SSTI's Intro to TBED Preconference Workshop Sold Out

Seats Available for Developing Angel Organizations, Financing TBED Workshops

Despite increasing the number of seats available by nearly 50 percent, SSTI is forced to close registration for the full-day preconference workshop, An Introduction to Tech-based Economic Development. Because of the workshop's interactive design, attendance is always capped for this perennial favorite. SSTI will maintain a short waiting list (via the online registration form) in the event of any cancellations. Only people registered for the full conference on October 21-22 will be accepted on the waiting list for the pre-conference session.

The remaining two preconference offerings are designed to accommodate larger audiences so seats remain available in each.

SSTI preconference workshops are developed to provide more intensive consideration of a particular topic or issue than can be afforded in the full conference. This year, SSTI examines two timely and critical issues of importance to the technology-based economic development (TBED) community — developing local angel networks and financing TBED in times of economic uncertainty.

Developing Angel Organizations: A Practical Guide

Angel investors, often receiving little press, have provided significant financing of entrepreneurial companies. Experts estimate that, on a cumulative basis, angel investments have been double that of venture capital over the last 30 years. Angels also are financing start-up and early-stage businesses, filling a void left by venture capitalists. In short, angels recognize opportunity exists even in a risk-averse market and are putting up their money as proof, but can they be found or nurtured just anywhere?

Presented by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, this half-day workshop will focus on the development of angel organizations, including a step-by-step process for determining whether or not your community can support an angel organization and, if it can, the organizational type and structure that is right for the involved investors and your community. ($75 registration fee; held the afternoon of Oct. 20, 1:00 - 4:30 pm)

Financing TBED: New Times, New Strategies

What alternate sources of funding are best? Earmarks? Foundations? EDA funds? Private contributions? Should you privatize? Where do you start?

It can all be a bit intimidating, but after too many rounds of across-the-board cuts, your program's effectiveness could start to bleed. In this intensive full-day session, we'll look at the pros and cons, dos and don'ts, nuances and intricacies of incorporating non-state and alternative state finances into your TBED funding portfolio. We'll draw on the expertise of foundation leaders who have put millions into TBED programs, organizations that can tell the story of securing Congressional earmarks, a lobbyist disclosing how to work with and win over elected officials, and an EDA insider and EDA grant recipients on the process for gaining EDA funding.

Perhaps your TBED program will be one of the lucky ones that escapes the double impact of record federal deficits and the bleak forecast for the states' 2004 fiscal situation. A safer bet is, given the continuing fiscal crisis, if your TBED effort isn't exploring alternate sources of funding, it will be soon. ($175 registration fee; full day, including lunch on Oct. 20, 9:00 - 4:30 pm)

All three preconference workshops will be held Monday, October 20 at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront. SSTI's annual conference will begin the next day at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center across the street. More information, including the registration form, is available at: http://www.ssti.org/conference03.htm [expired]