The Cutter Consortium Summit is packed with opportunities for one-to-one interaction with speakers and colleagues from around the world, as well as time to deliberate on the issues as a group. There is no better opportunity to interact with the experts in IT. These experts include the presenters and panelists -- internationally known consultants and corporate IT professionals -- and the delegates -- experienced, forward thinking business and IT professionals.

Conference sessions are designed to maximize participation and interaction in a variety of formats. Keynotes on Monday and Tuesday are followed by highly interactive (and always entertaining) panel discussions; on Tuesday you’ll work through with a small group, then with the entire cohort in a Harvard Business School case study. And Wednesday, you’ll choose amongst five half-day, hands-on sessions, all designed to expand the way you look at the ways you create value in your organization.

The Summit -- like everything Cutter does -- is vendor-independent. You won’t attend vendor-sponsored cocktail parties or listen to speakers placed by influential exhibitors (since there are none!) at the Summit. This contributes to the Summit's unique focus on personal interaction and debate in an atmosphere that facilitates knowledge sharing and learning. The informal setting of this intimate gathering provides both attendees and speakers alike an opportunity to candidly discuss the challenges they face -- from technical concerns and strategies they're considering, to trends they're seeing in their own organization, to techniques to overcome political roadblocks in their enterprise.

Plus, each day's 1 ¼ hour lunch buffet provides plenty of time to fill a plate and participate in a hands-on lunch session – or to table-hop and continue the morning’s discussion. Whether you choose to attend a morning roundtable or simply go directly to the conference room, continental breakfasts as well as morning and afternoon coffee breaks are great opportunities to debate your opinions about the upcoming topics. And the Monday and Tuesday evening cocktail parties provide an opportunity to unwind and socialize with your colleagues. Business casual attire is appropriate throughout the conference and its social events.

Cutter Consortium's first annual Summit conference was held in the spring of 1997, when the topic on everyone's mind was "what is this Internet thing, and does it have legs?" Each Summit in the years since has continued to question the prevailing ideas of the day and push the thinking on how enterprises can make IT matter. From topics like Viewing IT as a Capital Asset and Not an Expense (1997) to Peoplewhere? New Teams, New Roles, New Issues, and New Fun (1998); IT Agility, Outsourcing and Metrics (1999); Strategic Planning for Key IT Trends (2000); Has the Battle Been Lost in Information Security? (2001); and Artful Making: Fostering Agility and Efficiency (2002) to How the Genomic Revolution Will Change Computing (2003); Board-Level IT Oversight: The Next Big Thing (2004); Embracing Continuous IT Change (2005); and What's Next in IT? (2006), the Cutter Consortium Summit consistently tackles the issues you need to -- but don't often get a chance to -- step back and think about.

Over the last decade, Summit keynoters included these Cutter Senior Consultants and IT gurus: Verna Allee, Steve Andriole, Rob Austin, Kent Beck, Bob Benson, Steve Bradley, Robina Chatham, Alistair Cockburn, Ward Cunningham, Bill Curtis, Christine Davis, Alan Davis, Irene Dec, Peter deJager, Tom DeMarco, Juan Enriquez, Erich Gamma, Dan Geer, Jerry Grochow, Michael Guttman, Paul Harmon, George Hathaway, Peter Herzum, Jim Highsmith, Wendell Jones, Bartosz Kiepuszewski, Stuart Kliman, Tim Lister, Michael Mah, Lou Mazzucchelli, Warren McFarlan, Dick Nolan, Siobhán O'Mahony, Ken Orr, Meiler Page-Jones, Rich Pethia, Rob Phaal, Roger Pressman, Suzanne Robertson, Mike Rosen, Howard Rubin, Lou Russell, Imran Sayeed, Mark Seiden, Kent Seinfeld, Borys Stokalski, Paul Strassmann, Stephan Thomke, Rob Thomsett, Tom Welsh, Ed Yourdon