How to Find the Best Events in the Boston Startup Scene

Since diving into the tech and entrepreneurship community in Boston, I've attended many, many events. Lectures, workshops, mixers, conferences, classes, pitch parties -- you name it. Some of these have been incredibly informative, helpful, even inspiring.

There's always something exciting going on in this city, and you don't want to be struck with FOMO.

How do I find out about these great startup events? I thought I'd share my sources and recommend some of my favorite can't-miss meetups.

Where to Find Boston Startup Events

 

Eventbrite

The majority of events in the innovation community are listed in Eventbrite.  Many of them are free, and you can even filter your search results to show only free events (which is great when you're a starving founder). You can search by date, location, and of course, topic. I recommend you skim the search results from the following keywords:

• tech
• startup
• entrepreneur
• founder
• pitch
• business
• innovation
• coding
• developer
• hack

Of course, if you're looking for a more specific, niche event, go for narrower keywords and phrases, ex., "women tech," "UX design," "content marketing," etc., depending on your interests.

 

Meetup

Another source of discovering worthwhile events is Meetup.com. 

Again, I recommend searching the list of keywords above to find groups that might be of interest to you. Once you join a few groups, Meetup will suggest similar groups that you might like. Some groups are open to join with a click; some require you fill out some information about yourself first, and still others require admin permission. In your email settings, you can get alerts about new events added by your groups, so you never miss a thing.

Some Meetups I'm a part of:

• Greater Boston Startup Culture Meetup
• Startup Cafe Boston
• Boston New Technology Meetup Group
• Boston Startup Founder 101
• Boston TechBreakfast
• Boston Women-Led startups Meetup
• WeWork Boston Events
• Boston Entrepreneur ThinkTank

 

Coworking Spaces

WeWork, Workbar, and Cambridge Innovation Center are three of the top coworking space franchises in greater Boston. Part of what makes them great is that they often host community events that are free and open to the public.

WeWork - an international coworking space franchise. You can browse events on their event page by filtering for city:Boston. Of course, there's also the Meetup group listed above.

Workbar - currently has 2 locations, one in Central Square, Cambridge and one near South Station in Boston. Check out event listings on their website or sign up for their email newsletter.

Cambridge Innovation Center - currently has 2 locations, one in Kendall Square, Cambridge at one on Milk St, Boston. Check the CIC blog for a weekly blog post by Geoff Mamlet about upcoming public events hosted by the CIC.

 

Mass Innovation Nights Email List

Mass Innovation Nights is the brain-child of innovation guru and marketer extraordinaire Bobbie Carlton. The monthly MassInno events themselves are always a treat, great for discovering new products and ventures while networking with an excellent crowd. But beyond the MassInno events themselves, the MassInno email newsletters include an exhaustive list of upcoming events, free and paid, for the New England entrepreneurship community.

Recommended Boston Startup Events

 

Venture Cafe

Venture Cafe is a staple of the Boston startup scene. Every Thursday from 3-8pm, innovators of all stripes congregate in the cafe space on the 5th floor of the Kendal Square CIC. The beer and soda flow freely, often with accompanying snacks. The Thursday get-together are primarily for networking, but sometimes there are structured events like panels, speakers, or workshops. Check their calendar for special events.

 

StartupStir

I always look forward to Startup
Stir events. They're consistently well-organized and informative, often with free food and cocktails, and sometimes free or with a nominal ticketing charge. Usually there's 30 minutes of schmoozing and snacking, followed by an hour-long panel discussion with experts on a topic. Past topics include social media branding, creating apps, and women in innovation. The founder, Aaron Radez, moderates the panels with grace and humor. 

 

MIT Enterprise Forum

The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge has an excellent reputation for hosting quality events. You can join their email list to hear about what's coming up. If you plan on attending multiple events there, it's worth it to buy a membership. This gives you discounted admission, plus a bunch of other benefits they list on their website. The events I attended there have been catered both before and after the event, and attracted people who are seriously invested in the innovation economy. Great spot to network and keep current with the industry.

 

Boston New Tech

I hear about the monthly Boston New Tech events via their Meetup group. The events are always free, often heavily catered, and well attended. After generous networking time, attendees take their seats and listen to a series of pitches by presenting founders. Startups use Boston New Tech as a forum to announce new products, gauge interest in their business idea, and connect with potential investors or clients.


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Do you have Boston startup events you'd like to recommend? Please share your favorites in the comments.

Back This Kickstarter If You Want To Hear More Women's Voices in Tech!

Hi folks,

First off: my apologies for falling behind on my blog.

I've been super busy blogging and tweeting and posting for Splitzee, the startup I joined in September. It's been a whirlwind, but all the blood, sweat, and tears are worth it because we provide a truly amazing service: the ability to easily and securely split the cost of buying things as a group. If you haven't tried it yet (and if I haven't talked your ear off about it yet), please check it out.

