November, EforAll Summit, and Mid-Size Cities

November seems to be going by faster than ever this year. I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since the EforAll Summit. The summit is one of my favorite events of the year. It brings together entrepreneurs, city leaders, people who run entrepreneurship programs, and academics to share insights on how to foster economic development and social impact in mid-size cities and regions like our beloved Merrimack Valley.

First Keynote: Fredericton Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Ever since the first summit, where I learned so much from the attendees from Atlantic Canada, I particularly look forward to hearing from them again, especially the Fredericton delegation. Hence I was particularly excited for this year's first keynote: Deconstructing Fredericton's Entrepreneurship Ecosystem. It definitely did not disappoint. All three speakers, Desh Deshpande, Gerry Pond, and Mike O'Brien shared insights that really resonated. My key takeaways were: the importance of a focus on collaboration, how municipal government can jump start things by putting the infrastructure in place, and that cultural change starts from the bottom up.  I took a ton of notes, so there may be another blog post lurking in there somewhere.

Janin Duran - EparaTodos

It's sometimes tough to choose among the panel sessions, but Nurturing Inclusivity called out to me. Ji Mi Choi from the University of Arizona facilitated the session. Panelists were: Joanna Ramirez Barret from Meda (Minneapolis), Janin Duran from EforAll/EparaTodos (Lawrence), Marco Perez from LAUNCH Chattanooga, and Anuradha Yadav from Fairmount Innovation Lab (Boston).

Inclusivity Topics

The questions/topics ranged from the definition of inclusion to how to reach specific audiences. I have to say that this is the first time I have ever heard anyone bring up disabilities when talking about inclusion. That discussion didn't get far, but it was great to hear somebody bring up the fact that people with disabilities can and do start businesses. Hmm, maybe that's a topic for a future workshop or panel.

Ji Mi Choi Facilitating the Inclusivity Panel

My biggest takeaway from the inclusivity session was something Ji Mi Choi brought up about how important it is to audit your marketing methods/content and your image when presenting an event or program so that you will attract the people you're trying to reach. Who is the face of the event? A pitch contest where all the judges are white males might not attract a broad diverse audience. (Interestingly, David Parker told a story that reinforced this point later in the day at the Program Models panel.) What networks are you promoting it on? You need to find out where to connect to your intended audience.

Crowd Listening to David Introducing Keynoter Yancey Strickler

The absolute highlight of the entire event was Yancey Strickler's keynote at midday. Yancey is one of the founders of Kickstarter.  The idea behind Kickstarter was to help bring creative projects to life. Out of that he's managed to start an important conversation, in the tech world and the entrepreneurship world in general, about how companies can stick to their ideals, resist conformity, and contribute to the public good.

Yancey Strickler

From the story of Kickstarter to the dangers of the mono-culture and the definition of success, Yancey got everybody fired up. The word "inspiring" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Let's all resist letting the media (social, mainstream, lamestream, or whatever) define what we're supposed to do and be in the name of success. 

KickStarter

Success

Judging by the number of people who needed selfies with Yancey after his talk, I'd say he was far and away the star of the summit.

Getting Ready to Start Panel on ROI of Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Speaking of defining success, the next panel I attended was The ROI of Inclusive Entrepreneurship. Theresa Park from the City of Lawrence facilitated the session. Panelists were Steve Grossman from ICIC (Boston), Marcos Marrero from the City of Holyoke, Allison Moronta from Mass Growth Capital Corp. (Boston), and Tessa Murphy-Romboletti from SPARK (Holyoke). Again, I took a ton of notes, way more than I can summarize here. There are multiple ways to measure ROI on the investment in inclusive entrepreneurship  -- everything from number of jobs created to how we're creating change. My key takeaways were 1) you need data that you can compare with other organizations in the same space,  2) at a small scale it's hard to get statistically significant data and you have to point to the businesses themselves with anecdotes of success to show the return, and 3) you need to know what type of data the funders are looking for.

Program Models Panel

The next panel I went to dove-tailed nicely with the one from the morning session. The title was Program Models that Can Work in Your City and it featured panelists from several different kinds of entrepreneurship programs, from incubators and accelerators to co-working spaces. David Parker facilitated the session and told a great story about the first pitch contest that EforAll put on in Lawrence. Basically, the event did not reach the target audience. His solution was to ask people from his target audience for suggestions and finding advertising pathways to reach the local community. This reinforced what I heard in the first panel of the day. Panelists were Hal Bowling from LAUNCH Chattanooga, Devin Cole from Workbar (Boston), Enoch Elwell from CO.STARTERS  (Chattanooga), and Trish Fleming from North Shore InnoVentures   (Beverly). My key takeaway from this one was that for all these different types of programs, the common thread is making sure your outreach is in sync with the community and being intentional about it.

WORKINGURL Keynote

As if the summit couldn't get any more inspiring, the final keynote featured a graduate of  EforAll South Coast's accelerator program, Victoria Hall, founder of WORKINGURL bags.  I met Victoria last year at Mass Innovation Nights #MIN88 event. I enjoyed hearing how her business has grown since then and how she handles the challenges of entrepreneurship. Annie Jean-Baptiste from Google interviewed Victoria and did a great job of facilitating the audience questions too. It was a great way to end the day.

Entrepreneur

I came away from the summit feeling more optimistic about society, entrepreneurship, the economy, and the future of mid-size cities than I've felt in ages. If I wrote down every single insight I had that day, this blog post would be way longer than it already is. All I can say is there is hope for a positive, inclusive, entrepreneurial future in my favorite cities (Lowell and Lawrence) and beyond.