Join us for an evening with Michael Wood-Lewis, Co-Founder & CEO of Front Porch Forum.
Front Porch Forum is one of a growing roster of successful Vermont entrepreneurial startups leading the state's tech startup scene, including Ello, Dealer.com, MyWebGrocer, Logic Supply, GameTheory, Pwnie Express, and many others.  Co-founder and CEO Michael Wood-Lewis will be in Bennington to tell the story of how this tech startup got going and how they're continuing to grow.

Doors open at 5pm, talk starts at 5:30.  Cash bar and light fare will be available.
$15 in advance / $20 at the door 
Lightning Jar members enter FREE & receive a free drink

For more information and to register visit our Events page.

Happy Spring! I know we're a little late here, but so is the weather. Now that the days are warmer and we've got a few more hours of sunlight, put that extra energy to use and meet us at the Lightning Jar. 

Thursday, May 17, the Lightning Jar is opening its doors to the public from 6 to 8pm. We'll provide the pizza and beverages if you provide the dazzling conversation. (Slightly shimmery conversation will suffice.) Meet people, catch up with folks you already know, check out the Lightning Jar's new art (thanks to the Bennington Area Arts Council), and network to your hearts content. 

Nervous about networking? Check out tips and tricks to prepare for a networking event HERE. Our favorite trick is simple, walk up to someone you don't know and say, "Hi, I'm Michelle. (Go for a handshake here.) We haven't met, how'd you hear about this event?"

This is an after hours event, so please enter through the Depot Street entrance and ring the bell.

Join us for an evening with Mary Powell, President & CEO of Green Mountain Power.

Named 2015 Vermonter of the Year by The Burlington Free Press and one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market by CEO Connection in 2017, Powell is revolutionizing the power industry from within. Her emphasis on workplace culture, leadership, and customer satisfaction continues to guide Green Mountain Power through an an industry landscape undergoing massive disruption.

Doors open at 5pm, talk starts at 5:30.  Cash bar and light fare will be available.
$15 in advance / $20 at the door 
Lightning Jar members enter FREE & receive a free drink

For more information or to register, visit our Events page.

Have you ever gone to a networking event or mixer and found yourself going for a third plate of cheese and crackers because you simply don't know what else to do with yourself? Networking can be hard, BUT it can be learned! Check out these 7 Tips for Networking from Entrepreneur Magazine. My favorite from the list? Start with easy questions like, "Can I join you?"

Check out the tips, and then come practice on January 18 from 6-8pm at the Lightning Jar's Professional Development Series: How to Network. Join us for an evening of hands-on practice with tips and tricks from Bennington's best networkers. 

A Festivus for the rest of us! Please join us for our annual holiday mixer, bringing together The Lightning Jar and the Bennington Young Professionals. We'll have a bunch of great eats and a cash bar. A great excuse to get out one more time before we head our separate ways for the holidays!
​

• When: Wednesday, December 20 at 5:15 PM - 8:30 PM
• Where: The Lightning Jar, 194 North Street, Bennington
• Directions: Please use the Depot Street entrance, in the back of the building next to the Rite Aid entrance off Depot Street.
• Great Eats & Cash Bar
• Members of The Lightning Jar will receive one free drink ticket!

Check out the Facebook event page here.

Don't forget your ugly sweater.  Hope to see you there!

The Lightning Jar is partnering with Williams Financial, LLC and other regional partners to offer a new 8-week entrepreneurship course in Bennington, titled the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program.

Join us at our Open House on Monday, October 16 from 5:00-6:30pm to learn more about this exciting course.  Scholarships are available for qualifying attendees.

Click here for more information on the Ice House workshop.

Earlier this week, Lightning Jar Director Dimitri Garder joined The Vermont Conversation's host David Goodman for a discussion about Vermont's coworking spaces and why these projects are critically important to regional economic development.

Garder joined coworking space operators Wayne Maceyka from HinesburgHUB and Samantha Sheehan from Valley.Works, along with Simeon Chapin from VSECU, to discuss the growing coworking trend in Vermont.

Hear the full WDEV radio interview here.

Garder will also be speaking at Castleton University on Thursday, October 26th at an Innovation Spaces Conference hosted by the Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development.

• Event Date: Thursday, October 5, 5pm
• Location: The Lightning Jar, 194 North Street, Bennington (inside the VSECU branch, after-hours entrance is on Depot Street to the left of the Rite Aid entrance)

One of the defining elements of this generation of customers is their need to trust the brand they’re receiving goods from.  Trust is built on the character and credibility of an organization and how it demonstrates those virtues through every inch of its existence.  
 
In this workshop participants will learn why the customer is so important, what brands are “trust titans,” how they do it, and how your organization can build credibility among this generation too.
 
Workshop Breakdown:

• Introducing the Beloved Brand Triangle
• Rigorous Demand for Excellence
  • Defining What Rigorous Demand means
  • Identifying Which Organizations Do It Well
  • Call To Action: What Should We Do Next In Our Organization
• Repetitive Performance in Competency and Character
  • Understanding Trust and Credibility
  • The Trust Piggy Bank
  • Building Authentic Trust
  • Identifying Which Organizations Do It Well
  • Call To Action: What Should We Do Next In Our Organization
• Narrative Belonging
  • What is a Brand?
  • Defining True Belonging
  • Understanding a Narrative Belonging Brand
  • Identifying Which Organizations Do It Well
  • Call To Action: What Should We Do Next In Our Organization
• Conclusion 
  • Q/A

For more information, visit the event page here.