Grasshopper Blog » Events http://grasshopper.com/blog Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:46:21 +0000 en hourly 1 Boston. The Destination for Female Entrepreneurs #WLF11 http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/11/boston-the-destination-for-female-entrepreneurs-wlf11/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/11/boston-the-destination-for-female-entrepreneurs-wlf11/#comments Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:09:00 +0000 Casie Gillette http://grasshopper.com/blog/?p=5044 successful you women's forum

This post was written by our Online Marketing Manager, Casie Gillette.

I attended The Successful You: Women’s Leadership Forum yesterday in Cambridge and sat in on the session “Boston. The Destination for Female Entrepreneurs”.

The panel featured four Boston-area women involved in the entrepreneurial community – Stephanie Kaplan, CEO of Her Campus Media, Jennifer Lum, Partner in Apricot Capital, Katie Rae, Managing Director of TechStars and Pam Reeve, Chair, The Commonwealth Institute. The session was excellent and each panelist really brought a unique perspective to the topic.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Boston is Great

According to the panelists, there is a true advantage to being a woman in Boston! Not only does the city have a history of women growing businesses here, but there are support systems (groups of women CEOs, CTOs, etc), competitions like MassChallenge and a community of people willing to mentor and help.

You MUST Speak Up

A common theme throughout the session was that women don’t tend to speak up when they want something. There is an innate belief that just by doing good work and doing good things, you’ll be recognized. The problem is, that’s not true, whether you’re a man or woman.

Want funding? Ask for it. According to panel moderator Pam Reeve, only 5% of venture funding in the technology sector goes to women. That’s not because women are less qualified, it’s because they just don’t ask.

Network Network Network

In order to be successful, you have to network and you have to build relationships. While this goes for everyone, Katie Rae pointed out this is especially true for women as they don’t typically run in the same social circles as venture capitalists, “We aren’t in frats or out golfing”. So, it’s important to be out there, networking and getting to know board members and the people who are actually giving the money.

What to Look For

Each panelist was asked what they look for in others, whether that person is a co-founder or an employee coming on board.

  • Give them the trash test during the interview. Leave a piece of trash on the table and see what they do. People who are proactive and solve a problem tend to do well since most startups don’t have systems in place to train you. – Katie Rae
  • People in your startup need to have energy and passion for what you want to get done. They don’t see it just as a job, they see it as mission. – Pam Reeves
  • Being adaptive and flexible is key to working in a startup. The ability to deal with chaos in an unstructured environment. Also be persistant. You will go to war with your team members – Jennifer Lum
  • You have to be the kind of person who can play multiple roles – Stephanie Kaplan

Great Advice

Each panelist was asked for their best advice, here were the answers:

  • Lower your voice and make statements vs asking questions as we are taught to do. – Katie Rae
  • Don’t get caught up in emotional stuff. Focus on what is best for your business and your business goals – Stephanie Kaplan
  • Be more vocal or push for things to happen – Jennifer Lum

The panel offered a ton of great advice. To learn more from each of these women, check out their Twitter feeds:

Also be sure to check out women’s events all over the country including SheEO, Girls in Tech and Women 2.0.

 

]]> successful you women's forum

This post was written by our Online Marketing Manager, Casie Gillette.

I attended The Successful You: Women’s Leadership Forum yesterday in Cambridge and sat in on the session “Boston. The Destination for Female Entrepreneurs”.

The panel featured four Boston-area women involved in the entrepreneurial community – Stephanie Kaplan, CEO of Her Campus Media, Jennifer Lum, Partner in Apricot Capital, Katie Rae, Managing Director of TechStars and Pam Reeve, Chair, The Commonwealth Institute. The session was excellent and each panelist really brought a unique perspective to the topic.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Boston is Great

According to the panelists, there is a true advantage to being a woman in Boston! Not only does the city have a history of women growing businesses here, but there are support systems (groups of women CEOs, CTOs, etc), competitions like MassChallenge and a community of people willing to mentor and help.

You MUST Speak Up

A common theme throughout the session was that women don’t tend to speak up when they want something. There is an innate belief that just by doing good work and doing good things, you’ll be recognized. The problem is, that’s not true, whether you’re a man or woman.

Want funding? Ask for it. According to panel moderator Pam Reeve, only 5% of venture funding in the technology sector goes to women. That’s not because women are less qualified, it’s because they just don’t ask.

Network Network Network

In order to be successful, you have to network and you have to build relationships. While this goes for everyone, Katie Rae pointed out this is especially true for women as they don’t typically run in the same social circles as venture capitalists, “We aren’t in frats or out golfing”. So, it’s important to be out there, networking and getting to know board members and the people who are actually giving the money.

What to Look For

Each panelist was asked what they look for in others, whether that person is a co-founder or an employee coming on board.

