SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--People, culture and infrastructure are the key to innovation, Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, told attendees at the 2015 Hall of Fame gala event of the Utah Technology Council (UTC) (http://www.utahtech.org). Now in its 17th year, the UTC Hall of Fame Celebration addressed a capacity audience of more than 900 Utah technology leaders this week at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City. As the leader of a $2.2 billion enterprise, Weiner expressed his respect for what Utah’s technology companies are accomplishing both individually and as a community.
Weiner credits LinkedIn’s values and culture, based on being “open, honest and constructive,” as the company’s single greatest secret for its meteoric success, with a membership base that has now surpassed 400 million. The audacious vision that drives his organization—to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce (some 3 billion members large) is closer to reality every day.
“I would advise Utah’s leaders to continue doing what you are doing,” he said. “Pursue education and continue to educate and invest in vocational training as well, especially in an age so focused on innovation,” he said. “Continue to dream big. It’s extraordinary what is possible. You should be incredibly proud.”
At the event, UTC honored 2015 inductees Senator Orrin G. Hatch and business leaders Gretchen W. McClain and Will West. Senator Hatch is the first member of Congress and McClain the first woman to be inducted into the UTC Hall of Fame in the program’s 17-year history.
“We are extremely pleased to gain the unique insights of Jeff Weiner, who stands as one of the most exceptional technology leaders in the world,” said Richard R. Nelson, president and CEO of the UTC. “We are honored to gain insights from this tremendous industry leader.”
The gala headlines CEO keynotes from the world’s great technology companies. Prior HOF keynotes have included Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com; Shantanu Narayen of Adobe; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; John Chambers of Cisco; Eric Schmidt of Google; Jerry Yang of Yahoo!; Steve Ballmer of Microsoft; Mark Hurd of Oracle; Paul Otellini of Intel and Kevin Rollins of Dell.
About The UTC Hall of Fame
The annual Hall of Fame event honors individuals with Utah ties who have made global contributions to the information technology and clean tech industries through new technology, innovation and leadership. This year’s event brings the total number of inductees honored to 45.
The Hall of Fame celebration is the year’s largest gathering of Utah technology executives. UTC invites members of Utah's technology industries, as well as business and community leaders, to join in honoring inductees.
About the Utah Technology Council
The UTAH TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL is the state’s premier professional association for over 5,000 high tech and clean tech companies, representing nearly 10 percent of the state’s total payroll. At its core, UTC exists to help Utah technology businesses become more competitive and relevant by creating VALUABLE CONNECTIONS with members and others who offer peer experience and advice, by addressing the serious TALENT SHORTAGE faced by member companies and by assisting members to gain ACCESS TO FUNDING. Members join UTC to share insights with industry peers through executive training forums, work with government and academic leaders through public policy and receive help from professional service providers and early-stage funding resources. www.utahtech.org.
