Last edited 30 Oct. 2026 1036 - Feedback >> via LinkedIn. 
ALL VNC Calendars here. All VNC news coverage here.

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OCTOBER

ImagineIF's Rod Roudi

  Oct. 5-6 • Bitcoin, Energy, AI are threads in Nashville's Bitcoin Park Founder Rod Roudi-led "Imagine IF" event at Fisher Event Center, Belmont University, details.

  Oct. 5 •  Public discussion of Nashville's Jefferson Street Corridor plan by HBCU students, et al. 6p-8p. Details. Background.

  Oct. 5 • Manufacturing Interest Group Happy Hour, TailGate Brewery Germantown, 5p-8p. Backed by Siemens + the Association for Advancing Automation. Details.

  Oct. 5-6 •  EXPO: Technology and Software Solutions for Vacation Rental Management Association attendees, Music City Center, details.

Oct. 6 • VC Landscape demystified, lunch and learn by Vanderbilt Center for Tech Transfer & Commercialization, featuring Brian Cashin of Teamworthy Ventures; Jonathan Sadlowe of ImageAssist; and Cameron Crain, CTTC venture acceleration manager. Campus invitees only.

Oct. 6 • Greater Nashville Private Capital Association program on building relationships with endowments, details. Speakers: Anders Hall, Bill Spitz, Michael Brakebill.

Oct. 6 • 57th Annual GMA Dove Awards, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville. Details.

Copilot

Oct. 6 • "Lessons from Inside the Pentagon: Engineering for a New Era of Technology and National Security," with Victoria Coleman, associate provost for Berkeley Air & Space Center and a professor of EE/CS at UC Berkeley. Coleman's prior experience includes being director of DARPA, USAF Chief Scientist, and more. VU community. Details.

Oct. 6-7 • Dealflows' PREDICT 2026 prediction markets event, NYC, details.

Oct. 6-8 • Security Week Cybersecurity Conference, W Hotel Nashville, details. Release.

Téa Phillips

Oct. 7 • The Biz Foundry, Cookeville, Lunch Club, speaker: Téa Phillips, inventor of the MetaFlex glove and founder of ATS Innovations, on "building the systems that let you work on your business instead of in it." Noon. Details.

Oct. 7 • theCO, Jackson, Tenn., workspace: Work here Wednesday, details.

Oct. 7 • LaunchTN SBIR/STTR funding briefing, 1pm CDT, register in advance, details. 

Oct. 7 • The Wall Street Journal's "Future of Health", Washington, D.C., registration.

Oct. 7 • (Chattanooga) Small Business Resource Center - Cohort begins for Peer learning circle hosted by Urban League of Chattanooga and the city's Small Business Resource Center, submit interest form in advance.

Oct. 7-9 • (Chattanooga) 2026 Summit of Thrive Regional Partnership, program, registration.

Oct. 7-9 • Customer Contact Week, Omni Nashville, details.

Oct. 8 •  DEADLINE for application by student entrepreneurs for America's Startup Competition awards, details, application.

Oct. 8 • Building a Bankable Business: Debunking Myths about Grants & Finding Real Funding Opportunities, Greater Memphis Chamber, hybrid. Details.

Oct. 8 • "A Conversation Ahead of the Midterm Elections on Healthcare," convened on campus by Dialogue Vanderbilt, details.

Oct. 8 • "GNTC Takes Flight" fundraiser for nonprofit Greater Nashville Technology Council Foundation, 6p-9p, details.

Oct. 8 • Crucial Conversations | After the Deal: Protecting Clinical Culture in a Private Equity Environment, Nashville Health Care Council, details.

Oct. 9 • "Innovation to Enterprise" helps members of the Vanderbilt community improve understanding of the process for moving pressure-tested innovative ideas through commercialization, via "entrepreneering," the concept by which scientific method may be applied toward evidence-based business model formation. Details. 

Oct. 10-13 • Xerox Partner Summit, Nashville. Details not published.

Oct. 12-13 • Startup Mountain Summit, Johnson City, Tenn. Details. Major Pitch event. 

Oct. 13 • Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce presents YP Nashville Summit 2026, details.

Oct. 13 • New cohorts from Innovation Crossroads and East TN Economic Council welcome new cohorts from Innovation Crossroads and Spark programs, details. 5pm ET

Oct. 13-15 • Neurodiversity: Neurotech Frontiers Conference, Vanderbilt University, details. Panels, live pitch competition exploring how AI, robotics, assistive technologies are shaping more inclusive future of work. Supported by Frist Center for Autism and Innovation and Janus Innovation Hub. Langford Auditorium.

Oct. 13-15 • "Business Side of Sports: Careers in the fast lane", UT Haslam College students travel to Charlotte, NC, to explore the sports industry. Details.

Oct. 14-15 • Venture Atlanta conference, details.

Oct. 14 • Event: Exploring Memphis's Advanced Manfacturing Cluster," Memphis Chamber, details here.

Oct. 14 • Knoxville Chamber Morning Momentum: two entrepreneurs share their experiences in overcoming business-growth hurdles, details.

Oct. 14-16 • Epicenter Memphis holds DelTech II, culminating with Pitch competition. More info.

Oct. 15 • "How the CIO and CISO partnership is evolving in the Age of AI," with execs from St. Jude discussing the matter, Memphis chapter Society of Information Management, 5p-8:30p. Details.

Oct. 15 • Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce 22nd Annual Business & Community Excellence Awards, details.

Oct. 15 • Vanderbilt Women in Business (VWIB) and Wells Fargo pro's discuss investment banking careers, and related. Details.

Oct. 16 • 2026 National Security Symposium, Sarratt Cinema, VU campus 3p-5:30p. Hosted by Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security and Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps, VU. RSVP. 

