Seed Hatchery is Memphis’ mentorship-driven seed stage accelerator, providing the resources needed to develop great founders, and successfully convert concepts into startups: An intense 90-day program- called ‘bootcamp’ for a reason- that pushes entrepreneurs through the discovery process, to scaling and pitch perfecting; Mentors representing a wide array of backgrounds that provide business and industry experience, and domain expertise; $15,000 in seed capital. Seed Hatchery is gearing up for its Spring 2012 cohort, and is taking applications through January 7. While there is no set criteria for the type of idea selected, their programming and level of funding is usually most suitable for information technology-based products and services. Learn more about Seed Hatchery’s process and programming, and check out their inaugural companies. Also take a look at an excerpt from this blog post from Work for Pie’s Cliff McKinney, as he shares from experience why Seed Hatchery is not for the faint of heart…and why that makes it a game changer: …It was an awakening, to say the least.  Turns out everything I thought mattered didn’t, and everything I thought was true wasn’t (except for the bit about the genius co-founder), and everything I had learned wasn’t relevant anymore.  By the end of that first week, I was huddled in a corner with my rifle, crying, hoping the whole thing would just blow up and take me along with it.’ But I kept coming back, because it was the most awesome thing I had ever done.  Humbling, yes, but awesome

LaunchMemphis is pleased to announce another exciting season of entrepreneurship and community engagement! Please get involved as often as possible, you’ll meet great people and help to make your community a better place. 48 Hour Launch January 28,29,30 2011 LaunchMemphis will be hosting the 4th annual 48 Hour Launch a bit earlier than usual this year. This is the best opportunity to start a business that you’re ever going to have! Pitch your idea to a room full of eager professionals and then get a jump start on it over the weekend. 48Hour Launch is one of the most powerful and unique entrepreneurship programs in the country. At 48 Hour Launch events, creative individuals from all industries unite their talent in one location to launch new enterprises in a 48-hour period. The initiative, founded in 2009 in Tennessee, has attracted international attention, with many cities across North America planning on hosting 48 Hour Launch experiences in their cities. Tickets http://48hourlaunch.eventbrite.com/ RSVP via facebook: here. Save $10 if you get your ticket before 1/1/11! Ignite 2 Wednesday, February 23rd Enlighten us, but make it quick” LaunchMemphis and MemphisConnect bring together local thought leaders for an informative and entertaining night of presentations aimed at bettering our community. A global phenomenon, Ignite nights are “a high-energy evening of 5-minute talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it with their hometown crowd….Ignite is a force for raising the collective IQ and building connections in each city…. And,

For a full schedule of all the Global Entrepreneurship Week events please visit here Memphis Connect”>here.

LaunchMemphis will be co-sponsoring 2 exciting events in the month of November. Saturday, November 13 8:00 am- 5:00 pm BarCamp Memphis, a web 2.0 “un-conference”, which means that attendees get to choose what they want to hear and learn about. The entire event will be crafted by attendees (you), so you can learn about the specific technologies, trends, gadgets you really want to learn about – and hear from the people you find interesting. We’ll be voting all day, with the most popular sessions earning the right to be heard. Sessions might be presentations, panels, Q-and-A with specific BarCampers. Or you may want to participate in a  roundtable discussions  (or Core Conversations, as we call them) with groups of folks bouncing ideas and learning from others’ experiences. For a list of pre-scheduled topics and to see a selection of past topics: http://barcampmemphis.com/sponsors/ To see all the awesome sponsors who are helping make barcamp happen (or for more information on sponsoring): http://barcampmemphis.com/sponsors/ BarCamp will be held at: Emerge Memphis 516 Tennessee St Memphis, TN 38103-4717 View Map To get tickets (early-bird sale end Nov 1): http://barcampmemphis2010.eventbrite.com For a special $10 off use the code “launchmemphis” (no quotes) For much more information regarding barcamp: http://barcampmemphis.com/ The following week (November 15-21) is Global Entrepreneurship Week, a worldwide celebration of entrepreneurship. Thursday November 18 12:00-1:00 pm The Society of Entrepreneurs and LaunchMemphis are hosting Three Course Conversations on Entrepreneurship. The purpose of this event is to bring together entrepreneurs from all across the area