Verizon Small Business Digital Ready: Atlanta Summit in partnership with Luminary is headed your way!
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is partnering with Luminary to bring the Digital Ready experience to Atlanta. From panels and workshops to fireside chats and networking, incredible speakers, and experts, together, the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready: Atlanta Summit in partnership with Luminary will give you a chance to develop your skills with exclusive live programming and networking.
Join us in creating new connections, engaging with the content you need and the networking opportunities you’ve been missing to grow your business. Together, we are bringing robust workshops from subject matter experts across all areas you need to run your business, not to mention valuable time to connect with other local business owners.
Get ready to level up your productivity at the Atlanta Summit with a sweepstake!*
Verizon is giving away Chrome Books to five small business owners who attend the event in person. But that’s not all! Luminary is also giving away 10 Fellowships during the Atlanta Summit, which provides a free annual digital Luminary membership. Spread the word and share this sweepstake opportunity within your networks!
Here's what you can expect:
10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Coffee, Light Bites, & Networking
10:30 AM - 10:40 AM
Introductory Remarks with Sarah Nakintu, Partnership Lead at Verizon and Cate Luzio, Founder and CEO of Luminary
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM
Lunch & Networking
12:45 PM - 1:15 PM
The Power of the Digital Ready Platform with Anwar Dougsiyeh, Co-Founder and Lead Organizer of Lotus Rosery, Lakila Bowden, Co-Founder of iSee Technologies, moderated by Rachel Shanklin, Georgia Director/National Women's Entrepreneurship Director at Small Business Majority
Hear directly from the voices of the small businesses that are using different resources from the platform to move their businesses forward. In this conversation you will hear how Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is impacting business owners and how to navigate the program’s resources.
1:15 PM - 2:00 PM
AI-Powered Marketing to Outsmart The Competition NOW with John Lawson, President of Colder Ice Media
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Digital Marketing 101 with Maribel Lara, SVP at The Sasha Group, of Vayner Media
With the way consumer behavior is heading, marketing seems to be where every business should be investing their time. During this session, learn not just the in's and out's of digital marketing through social media, but what it means to get inside your consumer's head and think from a customer's perspective.
3:00 PM - 3:20 PM
Fireside Chat with Ryan Wilson, CEO and Co-Founder of The Gathering Spot and Cate Luzio, Founder and CEO of Luminary
3:20 PM - 3:30 PM
Eligibility for Sweepstake:
Must register and attend the Atlanta Summit in person. Must register for the Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Platform.
How To Enter:
How Often You Can Enter:
One entry per person
No purchase necessary. Must be present to win. Sweepstakes starts November 02, 2023 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time (ET) and ends on November 02, 2023, at 1:00 PM ET. Must be legal U.S. resident 18 years or older to enter. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Verizon Corporate Services Group Inc. For official rules, click here.
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready is a free learning program developed by small businesses to help small businesses grow and build their skills to succeed in the digital economy. Filled with courses, events, coaching sessions, and grant opportunities, it’s an easy way to advance your business, learn new skills, and meet other like-minded entrepreneurs. For more information, visit verizon.com/digitalready.
Luminary is a gender inclusive, global membership-based professional education and networking platform created to uplift, up-skill, and propel women and our male allies forward through all phases of their professional journey. Our goal is to provide our community with access to tools, resources, and connections to help build, grow, and move businesses and careers forward.
