Events

Network & Learn with Peter Nealis – Everyone Wants to Know About the Money

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“It’s almost always harder to raise capital than you thought it would be, and it always takes longer.” –Richard Harroch, Venture Capitalist

Taft Law Firm partner Peter S. Nealis, member of their Venture Capital and Emerging Companies group, speaks at Station 2 Innovation to fill in the gaps about what “Everyone wants to know about the money.” One of the most difficult and confusing aspects of starting or running a small business is understanding your financing and funding options for your company. Choosing how to fund your startup or business is often a challenge with more options than ever before: Family, friends, cash advances on credit cards, bootstrapping, crowd funding, secured credit lines, loans, equity investments or a combination of these are all possibilities with varying requirements, risks, and benefits. Peter’s talk is designed to help you know what’s available and guide you to choosing the method that works best for you.

Station 2 Innovation’s mission is “Building & Connecting the Community to Catalyze & Support Entrepreneur Growth” and is located in the historic firehouse at 912 7th Ave East in Bradenton. Don’t miss the business social before our event – network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding areas along the Innovation Coast including Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, and neighboring Hillsborough & Pinellas counties. We feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. With a great lineup of valuable speakers, you’ll feel like you’re earning an MBA in Entrepreneurialism and Small Business! Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Don’t miss our other upcoming events including . Many more events can be seen at the online Station 2 Innovation Event Calendar: https://station2innovation.com/events

Connect with Peter in the following ways:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-nealis-18430a14 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaftLaw Twitter: @TaftLaw Website: https://www.taftlaw.com/attorneys/475-peter-s-nealis

Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter which includes our events and other important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:
Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/ Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/ Email – info@Station2Innovation.com Phone – 941-877-1599

Network & Learn – Jules Gibson, Girl Power Publisher

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Welcome to Souper Tuesday! Media maven Jules Lewis Gibson is a passionate woman with a power packed background in marketing and advertising. A publisher and mom of two, she comes to Station 2 Innovation and will discuss her journey, her accomplishments and what it takes to be a successful woman in business. What motivates Jules? “I have an innate desire for change. It’s my desire to evolve that propels me forward. This might have been a problem in the past, especially for a woman, but in today’s world, it is an important trait to possess.” From studying art history in New Orleans onto residing in the South of France, to starting her own marketing company at 26 as well as owning one of the most popular nightclubs in Buckhead, Atlanta. “I think it is extremely important to have a diverse skill set and a broad range of experiences. The more you bring to the table, the better chance you’ll earn a good seat.” Jules has worn many hats and and brings a wealth of experience as an entrepreneur for us to learn from.

Come along and ask questions and share what you know in our casual, welcoming atmosphere. Network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding area all along the Innovation Coast. We feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Once a month, one of our local soup makers shares in the making of the soup we serve. Bring your own soup or lunch to eat or share at this event. There is no cost for the soup but a donation jar will be present to benefit the local non-profit, Turning Points.

Station 2 Innovation’s mission is “Building & Connecting the Community to Catalyze & Support Entrepreneur Growth” and is located in the historic firehouse at 912 7th Ave East in Bradenton. Don’t miss the business social before our event – network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding areas along the Innovation Coast including Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, and neighboring Hillsborough & Pinellas counties. Along with BarCamp Sarasota-Bradenton (our event partner), we feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. With a great lineup of valuable speakers, you’ll feel like you’re earning an MBA in Entrepreneurialism and Small Business! Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Don’t miss our other upcoming events including Organizing for profitable growth with Russ Barnes. Many more events can be seen at the online Station 2 Innovation Event Calendar: https://station2innovation.com/events

Connect with Jules in the following ways:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jules-lewis-gibson-594a6319 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GravitasMag Twitter: @seasidejules Website: https://www.fusemediainc.com

Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter which includes our events and other important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:
Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/ Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/ Email – info@Station2Innovation.com Phone – 941-877-1599

Learn more about Turning Points: https://tpmanatee.org/about-us/mission-statement-information/

Network & Learn – The Branding Magic of Story & Powerful Words

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Most small businesses – indeed most businesses across the board – do not know what branding or a brand is. Nor why it’s important to the start and growth of their business. Fear not, Art Mahoney is coming to Station 2 Innovation to clear up misconceptions and add his expertise and experience to this oft-misunderstood concept.

