Front Page PR Offers Free Crowdfunding Conference Template for National Trade Show and Exhibit Companies

How to Plan a National, Regional or Local Crowdfunding Trade Show

By Robert Hoskins, Front Page PR

Crowdfunding is a growing industry and more and more people are discovering the benefits of using the power of the crowd to finance their new business. While Equity Crowdfunding is not legal yet, rewards and perk based Crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, iCrowd and others are growing at double digit rates on a monthly basis.

Many people are just now discovering the Crowdfunding industry for the first time and are actively searching for trade shows, conferences, seminars and workshops to learn about the Crowdfunding process.

Like any new industry, the Crowdfunding industry is replete with supposed Crowdfunding experts that want to charge hundreds to thousands of dollars to share their infinite Crowdfunding knowledge with newcomers seeking to learn all there is to know about Crowdfunding.  If any Crowdfunding event does not have an agenda like the one published below, you might think twice before spending your hard earned dollars to attend their event.  There is nothing to be learned from rehashing last year’s news.

There is nothing unique about the Crowdfunding industry other than the fact that President Obama signed the JOBS Act  into law on April 5, 21012 with full bi-partisan support.

Crowdfunding portals are nothing more than an eCommerce center that allows entrepreneurs, startups and even existing small businesses to raise donations and collect money via a website. In fact, anyone with a WordPress website can download a Crowdfunding widget for around $99 and start raising money right now regardless of how long the SEC stalls the actual Equity Crowdfunding industry.

In fact, most people that are in the Crowdfunding industry have very little experience in running a real industry, which is why we created this trade show marketing template to show anyone, anywhere what most industries already know –  how to set up a national trade show event.

At the current time, Crowdfunding subject matter experts are charging $500 to $10,000 per speaking engagement plus travel expenses to share their twelve month’s of experience with naive people who want to learn more.  These subject matter experts have very little industry experience in talking about what really matters in building an industry-grade Crowdfunding platform, which is the underlying technology or marketing strategies that differentiate one platform over another.

Instead of inviting Crowdfunding executives for keynote and panel discussions, it would be a much wiser to decision to staff an industry Crowdfunding trade show and exhibition with high technology subject matter experts that can address how to set up an effective, yet safe Crowdfunding portal.

Learning how to setup a Crowdfunding portal with 99.999’s of reliability, security software applications that will protect their investors/Crowdfunders against fraud, business partner programs, Crowdfunding audit statements, call centers, cloud-based data centers, or network management facilities would be a much wiser investment for attendees that want to learn how to get into the Crowdfunding business.

For Crowdfunding campaign managers (Crowdfunders), Crowdfunding trade shows should provide an actual trade show floor that is full of Crowdfunding exhibitors such as platforms, portals and ancillary Crowdfunding Service Providers (CSPs) or full-service  PR firms that can help Crowdfunders execute targeted Crowdfunding marketing campaigns to make their Crowdfunding campaigns successful.

It would also been a great opportunity to introduce both Crowdfunding portals and Crowdfunders to licensed Broker Dealers with extensive SEC regulatory experience in order to help both parties structure Equity Crowdfunding portals or Crowdfunding campaigns to meet or beat any set of Crowdfunding guidelines that might be issued by the SEC in the very near future.  In fact, early leaders in the Equity Crowdfunding portal space are already actively raising equity investment capital for small businesses via accredited investors through traditional securities guidelines.

In order to attract speakers to a Crowdfunding event all that an event really needs is a Crowdfunding conference website that follows the guidelines below and that publishes a call for papers or presentations via a well written press release.

Aggressive PR professionals are always on the lookout for great events to place their executives for free speaking opportunities including keynote speeches, breakout sessions, panel moderators/members, tutorials and many other types of speaking/publicity opportunities.  These executives speak at events for free.

There are also numerous trade show portals that aggregate trade event information and publish the details via trade show directories.  Once listed, PR people are sure to begin pitching their executives to furnish free presentations on their expertise in return for the publicity and the free brand share awareness that these events generate for their companies.

