An event founded around the concept of “focusing on learning by creating” is now making its way to Cleveland. An email to local entrepreneur Doug Craver from its organizer Andrew Kavanaugh:

Hi Everybody,

If you are receiving this email then I believe you are an invaluable member of the Cleveland Entrepreneurial Community and I’d like to ask you for a bit of help with the Startup Weekend - Cleveland event. Startup Weekend is an intense 54 hour event that brings together developers, graphic artists, business & marketing, legal and more for a fun filled weekend of pitching ideas and bringing the popular ideas to life. There have been nearly 30 Startup Weekend Events in the United States, Canada and, most recently, in Greece - including an event in our backyard (Columbus). After a great run of votes on http://startupweekend.com/cityvote/ - I’m happy to announce that we’re bringing the party to Cleveland.

We’re still putting together the logistics of the entire event and talking with a few different venues in order to get enough space for the 80-150 expected attendees. But in order to make this event a true success, I need a good team of people that can execute this event with me. I’m looking for 5-6 people to assist in planning the event, specifically, people that can:

1) Spread the word - the size of the event will dictate its’ success and ensure that we can continue to have these types of events in the future.
2) Raise sponsorship dollars - since we’re providing food, entertainment, some legal advice, etc; we need to raise about $5,000 and possibly more or less depending on the venue’s level of generosity.
3) Swag - who doesn’t like a gift bag for showing up to the event. Someone that can help with the design of our logo & tshirts would be great as well.
4) Help run the event - the event starts with registration, drinks, dinner, elevator pitches & voting, we’ll need a few volunteers to keep things running smoothly at all of these stages.

Crain’s Cleveland is running an article on the event in January and I hope to get The Plain Dealer involved in spreading the word shortly - this is shaping up to be quite the event and I hope that you can all assist or attend. If you would like to be involved or know someone that can help, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Everybody that replies will be invited to our first meeting in January where we can talk the logistics & roles.

Thanks for your consideration and Happy New Year,

-AK

Please spread the word and let’s make this event an outstanding success that continues to grow!