FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 11, 2016
Contact:
Molly Walsh
608-616-0840
molly@forwardfest.org
Forward Festival Continues to Grow
(MADISON, Wis.)—Thousands of entrepreneurs, investors and like-minded professionals are expected to attend the seventh-annual Forward Festival, which has more than 40 events taking place Aug. 18-25 throughout the city, organizers announced today.
“Forward Festival, now with the most events to date, could not thrive without our community’s support of entrepreneurs,” Laura Strong, festival committee member and president of Quintessence Biosciences, said. “That’s why we’ve made the festival as accessible as possible, as all events are open to the public and many are free.”
The festival’s main event is the Forward Technology Conference (Aug. 23), which again is paired with the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce’s neXXpo and Pressure Chamber events. Amy Africa, e-commerce expert, and Jordan Eisenberg, entrepreneur and venture partner, will be the keynote speakers.
Other highlights of the festival include the Black Entrepreneur’s Summit (Aug. 20), the Badger Startup Summit (Aug. 22 featuring Keith Witek from Tesla) and the inaugural Mini-preneurs event (Aug. 20), which aims to inspire children to start thinking of their dream business.
On Wednesday, Aug. 24 UBER is running an event at this year’s Festival as attendees can request a 15-min. ride with an investor to pitch a startup or business idea.
The Forward Festival is sponsored by local companies including American Family Insurance, MG&E, Neider & Boucher, WEDC, The QTI Group, Urban Land Interests, Associated Bank, M3 Insurance, AlphaTech, Isthmus and Ideas that Evoke.
For a detailed listing of events taking place during the Forward Festival, please visit www.forwardfest.org.
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Resulting Media Coverage:
- WISC-TV (Aug. 10, 2016): “For the Record: Forward Festival“
- InBusiness (Aug. 11, 2016): “Art and technology make not-so-strange bedfellows at Forward Festival“
- Isthmus (Aug. 11, 2016): “Tech town square“
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Aug. 12, 2016): “Tesla executive to speak in Madison“
- Cap Times (Aug. 16, 2016): “5 Forward Festival events you may want to check out“
- Madison Startups (Aug.17, 2016): “2016 Forward Festival Preview“
- Wisconsin State Journal (Aug. 17, 2016): “A celebration of startups: Forward Fest kicks off its eight-day run on Thursday“
- WKOW (Aug. 18, 2016): “Forward Festival Continues to Grow in Madison“
- The Cap Times (Aug. 19, 2016): “Baldwin on Wisconsin Startup Culture: ‘We Don’t Like Coming in Dead Last’ “
- Madison Startups (Aug. 23, 2016): “ Polco Wins Pressure Chamber“
- Madison Startups (Aug. 23, 2016): “ Tech Conference Speaker Talks E-Commerce“
- WISC-TV (Aug. 25, 2016): “Ride Sharing Company Helps Drive Business Opportunities“
- The Cap Times (Aug. 26, 2016): “And here’s the pitch: The art of pitching was everywhere at this year’s Forward Fest“
- WISC-TV (Aug. 31, 2016): “Last Week’s Forward Festival was an Outstanding Example of Tech Sector’s Impact on Madison“