This Crowdfunding Trade Show template is meant for executives at national trade show companies such Freeman, GES or Reed Exhibitions, that want to delve into putting together a large-scale, professional-grade Crowdfunding trade show, which is predicted to become a $300 billion industry.

Great targets for Crowdfunding trade show hosts would include IDG,  Tech Web, or Ziff-Davis publishing.

In fact, any industry trade publication, TV station or newspaper with more than 100,000 readers/viewers, should not only host a Crowdfunding event, but should also consider launching their own Crowdfunding portal to support their local community.

Collecting a five percent commission on all money raised is a prime opportunity for newspapers to not only add a badly needed revenue stream, but to help their local communities launch new businesses, which will provide a dramatic economic development stimulus package without incurring any new tax burdens for their citizens.  A typical Crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter is raising between $100,000 to $1,000,000.   Ten $1 million dollar campaigns per month equals around $6 million per year.

All high technology industry trade associations that host national trade shows should also include a low-cost Crowdfunding pavilion at their trade show events in order to educate their attendees as well as their exhibitors on how to use Crowdfunding to raise investment capital for existing and new startup businesses.  The more businesses that are launched, the more potential exhibitors will be at next year’s show!

Example National Crowdfunding Exhibition & Conference

1st Day Kickoff Event

9:00 am                Breakfast Keynote:   National Trade Show Executive Director

10:00 am             Kickstarter Presentation: Record Growth in 2012, Projections for 2013

11:00 am              IndieGoGo Presentation: Record Growth in 2012, Projections for 2013

12:00 pm              Lunch Keynote:  Financial Analyst –  Crowdfunding:  A $300 Billion Market Opportunity

Lunch Round Table Discussions:

Round top table discussions will be seated and grouped by industry segments, which will contain a table 20 subject matter experts including journalists, industry analysts, Crowdfunding Service Providers (CSPs) and successful Crowdfunding campaign managers for each business segment.

Many national associations won’t have a need for all of these industries, but these should give you a good idea of what is possible for most business-to-business associations on state-by-state basis:

Table   1:  Information Technology/Cloud Computing

Table  2:  Computer Networking/Telecom/ISPs

Table   3:  Security/Fraud Prevention

Table   4:  Games/Video Games/Smart Phone Apps

Table   5:  Film/TV/Entertainment

Table   6:  Music/Concert Venues

Table   7:  Art/Dance/Fashion/Theatre

Table   8:  Publishing/Comics/Books

Table   9:  Real Estate

Table 10:  Crowdfunding Service Providers

Table 11:  Gadgets/Gizmos

Table 12:  Bring Your Own Social Devices

Table 13:  VC/Angels/Financial Analysts

Table 14:  Adv/PR/Social Media/Email Marketing

Table 15:  Pres. Obama/Congress/SEC

Table 16:  Social Giving/Community Outreach

Table 17:  Bio Tech

Table 18:  Oil/Gas/Renewable Energy

3:00 pm               Crowdfunding Press Conference Example

Speakers:

1. Press Conference Moderator
2. Economic Development Official
3. Venture Capital
4. Licensed Broker Dealer
5. Perks-Based Crowdfunding Service Provider
6. Equity-Based Crowdfunding Service Provider

4:30 pm               Crowdfunding Service Providers/Venture Capitalists/Potential Crowdfunders Mixer

8:00 pm               Crowdfunding VIP Party Awards Dinner

1. MVP Award – Outstanding Crowdfunding Achievement
2. MVP Award – Fastest Crowdfunding Portal Growth
3. MVP Award – Best Business to Business (B2B) Portal
4. MVP Award – Best Business to Consumer (B2C) Portal
5. MVP Award – Best Social Community Outreach Portal

2nd Day Preliminary Breakout Sessions:

Welcome to the National Crowdfunding Exposition & Conference breakout session agenda, which will consist of moderated panel discussions covering the follow topics:

8:30 am        Continental Breakfast/Coffee Bar

9:00 am – 10:00 am        Breakout Session #1

CSP:  Rewards-Based Crowdfunding

Creative:  Games/Video Games/Smart Phone Apps

Financial:  Venture Capitalists

Technology:  Information Technology

Community:  Education

10:30 am – 11:00 am       Coffee/Bathroom Break

11:00 am – 12:00 pm      Breakout Session #2

CSP: Equity-Based Crowdfunding

Creative: Film/TV/Entertainment/Music

Financial: Angel Investors

Technology:  Security/Fraud Prevention

Community:  Emergency Relief

12:30 pm –  1:00 pm        Coffee/Bathroom Break

1:00 pm  – 2:30 pm        Breakout Session #3

CSP: Donation-Based Crowdfunding

Creative: Art/Dance/Fashion/Theatre

Financial: Financial Analysts

Technology:  Computer Networking/Telecom/ISPs

Community:  Churches/Houses of Faith

2:30 pm – 3:00 pm        Coffee/Bathroom Break

3:00 pm – 4:30 pm        Breakout Session #4

CSP: Create-Based Crowdfunding

Creative: Publishing/Comics/Books

Financial:  Real Estate

Technology: Gadgets/Gizmos

Community: Economic Development

Speakers Bureau:

Welcome to the National Crowdfunding Expo & Conference press room. All editors, reporters, successful crowdfunding campaign managers and industry analysts with press credentials will be allowed to attend this event for free as a VIP guest with access to all keynotes, breakout sessions .

Speakers need to submit high-res photo, 300-word biography and 800-word description what they would like present during keynote speeches, panel discussion and round table discussions. Deadline for submission is February 28, 2013. Click here to fill out the speaker request form.

Press Conference:

Press conference should look just like the one we did for the Crowdfund Texas Conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CEd2A2jXsAA

Only credential members of media will be allowed to attend.  The five speakers will make 5-minute comments on their vision for development of American Crowdfunding industry followed by short question and answer session.

Remote site reporters will be provided an audio bridge to listen in on the press conference and ask questions during the Q&A session via twitter by posting questions to @Crowdfunding_PR

Press Rooms:

Three quiet press areas will be available for PR people to reserve to conduct interviews with journalists on the National Crowdfunding Expo & Conference media list. There will be a small RSVP charge around ~$25.00 for 30 minutes to help pay for press room space to make sure rooms are used and are available on a first come, first served basis.

Press List:

Welcome to the National Crowdfunding Expo & Conference press list. All editors, reporters, successful Crowdfunding campaign managers and industry analysts with press credentials will be allowed to attend this event for free as a VIP guest with access to all keynotes, breakout sessions.

Press Kit Room:

All exhibitors will be allowed to provided printed materials for inclusion at the onsite press room as well as the virtual press room on the trade show website.

1. press releases
2. white papers
3. research studies
4. power point presentations
5. video clips
6. photos/logos
7. executive bios/head shots

Media Sponsorships:

Welcome to the trade show media sponsorship page.  All publications that list a short description of the on their publication’s event calendar and a logo with link back to trade show website will receive a receive a reciprocal mention on the trade show website and publication bins to provide bonus trade show distribution of their magazines to all attendees.  Magazine distribution sponsorship to attendees rooms is also available. Click here to download sponsorship opportunities.

Exhibitors:

Welcome to the National Crowdfunding Exposition & Conference exhibitor’s page.  All publications that list a short description of the Crowdfunding Expo on their publication’s event calendar and a logo with link back to trade show website will receive a receive a reciprocal mention on the trade show website and publication bins to provide bonus trade show distribution of their magazines to all attendees.  Magazine distribution sponsorship to attendees rooms is also available. Click here to register for an exhibit booth.

Front Page PR has helped setup many industry trade shows and would be happy to help anyone setup a national, regional or local Crowdfunding event. Please contact us for more details.

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Please click here to help us Crowdfund this website’s editorial development

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iCrowd Launches the Industry’s Most Sophisticated Equity Crowdfunding Portal to Date

By Robert Hoskins

In a growing a landscape of Crowdfunding Universities with no actual classes and Global Crowdfunding Education Networks with zero content or even a place to signup, the new iCrowd Equity Crowdfunding portal is the real deal and it is a must-see website for everyone in the Crowdfunding industry.

