Online Marketing Startups and Beer Make For Networking Greatness
The Enfusen team attended TechPint’s Winter Summit in Cleveland, Ohio this past week. Held at the historic Agora Theater, this event featured entrepreneurs and industry leaders from across the nation as well as networking opportunities and demos from local tech and online marketing startups. 
“The passion and energy at TechPint was very unique, showing the importance and potential of startups” -Tim Hrich, Marketing Solutions Specialist at Enfusen.
A few notable speakers at the Winter Summit were Morris Wheeler, Founder of Drummond Road Capital, Jess Erickson, Director of Diversity at 500 Startups, and Guy Turner, Managing Director at Hyde Park Venture Partners. As a group, we had a few takeaways from the Winter Summit that stuck with us and helped us learn the importance of these values in the online marketing startup community.
Inspiration and Motivation for Online Marketing Startups
“The speakers were not only inspiring in their motivation, but in their great advice as well. There was so much to learn from them!” -Jessica George, Editor Intern at Enfusen.
The guest entrepreneurs and investors spoke about topics ranging from the importance of diversity in the start up community, lean product design, and building an enterprise SaaS company; all providing insight and ideas for aspiring entrepreneurs, seasoned professionals, and young professionals alike. They reminded us that with every triumph comes hardships, and how overcoming those hardships leads to success and creation of innovative products and services.
“The speakers at TechPint were incredible! They inspired me to follow my passion and showed me how startups can make a big difference in the community.” -Jenny Tichon, Client Success Manager at Enfusen.
Diversity
Jess Erickson of 500 Startups spoke on the overwhelming amount of men present in the business and tech community in particular, stating that a mere 3% of business are started by women. She elaborated on this point and could not say enough on how we as a commuinity have to foster a strong sense of diversity in startups, online marketing startups, and in the workplace as a whole.
“I had a great time at TechPint in Cleveland. It was interesting to hear about start-up experiences from so many different people. I especially enjoyed the presentation by Kim Gardner, founder of Pigeon.io“ -Brandy Schuele, Marketing Intern at Enfusen.
In addition to the inspiring guest speakers and ideas, TechPint provided ample time to network and get to know the diverse Cleveland startup and online marketing community and all they have to offer. The attendees at the Winter Summit came from a variety of backgrounds including business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, small business employees, mentors, and more. Men, women, seasoned professionals and interns mingled and shared their experiences, providing a melting pot of networking conversations around the topic of technology.
Collaboration
Aligining with the common theme of innovation and technology, TechPint provided a free download to their app, which gave event attendees access to a directory of everyone in attendance, a schedule of events and speakers, as well as a feed of real time updates during the event. Speakers and attendees were also particularly active on twitter, sharing ideas, favorite segments, and collaborating with colleagues in the tech community.
The Demo Pit, sponsored by JumpStart, Inc. gave local companies the opportunity to showcase what they’re working on and gave attendees the chance to see live product demos. This set the stage for in depth discussion and networking and gave everyone the chance to get hands on experience with multiple software platforms.
Overall, the themes of inspiration & motivation, diversity, and collaboration were evident at this event. The combination of these themes along with the right people and great beer set the stage for a great event that we look forward to for years to come.
“It was a great experience to see the NEO startup community coming together to network and learn. TechPint is helping grow a strong and healthy community of startups. I am walking away from the Winter Summit with some great insights on sales growth and UX.” -Brittany Crawford, Marketing Manager at Enfusen.
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