Events Preview: Tech CEO Speaker Series, Livestreaming strategy

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.

The University of KanTech CEO Speaker Series with Jon Cook
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.

Reading and Understanding Financial Statement: It’s all about the Benjamins!
When: May 31, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
Designed for business owners, managers, accountants, bankers and consultants who need to know how to turn financial statements into useful management tools. During this course, you will learn to identify key business information that is captured on the income statement and balance sheet. You will learn to calculate several ratios and understand what those ratios mean in terms of business productivity and success. You will leave this session with a greater understanding of how to read and interpret financial documents and how to use that information to drive business decisions.
Discount for both classes – $349

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 online.

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

This is not a weekly create a Website thing .. this is a get on Google thing.

Microsoft Startup Office Hours
When: June 1, 11:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Where: ThinkBig Coworking
Come speak with KC’s local Microsoft startup rep! Bring your question on Azure cloud, the BizSpark program( $360k of free Azure Credit), or any other Microsoft services. Want to know more about what Microsoft is doing for startups? Stop by during office hours(look for the huge Microsoft bag) or reach out at jsvan@microsoft.com to set up time to talk.

The Importance of Bonding and Rapport with Tom Mulligan, Coffman Group
When: June 1, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: Enterprise Center in Johnson County
The Sales Series teaches entrepreneurs the basics of building scalable sales systems, attracting and compensating top-performing sales staff and customer retention.

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 shine, 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.

Exploring Publishing in the Digital Age
When: June 2, 11:30 a.m. –1:00 p.m.
Where: The Granfalloon
If you have read comics like Peanuts, Marmaduke or Doonesbury or feature columns like Miss Manners, you are enjoying content provided by Andrews McMeel Universal. For more than 40 years, Andrews McMeel Universal has provided content across a wide range of communications mediums: newspapers, comic strips, books, calendars, puzzles and more. The company is home to some of the most vibrant and creative storytellers of our age.
The Freelance Exchange of KC’s June luncheon guest speaker, Susan Johnson, chief marketing officer at Andrews McMeel Universal, will discuss the current climate in publishing, syndication and entertainment, and what creatives who want to break into the industry can expect.
Join The Freelance Exchange of KC on Friday, June 2nd. Don’t miss this enlightening program. Register today.
Cost: $20 Members & Associate Members, $35 Nonmembers
Cost includes presentation, meal, beverage, tax and tip.
RSVP by 10 p.m., Wednesday, May 31, 2017.

Fifteen Sales Tools with Dan Schoeff, LULD Leadership
When: Jun 4, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: Enterprise Center in Johnson County
The Sales Series teaches entrepreneurs the basics of building scalable sales systems, attracting and compensating top-performing sales staff and customer retention.

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

Winning Federal Research Grants: SBIR/STTR Workshop
When: Jun 7, 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
Have a technology business but don’t know where to find funding or the best way to acquire it? Then this workshop is for you!
This introductory seminar explains how to win SBIR (Small Business Initiative Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer Research) grants from federal programs that provide Research and Development (R&D) funds for small businesses. You will learn how to find grants, how to apply, and the best strategies to gain funding for your growing technology business. Lunch is included.

Cash Flow Management: 99 Problems but Cash ain’t one!
When: Jun 7, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
In this three-hour session, we’ll show you how to turn financial statements into useful management tools. We’ll take a close look at where cash comes from in a small business, where it’s used in day-to-day operations and how to identify and correct cash flow problems. At the end of the session, you’ll be able to identify key information on cash flow statements and be able to follow the path of cash as it travels through your company. Discount available for taking both classes.

KC Roundtable Breakfast
When: Jun 8, 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!

Second Fridays
When: Jun 9, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Village Square Coworking Studio
Come to Second Fridays at Village Square Coworking Studio!
Second Fridays is a casual, fun gathering for the startup community to connect on a monthly basis with no agenda except good times.
We’ll provide games & cards (bags if it’s nice). This event is BYOB with a twist – bring a 6-pack of your favorite beer to share and we’re going to have a “beer potluck” cooler. We’ll ice down everyone’s beer and have quite the selection to choose from!get to know someone over a brew!
We’d also encourage you to bring an instrument if you play. What better way to end your week than with a jam session?!
Feel free to stop by anytime after 4:30pm. We’ll hang out until everyone leaves (unless it gets ridiculous).
No RSVP necessary, just come on by!

Startup Weekend Kansas City
When: Jun 9 – 11
Where: Plexpod Westport Commons
Startup Weekend is a 54 hour event that brings together Kansas City designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and experts from all domains to do amazing things.
All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and embark on a three-day frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback!
If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur and contribute to a more sustainable world, be part of Startup Weekend Kansas City.

Women Empowering Women Summit
When: June 10, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: North Kansas City YMCA
Join us for the first Women Empowering Women Summit featuring former congressional candidate Miranda Allen and Brenda Myers. Women Empowering Summit founder Kathy Benson will speak on financial planning for women. Beginning at 1 p.m., women business-owners will showcase their businesses.