Most Crowdfunding sites will tell you that their lack of content, business partner programs, and other Crowdfunding services is due to the fact that the SEC has not yet issued Title II and Title III guidelines. What they do not want to tell you is that they actually have very little business experience and have never been involved with running a functioning industry portal in any industry.

The exception to the rule is the iCrowd Crowdfunding portal, which is live now and has risen quickly to the top of the Equity Crowdfunding industry pyramid. Unlike the competition, the iCrowd site offers richly interactive web-based community based on web 3.0 technology.  Primarily supported by user-generated content, iCrowd promotes socially enriched exchanges that foster a shared passion for Crowdfunding inspired ideas to empower entrepreneurs with the information, insight, and motivation necessary to translate these concepts into tangible business success.

iCrowd is led by John Callaghan, a former Wall Street portfolio manager, security analyst, and expert in small capitalization businesses, and Brad McGee, who served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Tyco International Ltd. and Chief Administrative Officer of the CIT Group.

“Working as an analyst and a small-cap growth portfolio manager, I saw the parallel frustrations of small business owners who were unable to raise capital and investors who were unable to buy into early-stage companies,” Callaghan said. “The internet has opened many opportunities for individuals to take charge of their investments. Investment crowdfunding will be the next step in that evolution.”

iCrowd intends to become a premier, registered equity funding portal once the final rules for Investment Crowdfunding under the JOBS Act are implemented.  At that time, iCrowd will enable entrepreneurs to engage with each other and with potential investors to fine-tune their business concept or growth idea and secure financing directly from these investors.  Investors become an integral part of the entrepreneur’s success through their advice, investment, and advocacy.

“Social interaction is the key to investment crowdfunding. Raising capital is critical to business success, but it is not sufficient. Development of interactive networks of supporters and potential partners along with access to sound business advice is crucial to transition entrepreneurs from people with ideas to people with successful businesses,” said Brad McGee. “iCrowd makes it possible for entrepreneurs to develop those partnerships.”

Small businesses can find communities of entrepreneurs, mentors, peers, and experts to begin gathering advice and support in preparation for launching a successful Equity Crowdfunding campaigns in the future. iCrowd offers small enterprises the opportunity to start building the right network of contacts and establishing the relationships that will be crucial to their success.

iCrowd is actively building a Partners Program to pursue creative ways to join forces with businesses and industry influencers through cross promotions, affiliate arrangements, sponsorships and custom strategic partnerships as well as an iCrowd Validated Experts Program, which is seeking experts to promote their capabilities and services to their iCrowd community.

Check out what the iCrowd Crowdfunding Portal Business Service Portfolio has to offer:

• Expertise Profiles – iCrowd user profiles are designed provide an online supply chain so that investors, ancillary Crowdfunding service vendors and future Crowdfunding campaign managers (Crowdfunders) will have a place to shop for the Crowdfunding expertise they need to make smart investments and/or plan successful Crowdfunding campaigns.

• Credibility Badges – To help users ascertain the credibility of any user’s profile, iCrowd uses a point system that allows the crowd to award or subtract points for both questions asked as well as answers given on the portal’s discussion boards, the advisory boards they sit on, the user groups they manage, etc.  The more points a user earns the higher they rise in the rankings, similar to the way fantasy football leagues award players points based on their performance during a game. As the Crowdfunding industry evolves using a sophisticated ranking system to rate users based on their investment interests, Crowdfunding expertise, and ancillary service backgrounds will make it very easy to search, find, validate and then build many value-added business connections.

• iCrowd Academy – Not quite yet an academy with instructor lead classes, the iCrowd platform is still by far the most interactive education platform that we have seen to date in the Crowdfunding industry. If it is true Crowdfunding knowledge you seek, the iCrowd Academy is the only place on the internet where you can read up on important Crowdfunding subject matters for free. One feature that would be helpful in growing a professional iCrowd Academy would be a Crowdfunding library, where users could upload white papers, research reports, PowerPoint presentations and infographics for research purposes.

