Ascender

PR for Startups: An Awareness Workshop
2018-05-31 17:30 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER BUILDERS SERIES – FOR ANYONE GROWING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
PR for Startups: An Awareness Workshop
At it’s core, PR is storytelling. In this workshop, we will be exploring how to find an angle, approach PR as a reporter, and nail press releases on your first try. We’ll also dive into what not to do and common mistakes our speaker, Saul Markowitz, has seen during his 20+ year career running Markowitz Communications. The event will be a chance for the audience to ask questions about their own PR struggles and learn the four golden rules of PR.
Featuring:
Saul Markowitz, President of Markowitz Communications

What you post doesn’t matter if no one’s paying attention – A social media workshop for startups
2018-05-24 19:00 - 20:30 | PA
What you post doesn’t matter if no one’s paying attention – A social media workshop for startups
Join us for an in depth workshop by digital marketing guru, Jordon Rooney. The workshop will include a mix of lecture and discussion time with a focus on the following content areas.
Topics Covered:

Building an engaged online audience
Adding personality to any brand
Diversifying your content
Thought leadership and influencer marketing
Figuring out if an agency is right for you

Meet the Speaker – Jordon Rooney
Jordon Rooney is the Founder/CEO of NFBD, which stands for Never Fear Being Different and the Director of Digital Marketing for Pond Lehocky, one of the largest law firms on the East coast. In the past 2 years, Jordon has had over 110 speaking engagements in 10 states. This past summer, his videos reached 20 million video views with 250,000 shares. He currently has over 160,000 followers on social media. You can see more about Jordon by following @NFBD
*The event is free and open to all with an interest in social media marketing.

Show, Don't Tell: Product Demos
2018-05-07 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER STARTER SERIES – FOR ANYONE STARTING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
Show, Don’t Tell: Product Demos
If you have a product or service then you have to demonstrate it, sometimes at a client site or inside a meeting room but more than ever virtually with a virtual meeting, your website, or displayed out on the internet by your fans (or critics). We’ll use this time to build and practice impactful ways to demonstrate a product or service. Don’t worry if you only have an idea or haven’t thought of a product or service yet, we’ll have an example you can use to work alongside other entrepreneurs. Be prepared for an interactive workshop and make sure to invite others you know to attend – you’ll leave a better sales person, brand manager, product owner, and marketer even if you don’t have any of those titles.
Featuring:
Adam Paulisick, Chief Product Officer at MAYA, a BCG Company

Hiring & Firing & Hiring Again
2018-04-26 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER BUILDERS SERIES – FOR ANYONE GROWING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
Hiring & Firing & Hiring Again
In a startup, you’re often in ‘survival mode’. Your first hire is typically a friend or family member, while your second hire tends to mirror your own ideals and skill sets. The hiring and firing process can be a time to move past the general tendencies of a startup and focus intentionally on your brand, diversity, and culture. Join us in April for an in depth look at applying human resources to the hiring and firing process. Learn first hand how to find the right person to help you create the culture you want, gracefully fire team members, and become self aware of what your team needs.
Featuring:
Christine Rogers-Raetsch, Head of People at Duolingo

Always Beta: Creativity and Its Practice
2018-04-23 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE
How does creativity contribute to your company’s success?
Ascender invites you to attend a special guest lecture with Israel Stol, a leading management transformation author, lecturer, and corporate business process consultant, who previously worked at Alcoa, Westinghouse, and SpaceX.
With over 35 years of experience as a welding engineer in industrial research and development, his work in manufacturing technologies spans a broad range of industries, including automotive and transportation, oil and gas, marine, and aerospace. He has authored and co-authored 45 U.S. and International patents, including those for advanced torpedo propulsion, welding processes, and even candy dispensers.
As Founder of Always-βeta, Israel draws on his experience as an engineer and inventor to consult clients on organizational creativity. This event will be a very abbreviated version of his Seminar on Organizational Creativity, and will include the following topics:
1. Show how Creativity works.
2. Present examples of innovations stemming from the Creative process
3. Define the difference between Creativity and Innovation
4. Identify principles and factors that affect Creativity
5. Introduce Creativity augmenting techniques for your company

