Teams in Eau Claire’s Startup Weekend will be eligible to win a prize package worth $15,000, and includes website and hosting, fully furnished office space, business cards, marketing advice, and legal consultation. The winning team will be determined at the end of Startup Weekend, Sunday October 4th.

Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where developers, designers, marketers, product managers and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups! Beginning with open mic pitches on Friday evening, attendees bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team. Over Saturday and Sunday, teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing LEAN Startup Methodologies, and building a minimal viable product. On Sunday evening, teams demo their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of experts. Startup Weekend Awards are then presented.

The weekend will kick off with Jim Ward, President and Owner of Applied Data Consultants, and throughout the weekend contestants will be able to speak with coaches and mentors from the community such as: Kelly Berry, ResourceAbility; Luke Kempen, Small Business Development Center; Linda Pophal, Strategic Communications, LLC; Ben Stroinski, Satellite Six LLC; Levi Felling, Applied Data Consultants; Ken Pearson, Western Dairyland; and Gerald Bauer, JB Systems.

The winning team will be awarded a prize package that includes the following donated services:

• Website and Hosting, from JB Systems
• 3 months of fully furnished office space, including utilities and cleaning service, from Anchor Bank
• Printing and Business Cards, from Image 360
• 5 hours of legal consulting, from Ruder Ware
• 1 hour of Marketing Advice, from Strategic Communications

Eau Claire’s Startup Weekend is taking place October 2-4, 2015 at the newly renovated Lismore Hotel (formerly Downtown Ramada). To learn more about Eau Claire’s Startup Weekend, and to register, visit www.ec-startupweekend.com