SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Author Steven Johnson, NJOY CEO Craig Weiss and CNN's Brett Larson are scheduled to headline the inaugural SkySong Connect Conference, which will launch a multi-disciplinary network of researchers, technologists and entrepreneurs focused on growing a valley of innovation. PayPal CTO, James Barrese, will be delivering the opening remarks for the event, which will take place at SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, one of the premier economic engines in the Valley of the Sun. The inaugural event is sponsored by PayPal and is taking place on Thursday, April 17(th) from 9:30 to 4pm. Registration is free for the first 200 attendees.

"Featuring leading innovators from business, academics and nonprofits, SkySong Connect will further promote the Valley's position as a focal point of economic activity in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, and build further awareness of the Valley of the Sun as a global leader in the knowledge economy," said Brad McWilliams, Principal Architect for PayPal.

"PayPal is committed to promoting innovation among a wide variety of organizations from startups to nonprofits," said Mark Rohrwasser, Vice President, Core Services Product Development at PayPal. "SkySong Connect will allow attendees to network and create sustained relationships with fellow innovators, while gaining insight from inspiring content provided by preeminent speakers."

Speakers will share their expertise and insight with TED-style talks. The lineup of speakers includes:


    --  Keynote speaker Steven Johnson, a contributing writer to Wired who
        writes regularly for The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and
        is the author of eight books on the intersection of science, technology
        and personal experience.
    --  James Barrese, CTO, PayPal
    --  Craig Weiss, President & CEO of NJOY, Inc.
    --  Brett Larson, CNN Technology Analyst
    --  Cesar Kuriyama, Founder of the 1 Second Everyday project
    --  Hessam Sarjoughian, Associate Professor and Director of the Arizona
        Center for Integrative Modeling & Simulation at Arizona State University
    --  Hadley Wickham, Adjunct Professor at Rice University and Chief Scientist
        at Rstudio Inc
    --  Joel Dudley, PhD, Assistant Professor, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    --  Jonathan Aaron Cain, The Musical Heritage Exchange Project
    --  Natalia Duong, Added Value
    --  Michael Stay, Biosimilarity Inc

The SkySong Connect Conference is being produced by Factory 360, the leading full-service experiential marketing firm, which has worked with brands including Svedka Vodka, Chase and Paypal. Factory 360 has been named one of Inc 500's fastest-growing privately held companies for the last five years.

Skysong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, is home to a global business community that links technology, research, education and entrepreneurship to position ASU and Greater Phoenix as global leaders in the knowledge economy. Organized around a central plaza with a signature shade structure, SkySong is a 1.2 million square-foot mixed-use development on a 42-acre campus in Scottsdale.

SOURCE Factory 360