Ryan Weber Archives – 1102 GRAND

Return home

info@1102grand.com

noc@1102grand.com

Home Colocation Services Connectivity 1102 Overview Blog Contact Us

Join 1102 Grandon

1102 GRAND Updates and Announcements

Address:
1102 Grand Ave., Suite 2000
Kansas City, MO 64106
816-471-7872

View Larger Map

Bios

Greg Elliott
Greg joined 1102 GRAND in 2008 where he has been active in attracting bootstrapping startups to Inc. 500 and Fortune 500 companies from around the region and the world

Press Contact

Valerie Jennings
816-221-1040
valerie@jenningssocialmedia.com
To submit a story idea to our blog email valerie@jenningssocialmedia.com

Tags

Technology & Science Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory

Web Directory

Posts Tagged ‘Ryan Weber’

Kansas City Data Center 1102 GRAND Interviews KCnext President, Ryan Weber, On Building A Strong Technology Community in Kansas City

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

By: Greg Elliott, Director of Business Development at 1102 GRAND

At 1102 GRAND, we recognize that creating a platform for tech-focused individuals and businesses to exchange ideas and work toward common goals is a necessity for a strong technology community. 1102 GRAND is excited that KCnext , The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City, has chosen Ryan Weber as president and we look forward to seeing him take the organization to the next level. The programming and events they have already put together look fantastic! I wanted to do a little Q and A with Ryan to see what is new with KCnext, how to become involved and how to join.

Q. Tell me about KCnext

KCnext – The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City serves as the regional advocate for the tech/IT industry, supporting more than 65 tech/IT company members, and growing, in the KC area. By focusing on key industry priorities, KCnext works to connect, promote and support the KC region’s community by amplifying our tech assets, increasing the tech/IT workforce pipeline and attracting technology companies to KC. KCnext also works to grow the existing base of technology firms in the KC region through workforce development and industry advocacy.
KCnext is housed in Union Station and governed by a 10-member Board of Directors from the local tech community.

Q. What impact does KCnext plan to have on the IT community?

There are several opportunities in our tech community that KCnext will impact this year. First, KCnext will work to increase collaboration opportunities among regional tech firms in the KC area and serve as a catalyst for joint-tech ventures. KCnext serves as the region’s database resource to increase mind-sharing within the tech sector.
Talent is at the forefront of a tech company’s mind right now. Recruiting, retaining, and getting access to the best talent is extremely important to success. Being part of a strong tech/IT community makes it easier to recruit from outside the region. We do a great job of creating a home for like-minded individuals and showcasing why KC is a great place to start and grow successful careers.
Raising capital is a difficult process, especially in the Midwest. KCnext can help member companies through this process by increasing their level of exposure to local and national investors by promoting their successful ventures.
KCnext is focused on increasing the tech workforce pipeline by educating the local community on what opportunities exist in the industry. Finally, KCnext will continue to aggregate and amplify our region’s tech assets regionally and globally.

Q. What opportunities are there to become involved with KCnext?

Regional companies are welcome to join as members, providing full access to our networking and educational events. Today, everyone is in technology so we do not limit who can become a member of KCnext. As a member of KCnext, we will increase the national and regional awareness of your organization through marketing and promotion. We encourage non-members to also attend our events; however there is a small fee. There are additional sponsorship opportunities for companies inside and outside the region.

Q. Are their upcoming KCnext initiatives that the IT community should be aware of?

Yes we have several upcoming events this spring. We have an educational briefing series we are very excited about, which will bring some talented industry experts to KC and raise our community’s level of tech knowledge. Also, we are co-promoting or co-sponsoring several upcoming events too. Below is a list but our website is always the best way to get up-to-date event information.

KCnext Events

March 29 – “Fiber to the Desktop” (Sponsored by Motorola and Hosted by PassiveNetworks)

April 26 – KCnext Spring IT Networking Happy Hour at Livestrong Sporting Park

Co-Hosted Events

March 21 – Council of IT Executives (CITE)

April 5-6^th – The Forum @ Middle of the Map Fest

April 27-28^th Kansas City Developer’s Conference

Q. How does a company or individual learn more about how to join?

We would be more than happy to meet with anyone who would like to learn more about KCnext. You can also visit KCnext.com for more details.

I hope this has been helpful and I hope to see you at some of the upcoming events! As always, if you have questions about KCnext or 1102 GRAND in general, feel free to email me at Greg@1102Grand.com.

Tags: 1102 GRAND, business information technology, Kansas City IT, KCnext, Ryan Weber, tech workforce, technology group, The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City
Posted in Kansas City Tech News | No Comments »

1102 GRAND Welcomes New KCNext President Ryan Weber

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Posted by: Greg Elliott, Director of Business Development at 1102 GRAND

1102 GRAND welcomes Ryan Weber as the new president of KCNext! We are excited for Ryan to take the organization to the next level and look forward to assisting him in any way possible. Good luck, Ryan!

Read the announcement: KCnext – The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City Announces New President and Names New Board Leadership

KCnext – The Technology Council of Greater Kansas City has selected Ryan Weber as its president, effective January 24, 2012.

