In the Community

Sunday, December 12th, 2021 

Live access to two keynote sessions.

Four Breakout session tracks on Justice, Equity & Inclusion, Leadership, Personal Development, and Career Advancement. You can choose three out of twelve total 30-minute sessions on event day, plus live breakout Q&A with the speakers.

 Thursday, October 21st, 2021 

Drawing on 25 years of failures and successes, this talk will focus on lessons learned and client-tested techniques that develop business and customer value in software-backed products and services. These can be applied across a variety of industries such as digital health, ecommerce, telecoms, insurance, finance, government, facilities tech, and technology services.

Thursday, October 21st, 2021- 12:00 ET 

In a year spent working remotely, many teams have skipped conversations with customers. These teams take a huge risk by spending engineering time on concepts that have never been put in front of actual users.

These Product Discovery efforts will help you extract actionable insights from customers and spark innovation in your product development.

Thursday, October 14th, 2021

Board member Susan Penta will join friends and colleagues at the annual Children's Trust Virtual Gala for an evening celebrating children and families across Massachusetts. Guests will hear the powerful stories and successes of our program participants, staff, and partners as they raise funds for this important cause.

Wednesday, October 13th, 2021

MIDIOR is proud to announce that Susan Penta will be attending the Women Business Leaders Conference, featuring the Women of Color Business Summit. This is the region's premier event for women in business, and brings together more than 450 women business leaders, owners, entrepreneurs, community leaders, supplier diversity teams, and purchasing professionals.

Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 

Join us as we watch Boston Interactive Media Association (BIMA) feature a panel of experts from agency, brand, and ad tech companies discussing today’s marketing and media mix -  how it is structured and how it’s evolving. They'll cover topics like how media activations are changing How creative is moving to the forefront of media strategy? How you can future-proof campaigns and more! 

Thursday, August 19th, 2021

How do you know if your ideas are viable and solve real market problems? This webinar will discuss how shifting to a product mindset can help you take ideas to market that have the greatest chances of success by building products that customers love. 

Wednesday, June 28th, 2021

MIDIOR Partners Susan Penta and Michael Goldberger teamed up with signature client, The North Atlantic States Carpenters Benefit Funds, for an afternoon of golf and fun as they played to raise money for the Research Foundation for the Treatment of Ovarian Cancer.

Thursday, June 17th, 2021 

For the 20th year in a row, MIDIOR sponsored the Center for Women & Enterprise's (CWE)  annual fundraiser and celebration. Held virtually once again, the video program featured insightful and heartwarming interviews, messages, and auctions. CWE is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating an inclusive, economic, and empowering environment for women by providing resources and tools to succeed.  

Thursday, June 17th, 2021 

A year into the pandemic, it’s painfully clear that our teams are distracted, discouraged and at risk of being burnt out. With the ongoing fatigue and distraction of the pandemic, it can be very challenging for product teams to know what are the right products, where do we make our investments and how can we contribute to the bottom line. Join us to learn more!

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021 

Susan Penta joined her colleagues from the Massachusetts Coalition of Taft-Hartley Funds at the group's annual summer event and golf outing. MIDIOR is proud to support the organization in its mission to ensure the availability of innovative, quality health care delivery systems for participants of the plans and their beneficiaries.

Wednesday, May 19th, 2021

The results of the global PDMA best practices survey are in.  This 5-month effort gathered best practices data from firms throughout the world.  Tune in to learn the practices of those who are outperforming the competition directly from the researchers.

Thursday, April 15th, 2021

Join PDMA and MIDIOR's Susan Loconta Penta as she moderatores this energetic session with Jana Axline, Founder of Project Genetics. One of the most expensive situations organizations face are failing projects. Understanding techniques to get an off-course project headed the right direction is critical before it adversely impacts the expected outcomes. Jana teaches valuable critical-thinking and problem-assessment skills, as well as techniques to build executable strategies that allow an organization to course-correct before it’s too late.