HR Before You Need It
2018-04-10 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER STARTER SERIES – FOR ANYONE STARTING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
HR Before You Need It
Between finding your first customer and financing your business, human resources tasks can often fall to the waste side for a founder or founding team. Although it may seem like something that can wait, basic human resource operations are vital to the success of early stage companies. With no plan or process in place, on boarding a team member, implementing new policies, or maintaining employee compensation can be daunting tasks. Join us in April to learn easy tips and tricks to nail startup HR without a human resources employee.
Featuring:
Stephan Mueller, COO at Ascender

Inclusive Innovation Week: All-In Silent Disco
2018-04-07 20:00 - 23:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE
Come dance the night away with friends and community members! This event is the brainchild of several members of the disability community, who are excited to throw a fun, inclusive party open to all who want to participate. Our silent disco is open to all, with vibrating backpacks and floor panels so that those with hearing impairments can feel the music, and everyone can share in the experience. This is event powered by sponsorships from Thrival and UPMC. We are excited to work closely with amazing organizations like Achieva and YWCA who bring years of experience working for greater inclusion.
This event is at the Ace Hotel, 120 S Whitfield St.

DISRUPTED: The Risks and Opportunities of Emerging Technologies
2018-04-05 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE
How can we advance innovation without leaving people behind?

A wide range of new technologies are changing our lives, communities, and society faster than ever before. Artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, virtual/augmented reality, advanced wearables, and other innovations present powerful opportunities to solve major problems, but also come with considerable risks. It will take all of us to ensure that these developments serve to correct rather than perpetuate inequities.
We invite everyone – from seasoned technologists to people new to all these terms – to join us for an evening of learning, dialogue, and problem-solving. Hear how different voices in our technology community think about what various innovations are bringing to our society, and spend the rest of the evening engaging with others to find ways that we can individually or collectively use these technologies for good.
SCHEDULE:
5:30pm – Doors open; open activities available
6:00pm – Food served (by Choolaah) – vegan options available
6:30pm – Short speaker presentations and brief Q&A
7:30pm – Small group discussions, ideation exercises, & sharing
8:30pm – Discussions conclude
9:00pm – Doors close
SPEAKERS:
Karen Alexander, Director, XRconnectED
Elizabeth LaRue, CEO, Hera Global Tech
Eugene Leventhal, Founder/CEO, eduDAO
Mike Skirpan, Executive Director, Community Forge
Suzy Teele, Head of Marketing & Communications, Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM)

REGISTER HERE

The Power of Tx3
2018-04-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE
You will not want to miss this mind-blowing experience led, created, and facilitated by Ingrid Cook, a minority and woman Founder at SHzoom, a tech startup headquartered at Pittsburgh’s Ascender.
Discover the role your thoughts, God given talents, and tenacity (“grit”) plays in living out your life purpose and achieving your goals regardless of your race or gender.
Participants will engage with practical tools and techniques for tapping into their Tx3. Hurry, spaces are limited!
Event registration will close once all seats are filled. Those waitlisted will be granted seats on a first come first serve basis.
REGISTER HERE

Mike Joosse: 500 Designers Walk into a Bar
2018-04-03 18:00 - 20:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE
This is a story told in three parts. It’s a story about a giant, perpetual experiment built to disrupt the education industry. It’s a story about teaching humans to design and designers to be more human. And it’s a love story about Chicago—glorious, riotous Chicago, full of adventure and collaboration and donuts and beer.
Doors at 6pm. Lecture begins at 6:30pm.
Designation is the leading immersive UX/UI design program, a startup that helps startups succeed, and a thriving community of alumni and mentors around the world. This is the story of Designation and what we’ve learned over four years and 500 graduates. Come for the highs, stay for the lows, and learn how to inject some of our lessons into your career.
ABOUT MIKE
Mike Joosse creates change within organizations. Since 2001, he’s devoted his career to nurturing and leading design communities and championing the talents and dedication of their designers. Currently, he serves as President at Designation, the leading UX/UI immersive design program, where he helps participants become purposeful, skilled, impassioned design leaders of tomorrow. He has lectured across the country on community and careers in design, at conferences and to a host of organizations. He believes in being hungry, indispensable, and enthralled every day.
REGISTER HERE

