Events Preview: Innovation Exchange, Verge KC

There are a plethora of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter, or curious community member — we recommend these upcoming events for you.

Are you hosting a relevant community event? Feel free to add it to the FWD/KC calendar for increased exposure. Once your event is submitted, it will quickly get reviewed and then published to the calendar.

Verge Pitch Night at Black & Veatch
When: May 23, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Where: Black & Veatch World Headquarters
What I love about Kansas City is the grit of the entrepreneurs and the energy that you feel emanating from the community. And we’re bringing some of the grittiest, high performers to the Verge KC stage.
Come and check out Black & Veatch’s Rodman Innovation Pavilion May 23rd at 5:30 for Verge Pitch Night.
If you’ve never experienced a Verge pitch, now’s your opportunity to catch 3 of the most exciting companies in the Midwest. Each startup will have just 5 minutes on stage to pitch their startup—no exceptions.
We’ve got a killer group of presenting entrepreneurs for you this month. Check these high-growth tech companies:
Backstitch: a complete platform for better employee communications and engagement.
Farmobile: a product used to collect, store, touch, share and sell valuable agronomic and machine data to vetted third parties
Athlete Network: a platform where current and former athletes could come together, connect with each other, advance their career and engage in exclusive content.
Shark #1 Maria Meyers | Executive Director, UMKC Innovation Center & Founder, SourceLink
Shark #2 Matt Watson | Founder of Stackify & Angel Investor
Shark #3 Hyleme George | Business Excellence & Innovation at Black & Veatch

Innovation Exchange: Mental Health and Entrepreneurs
When: May 24, 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Where: Think Big
From ADHD and depression to anxiety and addiction, mental illness affects people in all walks of life. These challenges, however, can disproportionately affect entrepreneurs.
In fact, a study at the University of California San Francisco found that 49 percent of those who start a company have struggled with mental illness in the past. The same study found about 30 percent of entrepreneurs experience depression.
Frequently taking on more demands and shirking personal care, entrepreneurs’ work-life balance often skews toward work. Deadlines, finding clients, making payroll and dozens of other stressors can put entrepreneurs at risk of mental illness.
Consider May’s Innovation Exchange as an opportunity to find equilibrium and rediscover your center.
To normalize and cope with mental illnesses, this month’s event will welcome a variety of professionals to discuss mental health challenges and explore tips on work-life balance. We’ll host mental health professionals and entrepreneurs alike to discuss obstacles, deliver personal stories and share advice.
Hosted by Think Big Partners and Startland News, the Innovation Exchange, scheduled for 4:30 – 6:30 p.m., May 24 at Think Big.
– Julie Edge, Entrepreneur and life coach
– Arnobio Morelix, entrepreneurs researcher & SXSW presenter on ADHD and depression among entrepreneurs
– Dan Schmidt, founder of EBCFO
– Kay Grossman, Founder of Focus Dammit and an attention coach
– Rachel Keck, co-founder of Your Excellerant

What you should know as a group health plan fiduciary
When: May 24, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
This seminar is co-sponsored with the US Department of Labor and will provide you with an understanding of the law and your responsibilities, especially COBRA and HIPPA as well as other current and timely laws.
You’ll learn how to understand the terms of your plans, make timely contributions to fund benefits and much more!

Social Media Secrets and Strategies for Business
When: May 24, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
This 3-hour fast-paced training course will show you how to implement the most important aspects of social media and should leave you feeling more intuitively in control of your company’s strategy.
Topics Covered:
What to post and how much to post on the top three social networks for business: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter
How to create a weekly Social Media process that saves you time and brings in referral business
How choosing the “right” social network for your company prevents a lot of disappointment and frustration
How to make sure clients, prospects, supporters, and media interact with your posts
What to do about ugly comments and trolls
How to use social media to get the most out of trade shows and events
How to stay in front of customers on Facebook without paying so much for ads
How much time it really takes for businesses to be successful with social media
What really matters when it comes to ROI and social media analytics

