Category: Blog

Members are invited to attend a free happy hour featuring networking and panel discussion on international business.

When:	September 12, 2019 from 5:30pm until 8:00pm
Where:	Le DeSales 1725 Desales St NW, Washington, DC 20036
Event Link:	https://accelspace.com/doing-business-internationally-panel-happy-hour/

An experienced panel of international business experts will discuss opportunities and challenges of conducting international business, especially in France and Europe. This broad ranging discussion will also cover governmental and cultural implications. Please bring your questions for the panel.

Hospitality and refreshments are provided by Le DeSales restaurant.

Are you a Francophile? Or a business-minded person? Or simply a professional who enjoys a nice Happy Hour in one of the most beautiful Embassies in Washington? Then this event is for you! And of course, no need to speak French. Unless you want to!

• French Dessert Buffet
• Open Bar featuring French wines and beers
• Dress Code: Business, Business Casual or Cocktail Attire

MIT Enterprise Forum Washington DC & Baltimore members will be paying the same price as FACC members for this event. Please check your email for the member discount code. Not a member? Not too late to join.

When	September 6th, 2019 7:00 PM through 10:00 PM
Location	French Embassy 4101 Reservoir Rd NW Washington, DC 20007 United States
Contact	Phone: (202) 640-1806 Email: denis.chazelle@faccwdc.org
Fees	$45 non-members ; $30 – members, check your email for discount code
Event Link	https://www.faccwdc.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=168
Register Link	https://www.faccwdc.org/civicrm/event/register?id=168&reset=1

DC Startup Week (DCSW) is the fastest-growing startup community in the DMV region with over 6,000 entrepreneurs. Once a year, we bring together our expansive community over 5-days to connect, collaborate, share resources and celebrate our thriving ecosystem. Throughout the year, we strengthen our united community by curating inclusive, thought-provoking, and meaningful events and partnerships.

This year DC Startup Week is in Washington, D.C. from Monday, September 9, 2019, 8:00 AM to Friday, September 13, 2019, 8:00 PM.

• This is no charge for this event.
• Meet fellow founders, entrepreneurs, developers and investors in casual venues to talk shop, share code and make plans
• Be part of a culture that celebrates sharing and learning from one another
• Learn from incredibly smart entrepreneurs and experienced mentors
• Network with the entire DC startup community and interact with startup teams and hiring managers in meaningful and impactful ways

To learn more, visit www.DCstartupweek.org

To register, use this Eventbrite link, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-startup-week-2019-tickets-60100700814.

The nominations committee was tasked with recruiting a new Chair as Matthew Falls was term limited. Matt had served as Chair for two successful consecutive terms of growth for the forum and we thank him for his enthusiasm and unstinting work on behalf of our chapter. Our ideal candidate would be someone who is part of the DC startup community, who is an experienced entrepreneur who wanted to give back to the community, and who had participated or supported MITEF Washington DC & Baltimore. Our search was successful.

Our new chair is a long-time friend of the forum Cynthia Traeger. Ms. Traeger has moderated panels and taught entrepreneur skills at MITEF events. Cynthia Traeger serves as CEO of Pacific, a diversified technology & media holding company, and concurrently serves as President of VSI Pacific.  She leads Pacific’s efforts across aerospace, defense, sports, entertainment, and other industries. Additionally, Cynthia serves as a Trustee to the Board of Trustees, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology where she chairs the International Affairs Committee of the Executive Board; and is a Mentor/Advisor to the NIH Commercialization Accelerator Program and Feedback Sessions. She was a participant and author with the American Bar Association’s Digital Evidence Work Group, and a contributor to the Journal of the ACM Special Interest Group on Graphics. Cynthia is a partner to the State Department’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) program and is an active mentor for GIST companies. In partnership with GIST, she is an executive mentor to the Research Competitiveness Program for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She holds multiple patents in the areas of real-time data analysis for proximity and movement of objects.

