The Startup Connection 2021 - Harnessing Technology to Build Community

Thank you to all the attendees, facilitators, panelists, partners, and sponsors of Startup Connection 2021!

Master of Ceremonies:  Ebonie Fields

​Eboniè P. Fields is a poet, writer, and children’s book author of the adventurous tales of Zenie and the Magical Hummingbirds and Zoey and the Magical Hummingbirds. This year, her most recent publication, Zoey and the Magical Hummingbirds, received a Five-Star Review from Readers’ Favorite, and has been recognized as a Silver Award Recipient by the Mom’s Choice Awards. Fields enjoys using her writing talents to create exciting and vivid stories for children of all ages to read. 
In September of 2020, Fields founded Ebby’s Book House LLC. Ebby’s Book House LLC is a for-profit organization that provides writing coaching and a collection of books written by her. At Ebby’s Book House, Fields coaches, inspires, and motivates people of all ages to become great creative writers. 
Fields has a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Baylor University, and a Master’s in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing from Texas Women’s University. Fields has years of experience writing for local papers, tv stations and corporate websites. In 2008, she was awarded Rising Star in American Women in Radio & Television and selected as a nominee for Houston Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award in 2014.
Fields resides in Chandler, Arizona with her husband and two adorable kids. She enjoys traveling, playing board games with family, and volunteering with local advocacy centers and women’s groups. She is Mrs. Chandler, a delegate for The Woman of Purpose Beauty Pageant. She serves as an active member on the Women in Leadership Committee for the Chandler Chamber of Commerce. She is a certified crisis hotline advocate for criminal victims and children, and a Sworn-In Court Appointed Child Advocate. Her volunteer work in the community has driven her passion to write stories and poems that bring joy and adventure to children all around the world.

Thank you to our Reception Sponsor, Fennemore!

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Highlights from the Friday, September 17th Reception

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Saturday, September 18th Speaker Line-up

Great workshops from some of the best subject matter experts in the valley.

Not able to attend in-person? Join us virtually for a full day of workshops!
Register here to attend via Zoom Webinar

Alan Carey

Can a Remote Meeting  with Multicultural Participants be Successful Without Croissants?

Madhu Chadha

How to Find & Engage Local Customers with SEO

Hebe Doneski

Leveraging Social Networks to Develop Your Business 

Marty Levy

Building Deeper Connections Through Collaboration to Grow Your Business

PJ Likhmania

How To Vet & Communicate Effectively with Your Development Team

Eric Miller

Leveraging Current Technology Megatrends for Startup Success

Phillip Pipkins

Using Technology to Identify Funding Opportunities & Communicate with Funding Sources

Our full day of workshops will end with a panel discussion:

What tech does your C-Suite need to thrive and enrich its teams and the organization?

Diana White CEO

Stephanie Sims CFO

Karen Cummings CMO

Ken Costello COO

Dr. Oliver Heinen CTO

Wendy McClellan HRM

Brint Hiatt Legal Counsel

 Click here to see the full agenda.

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We'd also like to thank these sponsors!

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Visit These Vendor Tables During Saturday's Workshops

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A big THANK YOU to all of our partners and sponsors!

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The Startup Connection 2020 - Pivoting and Recovery

Our Startup Connection event hosted on November 18th and 20th, 2020 from 9 am to noon was filled with engaging content from our amazing speakers. Clips and excerpts from the virtual event will be available soon.

Due to COVID restrictions, the traditionally 2-day in person event was a virtual offering.
This free event offered two themes for attendees to choose:
Recovery:
Surviving post-COVID: How can I recover or re-energize my existing business or reestablish my efforts to bring my idea to market?
Wednesday, November 18th, 2020.
Pivoting:
Making changes post-COVID: How can I pivot my idea or already established business in the current economic climate?
Friday, November 20th, 2020.

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Check Out Our Roster of Amazing Speakers

Stephanie Pierotti, Interim Executive Director of the Arizona Apparel Foundation

​Introduction to Brand Extension Programs: Licensing & Other Intellectual Property Monetization Avenues

Whether you have an established brand or are in the process of planning your brand development strategy, knowing how to create additional revenue streams by monetizing your intellectual property can be an important component of your business' financial growth. ​

Meet your speaker - Read Stephanie's bio here

Stephanie Pierotti is a creative brand licensing, strategic partnership and brand extension professional with diverse experience developing, executing and managing programs in the home goods, entertainment, fashion and publishing industries. She is currently the Interim Executive Director of the Arizona Apparel Foundation. Prior to that, Stephanie ran the licensing department at The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, managing a global network of 49 licensees and developing revenue generating opportunities utilizing Wright’s vast portfolio of work. In this position, she was the recipient of the 2019 Eide Bailly ResourceFULLness Award for innovative sustainable revenue generation for non-profits. Prior to joining the Foundation, Stephanie worked with Scott Brothers Global, managing all elements of brand extension initiatives for Drew and Jonathan Scott (of HGTV’s Property Brothers). Her deep understanding of private label and licensed product development, brand management, contract negotiation, wholesale and retail distribution, publishing, advertising, endorsements, influencer collaborations and social media management helped grow the Scott Living brand from conceptualization to $250M in retail sales in four years. During this time, Stephanie also served as an adjunct instructor at The Art Institute, teaching product development and marketing classes to future creative professionals.

Stephanie lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with her husband and French Bulldog. As a 12th-generation New Orleanian, she enjoys researching her trailblazing ancestors and supporting The Historic New Orleans Collection. She also welcomes any opportunity to put her sommelier certification to good use.

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Tom Fulcher, President, The Idea Gardener, LLC and EIR with Chandler Innovations

​Capital Ideas – Financial Lessons from the Pandemic

​Key financial lessons we learned during the pandemic.  How business owners should look at financial management going forward.