Thursday, March 18th, 2021

A lot of B2B companies have great products, but unfortunately, a lot of companies also struggle to effectively communicate the value of their products - or worst, they sound like everyone else. For some, great product messaging and positioning may seem elusive, however, this session will demonstrate that messaging and positioning is actually a science, not an art. 

Thursday, February 18th, 2021 

This webcast will provide Innovation and Product Development and Management professionals with practical knowledge and know how on how to apply and leverage the JTBD framework to succeed in a customer centric way.

Monday, February 4th, 2021 

Lessons learned from proven successful practitioner companies provide valuable benchmarks for organizations wanting to improve their own new product/service development performance.

January 28-29th, 2021 

For the 6th straight year, MIDIOR was a sponsor of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's Pinnacle Awards, which honors incredible leading women for their outstanding contributions to the workplace and commitment to enhancing the quality of life in the region. This year, the event was held virtually and was expanded to a two-day celebration. Please join us in congratulating all of these amazing recipients, past and present, on their significant accomplishments!

Thursday, January 21st, 2021 

Most companies are in the process of transforming to a new world of ‘Agility’. This topic intends to look at Enterprise Agility through a lens of Lean Software/Product development and principles of ‘Theory of Constraints’.  This presentation talks about various agility tools available to address all stages of product development as well as problems that prevent scaling up your agile organization. 

October 20th - 22nd, 2020

Susan Penta and Chloe Loftus attended this 3-day virtual event featuring high-profile keynote speakers from across the country. These product professionals spoke of their own journeys with a focus on  helping other women in product to refine their skillsets, learn to lead through change, and drive their personal roadmaps to BUILD RESILIENCE.

October 2020

MIDIOR has joined the collective mission to stop the spread of COVID-19 with the Boston Safe & Strong Pledge. The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the City of Boston and the  Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau (GBCVB) are partnering  to promote this pledge, which is a commitment to the public health measures that are proven to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Let's make #bostonsafeandstrong together! We invite you to join us in taking the pledge today!

Thursday, August 6th, 2020

Successful product development is complex. It relies upon purposefully melding people, processes, and tools to deliver results. Given the complexities organizations often lack data about what leads to a successful outcome or the factors that can aid organizations to be more successful. This webinar examines factors that can increase your product organizations success across the areas of innovation, product management and product team performance. If you are looking to improve your product team’s performance join us to learn more!

July 22nd - 23rd, 2020

Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) is the premier peer advisory organization for women entrepreneurs with multimillion dollar businesses. This year's Annual Conference - Reimagining Business - has been reconfigured as a digital event, which allows attendees to engage with the entire international membership base through impactful content – from thought-provoking keynote speakers to workshop sessions and networking opportunities – all without traveling.

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

As part of our onging professional development efforts, Team MIDIOR viewed this engaging webcast focusing on how to take virtual VOC to the next level amidst today's travel restrictions.  

Thursday, July 16th, 2020

Susan Loconto Penta joins a select group of WPI entrepreneurs  for a  discussion with Bob Mason ’94, Managing Director of Project 11 Ventures, a Member of WPI’s Tech Advisor Network and a WPI Mentor in Residence, along with WPI’s Executive Director of I&E Donna Levin to discuss open ended questions posed by Bob in his recent post:  Venture Diversity is Burdened with The Unnecessary Need for Wealth.  

Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Machine learning is an increasingly prevalent term in today’s innovation landscape. But what is it and why is it so important? Team MIDIOR attended this enlightening webcast to learn how advances to this emerging technology will help you to answer your most pressing innovation insights questions faster and cheaper than ever before.

Thursday, February 20th, 2020 - Boston, MA

Join Susan Penta and Chloe Loftus as they listen to Lizanne Kindler, Chief Executive Officer of Talbots, as she shares her personal story of success and commitment to women entrepreneurs. With over 25 years of experience in the fashion retails space, Ms. Kindler is a well-respected leader in the industry and in the community. In 2018, Talbots was named as one of the Top 10 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts by The Commonwealth Institute and the Globe Magazine. 

