So you are thinking about hosting a Summit for Startup Champions Network… Hosting a Summit is a great undertaking, however, it provides a catalyst for conversations in a community that help the community’s entrepreneurial ecosystem accelerate growth. Moreover, national experts often come to Summits. This provides a means to plug those well-connected, influential people into a local ecosystem. This can often create opportunities for the community, for the community’s entrepreneurs, and for additional long-term relationships.
Summits in 2024
This year is very special because it's our 10 Year Anniversary! To celebrate this huge milestone as an organization, we’re inviting past summit hosts to apply! We would love to convene in a past summit city to dive into what has changed since we last visited.
2024 Application deadline: June 15
2025 Application deadline: September 15
What is a Summit?
SCN partners with local communities to host two summits per year that are gatherings of ecosystem builders from around the country. Typically, we deliver each summit in a different ecosystem, with leaders in the community acting as the Summit Host. As the Summit host, your role is to recruit a host committee of leaders around the ecosystem to highlight different aspects of your entrepreneurial ecosystem. Past summits have included varying session topics in addition to consistent core SCN elements.
When do the Summits occur?
While the schedule is somewhat flexible, the usual timeline includes a Spring Summit between late February and April. The Fall Summit typically occurs in late September to early November.
What does the Summit event entail?
The 2.5 day summit typically lasts from noon on Day One (usually a Monday or Tuesday) to noon on Day Three (usually a Wednesday or Thursday). This time has blocks for networking and community building amongst the ecosystem builders. It also includes four set programs: an Ecosystem Builder 101 as the first session (for newbies), a dinner with locals which separates out attendees with local community players (entrepreneurs, funders, economic developers, etc.), and Roses and Thorns (which provides fellowship opportunities for attendees to share what is working and not working in their local ecosystem).
The Summit typically allows for one or two sessions hosted by SCN for organizational efforts – usually this includes one DEI (which we call ICU) session. This leaves approximately 1 ½ days for the local hosts to program a unique, local flavor to applicable ecosystem building topics such as capital provision, financial and other sustainability topics for ecosystem builders.
How is the Summit planned?
The Summit usually begins with internal meetings and meetings with SCN approximately four months prior to the Summit’s date. SCN provides a basic Summit outline and playbook to use as a starting point and guide for Summit planning. You will meet bi-weekly and be supported by the SCN Summit Planning Team.
Thus, the process is collaborative. The local host should focus on showcasing what makes the ecosystem special. This requires local knowledge and expertise when selecting the right speakers and programming. SCN provides the expertise, playbooks and toolkits, core programming, marketing support, financial sponsorship, and overall planning support.
What is the financial responsibility of the Summit host?
Typically, the cost of hosting the Summit is between $15,000 and $20,000. SCN will write a $10,000 check as the planning period begins for a summit. The Summit hosts often are able to raise the additional money to cover the costs of the Summit plus additional money for their organization(s). However, SCN will keep the host whole financially - assuming that costs are relevant and targeted at Summit host costs.
The local host gets 100% of local money sponsorship. SCN gets ticket sales and national sponsorship money (from organizations that have a national presence). When there is a question about what organizations are national, generally this is discussed and agreed upon prior to any fundraising ask.
How is a Summit host selected?
SCN seeks geographic, racial, and ecosystem role diversity in its summit hosts. Not every host has worked for an accelerator, co-working space, economic development entity, or community builder – but most have.
In general, the best hosts (those that are the least stressed out) have relative certainty regarding 1) additional partners (both workers and financial) and 2) a physical location that allows for a gathering space of approximately 100 people. Both of these are questions asked on the application because we have found Summits work best (even if these ultimately are not the chosen partners/space) when there has been some pre-planning and discussion about what hosting might entail and who should be involved.