• Ask the iCrowd – For inquiring minds that want to know more, the Ask the iCrowd chat rooms allow users to search for any Crowdfunding discussion topic by keyword, and then read through many associated threads that offer great pro and con viewpoints from fellow Crowdfunding members. This is where the Credibility Badges come in handy.  It is very easy for the iCrowd members to give an answer a thumps up (+5 points) or a thumbs down (-5 points). Based on a member’s total iCrowd score, it is easy to determine how credible their advice might be. It is important to note that the iCrowd chat rooms are the only place on the internet where you can get your Crowdfunding questions for free. As iCrowd members become more knowledgeable and their intelligence continues to increase, the iCrowd platform is positioned to become the number one Crowdfunding repository due to its sheer volume of free information.

• Advisory Boards – This feature is a very well thought out section and probably will become one of the most important value-added benefits of doing business on the iCrowd platform.  As users explore the many areas of knowledge, they will begin to get a sense of who the real Crowdfunding experts are in the industry. The Advisory Board feature allows Crowdfunders to send invitations to members to ask them to join their Crowdfunding campaign’s advisory board.  An advisory board might include experts from the legal, financial, fundraising and marketing industries that specialize in Crowdfunding. This will be a great way help mentor entrepreneurs and guide them through the intricacies of starting up and operating a business via private networks with secluded discussion forums that will allow business-specific advice and very candid feedback.

• iCrowd Groups – In the business world there are many vertical business segments, each with its own distribution channel of manufacturing companies, distributors, resellers, retail outlets and online eCommerce portals. The iCrowd Groups feature on the iCrowd platform allows members to build vertical business-to-business communities of like-minded investors, service providers and Crowdfunders around mutual business interests, which are designed to stimulate fruitful discussions among their members. Groups can be public, by invitation only, or completely private.

White House Crowdfunding Petition

Click Here to Add Your Initials to the White House Crowdfunding Petition

By Robert Hoskins 

On April 5, 2012, President Obama signed the JOBS Act into law with full bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress. It was one of America’s most promising pieces of legislation to jumpstart America’s economy by providing a new pool of investment capital for startups and small businesses through a process known as Equity Crowdfunding.

Send a Clear Message to Washington, America Needs Crowdfunding Now

The law allows 98% more Americans to begin investing in small local businesses they know and trust in return for an equity position that will provide a return on investment if the business becomes successful.

Right now there are approximately 260 million Americans that are 18 years or older. The JOBS Act will allow unaccredited investors to invest up to $2,000 per year in small businesses that promise to provide products and services they want to see introduced into their community.  If a mere 10% of unaccredited investors invested $2,000 it would inject $52,000,000,000 into the local economy.

Instead of incurring more tax payer debt, Americans for the first time in history would be able to steer the economy with their hard earned dollars.  They would invest in products they actually want to buy.  There would be zero red tape, pork barrel spending, or financial roadblocks that to date have preventing small businesses from getting access to the badly needed investment capital they need to startup or expand operations.  Crowdfunding is a financial tool that will create millions of jobs at zero expense to the U.S. Government or its taxpayers.

And since Crowdfunding investments are financing the creation of hundreds of thousands of small businesses that will not only create new jobs, but buying new tools, vehicles, office equipment, office space rentals, and of course, paying more taxes to the U.S. Government, why not make all Crowdfunding investments tax deductible?

This would be a great way to adjust the financial hardships that are now facing Americans in light of recent government failures to get America back on track.

Per the Small Business Administration small businesses accounted for:

• 65 percent (or 9.8 million) of the 15 million net new jobs created between 1993 and 2009.
• Represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms.
• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Pay 43 percent of total U.S. private payroll.
• Have generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years.
• Create more than half of the nonfarm private GDP.
• Hire 43 percent of high tech workers (scientists, engi­neers, computer programmers, and others).
• Made up 97.5 percent of all identified exporters.
• Pro­duced 31 percent of export value in FY 2008.
• Produced 16.5 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

Why not make it possible for average Americans to fund the creation of more small businesses?

When the U.S. Congress passes a bill and the President of the United States signs it into law, all Americans are expected to abide by the law regardless of whether they feel it is right or wrong. Why then are the executives the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) allowed to break the JOBS Act law that clearly states that Crowdfunding guidelines be issued by January 1, 2013?

