DILLON

Two new faces on the Rhode Island business scene, John Maeda and Kevin Dillon, will be among the featured speakers at the annual Business Expo, scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Maeda, the incoming president of the Rhode Island School of Design, is scheduled to present “The Future of Technology, Design and Simplicity,” at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Named by Esquire magazine as one of the 21 most important people of the 21st century, Maeda, associate director of the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a pioneer of virtual reality. He is expected to speak about ways to balance simplicity and complexity in business, technology and design.

Dillon, newly appointed president and chief executive officer of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, will deliver the keynote address at the annual economic outlook luncheon at noon on Wednesday. He is expected to discuss improvements at the T.F. Green Airport terminal, as well as the proposed runway expansion and construction of the intermodal facility.

Other speakers include David Meerman Scott, author of the marketing book, The New Rules of Marketing and PR; Jeffrey Meshel, author of One Phone Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker; and Ian and Shep Murray, founders of Vineyard Vines.

A number of other speakers, seminars and panel discussions are scheduled during the two-day event that this year is entitled, “Knowledge, Power, Opportunity.”

The expo’s structure this year has been redesigned to give exhibitors and attendees more access to speakers and tools to help their businesses in areas such as networking, marketing and customer-focused selling.

About 350 exhibitors, representing nearly every industry in Rhode Island, are scheduled to display their goods and services on the showroom floor. One destination booth this year will highlight area companies that are embracing “green technology.”

Last year, about 8,000 people attended the two-day expo, now in its 19th year, and organizers are expecting a similar number this year.

Business Expo 2008 is presented by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, with Bank of America the premier sponsor. Beacon Mutual Insurance Co., Cox Business Services and the Providence Journal Co. are the event’s presenting sponsors.

For more information, go to www.providencechamber.com