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April 24, 2018 | Tom Ballard

Inaugural Tri-Cities “Small Business Festival” includes 32 workshops over three days

Organizers of the inaugural “Small Business Festival” in Northeast Tennessee have posted 32 workshops to be held over the three days of the event that begin next Thursday, May 3.

As noted in this recent teknovation.biz article, the festival is the brainchild of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, the two Bristol cities, and Startup Tri-Cities. It is part of National Small Business Week and will be one of only a handful of locations that has earned the right to be designated as an extension of Austin’s annual celebration with the same title. The Texas event has been described by Inc. magazine as a “top five must-attend” experience.

Saturday, May 5, has the most programming with 19 different workshops, while Friday, May 4 is the least programmed. That’s because the main event that day will be focused on Leadercast, a day-long, streamed program expected to attract more than 100,000 people to 700 locations in 20 countries.

Click here for registration links to all of the sessions except Leadercast.

Thursday, May 3:

  • Small Business Festival Kickoff Breakfast (Bristol, TN)
  • Basic Permitting 101 – Commercial Property (Bristol, TN)
  • Financing Your Dream (Bristol, TN)
  • B2B Marketing Strategies (Kingsport)
  • Launch Thursday: Legal for Startups (Johnson City)
  • Launch Thursday: Accounting for Startups (Johnson City)
  • Launch Thursday: Legal for Startups (Kingsport)
  • Launch Thursday: Accounting for Startups (Kingsport)
  • Launch Thursday: Social Media for Startups (Johnson City)

Friday, May 4:

  • First Friday Breakfast – Bristol Chamber of Commerce (Bristol, TN)
  • Intro to Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies (Kingsport)
  • Bob’s Top 10 Rules for Success (Bristol, VA)
  • Are You Ready? – A Startup Workshop (Bristol, VA)

Saturday, May 5:

  • Launching Grassy Ridge Coffee
  • Women/Minority Business Discussion (Bristol, VA)
  • Benefits of a Gigabit Community (Bristol, TN)
  • Panel: Co-Working and Building Strong Startup Communities (Bristol, TN)
  • ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) & Impact Investing (Bristol, VA)
  • Panel: Tourism Business in the Tri-Cities (Bristol, TN)
  • How to Attract an Investor’s Attention (Bristol, VA)
  • Green Business Initiatives (Bristol, VA)
  • Panel: Entrepreneur Music (Bristol, VA)
  • Making Money Doing What You Love (Bristol, TN)
  • NO BS! Get more sales! (Bristol, TN)
  • Creative Marketing for Your Small Business (Bristol, TN)
  • Hiring Help Without Breaking the Bank (Bristol, TN)
  • Panel: CO.STARTERS (Bristol, TN)
  • Startup Success Story (Bristol, TN)
  • Startup Story: StudioBrew – Beer is an Art… A Very Tasty Art (Bristol, VA)
  • The 5 Videos Your Business Should Be Posting on Social Media (Bristol, TN)
  • Panel: Lessons Learned Starting Up (Bristol, TN)
  • Startup, Bootstrap, and the Importance of Partnerships (Bristol, VA)

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