President Obama’s second term inauguration speech promised to help small businesses and get America back on its feet and recapture the #1 position of worldwide leadership.  Is it true the SEC has more power and clout on Capitol Hill than the President of the United States or the U.S. Congress?

It makes one wonder where is the current administration’s will power to do what America needs most, create new jobs and instill a sense of national pride that we are the still the best country in the world?

Crowdfunding naysayers point to the potential for fraud, but in reality this is just a political excuse not to shift the financial power from Wall Street to the average American for wealth creation. Why not give the average American a chance to make a good profit from wise, well-thought investment in local companies they know and trust?

If Australia and the United Kingdom have been doing Crowdfunding for years with zero cases of fraud, why is our government allowing our country to fall behind in the race for worldwide economic recovery? Soon Equity Crowdfunding will be legal in France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Finland, Italy, Hong Kong and South Africa, but not the United States.

Have America’s leaders lost the ability to think straight and put innovative policies in place that are clearly working in other countries successfully? If we are not smart enough to create our own rules, why not copy another country’s rules that are working well?

America used to be recognized as leader and a worldwide power, but our reputation is fading and the American public is sick and tired of politicians not doing what is right for the general population.  We need jobs right now, not several years from now.

The U.S. Government has done their job to put a law in place that will empower our nation to become great again.  It is now time for the SEC to follow suit and get the Title II and Title III guidelines issued as soon as soon as possible so that America  can get back to work.

Sign the White House Crowdfunding Petition

If you support the Crowdfunding industry and would like to send a message to the White House that America needs more jobs now, not in a year or two, but right now please add your name to this White House Crowdfunding Petition by March 30, 2013.

How to Contact the SEC Directly

1. Via Email:

TBD, SEC Chairman
chairmanoffice@sec.gov

Luis A. Aguilar, Commissioner
aguilarl@sec.org or aguilarlu@sec.org

Daniel M. Gallagher, SEC Commissioner
gallagherd@sec.gov

Troy A. Paredes. SEC Commissioner
paredest@sec.gov

David Marsh, SEC Staff
marshd@sec.gov

2. Via Postal Mail:

Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)
Attn.: JOBS ACT/Crowdfunding Guidelines
100 F Street NE
Washington, 20549

3. Via Phone:

Tel: (202) 942-8088

4. Online Comment Form:

https://tts.sec.gov/oiea/QuestionsAndComments.html

Congress Getting Fed Up with SEC Delays, Introduces New Crowdfunding Legislation to Speed Up JOBS Act Implementation

By Robert Hoskins

Today, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, joined bipartisan leaders in Congress to introduce H.R. 701 legislation providing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  with an October 31^st deadline to finalize Regulation A rules.

Rep. Patrick McHenry Introduces H.R. 701 to Speed Up SEC Implementation Guidelines, legislation providing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)  with an October 31^st deadline to finalize Regulation A rules.

Congressman McHenry announced, “This legislation simply codifies an intended deadline for Regulation A as part of the JOBS Act.  The target date is reasonable, nearly 19 months after the JOBS Act was signed into law and 5 months before the official Reg A review would need to occur. Our economy needs efficient, vibrant capital markets to thrive and this legislation is a step in the right direction.”

Congressman Schweikert said, “It was a big win for the American people when we passed the Reg A bill to help small businesses go public. It will be an even bigger success if we can put Washington on a deadline to relieve small businesses from expensive underwriting costs as soon as possible.”

Congressman Eshoo said, “This bill puts the SEC on deadline to finalize new Regulation A rules so that startup businesses can have access to additional capital. When Congress raised the SEC Regulation A offering limit, we did so because it was essential in meeting the capital formation needs of startup businesses in our country. It will create jobs, strengthen our economy, and promote the high-tech, sustainable energy, and life science sectors. Now, it’s the SEC’s turn to follow through.”

Congressman Garrett said, “Congress took bipartisan action to pass the JOBS Act nearly a year ago.  The SEC has yet to finalize its rules.  This abject failure to implement key components – like Regulation A – stands in the way of economic growth and harms our capital markets.  I thank Congressman McHenry for his hard work on this bill, and I look forward to its swift passage.”

