Product Management Educational Conference (PMEC) To Showcase The Concept Of The “Product Garage”

“Tune up” your product line with Steve Rankel, PMEC keynote speaker.

Sacramento, CA (PRWEB) March 27, 2006 When your car isn't running right, what do you do? You take it to your mechanic. But what about when your product line isn't performing like it should? You sweat it out, sometimes feeling as if you are alone, on the side of the road. For the attendees of the Product Management Education Conference, help is on the way.

The PMEC opening keynote speaker Steve Rankel is going to work with a select group to 'tune up' their products. PMEC attendees can bring challenges related to: the product itself, the team leadership, market, differentiation, messaging or other challenges. Attendees will walk away with specific actions they can take immediately to 'tune up' and 'speed up' their products.

All PMEC attendees are welcome, but to participate in this “Product Garage” session, attendees must apply beforehand.

“Steve Rankel is a savvy “mechanic” ready to “tune up” under performing products,” said Therese Padilla, AIPMM president. “Where would the great race car drivers be without their skilled mechanics? Like race cars, sometimes products and services need a little work to make them perform at their best. We are really fortunate Steve is able to open his “Product Garage” to our PMEC attendees,” added Padilla.

In addition to keynote speaker Steve Rankel, the PMEC 2006 boasts a lineup of other heavy hitting educators in the field. Steven Haines of Sequent Learning Networks, Brian Lawley of 280 Group, David Gould of University of Phoenix and John Mansour of ZigZag Marketing are industry-leading product management instructors. Leading off the list of heavy hitting working product managers in the field are Matt Pope, Group Product Manager for Groove at Microsoft and George Allen, Director of Product Management for Fluke Technologies. And on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 don't miss the infamous "Help, I'm a Product Manager!" pre-conference workshop, led by the dynamic duo of Mara Krieps and Linda Merrick. Krieps and Merrick bring their expertise as trainers in the field, teaching at the University of Washington Software Product Management Certificate Program as well as Pivotal Product Management, AND their experience as working product managers, to deliver a powerful and practical session.

The Product Management Educational Conference 2006, entitled The Way of the Product Manager, will be held Wednesday April 19, 2006 to Friday April 21, 2006. PMEC 2006 will provide learning and networking opportunities for product and brand managers representing pharmaceutical, software, medical devices, travel & tourism, food services, financial services, and consumer goods.

PMEC 2006 is sponsored by the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM), the resource for all things product management. The AIPMM is the only worldwide professional association dedicated to product managers, brand managers, product marketing managers and other professionals who cover the entire discipline of the product life-cycle throughout any industry. As part of the AIPMM education initiative, several scholarship opportunities are available for the PMEC.

For information or to register go to http://www.aipmm.com/pmec

For information on a scholarship to attend the PMEC go to http://www.aipmm.com/html/certification/scholarship.php

About Steve Rankel

Steve Rankel is a marketer, strategist, speaker and writer. He has led sales, marketing, business development and turnaround efforts (and lost much sleep) in high-tech, software, consulting, telecom and manufacturing.

As the son and grandson of successful entrepreneurs in the US and Europe, Mr. Rankel had his first major business win at 25 as part of the leadership team that turned around a family manufacturing business. He simultaneously held consulting roles at Ernst & Young and American Express while helping grow the business by 400%.

Mr. Rankel then went on to expand US operations for a British Software firm where he successfully took over, then re-launched and marketed 6 products. He then led sales, marketing and account management in the successful turnaround and 200% expansion of a Boston-based telecom services provider, culminating in the ultimate sale of the company to one of the clients Mr. Rankel and his team helped save from a major service disaster.

In 1998, Mr. Rankel founded the firm that is now Business Kinetics to provide strategic marketing solutions to marketers of tangible and intangible products. His client work over the years has been with startups, ailing companies, and global 2000 companies.

Mr. Rankel holds a B.S. in Marketing and Information Systems, Summa Cum Laude, from Clarkson University and holds the APICS CPIM certification.

About the Association of International Product Marketing and Management

The AIPMM provides value to its individual members, corporate members, and sponsors by providing training, education, certification and professional networking opportunities. Membership benefits include the national Product Management Educational Conference, regional conferences, the Career Center, peer Forums, tools, templates, publications and eligibility to enroll in the Certification Programs. The Certified Product Manager (CPM) and Certified Product Marketing Manager (CPMM) program allows individual members to demonstrate their level of expertise and provides corporate members an assurance that their product professionals are operating at peak performance. For more information on issues concerning product management and product managers go to http://www.aipmm.com.

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