Branding is the expression of the essential truth or value of an organization, product, or service. It is communication of characteristics, values, and attributes that clarify what this particular brand is and is not. Branding is as vital to the success of a business or nonprofit as having a clear financial plan, having a vision for the future, or having qualified, quality employees. Further, many businessmen confuse branding and marketing. Art will explain the significant difference, show why proper brand development is critical to short and long term business success and show the proper protocol for developing a brand position.

Art Mahoney is the Special Projects Manager & Build-A-Business Program Instructor for Suncoast Community Capital. He has a broad background in the fields of marketing and business development and was president of a company – Morey Mahoney Advertising – that was voted ‘Best Strategic Marketing Company’ and one of the ‘Top 5’ marketing agencies in the Denver market, helping to build the agency from $300,000 annual billings to over $25 million! He also owned seven other small businesses over the years, including Clarke Advertising in Sarasota and has performed real estate feasibility studies with Michael Saunders in the Dominican Republic. For close to eight years, Art had been a Certified Business Analyst with the Small Business Development Center at State College of Florida before moving to Suncoast Community Capital.
Art holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Rutgers University and a Masters Degree at Boston University’s Graduate School of Public Relations and Communication. He has volunteered as a Branding/Marketing Advisor with several Sarasota-area organizations including the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, the Sarasota Economic Development Corporation, Sarasota’s Jewish Family and Children’s Service and the Senior Friendship Center. Art has also played an important developmental role for the Sarasota Institute for the Ages (a major business development effort based on Sarasota’s unique aging demographics) and is a Board member at The Pines of Sarasota.

Art’s wife Pam Baron is Director of Senior Services at Jewish Family and Children’s Service. They live in Bradenton have 3 grown children and 6 grandchildren.

Station 2 Innovation’s mission is “Building & Connecting the Community to Catalyze & Support Entrepreneur Growth” and is located in the historic firehouse at 912 7th Ave East in Bradenton. Don’t miss the business social before our event – network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding areas along the Innovation Coast including Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, and neighboring Hillsborough & Pinellas counties. Along with BarCamp Sarasota-Bradenton (our event partner), we feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. With a great lineup of valuable speakers, you’ll feel like you’re earning an MBA in Entrepreneurialism and Small Business! Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Don’t miss our other upcoming events including The Power of Embracing Risk: One Woman’s Journey on October 18th, 2016 at 6:15pm-7:30pm. Many more events can be seen at the online Station 2 Innovation Event Calendar: https://station2innovation.com/events

Connect with our speaker in the following ways:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1809915 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuncoastCommunityCapital Twitter: @suncoastcommcap Website: https://www.suncoastcc.com

Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter which includes our events and other important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:
Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/ Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/ Email – info@Station2Innovation.com Phone – 941-877-1599

Network & Learn – The Scary Business Trifecta, Networking, Negotiations, &…

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Station 2 Innovation presents an interactive talk with an expert panel on the scariest parts of business. Are you intimidated by networking events? Don’t know what to do, how to approach others or even have a basic plan of what you’re trying to achieve? We’ve got you covered! How about negotiations? Need a lower interest rate? A better price? More salary? Do you just want to get paid? These issues affect many who are just starting out in the business world and the fear they generate can often paralyze individuals from making a business decision or moving up in their given company. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Do you have an elevator pitch to garner interest in you or your idea and can you deliver it in a succinct way that earns a follow up meeting? What happens if your electronic presentation fails? Do you have a backup way to deliver a slideshow when technology goes sideways? Sara Hand of Spark Growth and Station 2 Innovation will moderate a panel of experts who will answer your questions and deliver targeted tips to make your business interactions and opportunities fear-free. Participants will have an opportunity to raise other questions, and at the end of the talk, will walk away with a tip sheet and raised confidence as a result of learning actionable plans to tackle the scary side of business. When you have a plan, there is no need to be scared!

