Binghamton, like many Upstate cities, has a rich industrial past, great higher education institutions and many who are seeking to build a strong and vibrant community.
Like other Upstate cities, the positive activity happening in Binghamton was limited to silos where conversations echoed, but did not spread and the multiple skills needed to turn intent into action did not always come together. Until now.
Drive Binghamton (#DriveBing) is a remarkable collaboration of community builders from academia, economic developers, members of the business community and, most importantly, the area’s emerging entrepreneurs, creatives, and technologists. All share a common desire to see new ideas and opportunities flourish in Binghamton and recognize that success requires a platform that reaches the widest, most diverse audience. That platform consists of a shared community calendar coupled with an online communications strategy to announce upcoming events, broadcast live discussions and encourage social media engagement.
The platform is broad enough for any and all community members to conceive and host their own events, and by reaching an audience that spans a large spectrum of age, skill, and interest, each event holds the potential for even more creative collisions to occur. For example:
- Laura Holmes from Binghamton University and Stacey Duncan from The Agency are hosting the popular Breaking Down the Silos events which feature entrepreneurs and tours of interesting business operations
- Adam Sabol of Communikey and Damien Cornwell of WJOB conceived of the Tales from the Trenches talks where entrepreneurs have a heart to heart fireside chat about their experiences good and bad, with a dose of music and food featuring area artists, restaurants and breweries.
- Elin Barton of White Knight Productions and Kim Bush of Evergreen Graphics are creating the BOLD series of events to discuss topics of interest to small business owners and aspiring main street entrepreneurs
- Rachel Jenks of Rtistry By Design is hosting a series of networking events titled Coffee with Creatives and Cocktails with Creatives
And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bob Murphy from the City is hosting weekly coffee hours; Brad Treat from Southern Tier Startup Alliance is addressing financing strategies for startups and new events are being added every day.
Events like these occur in every community, but with collaboration and a common platform, the impact is so much greater. If you would like to attend Drive Binghamton events or be an organizer, sponsor or volunteer, please register at https://uvc.org/binghamton today.