</shameless plug>

Second: I want to share this very important Kickstarter campaign for Innovation Women.

If you're in the greater Boston startup scene, you're doubtless familiar with Bobbie Carlton's Mass Innovation Nights, a labor of love that provides a monthly product launch opportunity to generate buzz for local startups.

In response to the dismal ratio of women represented on boards and top leadership of venture-backed companies, Bobbie is launching Innovation Women.

Innovation Women is an online database of female tech and entrepreneurial professionals. It will be searchable by event managers who are seeking diverse voices on their panels. The idea is that if we see more women in the spotlight speaking publicly, getting press, and acting as role models, we can start to shift the gender ratio in the industry.

The Kickstarter campaign just launched this week, and it has 26 days left to reach its $22K goal.

If you want to see more women represented in public events, speaking about their experiences in tech and startup life, here are some things you can do to help:

• Donate to the Kickstarter campaign before December 23, 2014.
• Share the Kickstarter campaign on your social media platform(s) of choice
• Follow @WomenInno on Twitter
• Submit your email on the Innovation Women beta site to receive updates
• Contact Bobbie via the beta site to learn about other ways to help

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Up Next: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Small Biz Saturday...Startup Sunday?

Oops! I Started A Business

Whoopsie! There I go, starting a business again!

I'm an accidental entrepreneur. What does that mean?

It means:

• I find something I enjoy doing. 
• I do it.
• I learn how to do it better.
• I try to be the best at it that I can be.

And without realizing it, I turn my hobbies into businesses. Here's an example.

When I was 13, I thought it would be fun to be in a movie. I found an ad for unpaid extras to be in an indie film shooting near my hometown. They needed students, so I fit the bill. I showed up with my dad and a friend of mine who agreed to come along. It was my first time on a set, but it was the final day of filming for the crew, so everyone was in high spirits. I ended up being a "featured extra," with a close-up and some interaction with the lead actress. When we wrapped for the day, everyone on set applauded. It was awesome!

After that, I researched other film opportunities online. I read books about film acting and auditioning for the camera. I interned at a casting agency. With Christmas money, I hired a makeup artist and photographer to take professional headshots. I wrote my acting resume and auditioned for other projects.

Thirteen years later, I've held 2 leading roles, 2 supporting roles, and been an extra in dozens of student, indie, and studio films. I've done 4 commercials, an industrial video, and a TV pilot. And yes, many of those roles were paid. In a small but legitimate way, I became a professional actress. And I did all this without missing school or quitting my day job. It was a hobby-turned-side-business, and the product was me.

The key here wasn't that I wanted to be a movie star. I didn't dream of seeing myself on screen -- in fact I dreaded it, and I still do, to a degree. But I enjoyed the process of working on a film. I was motivated to participate in the action, not to chase after the result.

Movie Poster for indie film "A Separate War." I'm the glowing heroine in the center. I'm 14 in this photo. 

At 18 years old, in full period costume on the set of The Great Debaters

21-year-old me as female lead "Libitina" in Emerson grad student film "Lizard the Mod." 

Here's another example. A year and a half ago, my boyfriend and I went to 'goth prom.' It's a yearly event hosted by Excess Boston, an alternative nightlife producer. They rent a Boston nightclub in May where guests dress up in goth formal wear and dance to vintage goth music.

"What does a goth wear to a formal event?" my boyfriend asks. I answer, "black button-down shirt, black pants, black boots...and how about a bow tie?" I bought a red bow tie at a dollar store and glued some black rhinestones onto it. When he wore it to goth prom, it was a huge hit. People flocked to him with compliments, asking him where he got it. My business sense was tingling (there's demand!).

I had a lot of fun making the bow tie, and since so many people were interested, I considered making more and selling them. I visited a local costume shop and asked on a whim if they offer consignment of goods from local vendors. The owner said yes, what have you got? I told him I bedazzle bow ties, and he proceeded to offer me access to bulk orders of rhinestones and bow ties at wholesale rates, as well as shelf space for my product.

A year later, I've got my bow ties in 2 shops, I've got a Facebook page and business cards, and I've vended at craft fairs, live shows, and even the Boston Pride Festival (special rainbow bow ties!). My bow ties have been worn by professional circus performers and dancers.

Oops, I started another business.

One recent order from a repeat customer

Let's break this down very clearly:

What's a hobby? It's an activity you enjoy doing for the sake of doing it.

What's a business? It's something you do to provide value for others and make money.

I ask you: why not do both? If you're an entrepreneur, you love what you do, and if what you do happens to help others and earn money in the process, you've succeeded. I tend to do this accidentally.

If you have a story about starting an accidental business, please share it in the comments.

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Up Next: Back This Kickstarter If You Want To Hear More Women's Voices in Tech!