Congressman Scott said, “This bill is an important step in providing small businesses an exemption from burdensome requirements by offering a reasonable but firm deadline for finalizing the rules for Regulation A.  The JOBS Act passed with strong support in the House, and this legislation builds on that progress by putting the release of the final rules in sight.”

Regulation A offers small businesses an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. The JOBS Act requires the SEC to amend Regulation A by raising its threshold to $50 million and enact new regulations resolving issues that have made Regulation A unfeasible to date.

itFits Launches Kickstarter Crowdfunding Campaign for 3-in-1 SmartPhone Accessory

By Robert Hoskins

itFits rolled out their latest smartphone accessory which serves as a stand, recliner and hook for almost any phone on the market.  The itFits is an accessory with thermoplastic, rubber arms which flex to fit most smartphones, with or without a case.

itFits – The smarter smartphone accessory that flexes to fit your smartphone, with or without a case.

The patent-pending functionality of itFits allows users to use the product as a stand, recliner or hook and is compatible with the iPhone 3/3G/4/4S/5, iPod Touch, most Android and Blackberry smartphones, and a wide array of leading smartphones available today.

“You’re probably a lot like me in that you spend a fortune on accessories for your smartphone,” says Nancy Scala, co-creator of itFits. “Wouldn’t it be great if you had one accessory that performed multiple functions and fit around multiple phones? This is our idea behind itFits.”

For more information on the product or to make a donation in exchange for the new, universal accessory, visit the  itFits’ Kickstarter campaign which ends on Wednesday, March 6 at 3:57 PM EST.

Jambase integrates Get My Band Crowdfunding Platform to Raise Money for SXSW Music Festival

New partnership creates first-of-its kind crowdfunded SXSW event; enables more bands to play live for more of their fans.

By Robert Hoskins

Jambase and Get My Band announced a partnership that 1) gives fans the ability to bring their favorite bands to their hometown and 2) lets bands use crowdfunding to tour profitably and play more live gigs.

Jambase integrates Get My Band to utilize Crowdfunding for SXSW

Jambase will integrate Get My Band’s crowdfunding technology into its live concert platform, which currently boasts over one million concert listings for hundreds of thousands of music fans around the world. In addition to finding concert listings, Jambase users can now find and participate in crowdfunding concert offers.

Crowdfunding has already become a disruptive trend in the music industry. Just last year, fans pledged millions of dollars to help bands cut new albums, while money raised through crowdfunding overall increased from $1.5 billion to over $3 billion globally. In addition to driving funding for albums, the power of the crowd can help bands play more live gigs and create more profitable tours. Bands know ahead of time – before booking a show – that they can cover touring costs such as gas, hotel, and equipment rental. By giving fans the ability to “pledge” tickets with real dollars, bands can book new concerts with confidence and without financial risk.

“Jambase’s mission is to give fans the opportunity to see more live music,” said Sabrina Schulz, CEO of Jambase. “We’re excited to give fans a new way to see the bands they love. Now, in addition to easily finding a show and buying tickets, our users can find crowdfunding concert offers and pledge to bring their favorite bands to their hometown.”

To kick off their partnership, Jambase and Get My Band are hosting a crowdfunded concert event at SXSW. Through pledges from their fans, participating bands are raising the money needed to cover their costs to get to Austin and perform live at the SXSW event. The fans are benefiting as well; to “pay back” their pledging fans, the bands are offering unique rewards including signed CD’s, guitar lessons and even a live house party.

“By marrying our crowdfunding technology with the Jambase global live concert platform, we are empowering hundreds of thousands of fans to help their favorite bands tour profitably to more cities than ever before,” said Mike Angiletta, CEO & Founder of Get My Band. “And we’re thrilled to kick off our partnership by giving some great bands a chance to crowdfund their way to Austin and play live at our SXSW concert event.”

