Innovate Manifesto

My name is Brian Wallace, I’ve spent decades of my life participating at events on all sorts of levels: simply attending, but also speaking, sponsoring, running activities, organizing movements, and being on advisory boards.

Shortly before the pandemic – and considerably during / after pandemic times – I have had extreme dissatisfaction with events overall. It is no longer as usual to put on a plastic smile and treat everyone as a transaction instead of trying to deepen the connections within humanity. We’re social creatures by nature and people in general wish to partner up and do business with those that they know, like and trust.

So why do we endlessly try to perfect the elevator pitch and networking hour? Why are we easily enamored by sheer numbers of people at events when we should be asking ourselves what the best outcomes we can have by generating lifelong connections?

Much of the business model in the event industry is dated. People are no longer traveling as much for business meetings and are under pressure to perform.

That’s why I’ve taken a stand and created Innovate.

Owensboro? Where’s that? Where is it?

Owensboro is special. And it offers what many cities and event spaces do not offer: delight. Delight is what happens in your mind when you receive unexpected joy and benefit beyond your expectations for an interaction. To say it differently: there are areas of the United States that many from the coasts are dismissive of and call them flyover country. Given the precipitous declines of population centers in metro NYC, SF, and other such cities that have become unaffordable, you might be surprised to see the so-called flyover cities soon become fly to cities.

Why? They are hidden gems that are often safer than decaying city cores, cleaner, and significantly more affordable – especially when it comes to land and home affordability.

This, coupled with the ever present work from home and work from anywhere – why wouldn’t you go where your dollar can take you further?

(I’m speaking from experience, by the way, as my wife and I made a conscious decision to leave metro NYC in favor of Louisville, KY and later Cincinnati, OH starting in 2006).

Now that you understand my macro of delight in a relatively undiscovered country, why Owensboro?

My marketing agency, NowSourcing, often does content marketing and infographic projects for the wine and spirits industry, much of which is based in the bluegrass region of the United States. One such brand – Green River Bourbon (the 6th oldest on the market for you bourbon fans) was about to work with our agency. However, they were acquired by a private equity firm and we did not get the opportunity to work together.

And then something unexpected happened. Green River Bourbon is based in Owensboro metro and we were shortly thereafter introduced to a handful of individuals responsible for the impressive vision of building the Owensboro waterfront to an impressive $200+ million rebuild. Keep in mind this is for a metro of only 80,000 people.

That’s a big vision of economic development to bring more events, tourism, and migration to the area. And they are only getting started.

Once we met with the group, we were determined to help Owensboro gain recognition beyond just the local Kentucky region, but rather to interconnect with both national and international ecosystems to bring them to the next era of Owensboro’s evolution.

As a result, the first ever Innovate Summit was held in Owensboro, KY was born on Tuesday May 21, 2024.

And we’re only getting started.

Why is music, culture, and not just tech important to society?

Sometimes, tech leaning aspects of society become too one-dimensional and myopic in their vision and somehow technology, AI, and other such specialties will replace everything in their path.

This could not be further from the truth.

Many categories of business work in unison – sometimes in ways that aren’t obvious to the naked eye and quick glance – and all deserve a seat at the table.

And the creative class is no different.

You’d be challenged to find a sophisticated society throughout history that did not undergo a transformation where they had expressions of creativity through the mediums of art and music.

Music is an experience that is visceral and ethereal. You can remember when you first heard a song and that may cement a memory.

So, music is not a nice to have when it comes to revolutions of city building and economic development.

If we turn our focus back to Owensboro’s downtown riverfront revitalization, among the impressive structures, you’ll find the international bluegrass hall of fame. It’s the capital of the world for this genre.

How do we come up with the programming?

What’s the theme?

Quite a few events have snappy themes, but we prefer to have an underlying current that is a bit abstract and esoteric. Let’s help bring it into focus for you.

Over the years and especially since the pandemic, it is not business as usual. You used to go into work and have a perfunctory “how are you?” “I’m fine” is a robotic exchange, as if it were bad to have honest and real interactions. Over time, more people are becoming more comfortable and unafraid to dive in and discuss things that matter – and things that matter that may be outside of their subject matter expertise.

For instance, one of the best LinkedIn trainers in the business will be joining us from Canada. Will you hear about her LinkedIn subject matter expertise?

Yes. AND – you’ll also hear how she battles significant agoraphobia and social anxiety.

You’ll hear from one of the nation’s most successful lawyers and he’ll tell you he isn’t the smartest person in the room and his battle to return to work despite a traumatic brain injury.

Another beautiful soul who lost his foot in a work accident that’s now an elite ironman athlete.

The list goes on.

Who’s this summit for?

When people start with “this isn’t my industry conference” or “how many people are coming?” they are already starting with the wrong premise of what an event is for at the highest level of excellence.

It’s time to expect more from an event. You shouldn’t be alone in the void desperately trying to find 1 or 2 cool people that you want to bring everywhere.

The whole event should be filled with them.

And – and this is critical.

You are the customer. And the event works for you.

It’s our job to take a page from the hospitality industry and serve you by matching up who you are and what your desired outcomes are by introducing you to incredible people that you might not have expected, but ones that could build your next company together. Or fund it. Or open a go-to market halfway across the world.

Where does Israel fit into the picture?

As Israel is in the middle of a 7 front war, there is also a financial war happening. Too many bridges are out in terms of Americans and others coming to Israel as well as Israelis going to the states. Therefore, a chief undercurrent is to highlight Israel’s innovation across multiple sectors to find the points of intersection connecting financial markets, enterprises, partnerships, and go-to market strategies with some of the best and brightest innovation coming from the State of Israel.

What’s the Go-to Market Strategy?

We’ve been working on an unconventional marketing strategy to get the word out when it comes to Innovate Summit.

Barely emailing people and instead organic social, in-person meetups, and friend of friend word of mouth.

Why? As if you don’t have enough email already?

We’ve been slowly and thoughtfully announcing key speakers and leadership to the event. And positioning each person like a jewel, we’re getting into the backstory of what makes them great.