The Forward Festival

Help us kickoff The Forward Festival with 100state's Badger Startup Summit! We will be presenting our Ideas to Product session followed by a more intensive SBIR/STTR workshop which will explore Reauthorization changes.

We’re sending out a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of our amazing sponsors who help make Forward Festival possible. Your support fuels the fun, creativity, and community spirit that defines the week. Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Fine Point Consulting, LLC, M3 Insurance, Neider & Boucher, S.C., Swink, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and Wisconsin Union, we’re so grateful to have you as partners. Taking place August 17-21, 2026- Forward Fest is Wisconsin's largest tech and entrepreneurship festival. Drop in for one event, or stay for many- we'd love to see you! Visit the Forward Fest website to view the full lineup of 50+ events: https://forwardfest.org

The Forward Festival, an event made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, returns with 56 events planned throughout Madison the week of Aug. 17-21. Billed as Wisconsinʼs largest technology and entrepreneurship festival, organizers expect more than 5,000 attendees for this yearʼs 16th annual gathering. The five-day festival features locally organized events to connect entrepreneurs and through those connections, inspire innovation. Everyone from business operators to foodies will be part of bringing the technology and startup communities together to interact, share ideas, pursue venture capital and network. As part of a unique structure, the individual events aren’t organized by event planners but by local entrepreneurs who serve as event hosts. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gNjH7MQi Story by Joe Vanden Plas

Thanks to SustainableHR PEO & Recruiting for joining us and Yahara Software in hosting High Tech Happy Hour at The Forward Festival! Register today!

You know I am all about connection, community, and doing things uniquely. If you are looking for something worth marking your calendar for, here are a few events I am either hosting or attending that I think are worth your time :) A friendly reminder to all... you don't need to be everywhere and at every event. Be strategic with your time, energy, and your intention. Show up where it makes sense for what you do, the season you are in, and where you know you will find real value or meet the right people. Details and links are in the comments below. I hope to see you soon!!! #uniqueconnector #events #uniqueaccess

I was very excited to speak with the Sun Prairie Star last week to promote my The Forward Festival webinar!

Owner Beth Epstein spoke to the Sun Prairie Star last week regarding her presentation at The Forward Festival. Please join us on August 19th from 2 to 3 PM for the webinar "Introduction to Patents for Entrepreneurs" to learn more about patents and intellectual property! https://lnkd.in/gx42JYGd #ForwardFest #patents #webinar

We're celebrating the 25th Anniversary of High Tech Happy Hour! Join us at the Memorial Union on August 20th as a part of The Forward Festival. Hosted by SupraNet and Yahara Software. Register below!

Hey, folks. I have a few announcements to make. First, I have volunteered to be the spokesperson for the Forward Festival this year. You may be seeing or hearing from me speaking about Forward Fest in publications in the near future. If you have any questions about Forward Fest, feel free to reach out. It really is a cool festival, and you should consider attending if you're in the Madison area. More information about Forward Fest is available at https://forwardfest.org/ . Second, I recently accepted an offer to moderate a roundtable about AI and Inclusivity at DevFestWI this year. Overall, the whole conference is shaping up to be pretty great, and the official agenda will be posted soon. You can attend by buying an All-Inclusive Forward Pass or buying a ticket specific to DevFestWI. If you're buying the DevFestWI-specific event ticket, you can use code "SPEAKERS2026" for a 50% discount. More info available at https://www.devfestwi.com/ . Third, I am happy to co-host an event at this year's Forward Fest with Hollie H. Hollister called THE "ANTI-BURNOUT" BLUEPRINT: Wellness for Solo Founders and Small Business Owners. Our hope is to provide folks with some structure to help folks achieve their goals without leading themselves straight into burnout. More information about the event which takes place at 100State here: https://lnkd.in/gWhZNhFW Fourth, I have joined the Madison College IT Advisory Committee to provide feedback as they work on the process of updating programming and degree programs to reflect the disruptive and transformational influence of AI on the process of developing software. Shout-out to Perry Govier for the good work that he's doing over there. More information about Madison College is available at: https://lnkd.in/gmTGRsRd Thanks for reading!

This week’s episode of WisBusiness.com: the Podcast 🎙 is with Ross Larson, a software engineer with Madison-based Paradigm and board member for The Forward Festival. He previews this year’s event series, which focuses on #Wisconsin’s tech sector and #entrepreneurs with more than 50 individual events held Aug. 17-21 in the Madison area. “It’s made by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs,” Larson said, noting the events include “bringing together people, networking, hands-on learning, conversations, workshops, making connections. Trying to be the #community that we want to be.” https://lnkd.in/gwBi93P3