Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

It’s showtime for Launch Tennessee’s “36|86 Entrepreneurship Festival” in Nashville. Badge pick-up begins at 8:30 a.m. today at the Wildhorse Saloon, 120 Second Avenue North, and the first program sessions start at 9 a.m. PYA, the power behind teknovation.biz, is a sponsor.

All events are in Downtown Nashville at one of five venues. More than 115 speakers/presenters are listed for the two-day event. A detailed agenda can be found here. We’ve highlighted two sessions in particular – the “Student Edition Live Pitch Competition” later today and the “Launch Tennessee Pitch Competition” on Thursday. Both feature several competitors from the eastern half of Tennessee that are named in the schedule that follows.

To say the least, “36|86” will be a fast-paced couple of days as evidenced by the schedule.

Wednesday, August 28:

• 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. – Badge pick-up at Wildhorse Saloon (120 Second Avenue North).
• 9 to 9:45 a.m. – Three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s (152 Second Avenue North), Ole Red (300 Broadway), and Acme Feed and Seed (101 Broadway).
• 10 to 10:45 a.m. – Three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s, Ole Red and Acme.
• 11 to 11:30 a.m. – Presentation by Seth Bernstein of AllianceBernsetin at the Wildhorse.
• 1 to 1:45 p.m. – Fireside chat with former U.S. Senator Bob Corker and former Governor Bill Haslam at Wildhorse plus three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s, Acme and Ole Red.
• 2 to 2:30 p.m. – SmileClub’s C-Suite session at Wildhorse.
• 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. – “Student Edition Live Pitch Competition” at B.B. King’s. (Three start-ups from Knoxville – Qardian Labs, Quantum Lock, and Winter Innovations – are competing with nine other teams.)
• 2:45 to 3:30 p.m. – Two concurrent sessions at Wildhorse and Ole Red.
• 3:45 to 4:30 p.m. – A single session at Wildhorse.
• 4 to 7 p.m. – Innovation Happy Hour at Acme

Thursday, August 29:

• 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. – Badge pick-up at Wildhorse Saloon.
• 9 to 9:45 a.m. – Three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s, Ole Red, and Acme.
• 10 to 10:45 a.m. – Three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s, Ole Red and Acme.
• 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Investor and corporate speed dating at Wildhorse.
• 10 to 10:45 a.m. – Three concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s, Ole Red and Acme.
• 1 to 1:45 p.m. – Two concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s and Ole Red.
• 1 to 2:15 p.m. – “Launch Tennessee Pitch Competition” at Acme. (Eastern Tennessee competitors, in alphabetical order, include CPRWrap of Chattanooga, DOTready of Cookeville, Nth Cycle of Knoxville/Oak Ridge, and StoragePug of Knoxville.)
• 2 to 2:45 p.m. – One session at B.B. King’s.
• 3 to 3:45 p.m. – Two concurrent sessions at B.B. King’s and Ole Red.
• 3 to 4:30 p.m. – One session at Acme.
• 4 to 4:45 p.m. – “Innovation Crossroads Demo Day” at Ole Red.
• 5 p.m. on – Several receptions along with “Closing Night at Live on the Green.”

There are also three lounges:

• Asurion Work Lounge at Wildhorse – Stay connected with workstations, comfy couches, Wi-Fi, and complimentary refreshments.
• Women’s Lounge at Beautiac – Created for women and open to all with curated content.
• Nissan Recharge Lounge at Wildhorse – Programming by Bunker Labs, the national non-profit helping veteran entrepreneurs and military spouses build businesses.

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