“Thanks to our fans, we’re at 70 percent of our funding goal in just a few days,” said Michael Craswell, lead singer of K-Sera. “Getting to Austin isn’t cheap, so it’s great to see how supportive our fans are. For the fans that help us out with a pledge, we’re giving them some unique “Thank You” rewards, like signed CD’s, unreleased recordings, and personalized songs. We’re off to an awesome start!”

Jambase and Get My Band will be hosting their crowdfunded concert event at SXSW on March 14th from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Jackalope.

Stone Blade launches 10-day Kickstarter Crowdfunding campaign to bring Ascension Online to Android

by Leighton Owen

Back in 2010, Gary Games (now known as Stone Blade Entertainment) launched its first physical boardgame, Ascension, onto an unsuspecting world. The following year, Playdek converted this fast-paced deck-building game into an iOS app.

Since the launch of Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer, the duo has released three expansions for iOS – Return of the Fallen, Storm of Souls, and Immortal Heroes.

But since the iOS version launched, Stone Blade has been inundated with requests from gamers to port Ascension to Android. And guess what? It’s taken notice.

But there’s a catch. There’s always a catch. Stone Blade is asking for $125,000 on crowd-funding site Kickstarter, and it needs it within ten days.

This isn’t just a simple port. There will be all-new features such as online tournaments, a new campaign mode and – most importantly – making it free to download for all.

There are plenty of rewards for backing the project. For $10 you can get a Kickstarter-exclusive promo card, and all the expansions up to Immortal Heroes.

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Business Finance Store Says Crowdfunding Platform Raised $762k for Small Businesses

For the second week of February, Business Finance Store was able to raise over $762k in funding for small businesses

By Robert Hoskins

As businesses continue to require critical funding needed for growth, Business Finance Store continues to provide products and services to help. In the second week of February, Business Finance Store raised over $762k in funding for small businesses across the country.

Business Finance Store Offers Crowdfunding to Small Businesses

Boasting a wide gamut of products and services, Business Finance Store offers up options from Unsecured Business Finance, Business-Directed Retirement Accounts, Equipment Financing, Crowdfunding, Revenue-Based Lending, and more.

The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.

The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting & bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.

For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $100 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come.

Danae Ringelmann: Success The Indiegogo Way

Geekmom Crowdfunding Q&A with Indiegogo Founder, Danae Ringelmann

By Laura Grace Weldon

Geekmom Crowdfunding Q&A with Danae Ringelmann, IndieGoGo

We’re big crowdfunding fans here at GeekMom. We write pretty regularly about Indiegogo campaigns, most recently about the Zuvo water filter and the documentary Self-Inflicted. Plus we use the platform to raise funds for our own projects like Amy Kraft’s app Zeenii and Jules Sherred’s book, Five Little Zombies and Fred. And we can’t help but talk about the newest Indiegogo offerings. There are too many great ones to name, but here are a few campaigns we like in particular:

• Magic Case for iPhone, like the Swiss Army knife of phone cases.
• Pinoccio: Complete Ecosystem for Building the Internet of Things, a awesome wireless, web-ready microcontroller with WiFi, LiPo battery, and built-in radio.
• Where No Man Was Born Before, a proposed documentary about the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk—Riverside, Iowa.
• People Not Stones, dedicated to preserving endangered archaeological sites by providing sustainable economic opportunities to people living nearby.
• Freeloader Child Carrier, ergonomically designed backpack seat for adventurers whose small to medium-sized kids get tired.
• Superhero For Kids with Cancer, graphic novel to be donated to kids with cancer.
• House of Cards, limited edition castle-building card set.
• SpotVac, for sub-surface carpet cleaning.
• Dead Man’s Land graphic novel to be created by Barry Duffield who plays Lugo on Spartacus: Vengeance.

Of course we jumped at the chance to do a phone interview with Indiegogo co-founder, Danae Ringelmann. Passionate about helping artists, entrepreneurs, and visionaries embrace crowdfunding, Danae keeps busy spreading the word. She’s recently spoken at SXSW, MAD Hong Kong, Ted, and Big Omaha. Fast Company Magazine recently named her one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Technology. She explains how to power up a campaign and how crowdfunding is changing the world one campaign at a time.

Read more…