The Park City party begins as Sundance rolls back into town, learning the art of storytelling, Restaurant Week kicks off in NYC, startups gather to get lean and mean, General Assembly offers a free web preview of SXSW panel… This week’s notable news and startup events for young treps:
1. Schmoozing on the cheap: Restaurant Week in New York City kicks off today — with some of the best restaurants in town participating. Cut-rate lunches and dinners come in at a pre-fix price of $25 for lunch and $38 for dinner. Perhaps now’s the time to invite that big-fish investor out for a power lunch? (New York, Jan. 14 – Feb. 8)
2. Research like a journalist: Gathering and organizing information is at the very roots of any startup effort. But it’s also a daunting task that can often be the first point of failure for first-time entrepreneurs. At this HUB Workbench event, learn how to find and wrangle the information needed to achieve your objectives. (San Francisco, Jan. 16)
3. Travel through time: At the annual meeting of the Counsel of Smaller Enterprises, members will celebrate the history of small business and offer a forecast for what’s to come in 2013. Highlights include a craft beer tasting, a futuristic foods tasting, music, trivia and, of course, plenty of networking. (Cleveland, Jan. 17)
4. Tech Cocktail Mixer: The equation for Tech Cocktail’s mixers is simple: Combine the brainpower behind some of the hottest tech startups in the country, add alcohol and good vibes and let rest work itself out. Throw in some casual expo-style product demos and you’ve got the makings of a pretty killer networking event. (San Francisco, Jan. 17)
5. Sundance Film Festival: This once small gathering in the mountains of Utah has become an iconic collective of art, entertainment and activism. Sundance draws a diverse crowd of artists, entrepreneurs and celebrities — making this a high-value networking event to boot. (Park City, Utah, Jan. 17-27)
6. The art of storytelling: Kick off Sundance with a tutorial in telling a good story — a key skill for any young entrepreneur. This cocktail/dinner reception carries a hefty price tag at $1,500 apiece, but it does offer access to an exclusive group of creative thinkers, artists, filmmakers, and celebrities who are pretty close to expert in the art of storytelling. (Park City, Utah, Jan. 17)
7. SXSW web preview: Presented by Chris Castiglione of General Assembly, this free 20-minute live stream will offer a preview of the Programming For Non-Programmers, an upcoming SXSW 2013 panel. There will be a live Q&A too, so get your questions ready. Also, starting January 14th, registrants will be able to sign up in advance through SXsocial to attend all SXSW Interactive workshops. (Jan. 18)
8. Put your startup to the test: The three-day workshop and educational series called the Lean Startup Machine aims to take conceptual business ideas and put them through the ‘Lean Startup’ process — through which entrepreneurs learn how to validate business concepts. This is a great networking and learning opportunity for serious entrepreneurs looking for hands on experience. (Los Angeles, Jan. 18-20)
