Meet Miche Suboski. Miche has started seven companies, ranging from a greeting card company to computing consulting. Today, she’s Managing Director at MiQuest, and somehow finds time to plan 10-12 events a year. Her entrepreneurial-focused events include pitch competitions, networking programs, and award ceremonies like the GLEQ Awards Ceremony we featured a while back. Read on to learn what inspired her to put on her planner hat and work on bringing together the entrepreneurial community.
Interview with Miche Suboski
What inspired you to begin planning events?
At MiQuest, we don’t have a huge budget. We are a highly bootstrapped organization, so somebody had to step up to the plate. Since I have an entrepreneurial background, I really care about the events that I plan. Having an event not just be a transaction, but about building relationships and community has been very powerful for me.
Can you describe one of your events?
At Ask the Investors, there’s very few talking heads, no presentations, and a lot of networking time. It’s all about having investment experts available for whatever the participants want. ATI is an opportunity for the whole entrepreneurial community to come together, meet one another, and learn something new.
What do you do to encourage networking at your events?
Have professionals provide free counseling and give entrepreneurs space to show off their startups. For community events, make the process simple to get involved.
Can you share something memorable from one of your events?
At the last big event that I planned, the Annual Collaboration of Entrepreneurship, an entrepreneur came up to me and thanked me for saying no, he couldn’t have a big exhibit space. He finally understood, after coming to the event, that he just wasn’t ready. He realized he would have embarrassed himself and thanked me for that. That was not even my intent; my intent was to give him the best learning experience he could have. That was just a fabulous by-product.
How does Message Blocks help you plan your events?
Message Blocks gives me an immediate picture of what’s going on with my events. I can see how many people are registered, the event URL, etc. I love the fact that I can create one speaker profile and use it for every event. It also makes it easy to communicate with the other people working on a particular event.
Any tips you’d like to share with event planners?
Try to make the event valuable for everyone involved. For instance, my events are about entrepreneurs. We want to make it valuable for them to attend but also the investors, service providers, and service organizations.
What’s your next event?
Michigan Celebrates Small Business in May 2015.
Thanks Miche! To learn more about the events Miche plans, visit the MiQuest website.