Hometown Summit 2017

Successful entrepreneurship sets off a chain reaction, encouraging other entrepreneurs to iterate upon and ultimately propagate innovation to the point of “creative destruction,” rendering existing products, services, and business models obsolete. We've seen this domino of accelerating innovation at work in the private sector - and our public sector and civic institutions can't keep up. Hear from these policy entrepreneurs and civic innovators about how their work bridges the gap and changes the game.

Many communities have begun to engage in a process known as “creative placemaking,” whereby artists, arts organizations, and community development practitioners intentionally integrate arts and culture into community revitalization work--placing arts at the table with land-use, transportation, economic development, education, housing, infrastructure, and public safety strategies. Presenters on this panel will share case studies and techniques from the National Endowment for the Arts’ (NEA) “Our Town” grant program and the Urban Land Institute’s creative placemaking portfolio, and local practitioners will talk about how to do such work effectively.  The session will illuminate a variety of approaches that seed innovation via creative placemaking and help foster better places across America.

12:00PM - Casual buffet lunch
12:30PM - Flash talk
12:50PM - Moderated panel and Q&A
1:50PM - Adjourn

There is a narrative that the United States is a country in decline, overwhelmed by changes in technology, demographics, and the world economy. The truth is more complicated, and more hopeful. Communities throughout America are actively engineering new models of entrepreneurship, culture, and civic engagement, solving tough challenges from within. Join an engaging conversation about pathbreaking solutions with two mayors, a pioneering startup researcher, and the leader of New America, a think tank and civic enterprise committed to renewing American in the Digital Age.

Seed accelerators, also known as startup incubators, are generally fixed-term, cohort-based programs, that include mentorship and educational components and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day. According to a 2016 Brookings Institution report, America is home to more than 700 self-declared startup launch programs. Many small cities regard these programs as key ingredients in their economic development strategies, but it is not clear what curricula, culture, or  structures yield viable businesses, nor how different entrepreneurial programs suit the needs of particular communities. This session will explore best practices for accelerators in small cities; what kinds of funding models are most appropriate within different community contexts; and, critically, who these programs are designed to serve.

REGISTRATION CLOSED

The Founders Summit is a day of talks featuring the first-person stories of how leading entrepreneurs launched their ventures. 

The final keynote of the Founders Summit with Dave McClure is free to Hometown Summit badgeholders. To attend the rest of the day, as well as the array of Founders Luncheons and Workshops, contact hometown@tomtomfest.com and bump your badge up to an All Access or Patron Pass. 

Learn more about the incredible innovators and ideas gathered at the Founders Summit on our website. 

Move thought to action. How will ideas and insights gathered at the Hometown Summit inform your work going forward? Share ideas and commitments with fellow participants in this closing session.