Matthew Falls remains on the board as the Immediate Past Chapter Chair and is the Volunteer Chair. Mark Johnston has moved from Programming Chair to Vice Chair but will still be involved in programming. Andrew Polcha has moved from Vice Chair to Nominations but is still advising the programming committee. Our new Programming Chair is Michael Novak. Michael worked on the programming committee last year. A list of all the board members is below. We are currently working to update our website and when it is ready, we will add the new biographies for your review.

Our other goal was to recruit volunteers who demonstrated an enthusiasm for supporting startups in DC. To accomplish this, we recruited six new board members, 30% of the board. Complementing this change four board members changed roles, 20% of the board. Half the board is returning in their role from last year. We believe that by bringing new board members on board will not only diversify the capabilities of the board but will make the chapter stronger as we move into the 2020s.

Volunteer	Title
Cynthia Traeger	Chapter Chair
Matthew Falls	Immediate Past Chapter Chair / Volunteer Chair
Mark Johnston	Chapter Vice Chair
Helen Shimbo	Chapter Treasurer
Steve Britt	Chapter Secretary
Shyam Chidamber	Sponsorship Committee Chair
Andy Tucker	Sponsorship Committee Vice Chair
Jason Ware	Operations Chair
Michael Novak	Program Committee Chair
Vered Sharon	Program Committee vice Chair
David Beck	Membership/Volunteer Chair
Mahesh Joshi	Educational Partnerships
Scott McKeever	Marketing co-Chair
Kirsten Johnson	Marketing co-Chair
Ed Harrell	Program Committee
Nir Adhikari	Program Committee
Amu Fowler	Entrepreneur Ambassador
Beverly Bugos	Outreach Chair
Larry Trotter II	Volunteer Coordinator
Andrew Polcha	Nominating Committee Chair

Thank You

We would like to thank the many survey respondents for the valuable information they have provided to the leadership team and the programming committee. Your answers will be used to help formulate the programming for our events this fall and next spring. Not only did the respondents help answer our set questions but they provided extra information to help us better define our events. Also, a special thanks to those who have volunteered their time and expertise to help our chapter.

What Is Important?

The first question helps us formulate the content of the events. The respondents overwhelming wanted networking at our events. We will make sure that each event has adequate time to network and is structured to bring in people who are active in the DC entrepreneur community. Second, the respondents wanted MITEF to support our local entrepreneurs. We will work to feature local entrepreneurs at our events.

Topics

Our next question focused on potential topics. Networking, this time as a topic and not an event theme, was a top priority for the respondents. We hear this interest loud and clear and will work to make our events great for networking. In the next group, the future of work is aligned with MIT’s Work of the Future initiative (https://workofthefuture.mit.edu/), we are planning a voice/AI event in October, and we will work to have events on business growth and entrepreneurial leadership.

Event Locations and Times

This question confirmed that our typical respondent can attend evening events mid-week in Washington DC or Arlington. We feel that the location bias is due to our chapter’s focus on DC and Northern Virginia events over the last several years. We have met many entrepreneurs and their supporters from the Baltimore area and know that there is an interest to hold MITEF events there as well. This fall we will focus on holding mid-week evening events in DC and Arlington. Beyond that, we will work on developing or supporting events in the Baltimore and northern Montgomery county.

MIT Enterprise Forum joins with Defense Entrepreneurs Forum, Vive DC, Stanford Alumni, French American Chamber of Commerce and IEEE to celebrate entrepreneurship in the DC region with a happy hour and networking event featuring talks by Jim Hunt, the managing Director of Lavrock Ventures and Jeff Grass of Hungry. Jim will speak on Entrepreneurship in Our Nations Capital. Jeff will speak on his experience as a DC entrepreneur and his latest venture HUNGRY.

The event will be a roof-deck happy hour (rain date is 5/23) which is all about networking, networking, and networking. Early bird pricing is $20.

Come meet like minded professionals for a fun evening of networking in a beautiful, relaxed environment, with an adult beverage in your hand. This event’s theme of Entrepreneurship is reaching multiple sectors such as Government, Technology and Medical; you won’t want to miss this.

Your admission includes light fare, beer, wine, and soda.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-entrepreneurship-in-our-nations-capital-tickets-60068278839

A special thanks to Accelspace and Gould | Oxford for providing the event space.