Photo Consent:
Participant consents to be recorded, photographed, and videotaped related to the Event, and hereby irrevocably and perpetually authorizes any of the Released Parties to copyright, publish, reproduce, exhibit, transmit, broadcast, televise, digitize, display, otherwise use, and permit others to use (i) the Participant’s name, image, likeness, and voice, and (ii) all photographs, recordings, videotapes, audiovisual materials, writings, statements, and quotations of or by the Participant obtained related to the recording of the Event (collectively, the “Materials”), in any manner, form, or format whatsoever now or hereinafter created, including on the Internet, and for any lawful purpose, including, the advertising or promotion of the Released Parties and/or the Event without further consent from or payment to the Participant. The Participant understands that the Released Parties are under no obligation to use the Materials. Participant agrees that all of the Materials, and all films, audiotapes, videotapes, reproductions, media, plates, negatives, photocopies, and electronic and digital copies of the Materials are the sole property of the Released Parties and Participant further agrees not to contest the rights or authority granted to the Released Parties hereunder. The Participant hereby waives any right to inspect or approve the recordings, and modes of the use thereof as described above. Participant acknowledges and agrees that: (i) Participant shall not be entitled to any compensation for its appearance at the Event or subsequent use of its appearance in the Materials, (ii) Participant has and will refrain from any offensive or distasteful remarks or conduct and will conduct itself in a courteous and professional manner at all times during its participation at the Event and appearance in the Materials, and (iii) this Agreement is intended to be as broad and inclusive as permitted by applicable law
Meet The Speakers
Co-Founder of iSee Technologies
President & CEO of Latin American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia
Co-Founder and Lead Organizer of Lotus Rosery
Director at ACE Women’ Business Center
Sr. Business Consultant, Chase for Business-Focused on Minority Entrepreneurs
SVP at The Sasha Group of Vayner Media
President of Colder Ice Media
Founder and CEO of Luminary
Partnership Lead at Verizon
Georgia Director/National Women's Entrepreneurship Director at Small Business Majority
Director of Brand Marketing at The Honey Pot
CEO and Co-Founder of The Gathering Spot
CEO and Co-Founder of The Gathering Spot
Ryan Wilson is the co-founder and CEO of The Gathering Spot, a private membership network that serves as a hub for
collaboration, connections and experiences and is the Chief Community Officer of Greenwood, a digital banking services
platform.
At the age of 24, with a mission to create a world where opportunity is the byproduct of community and collaboration, Ryan
and his business partner raised capital to open their first Gathering Spot location in Atlanta. The club has since established
itself nationally as a home for creatives, business professionals, and entrepreneurs, and regularly hosts notable and culturally
impactful events. Responsible for the company’s overall management and strategic vision, Ryan has led the club’s physical
expansion with location openings in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, launch of membership communities in New York City,
Detroit, Charlotte, Houston, and Chicago; as well as the digital expansion of the company’s platform TGS Connect.
In 2022, The Gathering Spot was acquired by Greenwood, Inc, creating the largest fintech and community platform for Blacks
and minorities with a combined community of over 1 million people. The companies share a mission of closing the wealth gap
for minorities through community building, entrepreneurship and education. This partnership represents a historic move as one
of the few black-on-black M&A transactions at scale and was recognized as one of the most influential Deals of Year in 2022
by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Ryan has been honored as the Small Business Person of the Year by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, was selected as one of the
2020 Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under Forty honorees and one of their 100 Most Powerful leaders, was named one of
Goldman Sach’s Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs in 2021, and named as one of Georgia’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders by Georgia Trend. The Mayor of Atlanta honored Ryan and his business partner with the prestigious Phoenix Award, the city’s highest
honor, was named by Atlanta Magazine as one of “Atlanta’s 500 most powerful leaders’’, and he has been recognized as one of
Inc.‘s 30 under 30. He has also been named one of the country’s most influential African-Americans in The Root 100 and the
Ebony Power 100.
Ryan has been featured in notable national publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Inc, The New
York Times, Revolt, Black Enterprise, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Huffington Post, and USA Today. He is a trusted speaker
and regularly moderates conversations with thought leaders and notable individuals ranging from political figures like
President Joe Biden and Senator Raphael Warnock, to business pioneers like Thasunda Duckett and Ben Chestnut, as well as
leaders in the entertainment industry including Will Packer, Kelly Rowland, and Gabrielle Union. His work has led to several
keynote presentations for various companies including Goldman Sachs, Delta, Google, Meta, Ford Motor Company, and Nike.
He also led to keynote presentations at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities including Georgetown University
Law Center, the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth University, and The
Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
A native to Atlanta, Ryan is currently an active participant in several Atlanta civic and community organizations. He proudly
serves on the boards of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Usher’s New Look, The Woodruff Arts Center, The
Atlanta Business League, The Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce, Invest Atlanta’s Foundation and previously served on the
boards of Hands on Atlanta and Peace Preparatory Academy. He is a member of the Atlanta Chapter of the 100 Black Men and
Atlanta Rotary Club.
Ryan graduated from Georgetown University and Georgetown University Law Center where he proudly serves on the Board of
Regents. He currently resides happily in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and two children.
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