  • Give them the trash test during the interview. Leave a piece of trash on the table and see what they do. People who are proactive and solve a problem tend to do well since most startups don’t have systems in place to train you. – Katie Rae
  • People in your startup need to have energy and passion for what you want to get done. They don’t see it just as a job, they see it as mission. – Pam Reeves
  • Being adaptive and flexible is key to working in a startup. The ability to deal with chaos in an unstructured environment. Also be persistant. You will go to war with your team members – Jennifer Lum
  • You have to be the kind of person who can play multiple roles – Stephanie Kaplan

Great Advice

Each panelist was asked for their best advice, here were the answers:

  • Lower your voice and make statements vs asking questions as we are taught to do. – Katie Rae
  • Don’t get caught up in emotional stuff. Focus on what is best for your business and your business goals – Stephanie Kaplan
  • Be more vocal or push for things to happen – Jennifer Lum

The panel offered a ton of great advice. To learn more from each of these women, check out their Twitter feeds:

Also be sure to check out women’s events all over the country including SheEO, Girls in Tech and Women 2.0.

 

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/11/boston-the-destination-for-female-entrepreneurs-wlf11/feed/ 0 Find us at Drinks vs. Zombies and TribeCon this Week! http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/find-us-at-drinks-vs-zombies-and-tribecon-this-week/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/find-us-at-drinks-vs-zombies-and-tribecon-this-week/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:57:38 +0000 Allison Canty http://grasshopper.com/blog/?p=4993

This week we have two really great events lined up.  On Wednesday, we’ll be sponsoring and attending Drinks vs. Zombies, an event that we’re beyond excited about, especially because it’s all for a good cause. What does the Drinks vs. Zombies event entail you ask?  Check out our post, Zombies? Entrepreneurs? Drinks? BREW?…What?, for all the gory details.  Let’s just say this; we wouldn’t be sponsoring it if we didn’t love everything about it!

On Thursday, we’ll be down in New Orleans at TribeCon.  According to their site, TribeCon is, “a conference in NOLA about building strong communities and leveraging online tools to create powerful movements,” awesome, right? This will be a first for us on a few levels, not only is it our first trip to TribeCon, it’s also our first outdoor conference. Will you be there too? Be on the lookout for Jonathan, our Ambassador of Buzz. He’ll be there as a speaker.

Details:

Drinks vs. Zombies

  • Date: Wednesday, October, 26th
  • Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
  • Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
  • Attire: Costumes are highly encouraged. The more creative the better!
  • Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
  • Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
  • Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

TribeCon

Will you be attending any of these events? Let us know, we’d love to say hello!

]]>

This week we have two really great events lined up.  On Wednesday, we’ll be sponsoring and attending Drinks vs. Zombies, an event that we’re beyond excited about, especially because it’s all for a good cause. What does the Drinks vs. Zombies event entail you ask?  Check out our post, Zombies? Entrepreneurs? Drinks? BREW?…What?, for all the gory details.  Let’s just say this; we wouldn’t be sponsoring it if we didn’t love everything about it!

On Thursday, we’ll be down in New Orleans at TribeCon.  According to their site, TribeCon is, “a conference in NOLA about building strong communities and leveraging online tools to create powerful movements,” awesome, right? This will be a first for us on a few levels, not only is it our first trip to TribeCon, it’s also our first outdoor conference. Will you be there too? Be on the lookout for Jonathan, our Ambassador of Buzz. He’ll be there as a speaker.

Details:

Drinks vs. Zombies

  • Date: Wednesday, October, 26th
  • Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
  • Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
  • Attire: Costumes are highly encouraged. The more creative the better!
  • Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
  • Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
  • Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

TribeCon

Will you be attending any of these events? Let us know, we’d love to say hello!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/find-us-at-drinks-vs-zombies-and-tribecon-this-week/feed/ 0 Zombies? Entrepreneurs? Drinks? BREW?…What? http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/zombies-entrepreneurs-drinks-brew-what/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/zombies-entrepreneurs-drinks-brew-what/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:35:37 +0000 Allison Canty http://grasshopper.com/blog/?p=4950

This post is written by our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.

The Grasshopper team decided to get involved with another cool event happening in Boston.  We tend to focus all our efforts on doing events during the summer (when there is seemingly a shortage), but this event we just absolutely could not resist.  Trust me, if this was just “your typical networking event” we wouldn’t be involved.

So, what makes this event so awesome?

  • Your ticket costs $5 and every single penny of that five dollars goes toward supporting a really awesome non-profit organization – Interise.  They help local and minority owned small businesses succeed. They help them stay current and continue to grow their business.  Most of these business owners could never afford an MBA. Interise helps them get the “Street Smarts MBA”.
  • You get to attend a well decorated and uncommon event, at a great location (Ned Devines).  The room will be filled with entrepreneurs, VC’s, Angels and other entertaining Halloween themes surprises.
  • There will be 2 ice louges with (FREE) Halloween themed Kettle-One vodka drinks.  (mmm)
  • There will be at least one, real-life zombie.

