It’s that time of the year. The cold and wet winter is quickly passing by, making room for the amazing spring weather that makes Austin so special. As before, we are eager to enjoy clear blue skies and a sun that is bright, but not too hot. At the same time we are also excited to welcome another iteration of RISE.
2010 marks the fourth year of a week-long series of events that are put together by entrepreneurs for the purpose of celebrating and fostering that which makes us special, entrepreneurship. The un-conference has grown at an incredible pace, and has become increasingly relevant through boom, crisis and recession. As a co-founder of RISE and local entrepreneur, I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of RISE, but more impressed by the way in which the community has embraced RISE and made it its own.
Through our growth phase, and despite the exponential increase in the number of the sessions, we have been able to maintain the consistency and high quality of our small interactive sessions. For that, we must thank our session hosts, who take valuable time to share their stories and insights with us. Likewise, we must recognize that without a quality audience and richness of dialogue, there would be little or no incentive to come back again the following year and expand on the previous session. At its root, this is the magic to which RISE owes its success and reason for being--entrepreneurs that care about entrepreneurship.
This year we are particularly thrilled by the following key developments:
1) More entrepreneurs, this year we expect over 2,000 attendees,
2) In order to accommodate the increased audience, we will expand the sessions across a full week, this means more sessions and more flexibility--including after work events.
3) More robust website, including social media tools,
4) More keynote sessions
This year the growth in RISE is also compounded by its relevance given the current global theme of re-building as we work our way out of our current recession. As entrepreneurs we know that in order for any incentives and economic stimuli to be effective over a long term, these must be applied to real businesses that solve for real problems or address real customer needs . Great businesses are built on ideas, sometimes obvious, in other cases radical in nature. Always, however, these ideas need the vision, passion and commitment of an entrepreneur who will convene investors, management, employees, and customers as the idea develops into a great business, one that can generate fulfilling and sustainable jobs.
Purpose is both the starting point and the mantra of great businesses and the thing that brings loyal customers who through their patronage generate revenue and economic growth.
For all the entrepreneurs that will join us this year, we thank you, not just for your attendance, but for all that you do as your build and grow on your ideas.
We look forward to seeing you at one of the sessions or key note events.
Enjoy RISE 2010!
- Roy
