2015 Entrepreneur Season Halftime Highlights

This post by Blackstone Content Correspondent Summer Suleiman originally appeared on ideavillage.org.

Happy New Year ‘treps!

The Christmas trees have come down, and the trimmings have been put away (maybe) until next year. Shake off those post-holiday blues. We’re back from break at The Idea Village, and it’s time to get to work!
We know many of you probably worked right through the holidays. The work of a ‘trep never stops.

Well, now, we’re back in it too, and gearing up for NOEW. It’s go time. It’s been a busy Season so far, packed with tons of exciting new things at The Village – and we’ve rounded up some of the Season’s best to date in this halftime highlights post.

The Idea Village grew and added five new members to the team! We were excited to welcome: Amelia Lane Johnson, Development Coordinator, Emily Egan, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Jon Lindquist, Community Coordinator, Richard Hebert, New Orleans Entrepreneur Week coordinator, and Summer Suleiman, Blackstone Content Correspondent.

Check out their stories here.

We kicked off the 2015 Entrepreneur Season with Entrepalooza at NOLA Brewery. The NOLA summer heat couldn’t keep ‘treps away! Over 250 people gathered to celebrate with The Idea Village.

If you missed it, you can see the recap here.

The 2015 IDEAx program kicked off welcoming entrepreneurs in tech, education, health, and more. The accelerator program is an intensive 12-week program that offers peer learning, one-one-one coaching, mentorship, and exposure for businesses.

Learn about this year’s cohort here.

We held IDEAinstitute sessions for entrepreneurs on a number of topics from marketing to media.

Are you a business owner, and interested in learning more? You can see all the recaps fromIDEAinstitute here.

At Shredder Night, entrepreneurs in the community had the chance to pitch their businesses and ideas to a panel of judges for feedback. ‘Treps showed up on a unseasonably cold night in November to pitch at The Rusty Nail.

_Kickstarter announced an incubator initiative in New Orleans, partnering with The Idea Village, 4.0,Launchpad, and Propeller

We have all the details about the initiative on the blog.

The Junior League of New Orleans announced a partnership with The Idea Village that aims at promoting professional success and improving economic opportunities for women. The Junior League kicked off their first event with a panel of women who thrive in male-dominated industries.

Here’s some of the highlights from the event: Advice from women who survive and thrive in male-dominated industries.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced the commission for the city’s Tri-centennial, which includes our very own Tim Williamson.

#IDEAinsider was there to report all the details: Innovation a part of New Orleans Tri-centennial Celebration.

We continued the conversation by hosting an event with Walter Isaacson, author of The Innovators, How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution.

You can hear what Walter had to say in the recap.

The 2015 IDEAx program culminated with Demo Day, where participants shared exciting announcements and future plans to a packed house at The Little Gem Saloon.

See how they did on the big stage here.

Our 2015 Entrepreneurs-in-Residence Hank Torbert and J Miguez worked closely with the participants of the 2015 IDEAx accelerator program.

Read more about our seasoned Entrepreneurs-in-Residence here

IBERIABANK announced a title sponsorship for NOEW for the next 3 years. This year’s event will be held on March 20-27, 2015.

Find out more here.

We launched our new blog, #IDEAinsider, tracking entpreneurial activity in New Orleans, with a new series called “On The Inside,” where we talk to seasoned ‘treps to get solid, startup advice.

Check out the latest in the series here

In addition to tracking the entrepreneurial beat, we delved into some in-depth stories in entrepreneurship including education, culture, and millennials, this season. Here is a look at the stories from the first half of the season on #IDEAinsider. You can read what we found in our in-depth reporting in the links below.