The Story

During the last week of October, 2022, studio\Blu participated in Boise Entrepreneur Week as a silver sponsor. Boise Entrepreneur Week is the largest entrepreneur-focused event in Idaho, consisting of five days of non-stop events such as panels, workshops, networking events, and speech competitions. 

Not only studio\Blu sponsored the event, but we also had many studio\Blu family members speak in panels and judge some of the speech competitions. Grey Beaudry and Sarah Haight, our NPD Lab and ERS managers, and Mick Wiskerchen, VentureCapital.org CEO, participated in the Product Manufacturing session “Great Product Idea… Now What?”. This session also featured studio\Blu partners Derik Ellis (Vessel) and Ryan Gray (SGW Designworks) as well as clients Mark Melni and Cameron Williams from Melni Technologies. It was fascinating to learn about Melni Technologies’ entrepreneurial story, from when Mark had the product idea, their experience with the New Product Development Lab, and their success at Shark Tank, to the challenges they faced building up the company. The panel was a complete success filling up the “Tent” in the first session with over 50 attendees, and getting very positive feedback after the second session.

In addition to the Product Manufacturing Session, Mick Wiskerchen participated in VCO’s Trailblazer Panel, Peter Callister, VCO’s COO took part in the Financing Prep 101 panel, Steve Hatten (TechHelp) judged the Trailmix competition, and partners Derik Ellis and Nic Kawaguchi from Vessel presented two different “Success Stories” panels.

The Players

studio\Blu Family

• Grey Beaudry – New Product Development Lab Manager. Speaker at Product Manufacturing session.
• Sarah Haight – Engineering Research Support Manager. Speaker at Product Manufacturing session.
• Mick Wiskerchen – VentureCapital.org CEO. Speaker at the Product Manufacturing Session and the Trailblazer Panel. 
• Peter Callister – VentureCapital.org COO. Speaker at Financing Prep 101 panel.

studio\Blu Sponsors

• Steve Hatten – TechHelp Executive Director. Judge at the Trailmix competition.

studio\Blu Industry Partners

• Derik Ellis – Vessel. Speaker at the Product Manufacturing sessions, Go to Market Strategy panel, and Mentorship Speed Dating event.
• Nic Kawaguchi – Vessel. Moderator at the Go to Market Strategy panel, and speaker at the Mentorship Speed Dating event.
• Ryan Gray – SGW Designworks. Speaker at the Product Manufacturing sessions.

Melni Technologies

• Mark Melni – Melni Technologies owner. An interview with Mark was played during the first Product Manufacturing session. 
• Cameron Williams – Melni Technologies Director of Technology. Cameron participated in the second Product Manufacturing Session

The Rest of the Story

Boise Entrepreneur Week is the largest entrepreneurial event in Idaho and one of the largest in the West. It’s a high-energy, community-powered 5-day event that celebrates and builds Idaho’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Boise Entrepreneur Week is the one event each year that brings together thousands of entrepreneurs, would-be entrepreneurs, and the organizations that support them. Over the course of five days, the attendees share, challenge, and support each other in building not just businesses, but also individual confidence and skills, a deep sense of community, and Idaho’s economy. Boise Entrepreneur Week delivers $300,000 in cash prizes to the winners of the different pitch competitio