MEET YOUR SPEAKER - READ tom'S BIO HERE

Tom Fulcher, a Certified Small Business Counselor, is the founder of The Idea Gardener LLC, a business development, strategy and leadership/management consulting organization.  He has over 25 years of marketing, management and business development experience. Mr. Fulcher has led projects and divisions for start-up, small and large firms including Colgate-Palmolive and Heinz and has served as CEO of an internet firm leading up to its eventual sale.  He also currently serves in executive advisory role with several startup firms.
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He teaches the NACET Pitch Power training course for entrepreneurs and is Entrepreneur-in-Residence for NACET at the Chandler Innovations incubator.  He is the Co-Director and Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the ASU Innovation Advancement Program mentoring graduate business, engineering and law students as they assist start-up and early stage tech companies with a variety of business operations, strategy and legal issues.  In addition, he lectures on topics including leadership, marketing, strategic business planning, branding and capital formation at Arizona State University, The Thunderbird School of Global Management and the Center for Entrepreneurial Innovation.    He assists clients in all phases of business development and expansion.  During his career, he has held the positions of VP of Marketing, VP of New Business Development, VP of International Development, COO, CEO and Board Member.
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Mr. Fulcher is highly involved in the Arizona community serving currently or formerly on the boards of the Alliance for Entrepreneurial Advancement and Finance, Arizona Angel Investor Network (screening committee), Seraphim Angels (founding team), Arizona Technology Investors (strategic resource advisor for entrepreneurs), Invest Southwest Executive Committee, Venture Madness Judge and Mentor, Arizona Commerce Authority Venture Ready Panelist, Arizona Commerce Authority Arizona Innovation Challenge Judge, WISE™ (Westside Institute for Start-up and Emerging companies Executive Director, WIN (Westside Investor Network) founding team, American Marketing Association Phoenix Chapter, the Economic Club of Phoenix, Enterprise Network, Arizona Zoological Society and Audubon Arizona.  He has also volunteered with the Arizona Centennial Commission, the PKD AZ chapter, ASU’s Venture Catalyst.
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He holds a B.S. in Management from Arizona State University, an MBA in Marketing from the University of Denver and a Global Leadership Certificate from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.  Tom is also a Certified Small Business Counselor and Certified Global Business Professional.  He and his wife, Michelle reside in Cave Creek and own several businesses including Organized Affair LLC (meeting and event management company).

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Steve Messa, Chief Operating Officer of InfluenceLogic

Business Model Secrets: How Companies Succeed at Marketing Through Influencers and Paid Ads

Think about your business model in a new way and learn about specific tactics and successful models that lead to new customer acquisition. Discover how influencers, podcasts, Facebook ads, Google Search, and other mediums and resources can be strategically implemented for greater exposure and increased market share growth. ​

MEET YOUR SPEAKER - READ steve'S BIO HERE

Steve is currently Chief Operating Officer of InfluenceLogic, a performance marketing agency that has driven over $25M in revenue for high growth brands through influencer marketing and paid ads. InfluenceLogic currently has 15 full-time employees and has over 1,000 active partnerships with influencers and content creators ranging from small micro-influencers to some of the largest creators on YouTube and Instagram. 

Steve is passionate about entrepreneurship, media literacy, and helping both youth and adults leverage social media in empowering ways that make a difference in the world. He also serves as a Board Member to two non-profit organizations: The Phoenix-based Homeless I.D. Project that focuses on helping homeless individuals get state-issued identification cards, and Global Force for Healing, an organization that supports midwiferies in remote villages across the world. 

The skills he has attained through entrepreneurship and serving non-profit organizations have given him an ability to bring the visions he holds inside his mind to life quickly and accurately. Over the last two decades, he has learned first-hand that when approaching projects with passion, humility and a positive heart, there are no limits to what individuals can create.

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Zachariah Elliott, Solutions Architect AWS Worldwide Public Sector

Amazon Web Services: Pivoting on the Cloud to Meet Changing Customer Demand

How companies pivoted during the pandemic to create new opportunities and thrive in challenging time by utilizing AWS Cloud technology.
Attend to learn how to innovate your business using AWS cloud services.

MEET YOUR SPEAKER - READ about zachariah HERE

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 175 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers—including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies—are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.

Zachariah (Zach) Elliott is a Solutions Architect with Amazon Web Services. As a Solutions Architect, Zach is focused on helping businesses, both large and small, succeed with innovative cloud platforms and services. Currently working in the EdTech space, his wide range of experience in the healthcare IT field as well as the private sector weather and climate industry provide him with the expertise to utilize the Amazon Web Services platform to better serve his customers.
 
Zach holds a B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Oklahoma and currently resides in Kansas City, MO with his wife and son. In his spare time he enjoys building things with LEGO, 3d Printing, as well as tinkering with cars. He enjoys hiking and camping, as well as off-roading in his Lexus SUV.

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Check out the highlights below from the 2019 annual Startup Connection event.

Thank you to all of our 2019 Startup Connection Sponsors and Partners!

Special thanks to Steve Reese for an amazing and informative Keynote

​September 20 & 21, 2019
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This engaging event consisted of a kick-off reception on Friday, September 20th, and with a keynote speaker, pitch event, and cocktail reception.

Day two’s (Sept 21st) schedule consisted of an interactive day filled with workshops and access to organizations that provide services and assistance to small businesses.

Keynote Speaker Sept 20th: Steve Reese CIO, Information Technology Phoenix Suns

Balance was the 2019 Chandler Pitch Event Winner

Sign-up today and be the first to receive the latest up-to-date event information as it becomes available.