Creating Team Culture: Going Beyond the Matching T-Shirts
2018-03-29 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER BUILDERS SERIES – FOR ANYONE GROWING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
Creating Team Culture: Going Beyond the Matching T-Shirts
Team culture. What does that mean? Is it the beers the team grabs on a Friday? Is it the standard of people getting to the office by 8:00AM? Team culture is often a confusing topic. Join us this month to determine what kind of culture works best for your team, as well as how to influence and shape your team dynamics.
Speaker:
Alexander R. Schwall, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Chief Scientist
Rhabit Analytics INc.

You're CEO, Now What?
2018-03-13 17:30 - 19:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
ASCENDER STARTER SERIES – FOR ANYONE STARTING A BUSINESS, NON-PROFIT, SIDE-PROJECT, OR INITIATIVE.
You’re CEO, Now What?
Founders or founding team members often take on the role as CEO in a startup. As the organization grows, carrying out management and CEO responsibilities can be a tricky transition. Join us to discuss tips and tactics for fulfilling this role of CEO on a small team from people who have been there. Learn where they went wrong and how they manage being a founder and CEO.
Panelists:
Avishai Geller, CEO at Maven Machines
Lynsie Campbell, Founder of LaneSpotter
Brian Gaudio, CEO at Module

Unchained: Decrypting Blockchain Technology
2018-02-27 18:00 - 20:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
RSVP HERE
Have you heard the words blockchain and cryptocurrency a lot lately? Have you considered investing in bitcoin or lamented that you haven’t without really knowing what bitcoin is? You’re not alone.
Come join us for an introduction to blockchain technology. We’ll talk about what it is, how it works, and current projects in the marketplace. Our goal is to keep the night informative, open, and interactive and to learn from each other!

Pittsburgh VR MeetUp with Schell Games
2018-02-23 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States

Stakeholders: Identify, Manage, & Leverage
2018-02-22 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender Builders Series – For anyone growing a business, non-profit, side-project, or initiative.
Stakeholders: Identify, Manage, & Leverage
A stakeholder is a person, group, or organization that has interest or concern in an entity. Your company needs to deeply know all your stakeholders – how they can help you and how they might hurt you. During this workshop, we will discuss how to identify all the stakeholders in a market, manage your stakeholder landscape, and leverage these groups to move your company forward towards success.
We will be cover specifics to help you accomplish the following:

Identifying all stakeholders in an industry or market (paying customers, end users, decision makers, government agencies, union, the community, etc)
Determine which stakeholders are most important and why
Develope tactics for managing different stakeholder relationships
Learn tips and tricks for leveraging your stakeholder community

Featured Speaker:
Babs Carryer, Director of Education and Outreach Innovation Institute, University of Pittsburgh

Evaluating Your Market
2018-02-06 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender Starter Series – For anyone starting a business, non-profit, side-project, or initiative.
Evaluating Your Market
Researching your market can be difficult and costly. From google searching information on your industry to utilizing databases, trying to find compelling statistics for your business model or pitch can be a daunting task. For our first Starter Series of 2018, we have teamed up with the Carnegie Library to present relevant tips and tricks for conducting market research.
We will be covering how to extract the following information:

General industry reports with IBIS World
Annual revenue for your competition
Census Reports
Using A to Z Database for client lists
Deep web research (overcoming the database paywalls)

Featured Speaker:
Rachel Masilamani, Reference Librarian Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Downtown & Business

Employment Law for Startup Founders and Executives - With Andrew Horowitz
2018-01-30 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
REGISTER HERE

Many startup founders quickly find themselves thrown into to the role of employer. They need to define expectations and manage risk while at the same time being a desirableemployer to attract top talent. Employees are people, who by nature are quirky and difficult.
The objectives of this session are to arm founders and others who make personnel decisions with:

An understanding of the risks inherent to having employees and strategies to manage them.
An understanding of the role of personnel policies and manuals.
Best practices for hiring, firing, compensation, and other personnel administration issues, including sticky situations that can arise with employees.

