Next Week: Get Ready for ICT Unconference

The Countdown to ICT Unconference continues:  4 days remaining! We are excited to see the Wichita entrepreneur community come together for a day full of collisions, productivity, and collaboration. This email contains details about the day and tips for coming prepared. Read to the end to make the most out of your day. See you on Tuesday, April 22 at the Wichita Marriott Hotel!

The Schedule

7:45- 8:20 – Registration

8:30-9:00 – Welcome & Opening Keynote, Derrick Nielsen, Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C. & Herb Sih, Think Big Partners

9:00-10:00 – Agenda Creation

10:05-11:00 – Session 1 (multiple sessions happening at once)

11:10-12:05 – Session 2 (multiple sessions happening at once)

12:15-1:45 – Lunch and Keynote – Scott Tibbitts, Space Entrepreneur

1:45-2:15 – Idea Express (15 minutes of 90-second pitches)

2:30-3:25 – Session 3 (multiple sessions happening at once)

3:35- 4:10 – Closing Program & Speaker – Steve Dickie, Character Coach for the WSU Shockers Basketball Team

4:15 – ? – Closing Reception

Address & Parking

The event is at the Wichita Marriott Hotel (9100 E. Corporate Hills Dr., Wichita, KS 67207.) Free parking is provided in the lot west of the Wichita Marriott Hotel. Please enter through the west doors.

What to Bring:

-A stack of your business cards
-Your favorite device to use for social media (Use #ICTUnconference & @ICTUnconference on Twitter!)
-Session topic ideas (view current ideas and submit your ideas until Monday, April 21 at 10PM! VIEW & SUBMIT NOW.
-Creativity and open-mindedness to fuel the conversations

The Unconference (un)Written Rules:

-Whenever it starts is the right time. Whenever it is over, it is over.
-The people who come are the right people.
-Whatever happens is the only thing that could have happened.
-If you are not learning or contributing, it is your responsibility to use your own two feet to find someplace where you are (The Law of Two Feet).

Speakers you don’t want to miss!

-Derrick Nielsen of Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C. is Opening Speaker and Emcee for the day
-Herb Sih of Think Big Partners will speak on building an entrepreneurial ecosystem and lead the Agenda Creation
-Steve Dickie, Character Coach for the WSU Shockers Basketball team will be the Closing Speaker
-Keynote Scott Tibbitts, Space Entrepreneur will be speaking about his journey to success at lunch

What to Expect:

-One-on-one, 20-minute Mentor sessions will be happening throughout the day. Last chance to apply to be a mentee, applications close Monday, April 20 at 5PM. APPLY NOW.
-Idea Express will take place after lunch for 30 minutes. Attendees will have a chance to hear and pitch their 90-second idea on relevant projects, ideas, or problems as long as it facilitates collisions between attendees. 15 minutes will be pitches followed by 15 minutes of attendees interacting and discussing the pitches.
-The morning & agenda creation may be a little chaotic – and that’s OK! It allows attendees the chance to create the conference they want. Come prepared to have open conversations and provide valuable input and listen to what others say – you will get out what you put in.
-Lunch is provided
-A variety of sponsors and Wichita businesses will be exhibiting in the hallway. Stop by their tables to learn more and how they can help you as an entrepreneur!

Get Excited!

Tell the world why you’re excited to attend ICT next week! Tweet @ICTUnconference and tell us why!

3Q4: Steve Dickie, ICT Unconference Speaker

Continuing in our “3Q4” series, we’d like to introduce you to Steve Dickie, our ICT Unconference closing speaker. If you missed the other posts in the 3Q4 series they are here and here.

Steve Dickie is the Character Coach for the Wichita State Shockers Men’s Basketball team. He has served in Coach Gregg Marshall ‘s program for the last 3 years and been an important component in seasons that have included 3 invitations to the NCAA tournament, 2 Missouri Valley Conference Championships, a trip to the Final Four and this year’s record breaking run to 35 straight victories. Steve is also Regional Director for Nation of Coaches, a national faith based organization that encourages coaches and helps college basketball programs teach character.

Steve is passionate about creative leadership, discovering the simple in the abstract, exploring new ways to do old things, empowering the extraordinary out of the ordinary and helping people align their gifts and talents with purposes bigger than themselves.

3Q4 Steve Dickie

Q1. Why is Wichita a great place to “start up”?

“Start up” is in Wichita’s blood. Since its frontier beginnings and throughout its storied history, Wichita has always been a place to launch good ideas. Great people, affordable living, expanding cultural resources and lots of creative elbowroom provide everything we need to turn the world on its ear.

Q2. What gets you excited about the current entrepreneurial environment in Wichita?

When I first moved to Wichita from Los Angeles, I saw a community that wasn’t always enticing for young and emerging leaders to stick around. Not so much anymore. Young entrepreneurs are putting down roots and investing their creative energy in our city and we’re all the better for it. Wichita is a great place to be, but also a great place to become!

Q3. Give us a sneak peak to your closing remarks.

