iKC Opportunity: Debut Your Innovation, Spotlight Your Company

iKC isn't just a conference on innovation and entrepreneurship.  It's an opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators, small businesses and creative people everywhere to network with 500+ other like-minded individuals about their ideas, dreams and startups.  It's a chance to get a business in front of other people in the community.  It's the opportunity to debut and innovation or spotlight a company.


This year, iKC is offering two types of exhibitor booths for those interested in showing off a company, event or idea. 


Innovation Gallery:  This room will display the biggest upcoming companies and people with an idea, product, service, event or business.  Innovation Gallery exhibitors must be no more than 2 years old, have a groundbreaking or disruptive idea in the industry and have a creative, visually appealing display.  iKC attendees will get a first-hand look at some of the coolest innovations in the KC community at the Innovation Gallery. 


iKC Exhibit: The iKC Exhibit will be placed directly outside of the conference breakout rooms for maximum exposure.  Companies that want to display new ideas, successful products, important services or cool events are welcome to purchase an exhibitor booth.  The iKC Exhibit will feature companies who have been in business for more than 2 years and have an established brand identity. 


To learn more about exhibiting in either the Innovation Gallery or the iKC Exhibit, please contact Think Big Partners at info@thinkbigpartners.com or call 816-842.5244 for more information and to receive an Exhibitor Booth packet.


iKC will take place on June 20, 2012 at the H&R Block World Headquarters in downtown Kansas City.  Learn more at www.sparkinginnovation.org.  Hope to see you then!


Follow iKC!  @iKC_2012

Top 10 Reasons to Attend Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend Kansas City is almost here.  And we’re here to tell you that it’s well worth looking into.  Check out our Top 10 Reasons to Attend Startup Weekend, then buy your ticket, head over to bizperc on April 15^th, and watch your startup dream become a reality!

1.  You’re going to meet some awesome people.

Entrepreneurs.  Developers.  Designers.  Marketers.  Product managers.  Startup enthusiasts.  Tech guys.  They’re all at Startup Weekend and they’re all anxious to meet you!  Startup Weekend not only provides you with the opportunity to make your startup dream come true, but it also gives you the networking opportunity that you need in order to grow your rolodex of experts and learn what others have to offer. 

2.      It’s super quick.

Startup Weekend takes an idea and launches it in 54 hours.  That means no business plans that take months to develop, no lack of resources that take days to discover, and no time-consuming and ineffective business meetings.  Everything you need will be right at your fingertips, making Startup Weekend one of the only ways to bring your idea to life in one weekend. 

3.      You’re going to learn...a lot.

Startup Weekend is more than just a chance to launch a business—it’s a chance to expand your mind!  Startup Weekends are all about learning through the act of creating.  This event allows you to step outside of your comfort zone and work on a new platform, learn a new program, or just try something different.

4.      Food!!

That’s right, you get food at Startup Weekend!  Startup Weekend Kansas City costs $60 to get involved, but you get a lot of stuff with your ticket including meals, snacks, access to exclusive resources, global sponsors, and all of the coffee you can drink.

5.      You get some major face time.

Local tech and startup leaders participate in Startup Weekends as mentors and judges.  Get some one-on-one time with the movers and shakers in Kansas City at this event!

6.      You get to go co-founder dating.

Startup Weekend is about more than just an idea—it’s about the team behind it.  Startup Weekend is hands down the best way to find someone that you can actually launch a startup with.

7.      You’re joining a global force.

Startup Weekend is a global community with over 30,000 alumni, all on a mission to change the world. 

8.      It inspires, it motivates.

For entrepreneurs who just can’t seem to pull their idea together.  For corporate businesspeople who are stuck in the rut of the 9-5.  For creative minds who can’t find an avenue.  For serial entrepreneurs looking for their next breakthrough.  Startup Weekend could be the answer to anybody’s need for a little inspiration and a little motivation. 

9.      You get to experience it in an amazing facility!

Startup Weekend Kansas City is taking place at bizperc – a highly innovative, modern workspace for creative minds, entrepreneurs and visionaries.  Enjoy a fast-paced weekend and look out at the Kansas City skyline at the same time…what could be better? 

10.   What else are you going to do…seriously?

Sit on the Lazy Boy and eat potato chips?  We don’t think so.  Take advantage of your April 15-17^th weekend and sign up for Startup Weekend Kansas City!

Register for Startup Weekend today.  Stop sitting and start doing!!   You never know what can happen when you Think Big at SUW.