Please wear your Halloween costume, we plan to have a lot of fun this evening too with an assortment of door prizes for costume wearers! And Stan will be on hand with a least a few fall beer selections to share (bring what you’d like to share too including extra Halloween candy).

The networking social from 5:00pm-6:15pm is sponsored by White Sands Realty and the prizes are sponsored too (our list of sponsors is in the works, stay tuned!).

Station 2 Innovation’s mission is “Building & Connecting the Community to Catalyze & Support Entrepreneur Growth” and is located in the historic firehouse at 912 7th Ave East in Bradenton. Don’t miss the business social before our event – network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding areas along the Innovation Coast including Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto, and neighboring Hillsborough & Pinellas counties. Along with BarCamp Sarasota-Bradenton (our event partner), we feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. With a great lineup of valuable speakers, you’ll feel like you’re earning an MBA in Entrepreneurialism and Small Business! Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Don’t miss our other upcoming events including our OneBlood Blood Drive Tues Nov 8th, 2016. Many more events can be seen at the online Station 2 Innovation Event Calendar: https://station2innovation.com/events
Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter which includes our events and other important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:
Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/ Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/ Email – info@Station2Innovation.com Phone – 941-877-1599

Network & Learn with Kano Keller – The Lifetime Value of a Client

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Lunch-n-Learn with Kano Keller as he reveals how to determine “The Lifetime Value of a Client.” In sales and marketing, customer lifetime value is a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. The prediction model can have varying levels of sophistication and accuracy, ranging from a crude heuristic to the use of complex predictive analytics techniques, not to mention soft signal based upon personal relationships. Customer lifetime value is an important concept in that it encourages firms and entrepreneurs to shift their focus from quarterly profits to the long-term health of their customer relationships. Customer lifetime value is an important number because it represents an upper limit on spending to acquire new customers. For this reason it is an important element in calculating payback of advertising spent in marketing.Network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding area all along the Innovation Coast. We feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter where you’ll learn about the services we offer (business incubation, startup resources), the benefits of coworking, and see our featured events and important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.Important Links:Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/Email – info@Station2Innovation.comPhone – 941-877-1599

Network & Learn with Scott Carvin – Digital Marketing in 2016

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Join us at Station 2 Innovation for a lively talk about Digital Marketing in 2016 with speaker, Scott Carvin. Scott is an SEO Expert specializing in Social Media Marketing and WordPress Web Design. He has helped hundreds of clients since 2005 build and enhance the online presence for their businesses and is currently top-ranked among SEO firms on Google for our area (his services work!). Come prepared to ask questions, Scott brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table.

Scott is currently the founder and CEO of SEO Services Expert which can be found on the web at https://seoservices.expert/

Before and after the event, network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding area all along the Innovation Coast. We feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter where you’ll learn about the services we offer (business incubation, startup resources, and more), the benefits of coworking, and see our featured events and important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:
Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/
Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/
Email – info@Station2Innovation.com
Phone – 941-877-1599

Dev Day at Station 2 Innovation

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Please join us for Dev Day at Station 2 Innovation. We’ll be showcasing what’s new and cool in the Development and Tech worlds in our fun and open atmosphere. Come prepared to share and be blown away by the latest gadgets and projects that our members and friends will be showcasing. Enjoy immersive learning experiences lead by local tech leaders and come away with invaluable lessons learned.

Lunch is provided and registration is limited to first 60 applicants. Register here or at https://dev-dayfall2016.eventbrite.com

See you there!