Wednesday, February 5th, 2020 - The Giving Factory - Brighton, MA

250,560 children under the age of 12 in Massachusetts live in low-income or homeless situations. Cradles to Crayons works with families, individuals, community groups, and corporations throughout the state to serve over 145,000 of those children every year. Team MIDIOR joins these efforts on February 5th as we volunteer at the Giving Factory  where we will be rolling  up our sleeves to  help provide local children with the basic essentials they need to thrive- at home, at school, and at play. Each station in the warehouse includes inspecting, sorting, and packaging donations to be distributed through the organization's partners. We are extremely excited and proud to be a part of the engine that powers the Cradles to Crayons mission!

Friday, January 31st, 2020 - Boston Marriott Copley Place - Boston, MA

Join the MIDIOR team on January 31st as we celebrate and honor eight women for their outstanding achievement in the workplace, demonstrated leadership that has made a difference, and a commitment to enhancing the quality of life in the region with a Chamber Pinnacle Award. 

Thursday, January 16th, 2020

Lean thinking and Lean Six Sigma have found widespread application in manufacturing and services, and more and more companies are discovering that the principles apply equally well to the innovation creation process. Join MIDIOR's Susan Penta as she leads this month's webcast featuring Norbert Majerus as he discusses the key principles and how they are appropriately applied in the different phases of the innovation process.

Tuesday, December 10th, 2019 - Revere Hotel Boston Common - Boston, MA

In the final Women’s Network program of its 25th anniversary year, Executive Vice Chairman of the NYSE, Betty Liu, sits down with Sarah Green Carmichael of Bloomberg to share her career insights, leadership lessons, and what's next for the NYSE and its partners. Join MIDIOR's Susan Penta for this dynamic discussion!

Wednesday, December 4th, 2019 - Encore Boston Harbor - Boston, MA

Michael Goldberger and Susan Penta will be joining the other members of the Massachuestts Coalition of Taft-Hartley Funds to kick-off the holiday season at the organization's annual holiday luncheon at Encore Boston Harbor.

Thursday, November 14th, 2019 - InterContinental Boston - Boston, MA

Deborah Jackson has dedicated her career to serving the people of Greater Boston. Whether as the Senior Vice President at Boston Children’s Hospital, or leading one of the nation’s largest American Red Cross units, she has put access to opportunity at the heart of a mission-driven life. Now as president of Cambridge College, Deborah and her team work toward breaking down barriers to traditional pathways to education by offering its students flexible class schedules, connections to local business and civic leaders, and a state-of-the-art campus in Charlestown. Susan Penta and Chloe Loftus join Deborah as she discusses creating better pipelines to employment after graduation, seeing higher education as a social justice imperative, and her ongoing commitment to diversity. 

November 2nd-5th, 2019 - Hilton Bonnet Creek - Orlando, FL

Susan Loconto Penta and Chloe (Pasco) Loftus will attend this annual event which brings together the best and brightest from the fields of New Product Development, Innovation, and Design, to present participants with an unmatched knowledge-packed experience over the course of two days, in beautiful Orlando, Florida. This year's conference, Competitive Edge: Disruption by Design, will provide insights into how Design integrates and weaves through the full continuum of New Product Development in four powerful and engaging tracks covering Business-to-Business, Services, Software, and Consumer Products.

October 24th-25th, 2019 - AC Hotel - Worcester, MA

WPI alumna Susan Penta will be attending The Women's Impact Network's annual Fall retreat at the AC Hotel in Worcester. WIN is a diverse group of female WPI alumnae who share a passion for education, leadership, and philanthropy. Their goal is to build a network of women who lead and learn together, demonstrate leadership through support of critical activities at WPI and create a positive impact for the WPI community.

Friday, October 25th, 2019 - Hubspot - Cambridge, MA

Join John Sutter at this month's QRCA New England Chapter's event, Making UX Less Spooky. This workship will cover the differences between market research and UX research, how you can apply your current skills to UX, UX methodologies, UX research platforms, and more! 