The less awesome, but necessary details:

  • Date: October 26th, 2011
  • Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
  • Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
  • Attire: COSTUME!  I was not told why, but I was told there will be consequences!  Dress as something scary, funny, or as an “entrepreneur of the past”!
  • Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
  • Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
  • Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

I challenge you to think of a reason you can’t dress silly, hang out with cool entrepreneurs, and give $5 to a great cause!

]]>

This post is written by our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.

The Grasshopper team decided to get involved with another cool event happening in Boston.  We tend to focus all our efforts on doing events during the summer (when there is seemingly a shortage), but this event we just absolutely could not resist.  Trust me, if this was just “your typical networking event” we wouldn’t be involved.

So, what makes this event so awesome?

  • Your ticket costs $5 and every single penny of that five dollars goes toward supporting a really awesome non-profit organization – Interise.  They help local and minority owned small businesses succeed. They help them stay current and continue to grow their business.  Most of these business owners could never afford an MBA. Interise helps them get the “Street Smarts MBA”.
  • You get to attend a well decorated and uncommon event, at a great location (Ned Devines).  The room will be filled with entrepreneurs, VC’s, Angels and other entertaining Halloween themes surprises.
  • There will be 2 ice louges with (FREE) Halloween themed Kettle-One vodka drinks.  (mmm)
  • There will be at least one, real-life zombie.

The less awesome, but necessary details:

  • Date: October 26th, 2011
  • Time: Fun will begin at 7pm sharp
  • Where: Ned Devine’s (Faneuil Hall area)
  • Attire: COSTUME!  I was not told why, but I was told there will be consequences!  Dress as something scary, funny, or as an “entrepreneur of the past”!
  • Cost: $5 (100% of which is donated to the non-profit Interise)
  • Tickets: https://www.fundraise.com/drinksvszombies
  • Tweet Tweet: #ZombieBREW

I challenge you to think of a reason you can’t dress silly, hang out with cool entrepreneurs, and give $5 to a great cause!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/10/zombies-entrepreneurs-drinks-brew-what/feed/ 0 Live Facebook Chat: Building a Brand Worth Talking About http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/live-facebook-chat-building-a-brand-worth-talking-about/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/live-facebook-chat-building-a-brand-worth-talking-about/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:38:35 +0000 Allison Canty http://grasshopper.com/blog/?p=4333 Join us for our first ever Facebook chat next Thursday with our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.  Jonathan, our resident buzz expert, will be live on our Facebook wall for 1 hour to answer all of your buzz related questions.  Want to know how to generate buzz like Grasshopper? Curious what’s worked for us and what hasn’t? Have a general buzz question or not sure where to start?  Jonathan will be happy to answer all of that and more, so make sure to bring your questions!

We thought this chat would be a good way for our fans, who don’t always get a chance to attend our events, to learn about generating buzz for your brand and ask any questions you have about generating buzz for your company. Jonathan will be speaking at the “Building an Army of Brand Loyalists” event the night before, so this chat is a great alternative for those that can’t make the event and a place for those who do attend it, to bring any follow up questions!

On another note, we’re taking a bit of a different approach with this event; we’re letting YOU decide what time we hold our chat. Head over to our Facebook page and cast your vote (or else we’ll pick :) )! We’ll announce the time on Wednesday morning.

How Does this Work?

Visit our Facebook page on Thursday at 5 PM EST when Jonathan is live, and post your buzz related questions for him to answer.  Jonathan will reply to as many questions as he can get to within the hour. You can stay for the whole hour or you can just stick around for your answer, it’s up to you!

Details

  • Host: Jonathan Kay, Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper
  • When: Thursday, July 28th at 5 PM EST! (Thanks to all those who voted!)
  • Where: Our Facebook wall – www.facebook.com/grasshopper

Have a topic suggestion for our next Facebook chat? Tell us in the comments below!

]]> Join us for our first ever Facebook chat next Thursday with our Ambassador of Buzz, Jonathan Kay.  Jonathan, our resident buzz expert, will be live on our Facebook wall for 1 hour to answer all of your buzz related questions.  Want to know how to generate buzz like Grasshopper? Curious what’s worked for us and what hasn’t? Have a general buzz question or not sure where to start?  Jonathan will be happy to answer all of that and more, so make sure to bring your questions!

We thought this chat would be a good way for our fans, who don’t always get a chance to attend our events, to learn about generating buzz for your brand and ask any questions you have about generating buzz for your company. Jonathan will be speaking at the “Building an Army of Brand Loyalists” event the night before, so this chat is a great alternative for those that can’t make the event and a place for those who do attend it, to bring any follow up questions!

