Summer may be flying by, but things aren't slowing down on the networking front. And this week provides the perfect proof: With a ton of startup and tech events around Boston, the only dilemma is figuring out which ones you can squeeze into your schedule. Whether you're an entrepreneur eager for tips on crowdfunding, a techie interested in learning more on the robotics industry, or you just want to grab a beer with some fellow design geeks, we've got your covered.
Without further ado, here are our top picks for this week's meetups:
Monday, July 20
"Startups and Family Life: An Honest Conversation with Local Influencers” — Think startups and a thriving family life don’t mix? There are plenty of local leaders who can prove otherwise. Join BeConnections for an open, honest conversation where panelists will share their stories, answer audience questions, and reveal the top contributing factors that enabled them to take their companies and families to the next level. Speakers include Workbar cofounder Bill Jacobson; Bobbie Carlton, founder Mass Innovation Nights and Carlton PR & Marketing; and Artur Sousa, Executive Director of Krash. Did we mention free drinks and food, including Georgetown cupcakes? Register here.
Tech Playground + Boston Olympics 2024 @ THE N.E.R.D — Tech Playground is hosting The Boston 2024 Panel at The Microsoft N.E.R.D Center for a unique event that will allow attendees a chance to be in the driver’s seat, shaping the future of the Olympic Games in Boston. Food and beverages will be provided, and everyone—from business owners and residents to current students—are welcome. Register here.
Tuesday, July 21
JustiServ Online Legal Chat — Startups with legal questions can log on to get answers during this online event, hosted by local startup JustiServ. Lawyers will be chatting for free entrepreneurs and small business owners about anything they might want to know. The event will go live here from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
IDB Ideas: Robotics — This new speaker series co-hosted by the Innovation and Design Building and MassChallenge focuses on the intersection of design, technology, and innovation in a variety of fields. The second installment will focus on robotics, with leaders in the space sharing their perspective on the current state of the industry as well as the future. Guest speakers include The Boston Globe’s Scott Kirsner, Vecna co-founder and CTO Daniel Theobald, MIT roboticist Sampriti Bhattacharyya, and Holly Yanco, Director of the UMass Lowell Robotics Lab. Register here.
Startup Institute Boston Summer 2015 Open Doors Celebration – Join the Startup Institute’s program director, alumni, current students, hiring partners, and other members of the tech community for an evening of reuniting, making new connections, and just having fun. The bash is being held at Central Bistro in Downtown Crossing, and drinks and light snacks will be served. Register here.
Designers + Geeks Boston Social Mixer — Head to this mixer at Meadhall to enjoy some brews and good conversation. The hosts have partnered with the digital currency startup Circle, which will be buying everyone a few drinks. Register here.
Wednesday, July 22
Creative Somerville Series: Relish Management — For this iteration of the series, Mimi Graney and MaryCat Chaikin of Relish—a project management and consulting firm for placemaking, food-based & creative economy initiatives—will be giving a fireside chat about their exciting upcoming projects. Relish partners with municipalities, developers, and community organizations to plan, create and manage neighborhood activation projects including markets, collaborative work spaces, and public art, and they’re responsible for the ever-popular Fluff Festival. Check-in and grab a beer in Aeronaut's taproom at 7 p.m. ahead of the talk. Register here.
Nailing Your Kickstarter Campaign — So you have a product, but you’re not sure if it will do well on a crowdfunding platforms? Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer an awesome opportunity to test proof of concept, validate your idea, and take customer pre-orders, but there are a lot of challenges involved to ensuring the campaign is a success. This Meetup at WeWork South Station will cover preparing for the campaign, sustaining traction throughout and maintaining momentum after you launch. Panelists include Dave Laituri, co-founder of OneHundred; Jocelyn Hallstein, co-founder of Brass Clothing; Jonathan Marcus, founder at Neverdro; and Allison Daroie, founder of Paridaez. RSVP here.
“Data Curation at Scale: The Data Tamer System” — At the 9th annual MITCDIQ Symposium, Tamr co-founder and CTO Mike Stonebraker, who also serves as an adjunct professor at MIT CSAIL, will deliver the keynote presentation on tackling data curation. Professor Stonebraker, an adjunct professor at MIT CSAIL, will challenge the conventional wisdom: that scalable data curation can be achieved with incrementally better versions of traditional curation approaches (such as ETL or Master Data Management) or with machine learning/intelligence alone, and describe a new approach, demonstrating show how businesses are benefiting from it in big pharma, financial services, information services and manufacturing. Register here.
Thursday, July 23
Transparency Talks — Raising money definitely isn’t easy, even after you've started and sold a company. At this event, Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner and Streetwise Media/VENTUREAPP co-founder Chase Garbarino will have an open discussion about about those challenges and how the process can feel for entrepreneurs, as well as what the hardship in raising funding means for the Boston ecosystem. Register here.
Refresh Boston: Creating an Inclusive Culture in Tech — Head over to General Assembly to join Refresh Boston for an evening of networking and conversation with Brianna Wu, head of development at Giant Spacekat, around inclusiveness in tech. The discussion will cover how to create inclusive workplaces, women in tech and also Wu’s latest projects. Refreshments will be served. Register here.
For next week:
Monday, July 27
MassChallenge 1st Annual Golf Tournament — MassChallenge friends and startups are invited for an afternoon on the links in Norton, with all proceeds benefiting the $1 million in annual prize money awarded to accelerator’s startups. The tournament format is a scramble, so players of all levels are invited to join and compete for prizes like a super bowl trip, autographed sports memorabilia and gift cards to local restaurants. There are two ways to get involved: hole sponsorship (greens fees for two at TPC Boston, naming rights to hole, table at hole, promotional branding for your company, and a shout-out on stage) or a twosome (greens fees for two at TPC Boston, gift bag, and merchandise credit). Grab tickets here.
Photo via Creative Somerville.