Friday, October 18th, 2019 - Suffolk University - Boston, MA

If you are new to the marketing insights field or just want to broaden your skills, this hands-on workshop is an opportunity to jumpstart your career. John Sutter and the Insights Association, New England Chapter have teamed up with Suffolk University to offer valuable training to our local Insights community, including the chance to act as a consultant to conduct marketing research to solve a real-time marketing problem for a global company.

Thursday, October 10th, 2019 - Reniassance Boston Waterfront - Boston, MA

When she couldn’t find care for her two children and aging parents, Sheila Marcelo turned a challenge into an opportunity: she started Care.com. In the thirteen years since, Care.com has grown to serve more than 34 million people in over 20 countries and has been the trusted resource for families to access affordable care services and caregivers to find meaningful work. Susan Penta will join Sheila as she discusses, among other topics, investing in women-led businesses, and how businesses can be both mission-based and profitable, and what it means to be an authentic leader.

Thursday, September 26th, 2019 - Park Plaza Hotel - Boston, MA

Board member Susan Loconto Penta will join friends and colleagues at this annual event to benefit the organization's work to stop child abuse.

Friday, September 20th, 2019 - Seaport Hotel - Boston, MA

What happens when two successful serial entrepreneurs join forces? They tap the potential of women who want to earn on their own terms, the flexibility to run businesses on a part-time basis, and to work the hours they choose. Join Susan Loconto Penta and Chloe (Pasco) Loftus for a fireside chat with Sharon and Gail that will explore their working relationship, the competitive advantages mothers bring to business, and how they started a movement that has empowered women across the nation.

Tuesday, June 25th, 2019 - Omni Parker House - Boston, MA

With ever-increasing demands on their personal and professional lives, women often tiptoe along the line of balance and struggle to maintain peak performance. Susan Loconto Penta, Chloe Pasco and Estelle Penta joined local business leaders as they began to explore the impact stress has on the mental health of their employees and their productivity. A panel of experts discussed how to nurture healthy environments that promote mental wellness and remove stigma around a prevalent and common health issue, as well as tackling lesser known but equally impactful behaviors that can impact an employee's emotional wellbeing, like bullying.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2019 - Athenahealth - Watertown, MA

Sr. Associate Chloe Pasco and our summer intern, Estelle Penta, will join the Boston Product Management Association for an evening of learning the skills required to guide your team and stakeholders through a process that will enable them to invent value with quick team ideation, collaborationand prototyping through a Design Sprint.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2019 - Wequassett Inn - Harwich, MA

MIDIOR Partners Susan Loconto Penta and Michael Goldberger will join the rest of the coalition members at the All Member Spring Networking event.

Friday, May 24, 2019 - Fieldwork Boston - Boston, MA

Join MIDIOR's John Sutter for a workshop on ZMET®, a patented research method that centers around metaphors: the tendency for humans to interpret new experiences using pre-existing mental models. This research method uncovers respondents' deepest thoughts and feelings—both conscious and unconscious. These deep insights drive true consumer understanding to inform better strategic thinking for branding, positioning, and innovation. Featured speaker, Jessica Kukreti, the Managing Director of Experience and Innovation at Olson Zaltman will lead the group through a workshop to help us understand the method, how and why we create metaphors, and spoken and visual metaphors before we dive into doing our own practice interviews. 

Thursday, May 9th, 2019

Join Rob Sica, Director of Technology at New England Benefit Funds, and MIDIOR Partners Susan Loconto Penta and Michael Goldberger for a conversation detailing NECBF's experience deploying a mobile self-service app. Discussion points will include the major design decisions, the implementation process and the results since launch. Tune in for these highlights and more!

Thursday, May 9th, 2019 - Waltham Woods Conference Center - Waltham, MA

The Insights Association's New England Chapter invites you to take action, discuss how you have made an impact, and learn how other insights professionals have done the same. How can our combined IMPACTs help us grow individually and collectively as an industry? Join MIDIOR's John Sutter and Chloe Pasco and find out!

May 1-3, 2019  - The Westin Charlotte - Charlotte, NC

Susan Loconto Penta will be attending the organization's 22nd annual conference in Charlotte, NC. The conference encourages WPO members to share business strategies and experience with other successful women from all over the world, as well as learn from interactive seminars and speakers. 

