LITTLE ROCK STARTUP WEEKEND
Various times. Clinton School of Public Service. $50-$60.
Calling all designers, programmers, creative types, idea men/women. Little Rock Startup Weekend is the latest event aimed at fostering Arkansas's tech startup scene.
It's pretty straightforward and, like a lot of entrepreneurial-focused special events, fast-paced: Over a weekend, participants meet and mingle, pitch startup ideas, form teams around the best ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then work furiously to flesh out those ideas into something that looks like a workable business model by the time 5 p.m. Sunday rolls around, when it's time for teams to present their startups.
Judges, including Stone Ward's Millie Ward, the ARK Challenge's Jeannette Balleza and start-up guru Jeff Amerine, will pick the best of the bunch and award thousands of dollars worth of prizes. Organizer Max Farrell, who's a community builder for the innovative Iowa-based online payment system Dwolla (and whose name should be familiar to longtime To-Do List readers as Little Rock rapper Maxx), said, "Arkansas is at the point where the community is excited about entrepreneurship and excited about technology. I hope Startup Weekend can be a bridge between people who're doing things and people who want to do things."
Registration for designers and programmers is still open. Registration cost goes up $10 after Thursday. The presentations and awards ceremony, which begins 5 p.m. Sunday, is open to the public. Register and see more info here.