Entrepreneurship, Beer, and Food at Innovate Live!

This past weekend, Barb and I were in Staunton for the first-ever Innovate Live conference. Conference is really not the right word - with so many unique, inventive speakers and activities, this was more of a celebration. 

We delivered a keynote on Crowdsourcing Innovation in Your Community, which touched on crowdfunding, networking/co-working, and collective marketing on Saturday. The audience was absolutely fantastic, participatory and kind - they totally got the message!

Thanks to Christina Cain of the Staunton Creative Community Fund, event organizer Meghan Williamson, and funder Cortland Robinson for making this weekend possible. We look forward to being a part of this event for years to come.

And if you haven't visited Staunton lately, get to it. We loved our meal at The Shack. Ian Boden is cooking some amazing food, twenty people at a time! The Staunton-Augusta farmers market on Saturday morning is also not to be missed. They've got REAL pupusas (savory El Salvadoran masa pancakes, filled with meat and cheese!) great cheese from Mountain View dairy, and beautiful fresh flowers! It's one of the best markets I've been to in VA, and I've been to a bunch of them.

We ended our stay with a trip to George Bowers Grocery, owned by I-Live fellow presenter Kate McKaskey. Their burger and slider meat comes from Polyface farms - how cool is that? I absolutely love their space. You've got to go!

TTFN!

Stephanie