Escalator Pitch Competition on November 21st!
LaunchMemphis is pleased to present the first ever Escalator Pitch Competition on Saturday, November 21st with a prize package valued at over $10K!
What: The LaunchMemphis Escalator Pitch Competition is a new twist on the elevator pitch idea. Each finalist will ride up an escalator with a judge to deliver a brief and relevant pitch about their company. Eight contestants have already been selected via a contest on You Tube. Three additional walk-on contestants will be selected before the finals begin and anyone representing a company with 25 or fewer employees is eligible to compete! The grand prize winner will be selected by the judges once all 11 finalists have competed.
Where: Holiday Inn, University of Memphis, 3700 Central Avenue. The University of Memphis Holiday Inn has won the Torchbearer Award for seven consecutive years for excellence in customer satisfaction among Holiday Inns.
When: Saturday, November 21, 2009, from 11:00 am. To 12:30 pm. All contestants (both walk-on and those selected via the You Tube contest) should arrive for registration at 10:30 am sharp!
Cost: $20 Entry Fee for walk-on contestants – cash only. Those selected from You Tube Contest have already paid their fees. No advanced registration required for walk-on competition. Simply arrive at 10:30 am the day of the event to register.
Prize Package: Contestants will compete to win a $10,000 marketing package including a $1,000 cash prize. The prize package includes:
- Marketing Research from the Marketing & Research Counsel
- Logo/ Identity/ Print Design from Second to Nunn Design
- Web Design and Internet Marketing from Valeo Design & Marketing
- Public Relations from Obsidian Public Relations
- Marketing and/or Sales Coaching from RedRover Sales & Marketing
- Photography from Merrick Photography
- Event Planning Consultation from Main Events
- Cash prize compliments of LaunchMemphis and EmergeMemphis
Event Sponsors: EmergeMemphis (www.emergememphis.org), Holiday Inn (University of Memphis) ( http://www.memphis.com/
Keynote Speaker: Dan Marks, Chief Marketing Officer, First Horizon National Corporation/First Tennessee Bank
Questions: Contact Lynda Hobbs at 901.266.2662.
Announcing the 2009 Investment Forum
Have a fledgling enterprise that needs an infusion of capital? Have an idea and just want feedback from experienced institutional and angel investors? Or, do you operate a company that is successful but needs capital to take the business to the next step?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then read on. The Second Annual LaunchMemphis Investment Forum has been set for June 19th, 2009. We’ve made a few changes for this year based on the feedback we received from everyone last year. We are excited about the event and look forward to seeing more great ideas this year.
Investors
If you are an institutional or angel investor, please contact us at forum@launchmemphis.com. We also welcome anyone that has experience running a company and that is willing to take the time to ask good questions, provide feedback, and participate in the event.
Entrepreneurs
If you are an entrepreneur, please review the following timeline:
- May 19th: Deadline for application
- May 31 - June 6: Notification of application decision
- June 15: Optional (but recommended) prep session
- June 19th: Investment Forum
The Investment Forum is an all-day event, and the schedule for the day is being finalized. The approximate schedule for the day is:
- Seed Forum: Morning (9am to 12pm)
- Lunch: Mid-Day (12pm to 1pm)
- Venture Forum: Afternoon (1pm to 3pm)
- Investor Panel: Late Afternoon (3pm to 4pm)
Applications can be submitted online. A major change this year is that we will be using AngelSoft.net to manage the application process. We believe that this will give entrepreneurs more control over the information that is communicated to investors, while making the required information more consistent and improving our ability to evaluate applicants. The application can be found at http://angelsoft.net/apply/launchmemphis
If you are unsure whether you should apply, please call or email us.
April 23rd . . . Count it down
Mark your calendars on April 23rd, 2009
for
Mastering the New Modes:
Insights and Innovations from the Blending Worlds of Technology, Marketing, and Culture
Featuring the World-Renowned Thought Leaders
Adrian Ho from Zeus Jones and C.C. Chapman from The Advanced Guard
LaunchMemphis and the Southern Growth Studio band together to bring an event like no other to Memphis. Two leaders from the world of innovation, interactive marketing, and user experience will give both a private workshop and a panel conversation that is open to the public.
Details
When: April 23rd
Where: Emerge Memphis, 516 Tennessee Street, Memphis, TN 38103
What: Both a Private Workshop and a Public Panel
Hashtag: #newmode
Private Workshop:
1:30pm to 4:00pm
Limited Seating, So Reserve Your Spot Now
http://modes.eventbrite.com
$150.00
Open Panel and Reception:
5:30pm to 7:30pm
Free and Open to the Public
Refreshment will be provided
About the Speakers
Adrian Ho, Founding Partner, Zeus Jones (Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area)
Adrian Ho is a founding partner at Zeus Jones. At Zeus Jones we believe actions speak louder than words, that modern brands are defined by what they do not what they say. We built our company around these beliefs. A company where strategy, creativity, design, digital expertise and user-experience flow directly into each other to solve business problems. Adrian was formerly director of strategic planning at Fallon in Minneapolis. Prior to that, Adrian worked at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and at Anderson & Lembke both in San Francisco. Adrian’s thinking has been recognized by the IPA and EFFIEs. He is a former AAAA account planning committee member and co-chair of the national planning awards program. Adrian is a regular speaker and writes about the evolution in brands and branding along with developments in technology at http://zeusjones.com/blog.
