DEC 2019 | Global Conference + Directors Summit + Celebrate the End of the Year
Important Topics In This Newsletter
What an incredible year we have had! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for contributing to it and helping Startup Grind continue to fulfill its mission of educating, inspiring and connecting the world’s entrepreneurs.
The end of the year is always a great time to reflect on what you have achieved and plan for the next year. What are you most proud of for achieving this year? Here are some of the highlights we are extremely proud of as the Community Team:
- Helping put on the Global Conference in February which had a record 8,000 attendees
- Welcoming close to 150 Directors from all around the world for the Directors Summit
- Hosting a record 251 events up from 200 events from the previous year for our #SGWomen month in May
- Launching our Cohort Programme for new Chapter Directors. We’re extremely proud off this one and all the new Chapter Directors who are hosting some impressive events
- Hosting an all-time record (to-date) of 268 events in the month of November contributing to over 2,400 events in 2019!
#DirectorOfTheMonth
Congratulations to Arzish Azam (Islamabad Chapter) for being selected as December’s Director of the Month. In addition to hosting the inaugural Regional Conference in Islamabad Pakistan, Arzish also brought a delegation of 50 Pakistani startups to our 2019 Global Conference and is planning the same again for the 2020 Global Conference.
In his own words
“I became part of the community almost three years ago and over time SG has given me a chance to not only make some amazing friends around the globe but also build the most active startup community in my country."
— Arzish Azam, Startup Grind Islamabad
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#CelebrateTheEOY
A few years ago when we launched the idea of hosting parties in the middle of the year and the end of the year, we never could imagine how popular they would become. Hosting a party, especially at the end of the year, is a great way to bring your startup community together to celebrate all that your community has achieved over the year. Just ask Sandras (Cape Town Chapter) and Shahar & Omri (Tel Aviv Chapter), who hosted mid-year parties this year, which each had over 1,000 attendees!
The EOY Party Art Assets are READY!! Get them today here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/u/0/?ftv=1&tgif=d
(Remember, you need to be logged into your Startup Grind email account - not sure how to do that - go check out this article: https://help.startupgrind.com/article/300-startup-grind-email-account)
#AnnualDirectorsSurvey
Our Annual Directors Survey deadline is Sunday, 15th December 2019. Please use this as an opportunity to have your say. We’ve had 62 responses so far, but would love to have a lot more.
Deadline: 15 Dec 2019
Link to complete the form is: https://forms.gle/LaTHjdFnYrrDy6UV8
#GlobalConference + #DirectorsSummit
Check out who has already registered for the Global Conference and Directors Summit here.
If your name is not on the list, please email Ford ( ford@startupgrind.com). Directors get a special conference badge, but you need to be registered to receive it.
Bunk beds are already sold out and as happened this year, we expect the subsidised hotel accommodation to sell out soon, so don’t leave it too late to register!
We are expecting over 200 directors to come together to celebrate being part of this incredible family and hear from some incredible speakers. If you haven’t already seen the line up, check it out here. The conference is FREE to attend for all chapter directors and co-directors.
Following the 2 day conference, we have the legendary Directors Summit where we spend 2 full days as a family together and learn from each other, but also award each other for all the hard work done throughout the year.
Dates: 10-14th Feb 2020
Where: Redwood City, San Francisco
To see all the info - please go here: https://directors.startupgrind.com/global
#UnconferenceAgendaSuggestions
This year we are opening up an Unconference style agenda for our Directors Summit Day 2 on Friday, 14th February 2020 in San Francisco.
There will be multiple unconference sessions running at any one time, with the first sessions starting at 10am. Each will run for 35 minutes.
Topic suggestions will be open until midnight (PST) 8th January 2020
#DirectorAwardsNominations
At the Directors Summit - we also host our AWARDS CEREMONY - This year, we are opening it up to applications from YOU!
As was mentioned in the Slack and Facebook Chapter Directors Group post on the 7th November, this year we are accepting nominations from YOU! More details available at https://airtable.com/shrEZdvcYrel78nKz
#StartupProgram
It’s easier than ever to refer startups to our Startup Program at Global 2020:
- Show this promotional video at any Chapter events between now and Global
- Share any of the social templates we have created for you
- Share your personalised referral URL with any top startups you know
Remember: $200 discount for the referred startups & $50 credit per paid startup for you!