Because we want participants to be able to ask candid questions without their employees present, this session is limited to founders and other C-Level executives who make personnel decisions or anticipate having to do so.
Refreshments will be provided.

Incubator Bootcamp
2018-01-26 16:30 - 2018-01-28 16:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Invite-Only Bootcamp for Incubator applicants.

Bootcamp Orientation
2018-01-18 16:30 - 20:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Invite-only orientation for incubator applicants.

Pittsburgh VR Meetup
2018-01-12 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Come hang out with other VR enthusiasts at the Pittsburgh VR Meetup on Friday, January 12, 5:30-7:30, at Ascender. Ralph Vituccio from Carnegie Mellon University will give a brief talk about what’s happening with VR at CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center. Karen Alexander will share some of the most exciting news and developments from VR conferences she attended in the US and in Europe in 2017. Schell Games has generously agreed to let us demo two of their games, I Expect You to Die and Water Bears. You’ll have the chance to test different types of VR headsets, to chat with others who are interested in VR, and to enjoy some light refreshments. Parking is free, and you can BYOB! Doors open at 5:30, program at 6:30. Stop by–we’d love to meet you!

INCUBATOR APPLICATION DEADLINE
2018-01-04 - 2018-01-05 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Deadline to apply for Ascender’s 2018 Incubator in 11:59 PM on December 5th.

Disability Proud Meetup
2017-12-18 16:00 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
For Inclusive Innovation Week 2018, we want to celebrate the achievements of the local disability community and raise awareness to the barriers that the disability community still face. Join us for a planning session at Ascender. We hope to have an event that can bring together all types of abilities and innovators working in the field to increase access for all Pittsburgh’s residents. You are invited to partner with the City and others to shape an event (or multiple events) around this topic for Inclusive Innovation Week 2018. If you have ideas or want to be a part of the conversation and planning of this event, please come and join the discussion.
Goals for Meetup:
1. Identify event(s) and what partners are working on each
2. Designate leadership, communications and next steps for each event
3. Identify resources available within the group and resource gaps to investigate and research
Accommodations:
• Bus: The 71C,74,75,77,82,86 and 88 bus lines drop you right in front of the East Liberty Shopping Center. The P1 is nearby but is about a 10 minute walk
• Parking: FREE. Plenty of space
• Ascender is wheel-chair accessible
• Light refreshments will be provided
• ASL interpretation will be at the event
• Please reach out with any additional accessibility questions at todd.smith@pittsburghpa.gov
Inclusive Innovation Week 2018
Amplify | Connect | Encourage
Unfamiliar with Inclusive Innovation Week? It is an event week and platform spearheaded by the City of Pittsburgh and Urban Redevelopment Authority to amplify opportunity for all and encourage cross-sector collaboration. Partner with the city, organizations, businesses and individuals to raise important conversations to the forefront, create welcoming and inclusive experiences and showcase commitment to a Pittsburgh for everyone.
@PghIP ( https://twitter.com/PghIP )
#WeInnovatePgh
WeInnovatePgh.net

Incubator Office Hours
2017-12-13 07:30 - 09:30, 2017-12-11 15:30 - 17:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Have a question about our incubator or your application? Stop by our office hours to meet one on one with an Ascender team member.
Please RSVP below if you plan to stop by.

