[Updated 5/8/11. See below] It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of events, it was the age of allergies, it was the epoch of objectivity, it was the epoch of PR and self-promotion, it was the season of writing stories, it was the season of prescription drugs and nasal spray, it was the spring of big financing rounds, it was the winter of boring software acquisitions. (I’m not actually a Dickens fan, in case you couldn’t tell, though his career is one of the first things I wrote about as a journalist.)
My point is there’s a lot going on around town—at Xconomy and beyond. You can always find a current run-down on goings on at our local events page. But to help you sort through some of the key events going on in the innovation community in this particularly busy month, I’ve prepared a quick cheat sheet (in chronological order):
—Next week, on May 11, you’ll have your choice of hearing about the future of search and online services (and Bing vs. Google) from Microsoft president Qi Lu, or watching the grand finale of the MIT $100K business plan competition (with Vinod Khosla speaking). We’ll be at both events, which are free to attend. I’ll be moderating a Q&A with Qi Lu at Microsoft NERD in Kendall Square, and my colleague Erin will be at the $100K finale at Kresge Auditorium.
—On May 13, Health Tech 2011 is taking place at Bingham McCutchen in downtown Boston. Regina Herzlinger, Jay Parkinson, and Esther Dyson lead an all-star cast of innovators who will be speaking about the latest opportunities and strategies in healthcare delivery, mobile health, wellness and behavior change, and investing in all of the above. The event is organized by careinnovators, a healthcare website and networking-resource organization. [We meant to list this event in the original version of the article—Eds.]
—A big mobile event from MassTLC on May 13 at the Kendall Square Marriott will focus on the global impact of the wireless industry. Kara Swisher from WSJ and senior execs from Akamai, Cisco, Groupon, Jumptap, Movik, Where, and other top tech companies will be on hand.
—On May 18, the 2011 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium is happening at Kresge. The theme this year is “beyond the crossroads”—how chief information officers and senior managers must adapt to the digital business world, and what the latest opportunities and strategies are across industries. I’ll be moderating a CEO keynote panel featuring Brian Halligan of HubSpot, David Castellani of New York Life Retirement Plan Services, Tianwen Liu of iSoftStone, and Eric Openshaw of Deloitte.
—Angel Bootcamp is happening June 14, organized by Jon Pierce. This event, now in its second year, brings together the top people in early-stage startup investing, plus entrepreneurs and those who want to learn more about the field. Everyone from TechStars to Bill Warner to Founder Collective to Dharmesh Shah to CommonAngels will be there. But it’s invitation-only, so go to the site to request yours.
—Last but not least, XSITE 2011, Xconomy’s third annual flagship conference, is at Babson College on June 16 (whew—still lots to do). Our theme this year is “the entrepreneurship era,” the challenges and opportunities that are evolving fast as startups—and entrepreneurial practices in general—go increasingly mainstream. Our speakers include Desh Deshpande, Edward Jung, Phil Sharp, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, David Cancel, Nicholas Christakis, Joe Chung, Todd Dagres, Paul Sellew, Katie Rae, and many others. More to come soon.
We are getting a critical mass of startups, entrepreneurs, students, and investors involved, and we want to make sure everyone has a blast while making lots of great connections. If you have feedback or suggestions about how we can make XSITE more valuable to the innovation community, please contact me at [email protected] or @gthuang on Twitter.