Representing 70 current KCnext member companies and growing, Weber will work to support tech/IT company members and grow the region’s tech ecosystem. He will support KCADC in its efforts to recruit new technology companies to the Greater Kansas City region. With his expertise in angel networks, Weber will collaborate with area tech companies to attract motivated funders to the area. Weber will also work closely with KCnext members to develop key educational programs and networking events, as well as encourage joint-calendaring and co-promotion with regional entrepreneurial organizations.

Tags: Kansas City technology, KC tech c, KC tech leaders, KCnext, KCNext announcement, KCNext president, Ryan Weber
Posted in Kansas City Tech News | No Comments »

1102 GRAND Features Aaron Sloup, KC Hub

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

By Greg Elliott, Director of Business Development at 1102 GRAND

There are many people and groups all working to make the region around Kansas City a better place to work, live and enjoy life. I recently caught up with Aaron Sloup, co-founder of KC Hub, to get his take on what is happening in the Kansas City area and to share with us what KC Hub is all about.

Tell us a little about KC Hub’s background -

KC Hub started as a conversation between Ryan Weber and me about the fact that KC has a ton of resources like incubators, entrepreneur support (Kauffman, Pipeline, KCSourceLink, etc), major regional universities, bioscience research facilities and an active startup community, but our metro wasn’t really known as an innovation hub like North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Austin, TX or Silicon Valley. We came together in July 2010 to officially form as a non-profit to take on the task of transforming KC into an “ecosystem for innovation.” Our four founders are Ryan Weber, Matt Wilson, Matt Sawka and me. Since that time our region has made some incredible strides toward that end. KC is showing up on all kinds of national and worldwide rankings for entrepreneurial cities, Google Fiber selected us from well over 1000 cities to prove out its network, UMKC’s Bloch School is growing and accelerating their programs and making national lists as well, the KC Chamber’s Big 5 shows a lot of promise and that the folks in that organization are understanding and embracing a similar vision, not to mention KCNext…the list goes on and on. At KC Hub, we’re just excited to get the word out on cool things like this and try to support and grow the community any way we can.

What goal did you hope to achieve by founding KC Hub? What is the group’s mission or core focus?

The goal is really to make innovation the standard for KC. Whether it’s healthcare, transportation or IT, KC Hub wants Kansas City to be a place where the new breakthroughs take place. Our stated mission is “to transform the Kansas City region into an ecosystem for innovation.” Having said that, we don’t have illusions of grandeur thinking that we’re going to do this alone. We know that it’s going to take our entire community to accomplish that feat, and we’d like to just play a role in moving our region in the right direction.

How can the community get involved in the cause?

Find something you’re passionate about, whether it’s cancer research, tech startups or renewable energy, and then find groups you can join, events you attend, classes you can take, etc. Honestly, if you really want to make an impact, go start a company. There are a ton of resources in KC, from Pipeline to KCSourceLink to bizperc to Kauffman Labs, all of which support startups. With KC Hub, we built a website that allows anyone to create an account and post innovation news and events from across the region and around the world. We just wanted to create a central place for people to share cool and innovative things that are happening now. We’ve had a lot of people contact us just to find out how they can help. Innovative Networks is a good example; they actually did all the custom Drupal development and hosting for our site. They’re also a KC-based tech company and wanted to contribute to the cause.

What would an ideal Business Ecosystem look like to you?

Ooo, ideal? A supportive community of entrepreneurs/startups, unlimited capital, a wealth of excellent mentors, great and affordable legal advice, cheap office space, excellent research institutions – the thing is, Kansas City already has most of those aside from the unlimited capital part. But our VP, Ryan Weber, had a passion for that and is now the KC director for Angel Capital Group, bringing much needed, early stage funding to our region. KC may not have the big names that other regions do, but we have all the pieces in place and the community of innovators is getting bigger and stronger. I guess on the big names thing, Zaarly’s getting up there. And now that they have Meg Whitman on their board, I think more and more people will be following what they’re up to. It’s a cool story for everyone involved and a great testament to some of the innovative thinking happening here in the metro.

What do you like best about being involved in the research/technology community in Kansas City?

Seeing how passionate people are here. And it’s a different passion than what you might see on the coasts. Here, it’s more about believing in a long term vision vs. just building something to sell off in a year.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I want to throw a plug out there for Startup Weekend. It’s a really cool event, where you show up, form teams and basically build a company over a weekend. They usually have two a year. Even if you’re just curious about startups and want to learn, it’s a great event to learn by doing something vs. just reading about it.

How should interested people get in touch with you?

Jump on kchub.org, create an account and start posting interesting news/events about innovation in KC and throughout the world, or join us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. We like social media and talking about innovation. Come to a KCNext happy hour or Tech ESP event (when they start again in the spring) – we’re usually at those events. Feel free to drop us a line via our site as well.

Thanks for sharing Aaron and it will be exciting to see what is next for the Kansas City area!

Tags: 1102 GRAND, Aaron Sloup, ecosystem for innovation, entrepreneur, innovation hub, Internet Hub, Kansas City, KC community, KC Hub, KC Hub co-founder, Matt Sawka, Matt Wilson, Ryan Weber, Startup Weekend
Posted in 1102 GRAND, Kansas City Events, technology companies | No Comments »