Web: http://www.zeusjones.com
Video: http://www.vimeo.com/384568
Blog: http://zeusjones.blogspot.com/
C.C. Chapman, Co-founder and Managing Partner, The Advanced Guard (Greater Boston Area)
C.C. Chapman is a new media maven and digital dad living in the Metro Boston area who loves public speaking and working with people to understand the future of media. He is the Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of The Advance Guard. Formed in October 2007, The Advance Guard is a new media consultancy that creates radical marketing programs using emerging technology and community platforms. With offices in New York and Boston, their clients include American Eagle Outfitters, Coca-Cola, HBO, Verizon FiOS, Warner Bros and St. Martin¹s Press.
Web: Advanced Guard: http://www.theadvanceguard.com/
Blog and Podcast: Managing the Gray Blog: http://www.managingthegray.com/
Whitepaper on New Facebook: http://www.theadvanceguard.com/about_face_white_paper/
TechFuel Thursday 5:30pm at the Tower Room
Mark your calendar for TechFuel this Thursday, February 19th from 5:30pm-7:30pm. We’ll be at the Tower Room in Clark Tower (33rd Floor — 5100 Poplar Ave).
TechFuel is focused on bringing technologists, entrepreneurs, media, bloggers, and other business professionals together to share ideas in a dynamic atmosphere. With the LaunchMemphis TechFuel we hope to see the Memphis tech community better connected and focused on commercialization.
The event is open to the public and no ticket is required to attend.
We’ll provide the hors d’oeuvres. Bring some cash for the drinks.
Come and enjoy the company and the views of our fine city.
BarCamp Memphis HUGE Success
First of all, a HUGE thanks to everyone who had anything to with making BarCamp Memphis the success it was. Attendees, presenters, volunteers, sponsors, and planners all came together to make BarCamp Memphis a truly great weekend.
The weekend began, staying true to our Memphis roots, at Ground Zero Blues Club in downtown Memphis. We met a lot of wonderful new faces, and found some pleasantly familiar ones there for some great mixing and meeting. The crowd was fun, the food was great, and it really set the mood for our Memphis-style tech conference.
Early the next morning, we were greeted at the Emerge Memphis building by a mountain of Red Bull and a slew of great presentations. Topics varied from Ruby on Rails programming, to RSS feeds. All of our speakers gave home-run presentations including LunaWeb’s Dave Barger demystifying LinkedIn and Mitch Canter teaching attendees to “Make WordPress Dance.” There were also some very passionate words exchanged during a great open conversation about Social Media privacy/etiquette.
Between all of that, and some great Memphis BBQ from Rendezvous, BarCamp Memphis was one of our best events yet with the Memphis community. Thanks again to absolutely everyone who made it possible!
Event Sponsors: Open Road Technologies, Small Business Chamber, MPACT Memphis, Red Bull, LunaWeb, and Rendezvous BBQ.
AgBio Conference
Memphis Bioworks is hosting an event on November 12 at Fogelman Executive Center from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. for those interested in learning more about companies involved in agricultural biotechnology, renewable raw materials, and reduction of environmental pressures. This event is titled: “AgBio Partnering and Opportunities Forum” and is being hosted as part of a two-day conference. This is an invitation only event, so if you are interested in attending the forum, contact Peter Nelson at (901) 448-1724 or pnelson@biobased.org. If you’re interested in this growing industry or are an investor looking for unique opportunities, then this may be the event for you. The forum will include presentation from five innovative companies and a Q&A session. This event is sponsored by BioDimensions, Infinite Enzymes, Innova, Memphis Bioworks Foundation and Verdant Partners LLC.
BarCamp Memphis 2008 — Be There, Share, Learn
LaunchMemphis and LunaWeb invite you to be a part of Barcamp Memphis, a user-generated conference where you share what they know and learn what they don’t about the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship and technology. BarCamp is the conference that puts you in control. Hear about the latest tech and business tools by joining the conversation on November 8th. Anyone with something to contribute or with the desire to learn is welcome and invited to join.
Schedule:
Pre-event gathering on November 7th at 6pm (Location TBD)
BarCamp event day November 8th 9am-5pm at EmergeMemphis
BarCamp Memphis Theme:
Business and Technology in FLUX
In a constantly shifting environment, what do you do? Entreprenuers and businesses are constantly trying to walk the line between chaos and control , between the cutting edge and solid ground. Things are in FLUX. Now enter the world of technology; tried and true constants shift quickly and the market gives businesses and entreprenuers a choice: change or fail. BarCamp Memphis is designed to explore the awesome questions that affect you. Maybe you will find solid ground amidst shifting paradigms!
Potential Example Topics:
Forget Rails; its GRails time!
