Techiepalooza

Hi All


 I attended two tech events last week. On Tuesday I attended a Tech briefing with Hamid Shojaee (Axosoft, TransferBigFiles.com and AZTechBeat.com), Gordon McConnell (ASU VentureCatalyst) and Steve Zylstra (Arizona Technology Council) discuss all things technology in Arizona.

Hamid Shojaee Photo courtesy of AZ Growth Nation

 Shojae didn't do a presentation, but gave a very brief overview about AZTechBeat.com. Ht stated he wanted it to become the premier site for sharing info on technology in Arizona. He asked the audience's help in spreading the word about AzTechBeat.

McConnell gave a brief presentation regarding ASU VentureCatalyst.  He took questions and extended an invitation to attend Techniepalooza.

Steve Zylstra (Arizona Technology Council) gave a presentation on the state of technology businesses and funding for such businesses in Arizona.

On Thurday, I accepted McConnell's invitation and attended Techiepalooza. This event was being presented for the first time by Gordon McConnell of Arizona State University's (ASU) VentureCatalyst  group. Techiepalooza was scheduled from 4 to 11 pm .The place was packed when I arrived. There were featured speakers in one section and breakout workshops in another.


This was the agenda for the event
Agenda

Thursday, June 7, 2012
4:00 – 11:00 pm 
ASU SkySong, Room 150
                4:00 pm                                Check-in
                                                       
4:15 – 4:20 pm                  Welcome Address by Gordon McConnell, Assistant Vice President, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Venture Acceleration, ASU
 4:20 – 4:30 pm                  Opening Remarks by Rob Wight, CEO of MyList
 4:30 – 5:30 pm                   1st Concurrent Workshop Session (Convergence) / Open Hack (Enterprise)
Workshop 1: Optimizing SEO (Gangplank)
Workshop 2: Going Mobile (Parsus)
Workshop 3: Easy Wordpress (RevCoGo & Arizona Wordpress Association)
Workshop 4: Drupal basics (Launchspot

 5:30 – 5:45 pm                   Break
 5:45 – 6:15 pm                   How to Build a Billion Dollar Company by Clate Mask, CEO and co-founder of Infusionsoft
 6:15 – 7:15 pm                   2nd Concurrent Workshop Session (Convergence) / Presentation (Enterprise)
Raising Money under the New JOBS Act: On-Line Solicitations and Crowdfunding by Michael Hool and Jonathan Coury,Hool Law Group (Enterprise)

Workshop 1: Optimizing SEO (Gangplank)
Workshop 2: Going Mobile (Parsus)
Workshop 3: Easy Wordpress (RevCoGo & Arizona Wordpress Association)
Workshop 4: Using Pinterest to Market your Business (Hustle your Bustle)
 7:15 – 7:30 pm                   Break
 7:30 – 8:00 pm                   The Future ofMicrosoft by Shaun Hirschman (Enterprise)
  8:00 – 8:30 pm                  Actual Lean Startup Lessons Learned in Arizona from 2009-2012 by Paul Kenjora,Aware Labs (Enterprise)
  8:30 – 9:30 pm                   3rd Concurrent Workshop Session (Convergence) / Presentation (Enterprise)
10 online tools to enhance your business presented by Steve Murphey, (Enterprise)
 Workshop 1: Optimizing SEO (Gangplank)
 Workshop 2: Going Mobile (Parsus)
Workshop 3: Easy Wordpress (RevCoGo & Arizona Wordpress Association)
Workshop 4: Drupal basics (Launchspot)
 9:30 – 10:00 pm                 Startup Experiences from Chow Locally by co-founders Christopher Wharton and Derek Slife (Enterprise)
10:00 – 10:30 pm             Recruiting Pitches & Announce winners for raffles (Enterprise - Must be present when awards are announced to receive prize)
10:00 – 11:00 pm              Open Hack (Enterprise and Convergence)


I came in on Infusion Software's Clate Mask presentation. I was impressed by the presentation and even more so by the questions the audience members posed. Mask stressed making sure you have the three main areas of management covered. You must have the big picture person, the techie and the nuts and bolts person. If you don't have this on your management team then bring it in or outsource where you are lacking.


I attended two workshops, Easy Wordpress and I caught the end of the Pinterest for business. I was able to get the slides for the Pinterest presentation, so I will revisit Pinterest this week and share some tools from the presentation and some I found out about on my own.

I have to include this. There was a very impression new venture created by a former serviceman that is geared towards towards the military and their families. Please share http://AlphaStripe.com with all you know. Their tagline is save history, record memories and make connections.

I saw McConnell as I was leaving and he promised to make Techiepalooza even better next year.

There will be a Small Business Connections: Marketing Meets Microfinancing workshop »  
in Tucson. Click the link for more info. 

Check back. This will be technology week on Wirequeen.

Thanks,

Michelle