The Seed 2020 Meet Up in Louisville
October 1, 2009
I try to avoid visibility in Louisville, Kentucky. Two of the ArnoldIT.com team and I attended a meet up in Louisville and noticed two things: most of the presenters looked like members of the Norwegian men’s bobsled team and there were not minorities giving talks. Arpan Patel and I then attended a meet up in Washington, DC, the following week. Same experience. This time it was the Swedish men’s hockey team giving talks. What’s wrong with this picture, we asked. The answer was that the events did not have any women-owned or minority-owned businesses and start ups on the program. That struck me and my colleagues as weirdly out of phase with the Obama administration and its efforts to promote diversity and openness.
I concluded that ArnoldIT.com should step forward and make an attempt to showcase women-owned and minority-owned businesses. I decided to fund the event and put two of my top performing geese on the job. The result is Seed2020, a free meet up focused exclusively on showcasing interesting women-owned and minority-owned businesses. The purpose of the meet up is to make contacts, learn about companies, and advance the Obama administration’s vision.
This meet up is on for November 4, 2009. Doors open at the Muhammad Ali Center at 6 pm and everyone is out of the building before 9:01 pm. The program consists of 10 presentations by owners / founders of women owned and minority owned businesses. You can get details at the Web site we set up for the event. The site went live this morning, and we will be adding content as we march toward the event.
The meet up wranglers are members of the ArnoldIT.com team. Constance Ard, a law librarian who has been working as a project manager for ArnoldIT.com for more than a year.
Constance Ard, MLS
And co wrangler is Keisha Mabry, MBA, and a recent graduate of the University of Louisville.
Keisha Mabry, MBA
We have confirmed some folks to give talks; for example, Emeka Akaezuwa, whom we interviewed for our Search Wizards Speak series earlier this year. Dr. Akaezuwa lives in New Jersey and we thought that his giving a talk about his search software company would be useful to the Louisville crowd. He also founded a charity that provides books and computer training to children in Africa. You can read his biography here. Also on the program is Toni Steinhauer, who runs a successful programming and software development company in Louisville. Toni is a graduate of the Speed School’s engineering program. (One of the ArnoldIT.com is an advisor to the University of Louisville’s technology programs, and we have be a strong supporter of the engineering and computer science department’s intern program for many years.)
Emeka Akaezuwa, Gaviri Technologies Inc.
The Web site makes it easy for a woman-owned or minority-owned company to contact Constance and Keisha. Navigate to the “Propose a Talk” page and provide the information we need. We will follow up with you and discuss your submission. If you are not a woman or a minority, you can submit a presentation and we will place those in the pool of speakers.
Here are the details of the free meet up:
When
November 4, 6 pm to 9 pm
Where
Muhammad Ali Center, 114 N. Sixth Street
What
Presentations by local women owned and minority owned
businesses, a guest speaker, and networking opportunity
Why
There is not enough of this type of networking activity in
our opinion. And we want this event to be a way to
make business happen and get ideas flowing
among motivated individuals.
How
Sponsored by Stephen E. Arnold, ArnoldIT.com
Cost
None, free but registration strongly recommended
We do have a sponsor. The Louis T Roth & Co., P LLC, one of the largest regional accounting and professional services firms in the US stepped forward to support this free event. The former managing partner is usually skeptical of Stephen E. Arnold’s ideas, but he said, “This sounds like a great idea. We’re on board.” If you need accounting services in Kentucky or Indiana, ping the Roth outfit.
The organization of the program is designed to facilitate meeting people, networking, and having an opportunity to talk with the people giving six minute “elevator pitches” about their company or start up. Before the crowd is sent home, ArnoldIT.com has donated a new Zune HD which will be awarded to one of the attendees.
If this first program is a success, we want to talk with readers who may want to host a similar event in their city. For more information, navigate to TheSeed2020. Hope to see you at the event.
Stephen Arnold, October 1, 2009
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