LUNCH WITH THE SOURCE - Tupelo | Before You Press Send
2020-02-19 11:30 - 12:30 (America/Chicago) | Community Development Foundation, 398 East Main Street, Tupelo, MS, United States
Description from the Source: Many professionals today tend to multitask with email. Any emailed correspondence bearing your name must be absolutely error-free. Even a careless mistake in an email can damage a leader’s reputation and make an entire workgroup look bad. Solutions lie in this fast-moving interactive lunch-and-learn targeted for anyone responsible for overseeing outgoing correspondence and email throughout the business day.

Participants will learn:

* The top seven credibility-robbing email mistakes and how to avoid them
* The importance of a complete email subject line—and how to write one consistently every time
* How to get a grip on your inbox with a few email management tips
* How to make sure your e-messages are absolutely error-free with no embarrassing typos or mistakes
* BONUS: You’ll walk away with three tangible writing tools you can use immediately back at the office.

NOTE: Membership in The Source is required. Click here for more info.

LUNCH WITH THE SOURCE - Desoto | Before You Press Send
2020-02-20 11:30 - 12:30 | 1 Memphis Street, 2467 Memphis Street, Hernando, MS, United States

The MENT Event
2020-02-28 - 2020-02-29 | The Lyric Theater, 1006 Van Buren Ave, Oxford, Mississippi, 38655
What is MENT?
Ment is a conference for the modern woman looking to construct her own future & career.
What will I experience at MENT?
Our panelists and one-to-one mentors will address and talk through issues holding women back and how to overcome them.
From forming an LLC & learning how to use QuickBooks, to digital/social media marketing & approaching influencers – attendees will walk away from our time together prepped with valuable business understanding & skills.
Attendees will also experience opportunities for less formal social events with panelists and other attendees. Sip complimentary cocktails with like-minded women and open the door for collaborations, mentorships and overall networking.

Webinar: Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
2020-03-26 18:00 - 19:30
Please join us on March 26, 2020, at 6 pm for the Economic Injury Disaster Loans Seminar.
The Entrepreneur and Innovation Center
Mississippi Development Authority
Whitney Jackson
Date and Time: March 26, 2020 from 6:00p to 7:30p
Presenters:

Mitch McDowell – Host
Nancy McKee – Presenter
Jon Zieren – Presenter
Derek Stephens – Presenter

Please register in advance for this meeting: https://olemiss.zoom.us/meeting/register/v5cof-6rqj0jVIvwVlNZ9TAarazKLD5r4A
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Note: We will be sending out registration invitations to those attendees who registered for last night’s presentation. Feel free to forward this email, capacity for registration is limited to 300 attendees so make sure to go ahead and get registered.

2020 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum
2020-04-02 - 2020-04-03 | Vicksburg Convention Center, 1600 Mulberry Street, Vicksburg, MS, 39180, United States
The 2020 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum will be held Thursday and Friday, April 2-3, 2020 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. The event will bring together leading entrepreneurs, economic developers, innovators, and future business owners to learn more about the current entrepreneurial climate and the future of entrepreneurship in Mississippi.
For the first time, the MEF will host a Student Business Pitch Competition that will take place on April 2, 2020.
Sponsored by the University of Mississippi’s McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, the event is part of the Catalyzing Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) initiative which is funded from a generous financial gift from the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation. Now in its sixth year, the Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum will provide working opportunities for aspiring business owners and thriving entrepreneurs to share practical and immediately useful information about building a business.
Additionally, attendees will hear best practices of successful case studies and learn more about resources and strategies available to entrepreneurs from institutions of higher education in Mississippi and other key organizations.
Panels on technology and innovation, student entrepreneurship, and the state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem also will be conducted on April 3, 2020.
Previous Forums have been held in Clarksdale, Tupelo, Greenwood, Oxford, and Jackson.
MEF planning committee members include Allyson Best (University of Mississippi); Tasha Bibb (Innovate Mississippi); John Brandon (Mississippi College); Dr. Marty Brock (Mississippi University for Women); Ty Durham (Millsaps College); Saundra McFarland (Jackson State University); Janice Karcher (ERDCWERX); Dr. JR Love (University of Mississippi); Nash Nunnery (Mississippi Development Authority); Dr. Sheriece Robinson (Mississippi Community College Board); Jeffrey Rupp (Mississippi State University); Will Tabor (Mississippi Community College Board); James Wilcox (University of Southern Mississippi), and Dr. Glendscene Williams (Delta State University).
For more information about the 2020 Mississippi Entrepreneurship Forum, please go to meforum.olemiss.edu, or contact JR Love at jrlove@olemiss.edu or Tasha Bibb at tbibb@innovate.ms.

