What do you get when you bring together local entrepreneurs and everyday investors?

Answer: A pitchfest!

A pitchfest (also called an entrepreneur showcase) is a fun, informative event where local entrepreneurs who are looking to raise capital can connect with everyday investors and community members.

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During the event, the entrepreneurs give presentations to “pitch” their business ideas to the audience in an informal setting that typically includes food, drink, and plenty of mingling. A pitchfest is a matchmaking event of sorts, serving as the first step toward connecting local entrepreneurs and investors in meaningful ways.

On February 6, New Dream hosts a free webinar about how to organize a pitchfest in your community. Dovetailing with New Dream's Guide to Going Local, the webinar will cover topics such as how to get started, identifying local entrepreneurs and investors, and maximizing the success of your event. Register now!

Date: Thursday, February 6, 2014
Time: 1:00-2:00pm EST (10:00-11:00am PST)
Cost: Free

Guest speaker:

Bob Marino of Seacoast Local, an education based nonprofit organization working to keep more money rooted in the Seacoast, NH community. Seacoast Local's Entrepreneur Showcases are featured in New Dream's Guide to Going Local — watch the video here.
 

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is proud to once again partner with Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) to celebrate International Development Week, which runs from February 2 – 8, 2014. We invite you to join us on Thursday, February 6, from 12 to 1:15 pm EST for a webinar on tourism development for local economic development (LED).

What You'll Learn:

During this webinar, you will learn how three Canadian municipal experts work with their counterparts in Nicaragua, Cambodia and Ukraine on innovative approaches to tourism development to benefit community economic growth. The interactive format of the webinar will give participants the opportunity to exchange ideas, share best practices and ask questions.
 
Our valued partners in local government development cooperation are helping build more inclusive and resilient communities. The webinar creates a venue to tell their story and share their expertise, to further support the important peer-to-peer exchanges fostered by FCM international projects.

[ register here ]

Please note that this webinar will be held in English only.

More information:

Should you have any question regarding the webinar, please do not hesitate to contact Pascal Lavoie, Program Manager (MPED Asia).

The Measuring the Co-operative Difference Research Network is presenting this webinar to explore how the co-operative sector employs their 5th principle of co-operation - education, training and information.

The featured speakers are Karen Miner, Christina Clamp and Erin Hancock.

[ register here ]

Erin will begin by providing the results of a scan of Canadian co-op educational initiatives including those undertaken by primary co-ops, federations, universities and consultants. This research provides an understanding of what type of work is happening and points to opportunities for improvement as well. Erin is the Manager of Research and Education for the Canadian Co-operative Association.

Karen will speak about the status of a current study for the 2014 International Summit Co-operatives on the state of co-operative management education. Also, she will profile the International Consortium of Leaders in Co-operative Business Education - a new, global network of institutions providing education and training for co-operative enterprises. Karen is the Managing Director of graduate level Co-operative Management Education at Saint Mary’s University.

Chris will report on a US-focused cooperative inventory project that captured: the scope of educational and/or training programs and materials; evaluation of specific materials; identification of other outstanding materials; and gaps in, or problems with, cooperative educational materials. Chris also conducted research to map the study of cooperatives in higher education in the USA and Canada in 2012-13.  She will report on the results of both studies and discuss the policy implications for co-op education. Chris Clamp is a professor of sociology at Southern New Hampshire University and director of the doctoral program in Community Economic Development and of the Center for Co-operatives and CED. 

*Please note we have changed our audio system, so prepare to join on your computer (mic and headphones) or phone into a Toronto-based number*

12:00 to 13:00 EST

Join us in this FSN Teleconference to learn about a recent survey of institutions about local food across Canada.

In 2012 Farm to Cafeteria Canada conducted the first nationwide survey of activities taken by Canadian schools, universities and colleges, and healthcare facilities to provide local food. The purpose was to better understand the activities underway within these settings, the barriers to and impact of such activities, and the types of assistance needed to propel activities forward. The results were released in the October 2013 report Local Foods: Canadian schools, campuses, and health care facilities speak up. Mary McKenna will present the results of the report, highlighting the activities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Presenter: Mary McKenna, PhD, RD, is a Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton and a Registered Dietitian. She is one of the authors of the Farm to Cafeteria Canada report.

To register please contact Rick Kelly at richardkelly@foodsecuritynews.com or at 709-237-4026.

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We invite you to participate in a virtual experience of the The Global Presencing Forum, broadcast live from Cambridge, MA. Plenary sessions of the Forum will be streamed live, free of charge, and there are a variety of ways to participate online. Click here for more detailed information.

The 2014 Global Presencing Forum, "From Ego- to Eco-System Economies: Creating Well-Being for All" is offered by the Presencing Institute in collaboration with key partners*. It will showcase living examples that generate profound change by shifting awareness of economic discourse: from a focus merely on GDP to a focus on well-being (e.g., GNH or GPI), from scarcity to abundance, from exclusion to inclusion, from competition to co-creation, from reducing negative to generating positive impact, from transactional to transformative relationships, from exploitation to shared ecosystem prosperity. For more information on the Forum, visit: https://www.presencing.com/programs/global-forum-2014.

THREE WAYS to PARTICIPATE VIRTUALLY

1. Access Live Stream
Simply click the link - which you will find here prior to the beginning of the Forum - to access the live video stream on your computer or mobile device.

2. Access Live Stream + Join the Conversation
In addition to Option 1, converse with peers by joining a dedicated group.

Login to the PI website or set up a new profile at: https://www.presencing.com/login. Return to the index page for a link to the group, or go directly to: http://www.presencing.com/engage/group/2014-global-forum-online

Here you can post comments, chat with other participants from around the globe, share links, documents, photos and videos - all leading up to, during, and after the Global Forum.

3. Access Live Stream + Join the Conversation + Host a Local Group
In addition to Options 1 and 2, host colleagues or friends in your own local environment. Download a free copy of the Global Forum Toolkit, designed specifically for this year's event, with a variety of questions, methods, and suggestions to help you run a "mini-forum" wherever you are in the world, in parallel with the live events in Cambridge, MA.

During the event, we encourage all participants to submit questions and insights to globalforum@presencing.com and/or utilize Twitter with the hashtag #ego2eco.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Tuesday 11 February
08:30 - 8:40 Mindful Opening
08:40 - 9:20 Framing of the Three Divides
09:20 - 10:30 Innovating across the Divides
11:00 - 13:00 Stories from the Field 

Wednesday 12 February
08:20 - 9:00 Check-in and Sharing
09:00 - 10:30 Panel: Sparks of the Future
11:00 - 11:30 Presencing Practice
11:30 - 12:00 Sensing and Finding Fields of Connection

Note: All times displayed are in EST (Eastern Standard Time).

For the full detailed program, visit: https://www.presencing.com/global-forum-2014-program

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Technical specifications can be found towards the bottom of the web stream page: https://www.presencing.com/global-forum-2014-webstreaming

* Key sponsors include: MIT CoLab, the MIT Department for Urban Studies and Planning, DOEN Foundation, the GIZ Global Leadership Academy, commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Eileen Fisher Community Foundation.

Speaker: Peter Hough

[ registration ]

What will you learn?

The webinar will give a brief overview of co-operative financing. It will include:

• a working definition of financing;
• determining financing needs;
• types of capital used for financing; and
• approaches to obtaining financing.

Who is this for?

Event Details