Conference to bring Carly Fiorina to Irvine

Carly Fiorina will be making waves at Donald Trump’s alma mater.

Fiorina, a Republican presidential nominee and former Hewlett-Packard CEO, will speak at the Keystone Conference on Business and Policy, to be held in Irvine Auditorium on Nov. 19 and 20. The conference is hosted by Keystone Business Magazine, and tickets will be sold for $99.

The conference will feature panels that explore issues relevant to Pennsylvania’s economy, especially those that combine business and policy to drive growth. Afterwards, guests will attend breakout sessions led by panelists of business and government backgrounds in Houston Hall throughout the day.

“[The conference] is geared towards executives, but I believe students that are in your MBA program and some of your business programs should be a part of these conversations,” Keystone Business Magazine representative James McDonald said.

McDonald expects 1,200 to 1,600 people to attend, most of them being policy makers, business executives and academics, but he encourages undergraduate students to attend as well.

“They’re more than welcome. One of the reasons we’re having it at the University of Pennsylvania is because there’s just so many intellectual people,” McDonald said. “They should be part of this conversation to drive economic growth in Pennsylvania.”

Keystone Business Magazine has been planning this conference since last fall and chose Fiorina as a the keynote speaker because of her background in business and policymaking.

“Obviously [Fiorina]’s very popular right now,” McDonald said. “But there is a host of people who will be at this conference who are very smart and very influential that I think will add a lot of value.”

Videos from all of the panels will be posted online on the event website, and will be accessible to the public. In McDonald’s view , those who buy tickets are paying for the opportunity to network, ask questions and be involved in the conversation.

After this inaugural event, McDonald said the publication hopes to continually host it after this year. The magazine expects to begin brainstorming for the next conference in around six months, in an effort to choose the most relevant and timely topics.

Though not made known on the conference website, students may receive a 25 percent discount for the ticket price by sending an email to McDonald. He expects that the price could possibly decrease in future years.

“We’re excited for a great event, and we think that bringing all the right people in the room together to talk about these things might actually turn into action,” McDonald said.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.