Mark Drapeau (Washington, DC) —
On March 6th, Startup DC (the local arm of Startup America Partnership) hosted the first ever Entreprelooza! in Washington, DC, a celebration of all things startup and entrepreneurial. Besides being a 35,000 square foot festival for about 400 people (which stands out enough in DC), its diversity was noticed by the small business community, the fashion community, socialites, bloggers, and the local news media.
Here are some of our favorite photos from the event.
Some of the Entreprelooza! guests having fun on the red carpet.
Mark Drapeau, editor of Publicyte and advisor to Startup DC, with friend on the red carpet.
Three of the people who made Entreprelooza possible: Jonathan Aberman (co-chair of Startup VA), Evan Burfield (chair of Startup DC), and Will Fuentes (CEO of Lemur and advisor to Startup DC).
Julie Kantor, executive director of the DC office of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, joined in the Entreprelooza! festivities. All net proceeds were donated to NFTE for their annual spring “Dare to Dream” gala on May 2.
Guests of Entreprelooza! received t-shirts on which they had to fill in the blank: “We make _____ happen.”
CEO of TechCocktail Frank Gruber served as the master of ceremonies for the evening.
DC Mayor Vincent Gray made an appearance and talked about the importance of entrepreneurship to the economy of the DC region. He also stayed to watch the documentary about startup life, Ctrl+Alt+Compete.
Startup DC chair Evan Burfield with many members of his advisory board addressing the audience.
Hundreds of guests assembled in a makeshift movie theatre – popcorn machines and all – to watch the east coast premiere of Ctrl+Alt_Compete.
Some of the Entreprelooza! volunteers served as guards of the tricked-out VIP room, which had couches, card tables, a dedicated bar with the former bartender at The Gibson, and free pizza.
Among the community partners who had display tables at the event was real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle, who helped secure the space for the event.
Startup America Partnership was a key partner in the Entreprelooza! event.
Lemur CEO Will Fuentes enjoys a high-tech massage chair, one of many fun things for hard-working entrepreneurs to try out during the Entreprelooza! festival.
Bliss Spa (W Hotels) offered hard-working entrepreneurs nail polish changes and hand massages at Entreprelooza! That’s former Miss DC Kate Michael, editor of K Street Kate, at right.
A great photo of many of the Startup DC volunteers, without which this event would not have been possible.
Dr. Mark Drapeau is part of the Microsoft Office of Civic Innovation in Washington, DC and an advisor to Startup DC.
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