Celebrate Pittsburgh's XPRIZE Competitors
2017-12-12 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Join us on Dec. 12 at Ascender for a celebration of Pittsburgh teams competing in XPRIZE competitions, as well as announcements of additional initiatives and opportunities on the horizon.
RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-pittsburghs-xprize-competitors-tickets-40946038704
This month, seven Pittsburgh teams (Behaivior, BlipIQ, Choitek, CleanRobotics, Expii, Marinus Analytics, and SCAD AI) advanced to Round 2 of the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, among 59 globally. This is more than any other U.S. city, and second only to Montreal as the global leader. With a few more Wild Card applications (due by Dec 20), Pittsburgh could take the lead in 2018 and further increase our chances of winning!
Pittsburgh boasts an impressive track record of other XPRIZE sucesses as well. The city is home to RoboTutor, one of 5 finalists in the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, and Hera Global Tech, one of 21 semi-finalists in the $1M Women’s Safety XPRIZE. Astrobotic, a previous competitor for the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, has been developing their highly successful business of delivering affordable space robotics technology and planetary missions.

Incubator Info Session & Application Workshop
2017-12-05 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Ascender is now accepting applications to our 2018 Incubator. Join us on December 5th to learn more about our incubator and application process.
5:30 to 6:00 PM – Meet our team and other applicants.
6:00 to 6:30 PM – Learn about how our incubator works to move your entity towards success.
6:30 to 7:00 PM – Hear tips and tricks on how to nail any business application.
LEARN MORE.

Pittsburgh VR Meet Up
2017-12-01 16:30 - 18:30 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Pittsburgh VR Meetup
Organized by Karen & Elliot of the Pittsburgh VR Meetup Group

Stitchbridge, a Pittsburgh VR studio that creates interactive, live action VR to will be presenting! In addition to the presentation, Karen will bring her Insta360 Pro camera and Samsung Odyssey headset for people to try. Elliott will bring his Oculus Rift.
Karen will be providing pizza! Yay for Karen! BYOB or Filtered water is available! There is free parking.
The event starts at 5:30 with socializing and equipment experience demos. The program will start at 6, with welcome, announcements, and group introductions, followed by the presentation by Stitchbridge. After that, time allowing, we will have more time to experience the equipment that people have brought.
Anyone else that has equipment they could bring would be appreciated! Let us know!

RSVP below or join the meetup group here.

Buchanan LABS Speaker Series
2017-12-01 11:00 - 12:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Getting Over the Hurdle: Lessons for FDA-Regulated Industries
Friday, December 1, 2017​​
12 – 1 p.m.
ASCENDER | 6401 Penn Avenue | Pittsburgh 15206
Presenter:
Barbara Binzak Blumenfeld
Buchanan Labs
Registration is free, but required. Lunch will be provided.
REGISTER

Completing Your Team
2017-11-30 16:30 - 18:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Growing a team can be challenging at any stage of a startup. How do you choose your next employee? Should your decision be based off of merit or, perhaps, certain personality characteristics? We’ve assembled a panel of entrepreneurs who have been there. Bring your tough questions Thursday, November 30th, for our Completing Your Team panel.
Panelists:
Bobby Zappala, Co-Founder and CEO at Ascender
John Dick, Founder and CEO of CivicScience, Inc.
Sophia Berman, Founder and CEO of Trusst Lingerie
What is the Builders Series?
At Ascender, our Builders Series is hyperfocused on helping individuals and entities strengthen their existing organizations. With the help of cross-industry experts, educators, and hand picked mentors, the Builders Series takes a deep dive into the most pressing issues that face growing companies in the Pittsburgh area. Attend our Builders Series the last Thursday of each month to experience for yourself how an in depth conversation can provide a new outlook on your organization.

Incubator Info Session
2017-11-16 11:00 - 12:00 | Ascender, 6401 Penn Ave 3rd Floor, Pittsburgh, PA, 15206, United States
Join us for lunch on Nov. 16th to learn more about Ascender’s Incubator.
Lunch will be provided.
