Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

The agenda has been released for next month’s “The Maker City Summit” which kicks off the annual Innov865 Week, and it is jam-packed with content.

After the opening social on the evening of September 8, programming begins at 9 a.m. EDT on September 9 at the Maker Exchange in the World’s Fair Park with a welcome by Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon followed by a keynote presentation by Thomas “Detour” Evans on creative motivation and adaptation.

The balance of September 9 includes:

• An 11 a.m. EDT panel on the “Business of Making” that will be moderated by Chris McAdoo of the Knoxville Entrepreneurship Center and featuring Haseeb Qureshi of Forthlaw PLLC; Adrienne Webster of AOW Tax & Accounting; Damon Rawls of the Innovation Digital Agency; and Gina Lisenby of Revelation Road LLC.
• Lunch at 12 noon EDT.
• A series of one-hour breakout sessions in the early afternoon on topics like (1) “Pricing for Your Audience and for Your Worth” with Georgia Vogel of Honeymouth; (2) “The Art of Teaching: Practical Skills for Leading Successful
  Workshops” featuring Victoria Walsh of Craft Appalachia; (3) “Save Your Sanity and Your Social” with Kristen Combs of Saw This Did That and Visit Knoxville; (4) “Visual Story Telling Through Product Photography” with Taryn Ferro of Aw, Snap Photography; (5) “Grant Opportunities for Individual Artists” featuring Liza Zenni of the Arts & Culture Alliance; and (6) “How to Make A Living as a Performing Artist” led by Hannah Houser of HH Creative and Casey Fox of the Big Ears Festival.
• Formal programming wraps up for the day with a general session led by Jes and Wes Breitenbach of Crown Upholstery. It is titled “The Baby Needs New Shoes (Scaling and Seeing The Potential of Your Business). It will be followed by another social event at 4 p.m. EDT.

Programming on September 10 includes:

• Three breakout sessions at 9 a.m. EDT. They are (1) “Lights, Camera, Action: How to Use Video Marketing to Boost Your Business” featuring Jessica Carr of Girls Gotta Eat Good; (2) “Preparing for Markets” led by Jose “Jackie” Calabres of Calabres Gallery of Arts; and (3) “Selling Wholesale” with Frog Greishaw of Frog Juice Kombucha.
• A 10 a.m. EDT panel of “Maker Marketing” moderated by Judith Rosenberg, Director of Client Engagement, The Thought Bureau, and featuring: (1) Jade Adams of Oglewood Avenue; (2) Frances King, Owner & Editor of The Scout Guide Knoxville; and (3) Ryan Lee, Senior Manager, Strategy & Account Planning, at DesignSensory.
• An 11 a.m. EDT general session on “How to ‘Make’ Time” led by Samantha Lane of Origami Day.
• After another lunch at 12 noon EDT, the afternoon follows with three breakout sessions at 1 p.m. EDT. They are: (1) “The Brand Experience: Telling your Story” featuring Brent Thompson of Sugarlands Distilling; (2) “Financing for Small Business” with Shanna Browning of First Century Bank; and (3) “It’s Not About You, It Never Was (Community Building)” led by Tanika Harper of Harper’s Naturals and the Shora Foundation.
• The formal programming concludes with a keynote address at 2 p.m. EDT by Natalie Franke of the Rising Tide Society and author of the HoneyBook blog. The title of her presentation is “Get Gutsy: Creating with Courage.” After she finishes, there will be a brief summit wrap-up.

Registration is $85 per person. To do so, click here.

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