Creating a sequel to your favorite movie is always a challenge. I mean, it’s almost impossible to duplicate the success. Think about it. Was Ice Cube’s “Next Friday” as good as “Friday?” How about “The Hangover Part II” compared to “The Hangover?” Or take it back even further and compare the original “Grease” and “Grease 2.” Back-to-back success is no guarantee, but for the second annual Maximizing Millennial Minds Conference (#M32017), it did what most can’t do – surpassed the success of its inaugural year!
#M32017 was centered around its content, New Orleans’ culture, and there were cocktails!
Have you ever second-lined at a conference to the Rebirth Brass Band’s “Do what you wanna?” Probably not. Have you seen the new national study, “America’s Voice on Small Business,” by America’s SBDC and the Center for Generational Kinetics? I’ll take that as a no as well. Have you walked the streets of New Orleans discussing your SBDC and the millennial experience with other SBDC professionals from across the country? Likely not.
But guess what? We did at #M32017.
A dozen states were represented from across the country, as far as Washington and North Dakota to Brooklyn and Maryland. We welcomed over 70 professionals who are interested in SBDCs, millennials and innovation to one location for a two-day event that educated us with nine hours of professional development. The theme was “Investing in Innovation,” and our sessions were facilitated by some of the top business technology companies that all shared ideas about how to make SBDC consultant and client lives much easier.
The content was as deep as a New Orleans’ seafood gumbo bowl. Our keynote speakers brought us knowledge on the future of public relations, future-proofing our organization, millennial retention strategies, and the behavior of millennial entrepreneurs.
Are you surprised at the success? I’m not. When you give millennials a chance to be at the front and center, challenge them and give them the tools needed, success is inevitable. So, while Hollywood struggles to keep a good thing going, we took a page out of Drake’s book and went “back to back.”
Thank you to all the sponsors and supporters who made it possible: United Midwest Savings Bank (Fred Crispen), GrowthWheel International Inc. (David Madie), Xero (Derek Nabbefeldt), Kompass North America (Rick Quinones and Rufiya Blank), Constant Contact (Kim Walker – 5 Stones Media), Cox Business (Lewis Lemoine and Katie Teen), Wix.com (Adam Wozney) and Robert Brown Photography (Robert Brown). Also thanks to our wonderful speakers who brought great content in a dynamic way! Jason Dorsey, Blair Broussard, Dima Ghawi, MBA, John Grubbs, MBA, and Gabrielle Bosché. Last but not least, thank you to all the SBDCs that represented near and far. A dozen states represented, and it was great meeting you all and learning from you.
If you are attending the America’s SBDC Conference this September, stop by to see us at the Millennial Meet-Up workshop on Friday, September 8th at 10 am. We will be discussing the new America’s SBDC study about the generational views of entrepreneurship, “America’s Voice on Small Business”, and applying what we learned at the M3 2017 conference in response.