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? Feel free to add it to the FWD/KC calendar for increased exposure. Once your event is submitted, it will quickly get reviewed and then published to the calendar.
Measurement and Evaluation for Fundraising Success and Social Impact
When: June 6, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Where: University of Missouri – Kansas City Bloch Heritage Hall
Nonprofit leaders can spend an enormous amount of time and effort creating evaluation models and reporting relevant data to funders to demonstrate positive social impact. Demonstrating success of a program or initiative is the basis for ensuring that a nonprofit has been a good steward of its mission and donated funds. However, the investment in building and fulfilling evaluation models must be commensurate with the funds awarded. This course will provide an overview of the planning and development of evaluation approaches that align well with the organization’s and funder’s needs. The course will introduce participants to the development and use of theories of change, logic models, dashboards, and similar methods for measuring social impact. The course will feature insights from program evaluators, funders and grant writers on the evaluation process. Students will prepare a basic evaluation model for a program or initiative and present it to their peers. They will also gain an understanding of how their evaluation tools fit into a broader context. This course is held over two days.
Startup Rewind
When: June 7, 7:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
Where: Deer Creek Country Club
Startup Rewind gives local entrepreneurs a venue to pitch their idea followed by questions and feedback from the audience. This valuable feedback will help encourage and grow their ideas and in turn build a better community through business and entrepreneurship. Come join us for some great ideas and out of the box thinking. The goal is to get the word out about new companies and ideas, while gaining feedback from the community of business leaders and other entrepreneurs. This format will help foster business networking and encourage those entrepreneurs who are creating tomorrow’s big ideas. The Startup Rewind takes presentations made at other entrepreneurial events from the Startup scene in Kansas City and replays them again. This gives them another chance to get themselves in front of more people who may have missed it the first time around, thus the name Startup Rewind. Startup Rewind meets once monthly on the first Wednesday of the month at Deer Creek Country Club from 7:15am to 8:30am. The event is hosted and sponsored by the Overland Park South Rotary Club.
Hispanic Chamber Power Breakfast
When: June 7, 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Where: Webb Technology GroupWebb Technology Group Presents: Social Media Marketing Best Practices | “10 Tips for Increasing Engagement on Facebook”
Presenter: Dawnua Dawson, Chief Marketing Officer
8:30 a.m. – Breakfast and registration
9:00 to 10:00 a.m. – Presentation
About the Presentation: This session is geared toward small businesses, non-profit groups and start-ups that are new to Facebook and are trying to grow their Facebook presence. They will learn how to apply 10 tips that are easy for them to implement that will increase their engagement with their current audience, build their online community and increase brand awareness.
Effective Leadership for the Next Generation
When: June 7, 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: Nonprofit Connect
Confident, forward-thinking, and 80 million strong, Millennials are reshaping the workplace.
Also known as Gen-Y, young people born between 1980 and 2000 are making a profound impact on the workplace environment in the short time they’ve been working. Workplace experts say they’re unlike previous generations, and that’s forcing a cultural shift on companies and managers. Ask any HR professional or manager if s/he has noticed a difference in attitude, expectations, work ethic and social skills with the new generation and you’ll get an earful.
How do effective leaders inspire greatness? This talented generation is an increasingly vital segment of the workforce. What motivates them at work? What are their career goals? What do they expect from their employer? How do they view their workplace roles and responsibilities? What makes this generation different from previous generations? As their leader, what can you do to embrace their talent, energy and ambition?
How do nonprofit leaders identify and leverage the strengths of their youngest workers? This seminar will provide specific steps supervisors can take to enhance their proficiency in leading, mentoring, and managing Millennial employees.
Our presenter is Allison J. McFarland, Ph.D., MBA, Professor and Chair Department of Business & Economics, Bethel College. During the past several years, Dr. McFarland has presented over 60 workshops on the topic of Millennials to human resource professionals regionally, statewide and nationally.
**Please park in one of the two lots directly north and across 31st Street from the station, leaving the main lot for KCPT staff and visitors with disabilities. Use caution when crossing the street.
