Events Preview: IPP demo day, Techweek, LaunchKC

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? Add it to the KCSourceLink Calendar for increased exposure. Email info@kcsourcelink.com for assistance.

Second Annual Innovation Partnership Program Demo Day w/ Mayor Sly James
When: Sept. 11, 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Where: WeWork Corrigan Station
Come hear from five Kansas City startups who, through the City’s Innovation Partnership Program, are working with the City of Kansas City, MO to launch their ventures and make Kansas City a better place to live, work and play.

Techweek Kickoff party presented by EDCKC
When: Sept. 11, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Boulevard Beer Hall
Come enjoy complimentary food and beer in Boulevard Brewery’s Beer Hall, as well as meet other Techweek awesome attendees.

Building Inclusive Tech Communities
When: Sept. 12, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: Missouri Career Centers
The Full Employment Council is building relationships with employers, educational training providers, job seekers, and community stakeholders to expand employment opportunities in the IT Industry through the TechHire Initiative. Individuals from diverse backgrounds can train for careers in Information Technology, one of fastest growing industry sectors in our nation.

Summer in the Sand Series: Regional Funding for Early-Stage Companies
When: Sept. 13, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Sprint Accelerator
Break out your calendar! You do not want to miss this year’s Summer in the Sand series.
“Every year, Summer in the Sand offers opportunities for entrepreneurs to network with each other and learn from some of the best in the industry,” said Jeff Shackelford, director of the Digital Sandbox KC. “We tailor the content to the needs of the startups we are working with and what we see as the hot topics in the community.”
This year’s edition of Summer in the Sand features:

• June 14: How to Pitch to the Sandbox
• July 12: From Startup to Scale Up
• August 16: Getting a Tech Spec
• September 13: Regional Funding for Early-Stage Companies

All sessions run from 2:30-4:00 p.m. and are held in conjunction with “CoWorking Wednesdays” at the Sprint Accelerator, a partner of Digital Sandbox KC.

LaunchKC Competition
When: Sept. 15, 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: The Gallery at KC Power & Light
LaunchKC, a grants competition for tech startup firms, will feature another $500,000 grant pool that will be awarded in September at Techweek Kansas City on Friday, September 15th – join us at the Gallery at 8:30AM for our keynote speaker, Kathryn Minshew, CEO and Founder of the Muse, followed by the 20 finalists and their 5 minute pitches to see who will be the next LaunchKC Class of 2017 – 2018!
The finalists will be announced and awarded that evening at the Awards banquet.
Entrepreneurs will be seeking eight $50,000 grants and one $100,000 grand prize grant.

The Digital Health Business Series Part 1: Funding & Capital Considerations
When: Sept. 13, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: Stinson Leonard Street

Tech on Tap: What’s Your Policy?
When: Sept. 13, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: WeWork Corrigan Station
Let’s face it, legislative policy doesn’t always change at the speed of tech. So, how do you advocate for policy when your company doesn’t have a lobbyist, or a public affairs team? In this roundtable discussion, you’ll learn the basics on policy advocacy from enterprise experts and start developing your game plan. The more we get off the bench and into the discussion, the more change we can enact to benefit our entire industry.
Special Guests:
Meg Marshall Senior Director, Public Policy Cerner
Clinton Robinson AVP, Director of State & Local Government Affairs Black & Veatch
Stephanie Clayton Kansas State Representative, 19th District
Melissa Roberts, Moderator,  Non-Profit Entrepreneur, Advocacy Expert, Enterprise Center in Johnson County

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

Coworking Wednesdays
Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at Sprint Accelerator

Looking ahead

2017 KCALSI Annual Dinner
When: Sept. 19, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
The 2017 Annual Dinner will be held on September 19, 2017 at the Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland in Kansas City, MO. The annual Science to Art silent auction will again be featured during this dinner. All proceeds from this auction will benefit STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, art, math) in the KC region.
Our keynote speaker Nina Tandon, PhD, is the CEO and co-founder of EpiBone, the world’s first company growing living human bones for skeletal reconstruction. She is the co-author of Super Cells: Building with Biology, a book that explores the new frontier of biotech. She is a TED Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union. Her PhD research focused on studying electrical signaling in the context of tissue engineering, and has worked with cardiac, skin, bone, and neural tissue.

