Notes from Venture 06: Is InnoVenture on the right track?

Venture 06, held last week, was the Council for Entrepreneurial Development's 23rd annual venture conference. I was impressed with their commitment that, "It's all about the entrepreneurs." I was also blown away by a compelling presentation that the changes we will experience in the next few decades will "Reinvent Humanity."

March 2006 was the third annual InnoVenture conference, and I was inspired by what is possible 20 years from now. InnoVenture had 600 attendees versus 700 at Venture 06, but 225 of their attendees were investors.

But I also came away confident in InnoVenture's model of creating Communities of Innovation including corporations, universities, emerging companies, and investors. Several people that attended both conferences told me how much they enjoyed InnoVenture, which was saying a lot in the glow of Venture 06. More encouraging, many people told me that they had heard, one way or another, that InnoVenture was tremendous and they planned to attend in 2007.

We definitely created a buzz at InnoVenture that we can build on.