Innovation Weekend
Innovation Weekend
Time to innovate? Innovation Weekend will get your employees excited about work again and highlight those future leaders that can drive innovation inside the organization.
Summary
Based on the popular Start-Up Weekend approach, the Nashville Technology Council will provide corporations with a company contained innovation approach that spans Friday to Monday. The program would involve several members from the Nashville Technology Council that would lead company employees through a typical start up process. The focus is on technological advance and innovation of current business practices. All ideas will remain the property of the sponsoring company.
Teams and Employee Background
2-4 Teams will be formed based on interest from the company. It has to be a completely volunteer basis on behalf of the employee. For each Team, the Nashville Technology Council will provide a team leader who has been a successful entrepreneur or has participated in Start-Up Weekend or both. We recommend eight to ten employees per team.
The team members when combined should have the following experience: programming, engineering, finance, product management, graphic design, and marketing.
Deliverables
The teams should accomplish the following before the weekend is completed:
- Draft Business Plan with five year financial projections
- Product Demonstration
- PowerPoint Presentation to Senior Management
Program Outline
Pre-Event Planning will include a familiarization with the company in the form of an overview and key initiatives.
Friday Afternoon 3-5 – Ideation*
Ideas will be generated from company employees, senior leadership, and NTC members. NTC members will do general research on background of company and current industry trends before event. All innovation ideas will be captured. Then using a voting system, the best ideas will be culled down to 2-4 based on the number of teams.
Friday Evening – Teams form and begin work
Saturday – Teams meet and work
This can be done onsite or off.
Sunday
This can be done onsite or off.
Monday – Presentation – 30 Minute Pitches per team*
“Startup Weekend had two main benefits for me: collaboration and working
outside of my normal tasks. Everyone feels that they have more to offer
their company than the tasks that they do daily. This was a chance to
exercise those skills that I don’t get to use in a normal working day.”
Jason Moore, Big Web Apps
Program Details
The Nashville Technology Council will prepare a report with findings from the weekend.
A Ning site with password protection will be constructed throughout the event to capture information and the event itself.
We recommend the sponsoring company provide a benefit to all employees at the conclusion of the event and a prize to the winning team.
*Senior Leadership from the company must participate.
The sponsoring company must provide space for work teams to meet and the space needs to be available 24/7 during the weekend event. Nashville Technology Council as part of the event, will provide food and beverages.
Sponsoring Company Costs $10,000.
Price includes food, beverages, faculty, and event materials.
FAQ
What is Innovation Weekend?
Innovation Weekend is an intense event bringing brilliant tech minds together to create companies, projects and great tech communities!
What is the weekend like?
The weekend is fun, mentally simulating and always profitable (2 of those are true)! It starts Friday at 6pm and finishes up Monday morning at 9am, the hours in between are up to the company. Innovation Weekend gets everyone in the same room, sometimes clothes and always feeds. What is next is really up to the people that show up, it is your drive and passion that will lead the weekend.
What is the agenda?
Have you ever worked at a startup? Innovation Weekends don’t really have agendas, just general times when the building is open for everyone to meet and work. If you are an agenda driven person, Innovation Weekend might not be for you. You make the agenda based on the people, ideas and mood.
Is the expectation to create a major innovation in one weekend?
That is generally the goal but launching is totally up to the companies that sponsor the event.
How are details like legal, ownership, members etc handled?
The people working on the products will determine these issues during the weekend. The sponsoring company will retain ownership of any company coming out of the weekend.
Is everyone who attends a participant?
Again, this will be determined by the participants.
What happens once the weekend ends?
Above all, we hope that a strong bond between departments will form. Beyond that, it depends on the groups. Past weekends have seen groups work beyond the weekend and continue to build and market their products either inside the company or through temporary furloughs outside the company. If the company wants to use/engage outside resources as part of the weekend, the company will disclose this information to the NTC.
Aren’t people concerned about someone running away with their idea?
We provide a password protected site. We will make general announcements about this at the beginning and end of the program. All participants will sign a disclosure form in advance of the weekend. The company controls any media exposure.
Do You Sleep At the Event?
Yes. Definitely. Generally the hours are Friday from 6-10pm, Saturday from 9am-9pm, Sunday from 9am-6pm and Monday from 8-10AM. If you have reasons to be away during the weekends, by all means feel free to do so (kids soccer game, dinner with the President, etc).
Who Runs Innovation Weekend?
Nashville Technology Council is a 501C6 Membership Organization supporting entrepreneurship. Every weekend has a facilitator that is approved by the Nashville Technology Council.
Is Innovation Weekend a Company?
No, Innovation Weekend is a concept to help companies begin to innovate.
Can my Company sponsor a Weekend?
Yes you can. You can be a company sponsor for one weekend a year.
What do the ticket types mean on the registration page?
Developer–Sys Admin: You can set up the servers and make sure the tubes are not clogged to the internets. You run the tech show.
Developer–Database: You’re the person who lays the solid foundation upon which everything else depends. Everyone else will be trying to get you to code up their brilliant idea after the weekend; and with a budget, you could.
Developer–Architect: You’re the person that comes up with the overarching vision for the project. You fit tab A into slot B.
Project Manager: Help lead the team and keep everyone on track.
Product Manager: Design the product based on your knowledge of customer needs.
Business Analyst: Provide analytical support, identify key trends in the industry, etc.
Sales/Marketing: Determine the customer model, project sales, create go-to-market strategies.
Developer–Front End: You make things look good, working directly with the User Experience team to make everything rock for the user. CSS is your friend, and IE bugs are the enemy in which you destroy. User rebellion will be directed toward you.
PR: You like telling the story of Innovation Weekend (your project) and you’re awesome at keeping the message alive. Craft buzzword packed blog posts, dazzle them with brilliance or baffle them with bull.
User Experience: You know that all your friends are going to be using what you just helped create. You know that unless it’s user-friendly, your friends won’t talk to you. You fear losing your friends.
Designer: Someone has to add the drop shadow and gradient to that interface design, you will do it for the site design, banners, business cards and logo.
Legal: You make certain that all the i’s are dotted and all the t’s are crossed and help your project move forward after the weekend.
Cook: Don’t know where you fit in but want to experience the weekend? Be the Cook.