The Marketing Series Workshops: SEO with Brandon Kenig
When: Sept. 20, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Where: Sprint Accelerator
The Marketing Series takes an in-depth look at the science and analytics behind marketing campaigns–from the basics of growth hacking to ins-and-outs of content marketing.

September TechTalk: KCWiT X UXPA Joint Meetup
When: Sept. 20, 6:00  p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Where: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
For Networking
You’re not alone.
There just aren’t enough women in technology, and being the only one can get lonely. Break out of your silo and meet women who do what you do. Share stories, exchange advice, talk tech, and be yourself. You can come to network, to cowork, or just to chat.
For growth
Learn from the best.
TechTalks were created to be not only a networking event, but an opportunity for continuous learning for skills that must constantly evolve to keep up with the market. These talks will cover a wide variety of topics including:

• How to be effective in different technology roles
• Value assessment and determining appropriate compensation
• APIs
• Resumes and Interviews
• Careers: How to Have It All
• Technical sessions for javascript, .NET, java, and more

Personalized Learning and Tools to Get You There
When: Sept. 21, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Where: Think Big
Join us to talk about tailoring experiences for all students, designing your own learning solutions, and all the tools to get you there. We have a great crew of speakers lined up who are leading the charge on a national level: 4.0 Schools will be joining us from New Orleans, while edtech pioneers Discovery Education and  Pear Deck will be demo-ing their tech tools!
5:30-6:00: Sign-in, food/drink, networking
6:00-6:15: Introductions and announcements
6:15-7:00: Unconference
7:00-7:30: Closing comments, continued networking
You can join #KCedu and the Lean Lab every Third Thursday to network with genius educators, business partners, and other interested folks as you eat and drink, learn and collide!

KU Big Data Workshop
When: Sept. 22, 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: KU Edwards Campus
In response to the Kansas City workforce’s development needs, more Big Data programming from KU is coming to the metro area. In September and October 2017, KUPCE is offering the third three-part Big Data for Managers and Decision Makers workshop, designed for mid-level managers with little-to-no data science expertise.
You’ll learn the basics of Big Data in order to make key organizational decisions, assess whether you need a data management team—and, if you do, how get the most out of it—and much more.
Day One—Friday, September 22
Presenter: Raj Nair
Data-Driven Decisions

• Internal Value Chain: understanding the data you might already have.
• Data Primer + Vision: opportunities of a more complete cross-organizational data set.
• More “Open” Data: a tool to drive internal innovation.
• Breaking down silos and bringing together entities.

  Big Data Technological Landscape

• Understanding key technical concepts of Big Data and what makes it different.
• Big Data jargon and terminology.
• Current trends in commercialization of Big Data.
• Ecosystem Essentials: deciphering technologies and vendors, value of distributed computing paradigms, technology stacks, and selecting the right technology.
• Transactional versus analytical systems and their trade-offs.

BetaBlox Demo Day
When: Sept. 23, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Where: The GRID
Are you looking to keep your finger on the pulse of the entrepreneurial atmosphere of Kansas City? Are you looking to connect with other like-minded business people from around the community? Are you looking to watch educational panels about life as a startup in KC, keynote speeches, and live formal pitches to investors alongside hundreds of other local supporters? Look no farther…
The BetaBlox Demo Day is your opportunity to network with a sea of entrepreneurs, startups, investors, bankers, government officials, service providers, and other professional stakeholders from around Kansas City. Every year upwards of a thousand people RSVP to watch the event, and you should too.