Winning Federal Research Grants: SBIR/STTR Workshop
When: June 7, 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
Have a technology business but don’t know where to find funding or the best way to acquire it? Then this workshop is for you!
This introductory seminar explains how to win SBIR (Small Business Initiative Research) and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer Research) grants from federal programs that provide Research and Development (R&D) funds for small businesses. You will learn how to find grants, how to apply, and the best strategies to gain funding for your growing technology business. Lunch is included.
Cash Flow Management: 99 Problems but Cash ain’t one!
When: June 7, 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Where: UMKC SBTDC
In this three-hour session, we’ll show you how to turn financial statements into useful management tools. We’ll take a close look at where cash comes from in a small business, where it’s used in day-to-day operations and how to identify and correct cash flow problems. At the end of the session, you’ll be able to identify key information on cash flow statements and be able to follow the path of cash as it travels through your company.
Discount available for taking both classes.
KC Roundtable Breakfast
When: June 8, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Where: Eggtc.
KC Roundtable is in existence to provide 20 and 30-something Kansas City entrepreneurs with a group of peers to support and collaborate on each others’ businesses. Our mission is to: – Focus on relationship building; not lead generating – Facilitate collaboration, openness, transparency, learning and teaching – Establish an entrepreneurial network – Fill the void of not having the water cooler.
We meet for breakfast and various locations around the city. In addition to our morning meetings, KC Roundtable provides additional opportunities to network with young entrepreneurs such as events like small group Mastermind sessions & After Hour events.
Prospective members are self-motivated, curious, open to learning and currently starting a new business. Thanks for checking us out. We look forward to meeting you soon!
Second Fridays
When: June 9, 4:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Village Square Coworking Studio
Come to Second Fridays at Village Square Coworking Studio!
Second Fridays is a casual, fun gathering for the startup community to connect on a monthly basis with no agenda except good times.
We’ll provide games & cards (bags if it’s nice). This event is BYOB with a twist – bring a 6-pack of your favorite beer to share and we’re going to have a “beer potluck” cooler. We’ll ice down everyone’s beer and have quite the selection to choose from!get to know someone over a brew!
We’d also encourage you to bring an instrument if you play. What better way to end your week than with a jam session?!
Feel free to stop by anytime after 4:30pm. We’ll hang out until everyone leaves (unless it gets ridiculous).
No RSVP necessary, just come on by!
Startup Weekend Kansas City
When: June 9 – 11
Where: Plexpod Westport Commons
Startup Weekend is a 54 hour event that brings together Kansas City designers, developers, entrepreneurs, and experts from all domains to do amazing things.
All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and embark on a three-day frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekend culminates with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback!
If you want to put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur and contribute to a more sustainable world, be part of Startup Weekend Kansas City.
Coding & Cocktails
When: June 10, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: The Nerdery
Session Topic: Programming Concepts 101: Intro to jQuery & JavaScript
Join us for our monthly coding series, Coding & Cocktails. Women are invited to attend sessions to get an introduction to website building in a fun, laid-back atmosphere.
We’ll discuss what Javascript and jQuery are, why they are important to front-end developers and how to incorporate them in our websites. We will practice using jQuery with support from awesome mentors!
There will be lots of guidance and support for those with no coding experience so come join the fun!
- No coding experience necessary (we mean that!)
- Wifi-enabled laptop is required (don’t have one? Borrow one of ours)
- Must be at least 21 to attend
- Cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages, and light appetizers served
- Please familiarize yourself with Kansas City Women in Technology’s Code of Conduct.
Do you need financial assistance to attend? View codingandcocktails.kcwomenintech.org/financialaid for more information.
If you are unable to attend, you must cancel 48 hours prior to the event to receive a refund!
Women Empowering Women Summit
When: June 10, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Where: North Kansas City YMCA
Join us for the first Women Empowering Women Summit featuring former congressional candidate Miranda Allen and Brenda Myers. Women Empowering Summit founder Kathy Benson will speak on financial planning for women. Beginning at 1 p.m., women business-owners will showcase their businesses.