Written by Allison Way.

@AllisonThinkBig

Ditching the Beer and Chugging the Tequila

Why the Impatient Startup is the First to Pass Out

What better way to bring in the weekend than with a guest blog from a young entrepreneur?  And what better topic to provide you with than partying?  Afterall, it's almost the weekend and almost time for you to relax and have a little fun.  Check out this blog by Adam Griffin, founder of BumblePost, written especially for our TBKC blog. 

You’re at a party. You’re enjoying yourself, sipping on a 6 pack, and having great conversation. Life is good. The night is progressing as it should. You go with the flow, just engaging in the friends and moments given to you. 

Then something happens. The front door swings open and slams into the door stopper. The music halts to a stop. Everybody at the party turns to look. Who barges in?  None other than that guy. You know the guy I’m talking about. The dude with a half empty bottle of tequila in hand, a profuse amount of sweat covering his t-shirt, and what seems like a megaphone announcing anything he says. He’s the guy that was destined to be belligerent from the first drink. Nothing was going to stand in the way of him getting from sober to sauced faster than anyone else at the party. Taking the slow and steady approach just wasn’t working for him on this particular night, so the beer was ditched and the big guns were pulled out.

Thirty minutes later he is passed out in the corner, bottle nearly empty, and a walking hangover in the making. He is officially that guy. Well today there seems to be a lot of that guy in the business world. The companies that are shot out of a cannon, make a lot noise in a short amount of time, and before you know it they are passed out. A flash in the pan. Another victim of the current climate for internet startups.

As the old story goes, 50% of businesses fail in the first year and 95% fail in the first five years.  I don’t know how accurate these numbers truly are, but I would imagine the number of failures for today’s internet startups is much higher. The internet has allowed anyone and everyone the opportunity to become an entrepreneur and own their own business. We are no longer in the era of creating a product, having physical space and inventory, and owning a business for decades or more. Today you don’t even need a product to sell. A good amount of online retailers don’t even have inventory of whatever they are selling! They are simply order takers, and the manufacturer drop ships whatever is sold. Ahh, the modern convenience of the internet. So in short, significantly fewer barriers of entry = significantly higher amount of businesses created, and thus many many failures along the way.

My generation’s mentality of “I want it now, and I don’t want to do a whole lot to get it” has created this massive flood of internet businesses that are around for a short period of time and are gone as quickly as they came. Bad news for them, but good news for you—if you take advantage of this reality that is. Choosing to sip your six pack of beer instead of chugging the bottle of tequila might be the difference in your business being around in 5 years. While others are in a rush to get to the pot of gold as fast as possible, you can methodically run the race and be one of the few to actually finish. And yes, I did use two completely different analogies in one sentence.

Taking advantage of today’s here and gone in an instant economy starts with the way you establish your business from the beginning. Ask yourself the following questions. Your answers could be the difference in “out of business and broke” and “in business and cash flowing”.

• Do I have to quit my job to start this? Another way of asking this question is “When things don’t go as planned (because they won’t) and I’m out of money in 6 months, am I going to have to give up my business and go back to a normal job?”
• Can I bootstrap this? Can you use your own cash and/or borrow from friends and family to get this started? Or is this company impossible to start without significant outside investment?
• Am I passionate about this or am I simply infatuated? Not a whole lot different than dating. There will be times when you ask yourself “Why the hell did I do this?” That’s a promise. The difference maker is how you respond to that question.
• Are my visions realistic? Are you banking on becoming the next big thing, or will you be content with slowly and methodically growing your business?
• Do I have supportive people around me? Whether that’s business partners, a supportive group of friends and family, or mentors within your field, do you have a group of people that can be a part of your journey with you?

These are basic yet vital questions. The reason these are vital is because if you can say “No, I don’t have to quit my job. Yes, I can use my own cash to start. Yes, I’m passionate about this. Yes, my visions are realistic. Yes, I have supportive people around me”, then the only missing ingredient is the attitude to keep plugging away and get it done. Go out there, kick ass, and do it in a way that is uncommon in today’s business world.

Cheers. J    

~Adam Griffin

Adam Griffin is a Kansas City native and lives in Denver, CO. His current startup is an online greeting card company, BumblePost, that launches in March 2011. His ultimate goal in life is to motivate those around him to pursue dreams and goals they wouldn’t have pursued otherwise. His thoughts on this and all things business can be found on his blog, Ideas Don’t Work.