North America 's 100 Best Technology Startups in 2006.

Among his many honors and awards, Jim was named Tennessee Businessman of the Year in 1999 by the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2006, he was inducted into the Memphis Entrepreneurial Society. His innovative contributions and business leadership have been chronicled in many national publications including: Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, The Standard, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. He has made numerous appearances on Fox News, CNN, CNNfn, CNBC, the BBC and CBS Morning News.