Joe Pine, an internationally acclaimed author, speaker and management advisor to Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurial start-ups alike, will be the keynote speaker at the CEO Strategies Breakfast.
The breakfast will kick off the fourth annual Small Business Times BizTech Expo on Wednesday, April 30, at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
Pine is the co-founder of Strategic Horizons LLP, a thinking studio dedicated to helping businesses conceive and design new ways of adding value to their economic offerings. 
Pine and his business partner, James Gilmore recently wrote "Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want" (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), which recognizes that in a world of increasingly paid-for experiences, people no longer accept the fake from the phony, but want the real from the genuine.
The book provides a way of thinking about authenticity in business, plus a set of tools and techniques for rendering authenticity in any company.
Examples of corporate authenticity in the book include: Cheerios, the iPod, the Geek Squad, Coca-Cola, Chrysler minivans, the Toyota Prius, the Hard Rock Café, Gibson guitars, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, Anthropologie, Whole Foods, ServiceMaster, Kellogg Co. and Levi Strauss & Co.
Their corporate brands transcend their products.
The book also cited Harley-Davidson Inc.'s salute to its authenticity with its anniversary parties in Milwaukee.
In a pop culture in which "reality TV" has become the norm, distinguishing between "real" authenticity and phony claims to authenticity becomes a significant challenge for consumers and corporations alike, Pine says.
Pine cites five assessments a company must make to determine its true identity:

• Essence of enterprise: Who you are at your core.
• Nature of offerings: What you offer others.
• Effects of heritage: Where and when you came to be who you are today.
• Sense of purpose: Why you are in business.
• Body of values: How your identity is manifested.

"Authenticity" debuted among the top 25 best-selling business books in the country in January, according to 800-CEO-Read.
"Authenticity" follows Pine's previous book, the best-selling "The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage" (Harvard Business School Press, 1999), which demonstrated how goods and services are no longer enough; what companies must offer today are experiences - memorable events that engage each customer in an inherently personal way.
Pine also has written numerous articles for the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive, Worldlink, CIO, Strategy & Leadership and the IBM Systems Journal.
Prior to beginning his writing and speaking activities, Pine held a number of technical and managerial positions with IBM. One of his many assignments was key to the effective launch of the Application System/400 computer system, for which he managed a team that brought customers and business partners directly into the development process of the system.
Pine is frequently quoted as an expert by Forbes, The New York Times, Wired, Business 2.0, USA TODAY, Investor's Business Daily, ABC News, Good Morning America, Fortune, Business Week, and Industry Week.
Small Business Times invites its readers to attend the BizTech Expo, which will take place April 30-May 1 at Wisconsin State Fair Park. For additional information about the Expo, visit www.biztimes.com/expo.

With the Wisconsin primary hanging in the balance next Tuesday, the presidential campaign is descending upon the state this week.
Chelsea Clinton broke the ice by campaigning for her mother, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Monday and today.
Tonight, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama will attend a public rally at the Kohl Center in Madison, with additional stops on Wednesday in Janesville, Waukesha and Racine. Obama's wife, Michelle, was scheduled to campaign today in Milwaukee, Sheboygan and DePere.
Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are expected to attend the Wisconsin Democratic Party's Founder's Day Dinner in Milwaukee at the Midwest Airlines Center Saturday night.
Meanwhile, Republican former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee isn't giving up his fight for the GOP nomination and will hold a rally Wednesday night at the Country Springs Hotel in Waukesha, followed by stops Thursday in Madison, Eau Claire, Wausau and Green Bay, and additional Wisconsin rallies scheduled for Friday.
Republican Sen. John McCain plans to visit Milwaukee Friday night with a stop at the Reagan Day Dinner at Serb Hall on the city's south side.
For complete coverage of the primary, visit WisPolitics.com, a media partner of SBT.

Georgia-Pacific announced today it is investing $50 million to create a state-of-the-art recycling system that will retain more than 160 family-supporting jobs in Green Bay and greatly improve the company's energy efficiency.
"Georgia-Pacific has been a national leader in recycling for more than 70 years, starting in the 1930s when its Broadway facility in Green Bay began collecting wastepaper and using recycled fibers to make tissue products,” said Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, who attended today's announcement. “This $50 million investment is an investment in the continued growth and expansion of the paper industry, and the economic stability of this region and all of Wisconsin.”
The technology in Georgia-Pacific’s new recycling system will reduce water use by up to 1 million gallons per day and greatly improve the Broadway mill’s energy efficiency system. The expansion also will create more than 100 full-time jobs through local contractors.
Georgia-Pacific has invested more than $100 million in modernizing and updating its equipment over the past four years in Green Bay, where it has more than 2,700 employees.

