The “creative class” community-building, volunteer-powered, and sponsor-supported nonprofit organization Knoxville Overground (KO) will be hosting the Overground Spring Gala 2009 this Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM on the 6th Floor of the Sunsphere located at 810 Clinch Avenue.


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The Overground Spring Gala event is open to the public. KO members and friends of KO (including Knoxville Chamber members) receive a 20% discount off of the $25 general admission fee. Cash and checks will be accepted at the door. Free hor d'oeuvres will be provided and a cash bar will be available. Speeches from local entrepreneurs including Sean Christman, President of Slamdot, Inc. and recent winner of the Young Entrepreneur Award at the Pinnacle Business Awards Gala, will be included in the 30-minute ceremony starting at 7:30PM.

In addition to honoring new KO members, KO sponsors, and a variety of professional grassroots organizations KO is serving, the purpose of the event is to celebrate that despite the US recession, the local renaissance of community support for entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and professionals in the local tech community continues to strengthen with vision, passion, and collaboration.

KO currently has 290+ supporters on facbeook.com and 395+ followers on twitter.com.

The event turnout is expected to be similar with the First Annual Knoxville Overground Startup Awards held during Global Entrepreneurship Week held on November 19, 2008 and the Knoxville Overground Center Grand Opening event on February 18, 2009. Over 100+ guests and representatives from cutting-edge startup companies and professionals from a variety of industries were present at each previous event.

KO has been incorporated as a non-profit organization since November 2008. WBIR TV-10, WATE TV-6, Metro Pulse, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, The Greater Knoxville Business Journal, as well as several local radio programs and blogs have recently covered KO in the Press.

In addition to managing Knoxville’s only walk-in triple-bottom line entrepreneur community center and coworking workspace, KO is also currently undertaking a variety of endeavors including but not limited to opening 35 Market Square as a 5,000 sq. ft. community center workspace for startups to co-hosting Startup Weekend East Tennessee in Chattanooga, TN with the organization Create Here. (Startup Weekend ET will be an event where professionals will come together to incorporate a company from scratch in less than 54 hours on September 11th, 2009.)

RSVP for this event via facebook or by clicking the invitation above.