Want on stage at GEWKC? Organizers need your ideas for 2024 entrepreneur event series

Kansas City’s business and entrepreneur community is invited to submit sessions for this fall’s Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City, an interactive, community-driven educational experience organized by KCSourceLink.

Callie England, a veteran entrepreneur now working as director of GEWKC and marketing director at KCSourceLink, speaks during the “Girls Just Want to have FUNding” panel at GEWKC 2023; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“Kansas City is gearing up for an even better Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2024,” said Callie England, director of GEWKC and marketing director at KCSourceLink, which has organized GEWKC since 2008. “This dynamic event is a must-attend for local business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs and gives you all the insights you need to start and scale a business or side hustle.”

Thanks to the support of community sponsors, the conference is free to the public,” she added.

Click here to submit session ideas through Sunday, June 30.

Base camp events will be scheduled for Nov. 19-21 so attendees can find relevant content every hour throughout the day. Meeting space and workspace will be available.

Presenters who aren’t selected for base camp can lead an offsite community event in a wider time frame, Nov. 18-24.

The 2024 base camp location has not yet been announced.

“GEWKC has been key in helping entrepreneurs clear business hurdles, make important connections and learn a ton from local experts,” said Chanté Keller, GEWKC committee organizer and senior program and project coordinator for KCSourceLink. “Feedback from attendees last year told us that the sessions helped them conquer those major and minor pain points and make those key connections to move their operations forward.”

“We invite everyone to submit their session ideas for this educational conference that’s built for anyone involved in or curious about entrepreneurship,” Keller added.

Global Entrepreneurship Week is an international celebration that for the past 17 years has inspired millions worldwide to explore their potential as entrepreneurs and connect with their local entrepreneurship ecosystems. Initiated in Kansas City by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in 2008, the global event is now celebrated in more than 170 countries. Kansas City hosts one of the largest and most active GEW in the world.

All ideas are welcome: individual speakers and presenters, headliners, panels, workshops, happy hours, networking, site visits (open houses, coffee crawls), etc. Topics that focus on providing additional knowledge and skill-sharing with the community have the best chance to be selected.

Popular and well-attended topics at past GEWKC events include:

•     Happy hours and breakfasts
•     Marketing Mastermind Panel
•     AI and Marketing: Create 30 Days of Content with Chat GPT
•     How to Be an Employer of Choice in a Competitive Market
•     Girls Just Wanna Have Funding
•     Polish Your Pitch: An Interactive Guide on Clarifying Your Story Hook
•     The Best Business Advice I Ever Got
•     Marketing and sales for artists/makers/creatives
•     Solopreneurship 101
•     How to fund your business (e.g., with no money, bootstrapping, a small business loan, government contract, first-round of equity funding, first customers)
•     Advice on how to start a business with a lawyer and an accountant
•     How to scale your business
•     What entrepreneurs should know about trademarks, copyrights, intellectual property, equity funding, hiring vs. contracting, etc.
•     How to hire and support a diverse workforce

More information about how to submit a session is on the “Event Submission FAQ” page on the GEWKC website.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. June 30.

Submissions will be evaluated by the GEWKC planning committee, and accepted presenters will be notified in September.

GEWKC participant registration is expected to open in October.