Magnolia JS Event
2020-04-15 - 2020-04-16 | Jackson Convention Complex, 105 E. Pascagoula Street, Jackson, MS, 39201, United States
Last year was our inaugural year for MagnoliaJS, and it was amazing. Planned in only 2 months, we still had 130+ attendees and top-tier speakers who flew in from all around the country to take part.
This year we are returning to continue our mission of growing the developer community in Mississippi and putting Mississippi “on the map” in tech.
Another novel thing about MagnoliaJS – everything is planned in public! You can always see our todos in our GitHub repo.
Speakers (more to be announced soon)

Nashlie Sephus, Amazon / The Bean Path – (@nashlie_s)
Jay Phelps – (@_jayphelps)
Tejas Kumar, G2i (@TejasKumar_)
Kayla Sween (@_KaylaSween)
Nader Dabit, AWS Mobile – (@dabit3)
Chris Ball, Echobind – (@cball_)
Tyler Clark – (@iamtylerwclark)
Michael Liendo, John Deere – (@mtliendo)
Chris DeMars, Tuft & Needle – (@saltnburnem)
Justin Samuels – (@ThugDebugger)

Additional Speakers
Additional speakers will be announced soon!

Technology Finds a Way! MSTUG 8th Annual Technology Expo - April 22, 2020 - REGISTRATION OPEN!
2020-04-22 09:00 - 15:00 | MS TradeMart, 1200 Mississippi Street, Jackson, MS, 39202, United States
On behalf of the officers and members of the Mississippi Technology User Group (MSTUG), I am pleased to announce registration is open for our annual Technology Expo for 2020. The date is Wednesday, April 22nd at the Mississippi Trade Mart in Jackson, MS from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. This year’s theme is based on Jurassic Park/Jurassic World™ – “Technology Finds a Way.” We are encouraging vendors to decorate their booths with this dinosaur park theme in mind. This will be a competition and the attendees will vote on the best themed booth throughout the day. There will be a prize awarded!

Outbound Sales Strategies for Challenging Times
2020-04-29 12:00 - 13:00
Learn outbound sales strategies and tactics that will land your business more sales meetings with ideal prospects during these uncertain times.
Innovate Mississippi is launching a series of webinars for startups and small businesses. Join us Wednesday, April 29, 11:00AM-12:00PM for the first webinar in this series featuring Jonathan Sellers.
Jonathan is CEO and Founder of Spark Outbound, a digital marketing agency focused on helping startups, B2B businesses and franchises build efficient and scalable lead generation programs. Throughout his career, Jonathan has led digital marketing programs for companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. He’s taken those combined experiences to help Spark Outbound clients identify and implement digital marketing strategies and tactics that will provide maximum impact to their bottom lines.
Register here >>

Connect Online - Virtual Networking
2020-05-07 16:30 - 18:30
Join us Thursday, May 7 from 4:30 to 6:30 for CONNECT fully remote. Like our previous CONNECT gatherings, this is an opportunity for entrepreneurs, mentors, and innovation ecosystem leaders to network while staying within the CDC’s recommended guidelines for social distancing.
We hope to continue our monthly CONNECT gatherings at Cultivation Food Hall in June, but for now, grab your favorite drink and join us from home. We hope to see you there!
The event is FREE, but registration is required.

Finding Top Tech Talent For Your Startup: Dr. Nashlie Sephus
2020-05-13 10:00 - 11:00
Join us for a chat with Dr. Nashlie Sephus to discuss how to find and hire a good Chief Technology Officer for your early-stage startup and how to navigate the CEO/CTO relationship. She’ll also answer your questions about building your base of technical talent for your organization.

Raising Capital in a Pandemic: Mike Morgan
2020-05-27 11:00 - 12:00
Raising capital as a start-up CEO or founder can be challenging. Distracting. Time-consuming. And that was before COVID-19 changed the economic landscape. Mike Morgan will discuss how to start and continue conversations with angel investors about raising capital during these times of uncertainty.

Optimizing Your Brand - Natalie Sharma
2020-06-10 11:00 - 12:00
Learn how to assess and consolidate your existing marketing and brand assets and turn them into an efficient visual system that scales with you, your team, and your business.

Webinar: Securing your Data without Sacrificing Convenience
2020-08-19 11:00 - 12:00
Brent Upton of Upton Technologies presents this webinar for entrepreneurs and organizations securing your data.
Securing your data and communications in this current environment is more important than ever. Join us to learn ways to ensure your business is productive while remaining safe from cyber-threats.
Register here >>

Procuring Technology for Your Business
2020-09-02 11:00 - 12:00
Carrie Goetz of StrategITcom presents a special webinar on procuring technology for the Innovate Mississippi entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Join us for a robust discussion on procurement strategies for purchasing technical solutions to support and/or run your business. Starting down the wrong path with the wrong technology can hinder your business and not provide the results that you expect. This webinar will discuss the RFI process, including authoring, evaluating, finding the best solution, benefits of using a broker or outsider, due diligence, and the iterative processes that follow. We will also discuss the buzzwords in tech right now and why they may or may not be relevant to a new business.