KC Roundtable Breakfast
When: May 25, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: Eggtc
KC Roundtable is in existence to provide 20 and 30-something Kansas City entrepreneurs with a group of peers to support and collaborate on each others’ businesses. Our mission is to: – Focus on relationship building; not lead generating – Facilitate collaboration, openness, transparency, learning and teaching – Establish an entrepreneurial network – Fill the void of not having the water cooler.
We meet for breakfast and various locations around the city. In addition to our morning meetings, KC Roundtable provides additional opportunities to network with young entrepreneurs such as events like small group Mastermind sessions & After Hour events.
Prospective members are self-motivated, curious, open to learning and currently starting a new business. Thanks for checking us out. We look forward to meeting you soon!

Ongoing events

Don’t miss out on the events that happen every week at the same time, in the same place.

Code for KC Hack Night
Mondays from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Sprint Accelerator

Hammerspace Open House
Thursdays from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Hammerspace

1 Million Cups
Wednesdays from 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. at Kauffman Foundation, Lawrence and KC Live Stream

Looking ahead

The University of KanTech CEO Speaker Series with Jon Cooks
When: May 30,  7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: KU Edwards Campus
The University of Kansas as Edwards Campus, in partnership with the KC Tech Council welcomes you to the February edition of the Tech CEO Speaker Series. This six event series is part of the University’s professional development program and will highlight the leadership of those individuals who are currently, or have previously been at the helm of technology companies.
We are very excited to be holding the next edition of the Tech CEO Speaker Event with Jon Cook, CEO of VML.
A driving force at VML for 20 years, Jon has served as global CEO since 2011. During Jon’s tenure at VML, the agency has grown from 30 employees in Kansas City, Missouri, to more than 2,500 on six continents. He embodies the agency’s primary objective — to be the leading strategic partner for the world’s most forward-thinking brands. Jon helped guide VML to Advertising Age’s 2016 A-List honors, which recognizes the industry’s top 10 agencies. VML serves some of the world’s most recognized and respected brands, including Bridgestone, Colgate-Palmolive, Ford, Kellogg, PepsiCo, Wendy’s and many more. Jon was recognized as the Advertising Professional of the Year by the American Advertising Federation (AAF-KC) and serves on the National Advisory Board of the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. Jon is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in journalism.

Getting Your Business Online
When: Jun 1, 9:30 a.m. –11:30 a.m.
Where:Kauffman Foundation Conference
Registration is at 9:15 am with the Workshop starting promptly 9:30 am ending at 11:30 am
Make sure your business can be found on line.

• The importance of Search Engines
• How to claim their Google Profile
• How advertising on Google works a basic SEO information

Winning Government Contracts: The First Steps
When: Jun 1, 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
This introductory 3-hour seminar is an overview of the critical first steps associated with winning government contracts. The Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Center (MO PTAC) hosts a monthly seminar on how to get started in the government contracting arena including federal, state and local government registrations and certifications. The seminar will also cover MO PTAC services available to assist Missouri businesses in all aspects of government contracting. The Missouri PTAC seminar is available to Missouri based businesses once a month.

Strategy Behind Livestreaming with DEG
When: Jun 2, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: Grand Street
Live is the buzzword on every social media marketers tongue right now – but how do you capitalize on the trend, meet your audience in the moment, and get executive buy-in to broadcast live?
With social channels like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and more launching features that make it easier than ever to connect to fans live, time is of the essence to capitalize on a feature still underutilized by most marketers.
Whether your CEO is nervous to make a mistake on-air or you feel like you don’t have the right equipment to make your go-live moment hine, this session will guide you through how to make livestreaming a reality.
The art of storytelling in live moments is powerful, but different. Drawing from client experience, Jen Forrest, Director of Social Media at DEG, will discuss how to plan for livestreaming from concept to creation.