When the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) turns a year old this September, a power player will be there to celebrate.
Hugh Forrest, director of the renowned South By Southwest Interactive Festival held annually in Austin, Texas, is booked as the keynote speaker for the CIE’s inaugural Coastal Connect Entrepreneur and Capital Conference set for Sept. 4 in Wilmington.
Forrest was one of Time Magazine’s “Game Changers of the Year” in 2011. “As the director of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, Hugh Forrest ushers in groundbreaking technology (Twitter, anyone?) that changes the way we share, learn and think,” the publication wrote.
He will lead a “riverside chat” at the Sept. 4 conference, which will take place at the Coastline Convention Center (501 Nutt St.) and mark the first anniversary of the CIE, a business accelerator offering smart local startups low-cost office space, mentoring and connections so they can grow swiftly as hot job creators.
At 803 S. College Road, CIE has hosted 21 startups and three organizations since doors opened. Its initial tenants focused on software, mobile communications, medical devices and an app to help consumers identify what beers and wines they’ll enjoy.
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“Over the past year we’ve been able to help create and foster strong relationships for the Wilmington business community,” CIE Executive Director Jim Roberts said in a press release. “We’re thrilled to offer another exciting event on a larger scale with the Coastal Connect Entrepreneur and Capital Conference.
“Attendees will have a unique opportunity to learn from some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the Southeast and meet with investors who are looking for the next big thing.”
Forrest’s “riverside chat” will begin the program. Following, three companies will pitch their services to investors, during which attendees can spectate or check out “breakout panel sessions focused on information technology, life sciences and innovation,” the release said.
The afternoon portion will include two panels to feature “a variety of guest innovators, financiers and successful entrepreneurs who have turned their ideas into successful business.”
More than 50 speakers are on the agenda.
Roberts said Friday he expects Forrest’s booking will draw attention from outsiders who generally don’t have Wilmington on their business-trip radar.
“We need to create a mind change among people who consider Wilmington as only a tourism destination for Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” he said.
Since the CIE’s opening, numerous outside observers from the public and private sectors have characterized Wilmington as an up-and-comer in the innovation economy.
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Part of the formula, they’ve said, is to develop a strong-enough base of entrepreneurs and tech culture that talented thinkers will want to move here and existing talent, including UNCW graduates, will want to stay.
(Scott Doron, assistant director of the Office of Science & Technology under the N.C. Department of Commerce, told Port City Daily earlier this year UNCW could be the anchor Wilmington needs to “move to the top tier…. And I think that’s happening. It’s a bit fun to watch.”)
Roberts noted Forrest is not receiving a speaking fee; CIE is, however, covering his travel.
Anyone interested can, for a limited time, purchase tickets for $50 each. Starting Aug. 11, the price will reset at $75. The week of the event, the cost will be $100.
Click here for registration info.
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