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
Looking ahead
How to Pitch to the Sandbox
When: June 14, 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Where: Sprint Accelerator
Gain valuable insight from Jeff Shackelford, Digital Sandbox KC director, on the Sandbox process and how to make the most effective pitch to the Sandbox decision makers.
Part of the Summer in the Sand series, held in conjunction with CoWorking Wednesdays at the Sprint Accelerator.
Third Thursday KCedu and Lean Lab Happy Hour
When: June 15, 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Where: EduHub
Join #KCedu and the Lean Lab at EduHub, a co-working space for education and youth-related startups. Network with genius educators, business partners, and other interested folks as you eat and drink, learn and collide!
When you arrive, grab a snack and check out the whiteboard where participants create the schedule on the fly! Want to share something? Want to get feedback from others on a topic? In addition to the featured guests, as an attendee, you can throw your idea up in one of the squares for small group breakout conversations. For example:
Want to talk about technology in education, apps, gamificatoin or how to make it relevant to kids?
Want to talk family-community engagement in schools and in KC?
Want to plan a city-wide project to bring KC together, led by kids?
Looking for some interested parties to co-write a grant? EdHub has several offices for us to spread out and share/discuss.
After introductions of any featured guests at 6pm, we go into an Edcamp/Unconference format in two fast-paced, 20 minute breakout sessions. Stay in one group or sample more than one discussion. We come back together as a group at 7:00 for final announcements and then continue conversations at EduHub or at a nearby establishment.
This format is about active small group networking and relationship building, not passive listening. CHOICE and VOICE! You’ll be happy you plugged into KC’s vibrant educator network.
1Week KC – Celebrating Kansas City’s startup community.
When: June 16 – 23
Where: StartupKC
1Week KC is a week-long celebration of Kansas City’s burgeoning startup community. With one or two high-quality events daily, you can attend every event or pick and choose the ones that speak to you.
People around the world are recognizing the entrepreneurial energy that’s emanating from Kansas City. 1Week KC is an opportunity for us to come together, get inspired and celebrate our progress. We are #StartupKC!
This week is all about creating new connections between entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, schools and government in order to create an environment where innovators thrive. We can all learn from and support each other, while creating lasting, meaningful relationships.
1Week KC is an integral part of Kansas City Startup Foundation’s mission to make Kansas City the most connected startup community in the world.
Visit http://1weekkc.com for the latest schedule and updates.
Gigabit City Summit: Local Edition
When: June 16
Where: Westport Commons Plexpod
Creating inclusion and broadening involvement from Kansas City metro entities that drive innovation is the mission of the Gigabit City Summit: Local Edition, set for June 16, 2017, in Kansas City, MO
“Our national event in August is the premier conference for leaders in cities that either have or are planning to build out gigabit fiber networks. The June 16th Local Edition is more about Kansas City’s progress since becoming a Gigabit City,” said Aaron Deacon, managing director of KC Digital Drive. “It’s critical we continue to broaden involvement in the Kansas City metro among interested city governments, organizations, businesses and community groups that drive innovation.”
Session topics include innovation ecosystems in Kansas City, case studies in health care, digital inclusion and education facilitation, civic innovation and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, emerging project opportunities and discussion of how the KC Region participates in the broader ecosystem. There will be numerous opportunities to network, observe demonstrations and identify ways to become more involved.
Startup Waffles
When: June 16, 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Where: Think Big Coworking
Come mix and mingle with Kansas City innovators over free, all-you-can-eat-yummy waffles made by the Think Big “chefs”! Invite your team, clients, and friends to start Friday morning off with a hearty breakfast and meet some of Kansas City’s most talented entrepreneurs.
Startup Crawl KC
When: June 16, 4:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Crossroads
Startup Crawl KC offers residents and visitors a one-night tour of the KC startup community’s many budding companies. Everyone from near and far is welcome to attend this FREE event!
With lots of startups showcasing, there’s no better crash course to learn about Kansas City’s startup landscape. It’s the perfect opportunity for homegrown startup entrepreneurs to tell their stories, extend hospitality and connect with new faces.
Our goal is to inspire continued involvement and make the startup community more accessible to local hopefuls, new arrivals and all of Kansas City.