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019 - Foisie Innovation Studio - Worcester, MA

One of the cornerstones of the innovation ecosystem at WPI is the Tech Advisors Network (TAN), essentially a virtual incubator that launched in 2012. The Tech Advisors Network has engaged with entrepreneurs on various new products, such as a smartphone application that prevents texting and driving, an online educational tool for middle school science, and a video monitoring system. Join MIDIOR's Susan Loconto Penta for TAN Demo Day as we celebrate entrepreneurial teams that have just completed a three month TAN Cohort program as well as teams that have been in the TAN Program for over a year. Come meet the teams, check out their demo tables, and cheer them on as they pitch their companies to the audience!

Tuesday, April 9th, 2019 - Boston Harbor Hotel -  Boston, MA 

In recent years, Massachusetts has taken critical steps to advance equity in the workplace for both women and men. But formal policies are not enough to ensure that all have equal opportunities in the workplace. Join MIDIOR partners Susan Loconto Penta and Michael Goldberger at this panel discussion where leaders from business and academia will discuss what it means to be an ally inside (and outside) the office. Inclusive and equitable cultures have been proven time and again to attract, retain, and advance professionals, making it good for business and people. 

Saturday, April 6th, 2019 - Foisie Innovation Studio at WPI - Worcester, MA

Co-hosted by the Women’s Impact Network and The Women of WPI, this event will honor the women who paved the way at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and celebrate those who look to impact its future. MIDIOR's Susan Loconto Penta '86 will take part in The Art of Advocacy, a panel discussion moderated by President Laurie Leshin focused on making your voice heard. 

Friday, April 5th, 2019 - Mandarin Oriental - Boston, MA

The Susan F. Smith Center at Dana-Farber is at the forefront in the early detection and prevention of breast and gynecological cancers. Host Committee member Susan Loconto Penta invites you to an insider's look at the groundbreaking research being conducted to help put an end to women's cancer. Join us for two hours that could change your life!

Friday, March 29th, 2019 - Renaissance Boston Waterfront - Boston, MA

Once again, MIDIOR will be sponsoring CWE's annual Auction & Gala in support of the organization's ongoing mission to help women and veterans realize their dream of owning and growing their own businesses. Join the MIDIOR team for a blockbuster auction, cocktails, spectacular food, dancing, great music and more!

Thursday, March 28th, 2019 - Fairmont Copley Plaza - Boston, MA

Join Susan Loconto Penta at the March Women’s Network Breakfast for an hour of inspiration with Sandi Fenwick of Boston Children's Hospital. In her nearly two decades of leadership at Children’s first as COO, then President, and now as CEO, Sandi has been a driving force behind the hospital’s leadership in innovation, not only in clinical care but also in digital and other technologies. In addition to her remarkable impact on Boston and the Commonwealth, Sandi has been a staunch advocate for women throughout her career. 

Thursday, March 21st, 2019 - 1:00pm

Whether your product portfolio is small or large, balancing multiple products at different points in their product lifecycle in order to create the optimal mix can be challenging. In this session, Susan Loconto Penta will moderate as two senior product leaders share their approach to product lifecycle management and discuss how they balance their diverse portfolios in order to meet their business objectives. Learn about how they regularly inject innovation into their product mix, what levers they have at their disposal to make adjustments, and how they wrestle with difficult portfolio questions such as product end of life.  

Wednesday, March 20th, 2019 - WeWork Seaport -Boston, MA 

WIRe champions diversity in the marketing research industry by arming women with the tools to develop professionally, build connections and stay inspired. Their mission is to advance the contributions and voice of women in research, both for themselves and for the greater good of the industry.

Monday, March 18th, 2019 - Northeastern University - Boston, MA

Interested in learning more about consulting? Join WISE (Women's Interdisciplinary Society of Entrepreneurship at Northeastern University) and listen to MIDIOR's Susan Loconto Penta, Alex Flessas and Caton Downey share their individual experiences, advice for women entering the consulting field and what to expect from a consulting career!