Crowd Clout
The World Without a Browser
Digital Lifestyle Lubricants
LeftOut on LinkedIn - Mystery of the Universe #9
Register for BarCamp here: http://memphisbarcamp.eventbrite.com/
For more info visit: www.barcampmemphis.com
Sarah Lacy Brings UGBT to Memphis
Last night’s TechFuel event with Sarah Lacy was one to remember! The latest stop on Sarah’s User Generated Book Tour, which brought her back to her hometown, started at 5:00 at the EmergeMemphis building downtown and didn’t end until the last of the crowd dispersed at 10:00.
After some initial meet-and-greet time, the evening started off with some quality time with the internet celebrity. Sarah spent about 20 minutes talking about her experience in Silicon Valley, sharing moments from her book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0, and answering questions from an eager assembly. After that… the party started.
The group dispersed to the next room over to mingle over drinks and food, while Sarah signed books and gave advice to some very eager Memphis Entrepreneurs. For 3 straight hours, with the support a single Heineken, Sarah spoke to every single person who approached her at the event. Some of these conversations were simply humorous anecdotes of Silicon Valley personalities, while others were filled with unflinchingly delivered, hard, straight-shooting advice to entrepreneurs who willingly took the kind-hearted criticism she delivered.
The next LaunchMemphis event will be with PR guru Geoff Livingston at the Quetzal coffee shop on Monday the 22nd from 7-9 p.m. Geoff is the author of Now is Gone and high-profile blog writer. Join the Facebook event for more details!
LaunchMemphis Preps for Sarah Lacy
Sarah Lacy, is bringing her User Generated Book Tour (UGBT) to Memphis just a month from now! The Tech Fuel event is being hosted by Launch Memphis. Sarah has gained notoriety with dizzying velocity over her career, most recently, as a columnist for Business Week, host of Yahoo TechTicker, and a closely followed blogger.
She has become one of the most polarizing figures in the world of Web 2.0 with many people expressing a “love her or hate her” attitude. Sarah’s biggest fans often appreciate her deeply personal inside knowledge of many of today’s seemingly inaccessible business giants. However, detractors are quick to cite what is, perhaps, one of the most infamous public interviews of the last several years, between Lacy and Facebook mastermind, Mark Zuckerberg at last year’s SXSW conference, which sparked a great deal of online debate and criticism.
Her latest tour is to promote her new book Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0. At tour stops so far, Lacy has been discussing the ideas in her book, doing Q&A sessions with bloggers and columnists, and keeping news from the whole event posted on her blog.
Her stop on the Memphis leg of her tour will be at Emerge Memphis on Sept. 18 at 5:00 pm. Don’t forget to RSVP via the Facebook Event or via email TechFuel@LaunchMemphis.com. Be there, log on, and get ready to blog!
Developing the Launch Ramp to the Future
As we have talked with entrepreneurs and investors over the past couple of months, one theme comes up quite often. It’s often subtle, but the essence is “This isn’t Silicon Valley. What do you hope to achieve?” The answers, respectively, are “nope–it’s not” and “a lot.”
What we are striving to achieve through the networking events, speaker series, Startup Weekend, and (most directly) the investment forums is a ramp. A ramp that will allow a person with an idea and talent to launch a business. For this ramp to work, we have to make sure that those with capital can connect to those with the ideas. This includes the whole range of investment, from small loans and financing to Angel investors to institutional investors. This ramp needs to allow institutional investors be on the front row as companies develop from ideas to outstanding investment opportunities. The ramp needs to include resources for young companies, such as those provided by EmergeMemphis and BioWorks. When this ramp is in place, talent will remain in Memphis, and the investment rewards will also reside in Memphis, providing a powerful multi-faceted attack on some of the issues we have in the city.
Optimistic? Sure. A big goal? Yep. Going to happen tomorrow? Nope. But, we believe it can. It requires the work of multiple organizations–we applaud the activities of BioWorks and Memphis Fast Forward, and we know that what we are doing is only a part of the overall puzzle. It’s going to take work. And it’s going to be worth it.
Hopefully you are wondering what you can do to be a part of making this happen, so here are some thoughts:
Entrepreneurs (a.k.a., anyone with an idea they believe in): Participate in the various LaunchMemphis events and talk to us about participating in the Investment Forum. Get to know others involved in LaunchMemphis and maybe find a partner or an investor who can help you turn your dream into reality.
Angel Investors (a.k.a., those with money to invest): Let us know you are interested in attending the Investment Forum and/or the types of companies you would be interested in investing in. We’ve heard some very interesting ideas and concepts recently, and we want you to have a chance to hear them and help make them a reality.
Businesses (a.k.a., those with resources and an interest in the health of Memphis): Help us by sponsoring some events. Help spread the word to employees and contacts to participate. We had a lot of very talented people come together at Tech Fuel.
Institutional Investors (a.k.a., smart people with resources to help companies): Participate in the Investment Forum. Talk to us about what you think we could do to make sure you can find great ideas in your own back yard now or in the future. Let us know of interesting concepts, trends, and companies in the area that we may not have heard of.
Finally, a big thank-you to all those who attended the networking event last week. It was great to see that there are so many people who want to see great things happen and who are willing to be part of the effort to make it happen.