#StartupProgramAmbassador
Want to be a Startup Program Ambassador?
Please fill out this form if you would like to be a Director Ambassador for the startups on our Startup Program.
An Ambassador role can take as little or as much time as you are willing to give. Even the most basic support is great, just let us know!
#GlobalConferenceOfficeHours
This month we are hosting special Office Hours, dedicated to the Global Conference and Directors Summit. We invite you to join one of the calls to learn more about it, even if there is a small possibility that you will be attending.
We plan on having some Directors share their stories from having attended a Global / Directors Summit. If you have an interesting story to share of your experience at Global or Directors Summit, please send an email to ford@startupgrind.com so we can highlight you on one of the calls.
APAC + CHINA
Host: Farheen
Date: Tuesday, 17th December 2019
Time: Tue 09:00 AM SAST | Tue, 02:00 AM EST | Tue, 03:00 PM HKT | Tue, 09:00 AM CEST
Format: Video Conference | Zoom Video Call ( https://startupgrind.zoom.us/j/9909114490)
AMERICA + CANADA + LATAM
Host: Madeline + Jess
Date: Tuesday,17th December 2019
Time: Tue, 7PM SAST | Tue, 1PM EST | Wed, 10:30PM IST | Tue, 7PM CEST
Format: Video Conference | Zoom Video Call ( https://startupgrind.zoom.us/j/3486534192)
EUROPE + MIDDLE EAST + AFRICA
Host: Phin, Bruce & Daniel
Date: Wednesday,18th December 2019
Time: Wed, 5PM SAST | Wed, 11AM EST | Wed, 11PM HKT | Wed, 5PM CEST
Format: Video Conference | Zoom Video Call ( https://startupgrind.zoom.us/s/2905911888)
#LevelUp
This months #LevelUp provides updates on the new Startup Grind Directors Google Calendar and updates to the pre-survey form fields.
Startup Grind Directors Calendar
We’ve launched a Startup Grind Directors calendar to make your lives easier and help you remember important dates in relation to Startup Grind. This calender will detail all the Office Hours, Events, Global 2020 dates, Themes, and any other important info/dates that affects you.
You should be receiving an email with an invitation to join, please do subscribe to the calendar.
Also - feel free to click on the link below and subscribe to in on your personal Gmail or iCal calendars - so that you know when Office Hour or other things are happening!
Here's the link: http://bit.ly/dircal
Here's a page where you can also see all the info (plus a link for all you iCal users out there): https://directors.startupgrind.com/calendar/
Updates to the Pre-Survey Fields
Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback to the Pre-survey fields. We always appreciate iterating and making the product better.
The pre-survey fields are an important way for us to better understand who is attending our events in an organised way at a global scale. Any organisation is only as good as the data it collates, analyses and strategically makes decisions based on what the data says. This year alone we have had over 92,000 attendees at one of our 2,400 events. There are lots of learnings in that data.
The following updates have been made to the pre-survey:
- Take into account that we have a student demographic, therefore made changes to the form and labelling accordingly to make it easier for them to fill out
- Removed enforced options for websites, as they weren’t validating correctly and caused the registration form to fail.
- We have the DEI Steering Committee looking at making the gender questions more inclusive
Please note that changes will only be seen when you publish a NEW event - old events remain with old settings. As you publish an event, the questions at that point in time, will be the questions that are asked till event is over. Therefore, only newly created events, will have our new form questions (as at Monday 9th Dec).
As mentioned - we are trying out a few things - and will continue improving until we can have as few questions as possible on the signup forms.
#MerryChristmasFromBeijing
Oyename Oluwasheyi, a volunteer from the Beijing Chapter, created this really amazing video from their recent Christmas party. Very appropriate for the time of year!
Here's wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
#CommunityTeam
Derek, G, Phin, Bruce, Farheen, Madeline, Daniel, Jessica