Friday, September 5, 2008
VCIR Conference Kicks Off Tuesday
Next week marks the beginning of the Venture Capital in the Rockies Fall 2008 Conference, which Techrockies will be covering. Our editors will be on site at the event talking with companies at the conference.
The event, occurring in Sun Valley, Idaho, and hosted by the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association, begins Tuesday and ends Thursday, Sept. 11. Cultural anthropologist Wade Davis will provide the keynote presentation. Also scheduled to present are representatives from PERSI, Idaho's public employee retirement fund; Internet search giants Yahoo! and Google; information technology powerhouse Hewlett-Packard; and online retailer Amazon.com.
This marks the first year that the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association has staged a fall conference. The association has hosted an annual winter conference in Beaver Creek, Colo., for 25 years. This is also the first time the conference has been held out of Beaver creek.
According to the association, the event was established as a means to "better incorporate the eight unique states" under its purview. Nanette Schunk, the association's executive director, said the fall conference takes an "important step" toward supporting the Rocky Mountain venture capital community and the technology-oriented companies in which they invest. The group -- formerly the Colorado Venture Capital Association -- became the Rocky Mountain Venture Capital Association in 2007, looking to bring together the venture community in the region.
"The VCIR selection team has worked diligently to analyze and accept those companies that display the potential to become tomorrow's technology leaders and provide employment to hundreds throughout the West," Schunk said.
Be sure to check back here next week for updates from the event, as well as exclusive interviews with venture capitalists, technology experts and up-and-coming entrepreneurs.