Happy New Year and welcome to 2017! 2016 was a very eventful year in the Sacramento startup and innovation community and 2017 is set to eclipse it. Laura Good already apprised you of some great opportunities in the coming months, but the calendar for local events here in January is already getting pretty jam packed. Here’s a select listing of what I expect to be some of the bigger events.

Startup Grind presents Dr. Chris Yu, CEO of Anpac Bio

When: Tue, January 10, 6pm – 9pm
Where: The Urban Hive, 1931 H St, Sacramento

Rich Foreman kicks of 2017 with another stellar lineup for Startup Grind Sacramento in 2017. Join the startup community for a fireside chat with Dr. Chris Yu, co-founder and CEO of Anpac Bio. He  is a highly successful business executive, innovative engineer, and pioneering inventor, filing over 200 patent applications (and earning over 100 to date) Recently, Anpac Bio opened a Sacramento office and they were recently featured in Comstock’s Magazine.

Price: $15-$25. Save $5 with code “digest”

Link: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-sacramento-presents-dr-chris-yu-anpac-bio#/

 

Startup Expo 11: “High” Tech: Marijuana startups

When: Thu, January 12, 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Where: Hacker Lab, 1715 I Street, Sacramento

Bryan Barton is back with his unique brand of startup event featuring networking, lightning talks, and booze. The lightning talks for this expo will be from any marijuana tech company that wishes to speak. Any tech-related businss in the marijuana industry is welcome to pitch and will have 5 minutes to present. This is not a B.Y.O.B. event it is a B.O.B. event, Bring Others Booze. The only cost of admission to the event is booze, which you will give to someone you don’t know. Bring 2 things: 1- Enthusiasm for the growing Sacramento Entrepreneurship community. 2- Booze.

Price: Bring a drink to share or pay $5

Link: https://www.meetup.com/HackerLab/events/236288457/

 

Sacramento 2017 Economic Forecast

When: Tue, January 17, 3pm – 7pm
Where: Sacramento State, University Union Ballroom, Sacramento, CA

The Sacramento Business Review is the most comprehensive, precise, and intellectually sophisticated analysis of the regional economy and has accurately forecast the economic business climate for the last 9 years. The panel of expert speakers will present data and highlight issues that affect our local economy. Featuring keynote speaker John C. Williams, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Agenda: Forecast 3:00 – 5:00pm; Hosted bar, refreshments & networking 5:00 – 7:00pm

Price: $35

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/event/160235/2017/2017-economic-forecast

 

Branding From the Inside Out — Startup Founder Workshop Series

When: Tue, January 17, 6:15pm – 8:00pm
Where: 8153 Elk Grove Blvd, Suite 20 Elk Grove

Branding may be one of the most misunderstood and often neglected areas when it comes to the creation of a startup. Yet, it should be the biggest priority next to legally establishing your company and protecting what you’re creating. Your brand is not just a name, a logo and a tagline. It’s the story you tell, it’s the components that define it now and into the future, and it’s what makes your company unique. An ill-defined brand can make it difficult if not impossible to secure investors, partners and even employees. Get it right to begin with and you’ve laid the groundwork for it to be right into the future. Presenter is Aaron Heinrich.

Price: Free

Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/branding-from-the-inside-out-startup-founder-workshop-series-tickets-30764464341

 

2017 Global Game Jam

When: Fri, January 20, 5pm – Sun, January 22, 5pm
Where: The Game Room Adventure Cafe, 10471 Grant Line Rd ste 120, Elk Grove

The Global Game Jam® (GGJ) is the world’s largest game jam event (game creation) taking place around the world at physical locations. Think of it as a hack-a-thon focused on game development. It is the growth of an idea that in today’s heavily connected world, we could come together, be creative, share experiences and express ourselves in a multitude of ways using video games – it is very universal. The weekend stirs a global creative buzz in games, while at the same time exploring the process of development, be it programming, iterative design, narrative exploration or artistic expression.

Price: $10

Link: https://www.meetup.com/gamedeveloper/events/235717407/

 

Startup Grind Presents Tyler Schilling at Davis Roots

When: Thu, January 26, 6pm – 9pm
Where: Davis Roots, 604 2nd St, Davis

Startup Grind goes on a roadtrip for its first event in Davis for a fireside chat with Tyler Schilling who co-founded Schilling Robotics, along with Wes Gerriets, in 1985, with the vision of providing productive tools to remotely perform work in the deep ocean. As president, he sets the business unit’s vision and guides product innovation and development.

Price: Free

Link: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-sacramento-presents-tyler-schilling-speaking-at-davis-roots-schilling-robotics#/

 

#StartupSac Happy Hour

When: Tue, January 31, 5pm – ?

Want the opportunity to ask a successful veteran startup founder any question you like(hopefully startup related) all in an informal, casual, happy hour setting? I’m still working on the details of this event, but I’ve got a first guest and a date lined up and working on the venue. Reserve the date if you’re interested and stay tuned for more details. For more background on the concept of this event, check out this article.

In addition to these, there’s a lot of other smaller, technical events listed on the Startup Digest Sacramento Event Calendar. There’s also some additional events that are in the works that I know about so stay tuned.