SVASE BIGs EVENT: SVASE & GABA Present: Social Financing – Using the Web to Mine Money for Your Venture November 19, 2009

SVASE BIGs EVENT: SVASE & GABA Present: Social Financing – Using the Web to Mine Money for Your Venture

Start: 11/19/2009 - 6:00pm
End: 11/19/2009 - 8:30pm

Contact Info: Laura Weigant
Email: info@svase.org

Location: Sun Microsystems
18 Network Circle, Building 12
Menlo Park, CA 94025

SVASE & GABA Present: Social Financing - Using the Web to Mine Money for Your Venture

URL:www.svase.org/?q=node/3474

Raising money from VCs is increasingly difficult for early stage companies--even ones with a good product. Social networks have been great for generating awareness but how do you turn social equity into funds for your business? Social financing is working well for entrepreneurs in developing countries and those improving the well-being of society and the environment. Could that same model work here? New models are rapidly emerging that are changing the landscape for how businesses raise money.

Join this dynamic panel of experts as they discuss this timely topic!
·What is social financing?
·What is microfinancing?
·What new tools are available today?
·How companies facilitate sources of social funding
·How social networks can become social financing engines

The Panel:
* Marc Dangeard, Founder, Entrepreneur Commons
* Joshua Sams, Co-Founder & CEO, Sprowtt Marketplace
* TBD
* TBD

Moderator: Sumaya Kazy, Sr. Social Media Manager, Sun Microsystems

WHEN: Thursday, November 19
6:00 – 7:00 pm: Networking and hors d’oeuvres
7:00 – 8:15 pm: Panel Discussion and Q&A
8:15 – 8:30 pm: Additional Networking

LOCATION: Sun Microsystems, 18 Network Circle, Building 12, Menlo Park, CA 94025

PRE-REGISTERED RATES (All Rates Include Hors D’oeuvres):
Members - $20 Affiliates who advertise this event - $29; General Public - $49

Pre-registration closes at 9 PM the day before of the event
WALK-IN RATES: Add $10.00 to listed price

To reserve an Exhibit Table:
Business Showcase Exhibit Table – member rate: $149; non-member rate: $250
(Includes exhibit table and two tickets to the event.) Contact Info@svase.org

Pre-registration closes at 9 PM the day before of the event

Seating is limited, so early registration is recommended to avoid disappointment on the day.

This event is co-sponsored by Sun Microsystems, www.sun.com/startupessentials/overview.jsp?CID=928364.

Speakers’ Bios

Joshua Sams, Co-Founder & CEO, Sprowtt Marketplace
Prior to Sprowtt, Joshua was active in emerging markets. He actively managed investments in Turkey, speculating that there would be risk arbitrage opportunities as Turkey's ascension to the E.U. neared. Prior to this, Joshua studied on and off at Harvard, taking time away to pursue real estate and other investments during 2001-2005. Joshua has a broad educational background, including behavioral economics and particle physics. Using the current economic crisis as a catalyst, he is now seizing the opportunity to affect social change by promoting democratic access to capital markets. Through the use of technology, he hopes to create an alternative investment banking dynamic for the benefit of early-stage companies and public investors.

Sumaya Kazy, Sr. Social Media Manager, Sun Microsystems

Sumaya Kazi is an internationally recognized innovator, leader, speaker and award-winning entrepreneur. She frequently speaks at professional conferences and educational institutions inspiring audiences on topics such as entrepreneurship, non-profit work, intrapreneurship, young professional issues, social media, diversity and technology.

By day, Sumaya works at Fortune 500 Sun Microsystems, a company that develops the technologies that power the global marketplace. Sumaya was recruited by Sun at age 22 and has since quickly moved up in her positions in the Executive Communications, Worldwide Operations and New & Social Media teams. As a Senior Social Media Manager in its Global Communications group Sumaya is charged with developing new and innovative programs to capture, expand and socialize new and evolving media, analyst and influencer communities.

Recognized by her colleagues as a Social Media ‘Maven’ and ‘Guru’, Sumaya has taken her knowledge and expertise in the media world and has integrated it within her work at Sun. Sumaya provides thought leadership and a young perspective on various issues for a major player in global business.

Sumaya founded The CulturalConnect, an online media publishing company dedicated to young professionals around the world. For her passion and success around her entrepreneurial endeavors, Sumaya has been recognized by BusinessWeek Magazine as one of America’s ‘Best Young Entrepreneurs’, CNN as a ‘Young Person Who Rocks’, ColorLines Magazine as an ‘Innovator to Watch in 2008′ and has been recognized as a Who’s Who of Global Emerging Leaders among many other notable accolades. Sumaya was recently honored to join Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus in a ‘Meeting of the Minds’, the youngest invited.

Official Website: http://www.svase.org/?q=node/3474