On another note, we’re taking a bit of a different approach with this event; we’re letting YOU decide what time we hold our chat. Head over to our Facebook page and cast your vote (or else we’ll pick :) )! We’ll announce the time on Wednesday morning.

How Does this Work?

Visit our Facebook page on Thursday at 5 PM EST when Jonathan is live, and post your buzz related questions for him to answer.  Jonathan will reply to as many questions as he can get to within the hour. You can stay for the whole hour or you can just stick around for your answer, it’s up to you!

Details

  • Host: Jonathan Kay, Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper
  • When: Thursday, July 28th at 5 PM EST! (Thanks to all those who voted!)
  • Where: Our Facebook wall – www.facebook.com/grasshopper

Have a topic suggestion for our next Facebook chat? Tell us in the comments below!

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/live-facebook-chat-building-a-brand-worth-talking-about/feed/ 0 Upcoming Events: July 25th – July 29th http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/upcoming-events-july-25th-%e2%80%93-july-29th/ http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/upcoming-events-july-25th-%e2%80%93-july-29th/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:00:47 +0000 Allison Canty http://grasshopper.com/blog/?p=4310

It’s been a while since we’ve done an event post, and that’s because during the summer, events tend to be few and far between.  Not next week!

We have a great week lined up from the What no to Web Remix on Tuesday, to Building an Army of Brand Loyalists with MassChallenge on Wednesday, and our Facebook chat with Jonathan Kay on Thursday – we’ll be pretty busy!

What not to Web Remix

Next Tuesday, Jonathan Kay, our Ambassador of Buzz will be one of four panelists at the What not to Web Remix event put on by MIT Enterprise Forum and Super Webomatic.  Learn how to leverage your website as a business tool and how to maximize your website’s value.  With other panelists from Performable, Fresh Tilled Soil and Super Webomatic, you’re sure to walk away with a lot of valuable information at this event.

Check out the makeovers from last year’s event.  Think your website could use a makeover too? Submit it here.

Tickets are $45 for non-members and $25 for members but if you tweet at JonathanCKay or Grasshopper we can hook you up with a discount code so you can go for FREE.

Details

  • When: Tuesday, July 26th at 5:30 PM
  • Where: MIT Stata Center – Kirsch Auditorium Building 32, RM 123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
  • Website: http://www.whatnottoweb.com/

Building an Army of Brand Loyalists

Next Wednesday, we’re hosting an event with MassChallenge that you won’t want to miss.  Learn how to get people talking about your brand from Jonathan Kay, Kristin Dziadul of Backupify and Sarah Hodges of RunKeeper. You’ll leave this event with tons of actionable ideas on things you should be doing to generate word of mouth around your brand. If that doesn’t interest you, maybe the free drinks and snacks will? :)

Details

Planning to attend any of these events? Have any questions? Tweet us @Grasshopper, post on our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.

]]>

It’s been a while since we’ve done an event post, and that’s because during the summer, events tend to be few and far between.  Not next week!

We have a great week lined up from the What no to Web Remix on Tuesday, to Building an Army of Brand Loyalists with MassChallenge on Wednesday, and our Facebook chat with Jonathan Kay on Thursday – we’ll be pretty busy!

What not to Web Remix

Next Tuesday, Jonathan Kay, our Ambassador of Buzz will be one of four panelists at the What not to Web Remix event put on by MIT Enterprise Forum and Super Webomatic.  Learn how to leverage your website as a business tool and how to maximize your website’s value.  With other panelists from Performable, Fresh Tilled Soil and Super Webomatic, you’re sure to walk away with a lot of valuable information at this event.

Check out the makeovers from last year’s event.  Think your website could use a makeover too? Submit it here.

Tickets are $45 for non-members and $25 for members but if you tweet at JonathanCKay or Grasshopper we can hook you up with a discount code so you can go for FREE.

Details

  • When: Tuesday, July 26th at 5:30 PM
  • Where: MIT Stata Center – Kirsch Auditorium Building 32, RM 123, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139
  • Website: http://www.whatnottoweb.com/

Building an Army of Brand Loyalists

Next Wednesday, we’re hosting an event with MassChallenge that you won’t want to miss.  Learn how to get people talking about your brand from Jonathan Kay, Kristin Dziadul of Backupify and Sarah Hodges of RunKeeper. You’ll leave this event with tons of actionable ideas on things you should be doing to generate word of mouth around your brand. If that doesn’t interest you, maybe the free drinks and snacks will? :)

Details

Planning to attend any of these events? Have any questions? Tweet us @Grasshopper, post on our Facebook wall, or leave a comment below.

]]> http://grasshopper.com/blog/2011/07/upcoming-events-july-25th-%e2%80%93-july-29th/feed/ 0