Spire Capital Advisors LLC, a new investment banking and mergers and acquisitions brokerage service that will have offices in Milwaukee, Madison and Wausau, opened its doors this week. Read more in the new edition of the BizTimes Money bulletin presented by Small Business Times.

The National Federation of Independent Business, the state's leading small business organization, has released the results of a 2008 member ballot that indicates Wisconsin small businesses support legislation that requires greater price disclosure for medical procedures.
The survey also showed small-business owners strongly back state tax law changes to allow tax-free contributions to health savings accounts.
In testimony before the Assembly Committee on Health and Health Care Reform, Bill Smith, NFIB/Wisconsin state director said, "Small-business owners and their employees are looking for the tools they need to get a handle on rising health care costs. Disclosing the actual cost of medical procedures and changing the Wisconsin tax code to give employees an incentive to save healthcare dollars are two important steps to changing our healthcare system."
Support for transparency laws was overwhelming, with 85 percent of small employers in favor of requiring health care providers to disclose to patients the actual cost of medical procedures.
"Small-business owners understand that an important part of consumer-driven health care is the disclosure of prices charged by medical providers," Smith said. "Unlike virtually every other industry in America, health care is the only service provided without the consumer having any idea how much it costs. Small-business owners understand that has to change.”
Small employers are also demanding a change in the Wisconsin tax code so that deposits into health savings accounts receive the same tax treatment at the state level as they receive under federal tax law.
"Arming patients with the information they need and giving them equal treatment under the tax code will turn them into more informed, cost-conscious consumers," Smith said. "Both will give consumers more options when making important healthcare decisions."
The NFIB has more than 11,000 members in Wisconsin.

Downwind Technology LLC, a Weston, Wis.-based manufacturer and distributor of proprietary after-market aviation products including Shark Series Floats, Toucan Exhaust Systems and Penguin Skis, has been acquired by Hamilton Smith Capital Inc., a private investment company in Green Bay.
Downwind Technology was formerly a division of Slipstream International, a manufacturer of experimental and light-sport aircraft, but was spun-off from the parent company in 2004 to focus on marketing its Shark Series line of straight and amphibious composite floats to other original equipment manufacturers.
Current Downwind Technology president Mike Puhl will remain with the company as a technical advisor and board member.
"We believe that Downwind Technology's growing product mix and leading edge product design has positioned the company ahead of the market curve. As a result, we see the business poised for dramatic growth as it expands to meet the needs of the rapidly developing light sport aircraft industry," said Hamilton Smith Capital president David Cook.
However, Downwind Technology's facilities will be moved to Green Bay.

Development pressure is increasing in the Madison suburb of Verona. Read more in SBT's daily roundup of headlines from newspapers across the state at www.biztimes.com.

The Greater Milwaukee Committee is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The local business community often led the progress of the 20th century. Is Milwaukee ready to face the challenges of the 21st century? Read more in Small Business Times executive editor Steve Jagler's weekly special blog at OnMilwaukee.com, a media partner of SBT.

The BizTimes Stock Index recovered 1.88 points Monday to close at 150.52, and local stocks soared with the broader market in early morning trading today, as investors ignored the news that General Motors Corp. had incurred a fourth-quarter loss of $722 million, or $1.28 per share. The largest local advancers this morning were Bucyrus International Inc. (up $4.27 to $100.00) and Joy Global Inc. (up $2.09 to $67.46). The largest local decliners this morning were Johnson Outdoors Inc. (down 13 cents to $21.23) and Orion Energy Systems Inc. (down 10 cents to $8.90). GM also announced it has reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers on an attrition program that will be offered to 74,000 workers. The workers at the GM plant in Janesville learned of the buyout offer this morning, and a significant number of the 2,500 employees there are expected to accept the offer, according to the Janesville Gazette. The BizTimes Stock Index was created by Small Business Times and is monitored by North Shore Bank. The index, which measures the stock values of publicly held companies based in southeastern Wisconsin, is updated daily and can be viewed at www.biztimes.com.