As you may know, toward the end of last year, we started thinking about what Innovation Breakfast was and could become.
A little history — Innovation Breakfast is the little cousin of Mass Innovation Nights. Innovation Nights are a network of free monthly product launch parties and networking events that leverage social media to help promote new products. Mass Innovation Nights, the Boston region Innovation Nights event series, attracts several hundred attendees every month and generate hundreds of tweets, blog posts, Likes, LinkedIn posts, online pictures and videos.
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For the second year we held our Innovation Potluck event at the Venture Cafe in the Cambridge Innovation Center with the help of the Venture Cafe team and sponsored by McCarter & English LLP who sprang for the main dish — giant 6 foot subs. (We brought the meatballs in our signature crock pot — every Potluck needs a crock pot.)
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As we all know, December is a tough month for events — lots going on! (Check out our Innovation Potluck and this month’s Mass Innovation Nights event.) So, not that we can stop you from swinging by Cafe on the Common and hanging with the other Java-heads but we’ll be at the Social Good 2.0 and the Minute to Win it events.
We’re retooling Innovation Breakfast for 2012 — so far suggestions range from:
What do you think? Ideas?
Every week, Bobbie Carlton, one of the founders of Mass Innovation Nights, hosts Innovation Breakfast. On October 14, 2011 she’ll be hosting a special Innovation Breakfast at Studio Crossings where she’ll talk about what you can do to make your Mass Innovation Nights product launch more effective.
Making the Most of Mass Innovation Nights
Thinking about launching with Mass Innovation Nights? In the queue for a future event? Come learn what works and what doesn’t. Not planning on a Mass Innovation Nights launch? Come anyway and hear how you can use a combination of social media marketing, traditional marketing and public relations to make your product launch even better.
Studio Crossings, 14 Spring Street, Waltham, MA, is right around the corner from our usual hangout at Cafe on the Common.
Earlier this week I attended the inaugural “Building a Better Commonwealth” event at the beautifully refurbished Paramount theater downtown – search for items tagged #BetterMA for more details. The event focused on getting Gen Y to stick around and contribute to the state’s economic momentum.
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This is the second year of the MassChallenge competition and the second year the Innovation Nights team has been an official endorser. (Full disclosure: we’re also entered into the competition for the same reasons we suggested other startups check it out — no strings attached money, free office space for several months if you get to be a finalist, and wonderful access to mentors and resources. Since Bobbie held office hours last year and worked with several of the finalists on their marketing programs, it seemed fitting we should give it a try. Hey, it would be nice to have a designated desk.)
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Last week’s Innovation Breakfast was a great opportunity to observe the breadth of the local innovation community. We had a student and an experienced entrepreneur sitting side-by-side, talking startups.
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I always say that if no one else shows up for Innovation Breakfast, I’ll at least be able to get some work done. Hasn’t happened yet.
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Every week, the Innovation Nights newsletter comes out with our 3-5 picks for the top events (not always the biggest) of the coming week or events coming up that you may need to register for in advance. This listing is one of our contributions to the area’s innovation economy. Two of the most common questions we get are “Where do you get event information?” and “What are the best networking events in Boston?” While we often get emails directly from event organizers, here’s how you can find out what’s happening in the Boston market on your own.
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Even though we had a nice little convivial group at Innovation Breakfast this morning, I think we spent more time talking about the previous evening’s Innovation Potluck, held at the Venture Cafe in Cambridge’s Kendall Square.
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It’s the morning after Thanksgiving and we’re anticipating a quiet Innovation Breakfast. Those who are not still in a turkey-induced food coma are either out hitting the stores for Black Friday or spending time with family. I hope. So we’ll use this time to provide a little holiday warmth and cheer — either early for Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas — or late for Thanksgiving. We’re especially thankful for:
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A coffee bar that is…
The weekly Friday Innovation Breakfasts have been continuing at the Cafe on the Common in Waltham. Last week we had about a dozen people, including some folks from SCVNGR, a Twitter friend from the UK and a couple of entrepreneurs and marketing folks. The SCVNGR team made an instant impression by handing out sunglasses. (Our chosen coffee house really needs shades at certain times of the day.)
This week was a smaller group and proved that even the most diverse crew can make connections. A web-based entrepreneur, a project manager, a developer (of housing, not websites) and a marketer. Good conversations ensued with cards and information/knowledge exchanged all around. What is it about these casual conversations that are so fruitful when the participants have so little in common?