Register now >>

Global Oceans 2020: A Virtual Conference
2020-10-05 - 2020-10-30
Announcing: Global OCEANS 2020
A Virtual Conference combining OCEANS Gulf Coast and OCEANS Singapore
October 5-30, 2020
The Marine Technology Society and the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society partner to present OCEANS, and this prestigious conference and exhibition draws an audience of more than 2,000 attendees. OCEANS is the bi-annual event for global marine technologists, engineers, students, government officials, scientists, and advocates. This year, amid the COVID19 pandemic, the two conferences will combine and provide a comprehensive, single, virtual conference.
Join us as we highlight maritime science and technology, as well as bring you updates on the latest industrial, academic, federal, and global innovations.
Submit your abstract for the technical program by June 29!
Global OCEANS 2020 will feature:

Presentations of professionally reviewed technical papers from across the globe
Locally focused special sessions, town halls, and panels from each locale
Plenary sessions with leaders from industry, academia, the military, and government
Virtual exhibit hall and demos
A virtual student poster session and competition, with outstanding projects from around the world
The new Young Professionals Program
Tutorials and Workshops

Click here to register.

The Bowlmmercial Webinar
2021-02-10 10:30 - 23:30
Down…set….ADVERTISE!
100 million people in the United States gather around their screens for Super Sunday. While the game may be entertaining, and the halftime shows may keep getting more scandalous, the real action occurs in the breaks. Brands spend MILLIONS of dollars for a few seconds of airtime during the big game.
Join us for Bowlmmercial, where we break down the X’s and O’s of some of the most prominent big game ads, and discuss how lessons from these big spenders can be applied to entrepreneurs looking to market their own businesses.
Bowlmmercial, brought to you by Innovate Mississippi, and MWB, a Creative Company. A webinar coming to you Wednesday, February 10th.

The Frontier 2021: Industrial Innovation Conference
2021-04-12 - 2021-04-14
In 2018, over 200 innovation leaders representing 130 organizations from 20 states and 5 countries 17 major industrial disciplines attended. The next edition of The Frontier Conference 2021 is scheduled for April 12-14, 2021 in Birmingham, Ala., engaging an even wider spectrum of disciplines shaping the future of the industrial world.

Connect - Networking for Entrepreneurs
2021-04-26 16:30 - 2021-05-06 18:30 | Cultivation Food Hall, 1200 Eastover Dr Suite 125, Jackson, 39211, United States
CONNECT is an opportunity for entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and anyone interested in entrepreneurship and innovation to network and form meaningful relationships. Cash Bar and plenty of food options will be available for you to purchase while you mingle.

Your health and safety are very important to us and we will continue to monitor the CDC’s guidelines for safe gatherings. Cultivation Food Hall asks that customers wear a mask while entering the building, ordering food/beverages or moving throughout the venue. You will have the option to move your conversations outside and bring your food/beverages with you if you would like to spread out. We will also have disposable masks and hand sanitizer available for attendees. We understand if you are not yet comfortable with in-person gatherings, but we hope these precautions will help you feel safe and eager to gather together again.

Connecting Women in Business Symposium by Mississippi District Export Council
2021-05-27 11:30 - 13:00 | Online Workshop
Sponsored by the Mississippi District Export Council and hosted by Connecting Mississippi Women in Business
$25
The Port of Gulfport presents
Magie Cook
Magie Cook is known for meteoric rise from an orphan in Mexico to a business mogel whose salsa brand sold to Campbell’s for over 200 million dollars.
Magie’s company has been mentioned and featured on: CNN, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, USA Today, ABC, CBS, The Washington Post, Fox News, Kiplinger, Daystar, among many others.
As an author and professional speaker, she inspires teams, organizations, and leaders to reach their full potential and break the barriers that prevent them from reaching their ultimate goals. She delivers 50+ keynotes annually on leadership, business development and professional development.
Learn More & Register!

CONNECT
2021-06-03 16:30 - 18:30, 2021-07-01 16:30 - 18:30, 2021-08-05 16:30 - 18:30 | Cultivation Food Hall, 1200 Eastover Dr Suite 125, Jackson, 39211, United States
Join us for CONNECT: Networking for Entrepreneurs

CONNECT is an opportunity for entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and anyone interested in entrepreneurship and innovation to network and form meaningful relationships. CONNECT is held the first Thursday of every month from 4:30 -6:30 at the Cultivation Food Hall in The District, Jackson, MS. Cash Bar and plenty of food options will be available for you to purchase while you mingle.

Please RSVP. We hope to see you there!

For questions, contact Crystal McCann at cmccann@innovate.ms.