I'm so excited to speak on this topic! Success and significance in leadership begins with and is ultimately sustained by the ability to understand, challenge and manage self. In other words, the greatest investment any leader can make is to pay attention to who they are on the inside. Simply put, we're transformed from the inside out.

Meet Steve Dickie and all of our Unconference speakers, ambassadors and mentors at ICT Unconference on April 22. Get your tickets today!

A special “thank you” to Microsoft BizSpark, Docutronics, Think Big Partners, Urban League of Kansas, Business Brokers of the Plains. Without your support, ICT Unconference would not be possible.

ICT Unconference Gaining Attention in Wichita News

The Wichita community is excited for the upcoming ICT Unconference next week, April 22! Check out the latest news and announcements surrounding the unconference.  

• Evomail Blog , Feb. 19 - ICT Unconference is Going to Start Something Big in Wichita, and Evomail Will be Front and Center 
• Wichita Business Journal, Feb. 13 - Entrepreneurs, leaders plan to collaborate at Wichita’s first unconference
• Wichita Business Journal, Feb. 18 - Three reasons why an ‘unconference’ could be just what Wichita’s entrepreneurship community needs
• The Wichita Eagle, Mar. 16 - Unconference topics to target entrepreneurs 
• Network Kansas - Save the Date for ICT Unconference
• The Wichita Eagle, April 20 - A conversation with Herb Sih

VIDEOS:

• ICT - UNCONFERENCE PSA 
• Local Loop ICT - UNCONFERENCE 

There's still time to purchase your ticket to ICT, submit session ideas you want to take part in and attend this day full of collisions and collaborations with Wichita's own innovators and entrepreneurs. Don't miss out! 

Countdown to ICT: Our Favorite Ideas

There are only 11 days until the ICT Unconference, and we are excitedly finishing preparations. It looks like you have been busy as well adding your breakout session ideas into IdeaScale. We thought we’d look through them all and post a few of our favorites to get you thinking and prepare you for the day.

Our Favorite ICT Unconference Breakout Topics (So Far):

1. Linking Entrepreneurs with Talent

How do entrepreneurs find the talent they need to create next-generation products and services? What resources do they use in trying to find IT specialists, web designers and other key talent? And how do job seekers interested in working for a start-up find these entrepreneurs?

2. Starting a Entrepreneurship/business incubator center in Wichita

Entrepreneurs need a space to meet, collaborate, network, develop and work on their business ideas in an environment that encourages and accelerates the process. What/where is the ideal location for this space? Is there enough interest to get this type of space started within our community?

3. The Impostor Syndrome - When you don't feel you're good enough!

As entrepreneurs, we all know the feeling. Those moments when we don't think we're good enough, that we are over our heads with the project we have started. Or, that we have bitten off more than we can chew. This session will be enlightening and encouraging to all those who attend. We will be pleasantly surprised to learn that we all experience those feelings. And, we will learn from one another how to come through it with success.

4. Guppy Tank
Have something like this ICT Unconference (or "Shark Tank") once a month in Wichita? Business leaders could sit down and take on (support) a Kansas idea or project? And/or commit time to help mentor great ideas. Could be done at the Wichita Chamber downtown. What a great way to help build our town and state! Only top five ideas each month.

If you are attending the ICT Unconference, you will be able to vote on these, and many other, great session ideas. Do you have an idea for a session topic? Tell us about it!

Don’t have your ticket to ICT Unconference yet? What are you waiting for? Go get it now!

An Out-Of-This-World Experience

An Unconference is a unique learning and collaboration environment, where its success is completely dependent on the participation of its attendees. So where in the world do you find a keynote speaker who can measure up? We looked outside of this word (literally) to Space Entrepreneur and CEO of Katasi, Scott Tibbitts. Curious about his keynote message? Here’s a sneak preview:

This is the story of creating a space company from scratch. This crazy entrepreneurial story started with an invention made of hardware store parts, which NASA said they could use on their spacecraft. That led to a crazy journey of becoming the world’s leading supplier of mechanisms for spacecraft, and also let to perils with becoming a "rockstar" space company – their growth almost killed them. By itself, it’s a very good story with plenty of take-aways – taking chances, following intuition, challenges of growth, dealing with success, the highs and lows of becoming an iconic company in an industry.

Scott will also discuss:

- The challenges entrepreneurs face as a company grows, how your genes wire you for entrepreneurial success, but the same genes create blind spots that can cause a company to fail;
- "Escaping the entrepreneurs prison" where Scott talks honestly about the demons he had to wrestle with as they grew;
- Recognizing the importance of intuitive "Nudges";
- In entrepreneurship where you’re taking a road less travelled, that you have a choice of A or B. And how the one that seems crazy, is the one that leads to great things. 

Trust us, this is a keynote session you don’t want to miss. If you haven’t purchased your ICT Unconference tickets yet, hurry! They are selling fast.

Have an idea for a session topic? Submit it here!

We love our amazing sponsors, including: Wichita State University Center for Entrepreneurship, Wichita Technology Corporation and Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, L.C. CPAs and Advisors.