Photos from our BIG party, the unveiling of Big Kansas City

More than 120 members of the Kansas City startup community joined us Tuesday in the Wine Vault at Coal Vines to be the first to learn the details of our promised “big announcement.” We kicked off the program with the introduction of three new sponsors that will help us support a full-time team in Kansas…

OneLouder’s Evan Conway (middle) networks at our BIG Global Entrepreneurship Week Party on Tuesday.

More than 120 members of the Kansas City startup community joined us Tuesday in the Wine Vault at Coal Vines to be the first to learn the details of our promised “big announcement.”

We kicked off the program with the introduction of three new sponsors that will help us support a full-time team in Kansas City. Sprint, Polsinelli Shughart and Adknowledge join our major Kansas City launch and event sponsor, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

BECOME A SPONSOR

We then excitedly introduced our full-time Kansas City staff: editor Michael Stacy, a Kansas City native who joined SPN in March 2011, and community builder Regan Carrizales, who will begin her role next month.

Lastly, it was time for the “big” announcement. We revealed the name and dates of our third major event: Big Kansas City, March 26-28. This event joins Big Omaha and Big Des Moines (formerly Thinc Iowa) to make up our new event series, The Big Series.

In the coming months, we’ll have more information to share about Big Kansas City, but for those anxious to secure a seat, we’ve put on a sale a limited number of discounted early bird tickets. This will be your one opportunity to grab a ticket before general admission tickets go on sale in January.

Purchase your discounted Big Kansas City early bird ticket today!

Take a look at the photos below and find the whole set on the Big Kansas City Facebook page.

Read more about Big Kansas City and our full-time Kansas City team in our post, “We’re going big!

Attendees sign in with their choice of writing mechanism: Sharpies or supersized pencils 

Justin Powell shows his phone to Tom Jenkins and Austin Brown.

Local Ruckus founder Adam Arredondo stands out in the crowd.

Augie Grasis, Perry Puccetti and Rachel Hack strike up conversation over wine.

Jumbo Jenga towers up in the Wine Vault at Coal Vines.

Jon Robinson (left) and Jeff Slobotski (right) pass the mic before presentations.

A full house stands ready for the “Big” announcement.

Jeff Slobotski helps introduce Regan Carrizales, SPN’s community builder in Kansas City.

Ben Legg carries on cheerful chatter with Augie and Pam Grasis.


Thanks to our Kansas City launch partners

 

We are humbled and encouraged by the continued support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation as well as our newest partners SprintPolsinelli Shughart and Adknowledge. We were proud to share in the big announcements with them and to continue building Silicon Prairie News with the Kansas City community.

 

 

Credits: Party photos by Eric L Bowers.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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