The Bean Path Tech Office Hours
2021-06-12 12:30 - 13:30 | Online Webinar
Creating Multiple Income Streams
This month The Bean Path is speaking to engineer, artist and writer Warn Wilson about his new book Brown Money and creating multiple income streams! If you want to start generating revenue from different sources but need guidance on how to begin, tune in to learn more.
Register Now!

Overcoming Structural Barriers for Women in Entrepreneurship: A Virtual Workshop
2021-06-21 - 2021-06-22 | Online Workshop
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will host a dynamic virtual workshop on June 21-22, 2021 to explore the current structural barriers driving the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs across science, technology, engineering, and medical (STEMM) industries and strategies to overcome these barriers. The focus of the workshop will not be on “fixing the women”, but rather, on fixing the structural inequities contributing to the underrepresentation of women in entrepreneurship. The two-day workshop will bring together experts and leaders to identify promising practices for advancing aspiring and current women entrepreneurs and provide insights on how stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem can address various systemic barriers facing women entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.
Register Now!

Exchange MEDC Annual Conference
2021-07-07 - 2021-07-09 | Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino, 875 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS, 39530, United States
Exchange 2021 will focus on how we can build resilient communities, spark community transformation, influence policy and propel job growth through networking, professional training and leadership development.
Plan to join us July 7 through July 9 at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi for a diverse line-up of speakers, topics and events. MEDC is working to ensure this is a safe and valuable experience that will contribute to the growth of Mississippi together.
Learn More!

The Mentor Lounge Sponsored By Jones Walker
2021-07-22 | Online Workshop
Innovate Mississippi hosts a quarterly Virtual Mentor Lounge, sponsored by Jones Walker. The next event will be held July 22. Entrepreneurs can schedule one-on-one, 20-minute meetings with serial entrepreneurs, experienced business leaders, and subject matter experts. Email Tasha Bibb at tbibb@innovate.ms to scheduled your one-on-one conversation.

Opportunity Machine - D.I.Y. Marketing Series: For the entrepreneur who does it all
2021-08-11 11:30 - 12:45 | Online Workshop
Join Opportunity Machine virtually on Zoom on Wednesdays from 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM CST. This event is completely FREE to attend, however, registration is required.
8/11 – Build Your Brand from the Ground Up with Jaci Russo, PCM, Brand State U
Build Your Brand from the Ground Up: Branding just happens. How people think of you – your brand, your reputation – is built based on this compilation of interactions. Each one of these interactions – which we call touchpoints – has the chance to make or break your brand. But, your brand doesn’t have to be happenstance. You can be intentional in how you build your brand, and when you do the right things, with purpose, you will build a brand that will be very successful.
Learn More and Register.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Business & Tech Expo
2021-08-13 08:00 - 16:00 | Beau Rivage Hotel and Casino, 875 Beach Blvd, Biloxi, MS, 39530, United States
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce Business & Tech Expo will feature educational sessions to enhance your business. This year’s Business & Tech Expo will be on Friday, August 13, at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino! Breakfast will feature the One Coast Awards presentation and lunch will feature keynote speaker Dr. Nashlie Sephus.

Dr. Nashlie H. Sephus is the Tech Evangelist for Amazon AI focusing on fairness and identifying biases at AWS AI. She formerly led the Amazon Visual Search team in Atlanta, which launched visual search for replacement parts on the Amazon Shopping app in June 2018. In 2018, Dr. Sephus became the founder and CEO of The Bean Path non-profit organization based in Jackson, MS assisting individuals and startups with technical expertise and guidance. In September of 2020, she became the owner and developer of the Jackson Tech District-14 acres of mixed-use commercial real-estate in downtown Jackson to bring tech training and workforce/economic development to the area.

To sponsor or purchase tickets, click here to complete your order form. Questions? Call 228-604-0014.

Digital Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses
2021-08-14 12:30 - 13:30 | Online Workshop
Hosted by The Bean Path
This month we’re speaking to communications strategist Theresa Kennedy about generating more awareness for your brand online.
If you’re a small business owner, freelancer or digital marketer, be sure to tune in.
See you then!
Click here to register and learn more.

Opportunity Machine - D.I.Y. Marketing Series: For the entrepreneur who does it all
2021-08-18 11:30 - 12:45 | Online Workshop
Join Opportunity Machine virtually on Zoom on Wednesdays from 11:30 AM – 12:45 PM CST. This event is completely FREE to attend, however, registration is required.
8/18 – Which Marketing Strategies Work Best For You? with Destin Ortego, Executive Director, Opportunity Machine
Which Marketing Strategies Work Best For You?: From targeting blogs to content marketing, this session will review the nineteen marketing channels small businesses can use to gain traction and grow their customer base. Join Destin as he explains how to utilize the Bullseye Method, originally defined by Gabriel Winberg and Justin Mares in Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth.
Learn More and Register.