“The Naked Economy” and Other Things You Should Know to Start and Grow a Business in Today’s Marketplace

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Come early at 5pm for our Networking Happy Hour before the talk.

On June 7th, learn about “The Naked Economy” and other things you should know to start and grow a business in today’s marketplace. We’ll discuss leveraging personal networks, bootstrapping, pricing, delegation, funding for growth and much more. The dynamics in play for business are undergoing constant change and our speaker, Sara Hand, will arm you with the know-how to adapt in this new reality.

In 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average time spent at a given job had dropped to less than four and a half years and that an ever-growing segment of the workforce is no longer tied to a single employer. In fact, as many as 30% of workers in today’s job market are either self-employed or part-time with many large companies reporting that 30% of their procurement dollars are spent on contingent or “fractional” workers.

Learning what it takes to grow a business and learning entrepreneurial skills has never been more relevant than in today’s economy. If you master the skills of small business and entrepreneurialism, you’ll never be out of work! And if you love your job, you can be more secure when you learn to add value to your organization as an intrapreneur.

Sara Hand has a diverse business development background across public and private sector enterprises, which includes early stage investment. Her motto is “Think Big. Keep it Simple. Make it Happen.” Using Strategic Doing, Sara drives action-focused agendas and is widely recognized for consistently achieving her goals with grace and confident skill.

An entrepreneur, Sara uses her strengths to find and leverage unique value propositions and create synergistic partnerships. This has enabled her to become a valuable leader and asset to her community and has presented opportunities with the State Department, the United Nations and the 2015 Harvard Future-Ready Economies Summit.

Souper Tuesday Lunch-n-Learn with Peter Nealis on Funding Basics

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Welcome to Souper Tuesday! This week we’re featuring Peter Nealis where he discusses Funding Basics. Peter is a member of the Taft Lawfirms’s Venture Capital and Emerging Companies practice focus on representing both venture capital funds and venture-backed companies from coast-to-coast in some of the most active industries, including information technology, life sciences, energy/cleantech and social and digital media. Time permitting, Peter may touch on fund formation, new money investments, follow-on and secondary financings and refinancings to IPOs and strategic and exit transactions. Read more about Peter here.

Come along and ask questions and share what you know in our casual, welcoming atmosphere. Network, learn and mingle with fellow professionals from Manatee & Sarasota counties and the surrounding area all along the Innovation Coast. We feature informative and exciting events handpicked from the area’s best and brightest, all of which will propel your skills and businesses forward. You’ll learn fresh perspectives and about new innovations in technology, business, education, and more. Mark your calendar and be prepared at each session to learn new tools and tactics and arrive early for business networking opportunities.

Once a month, one of our local soup makers shares in the making of the soup we serve. Bring your own soup or lunch to eat or share at this event. There is no cost for the soup but a donation jar will be present to benefit the local non-profit, Turning Points.

Be sure to subscribe to the Station 2 Innovation newsletter which includes our events and other important happenings that you’re sure to benefit from.

Important Links:

Newsletter – https://station2innovation.com/contact-us/

Events Info – https://station2innovation.com/events-info/

Email – info@Station2Innovation.com

Phone – 941-877-1599

Learn more about Turning Points: https://tpmanatee.org/about-us/mission-statement-information/

OneBlood Blood Drive at Station 2 Innovation Bradenton

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OneBlood will be on location at Station 2 Innovation from 12:30p-3p holding a blood drive. All donors will receive a FREE OneBlood T-shirt and a wellness checkup including blood pressure, temperature, iron count, pulse and cholesterol screening! Plus all donors will receive a special offer from Crayola Experience—Purchase one admission ticket and receive a 2nd admission FREE.

You may walk-in and donate or register for a specific timeslot here: https://www.oneblooddonor.org/index.cfm?group=op&expand=795463&zc=34208

More information about Station 2 Innovation and the event can be found here: https://www.station2innovation.com/events