RVA small businesses get TILTED

RVA small business owners will gather later this month to talk shop…just don’t call it a conference.

February 8, 2013; 6:46 AM • by Nathan Cushing

Small business conferences seem like a dime a dozen, so organizers of TILTED are producing an unconference to give RVA small business owners something different.

“TILTED is a conference organized for and by small business owners in Richmond,” said John Sarvay, founder of Floricane, who, along with others from local companies (The Hodges Partnership, Elevation Advertising, and more), has coordinated the event. “It is designed to create a space for established small businesses to connect, learn, and share ideas and challenges.”

Sarvay said the unconference¹ format of TILTED means it will be “participant-driven,” making it more useful to small business owners.

“[We’re] trying to ’tilt’ the typical conference approach,” he said. “There will be virtually no PowerPoint presentations and very little technology deployed. With the exception of a few all-attendee sessions, almost every presentation will be in a small group environment–between eight and 20 participants and a presenter.”

Among the roughly 40 people scheduled to present:

• Karen Atkinson • GROW RVA
• Kendra Feather • owner, Ipanema, Garnett’s, and The Roosevelt, WPA Bakery
• Josh Dare & John Newman • The Hodges Partnership
• Kevin Clay • founder, Gay RVA
• Vanessa Diamond • HandsOn Richmond
• Patton Gleason • Natural Running Store
• Bill Chapman • The Richmond Loft Company

“There is nothing about TILTED that should feel passive, that should leave participants staring blankly at a podium and floating head,” Sarvay said.

Organizers hope that attendees of the day-long event leave invigorated by RVA’s small-business community and empowered by its collective experience.

“We want attendees to walk away with new knowledge that can help them build their business, new relationships with other Richmond businesspeople, and a deeper perspective about a new generation of Richmond businesses,” Sarvay said.

TILTED takes place from 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM on Saturday, February 23rd at The Richmond Times-Dispatch Building. Tickets are $50.

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February 8, 2013 6:46 AM 0