Oct. 17-18 • Oracle and Hackathons International conduct event at Vanderbilt University, details.

Oct. 17-18 • Southern Festival of Books, details. Nashville.

Oct. 18-20 • Cobblestone User Conference 2026, Embassy Suites by Hilton Nashville Downtown. Focus: contract life-cycle management and related AI. Details.

Oct. 18-21 • AdvaMed MedTech Conference, Boston, details.

Oct. 19 • Nashville Entrepreneur Center NEXT Awards, Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, details.

Oct. 19-21 • America's Credit Unions annual Attorneys Conference, Conrad Nashville, details.

Oct. 20 • Global Health Connector and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Trinetix TxPulse and Business Norway present HealthTech at the Edge. The collaborators will also detail the recently announced partnership between GHC and Qualcomm related to creation of the Personal AI Health Alliance. Venue: Trinetx in Brentwood. Registration.

Malcolm Gladwell

Oct. 20 • Malcolm Gladwell -- journalist, author, speaker -- joins a guest yet-to-be-disclosed for discussion of his latest book, "The American Way of Killing: The Invention of an Epidemic." Event hosted by Jean & Alexander Heard Libraries, Dialogue Vanderbilt, in collaboration with Parnassus Books. Langford Auditorium. Details.

Oct. 20-24 • (Chattanooga) International Blue Grass Music Association 2026 IBMA Business Conference, details. Includes IBMA Music Awards and Blue Grass Live! festival.

Oct. 21 • Nashville Technology Council and AI Freedom Lab (incubated at Bitcoin Park) offer "Field Reports: What Fellow Artificial Intelligencers are Building & Exploring", 6p-8p, registration.

Oct. 21 • Advancing Women in Nashville, Fall Executive Roundtable, featuring Wendy Timmons, sr. managing director, Ankura. Details.

Oct. 21 • Nashville Heroes & Heroines: Unknown & Known, focuses on the life and legacy of Robert Churchwell Sr., "The Jackie Robinson of Journalism," the first black American to write for a southern newspaper, The Nashville Banner. Members of the Churchwell family will be on panel, moderated by Dr. Andre Churchwell, senior advisor to VU Chancellor Daniel Diermeier regarding VU inclusion and outreach. Details. 

Oct. 21 • AI:AF Artisans & Founders Showcase, free, 121 Tech Hub, Knoxville, details.

Oct. 21-22 • Women in Banking Conference, TN Bankers Association, Chattanooga, details.

Oct. 21-22 • INNOVATE SUMMIT in Nashville by nonprofit Innovate Summit Inc. Details.

Oct. 20-22 • Detroit. 2026 e.Builders Forum of International Business Innovation Association, details.

Oct. 20-22 • FINTECH: MultiState User Group, for banking executives who manage Fiserv, IBM or Unisys systems and solultions, Nashville, details TBA.

Oct. 20-22 • VU Owen GSM: Financial Fundamentals for Non-financial leaders, led by Berk Sensoy PhD + Richard Willis PhD $4,700+tax. Register.

Oct. 22 • (Virtual) Launch Tennessee Board Meeting (Tennessee Technology Development Corp., TTDC), 10AM CDT, zoom link here.

Oct. 22 • FORUM's GovCon Road Show for players in the government-contracting ecosystem, at Aprio offices in Nashville, details.

Oct. 22-24 • Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE) annual Governance Meeting, UT Knoxville. Details.

Oct. 22 • Next Wave Marketing Summit at GEODIS Stadium, Nashville. Event is produced by the Haslam College of Business, University of Tennessee. UT says it is previewing this event in Nashville. It is successor to UT's "Marketing & Sales Innovation Conference." More info.

Oct. 22 • LGBTQ+ Founders Circles - sponsored by Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Tennessee Pride, details. 

Oct. 22-23 • (2 business events) Franklin, Tenn. - Women Connect Live + Create Live, details.

Oct. 23 • Content Economy's The Remix: How the world's evolving entertainment economy affects Nashville's advancement, 1:30p-4p, registration. 

Oct. 25-27 • Southeast US/Japan Association meets in Nashville. Details. (A related meeting in Tokyo is Oct. 28-29.)

Oct. 26 • Chattanooga - Freightwaves' Future of Freight Festival Awards Dinner, including reveal of Shipper of Choice and FreightTech Award winners, details. Note: followed by Future of Freight Festival, Oct. 27-28.

Oct. 26-28 • Hot Topics Studio World Studio: Tech leadership insight, immersive experiences, Global C-Suite Awards, Country Music Hall of Fame, 11a-13pm. Details. 

Oct. 27-28 • AMAZON Business Reshape 2026. Nashville. More info.

Oct. 27 • Salute to Excellence Awards 2026, Center for Nonprofit Excellence of Middle Tennessee, Music City Center, details.

Oct. 27-28 • 2026 Musculoskeletal New Ventures Conference, Memphis, details. 

Oct. 27-29 • East TN members of Energy, Technology & Environmental Business Association business opportunities and technical conference, details. Knoxville Convention Center.

Oct. 28 • Nashville Downtown Partnership Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon, Music City Center, details.

Oct. 28 • Tennessee World Affairs Council program on 'The Way Forward for Transatlantic Trade and Security', details, 11a-1p at Alliance Bernstein.

Oct. 28 • EPICENTER Memphis, Intro to Claude AI, 11am-1:30pm, first in series of Claude events with Vista Data, details.

Oct. 28 • Clarksville: Legends of Business: Janet Wilson, vice president for urban development for the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council, addresses Austin Peay State University College of Business within "Legends of Business" speaker series. Details.

Oct. 28-29 • CIOs, CISOs, and  Research IT leaders convene at Vanderbilt University for Summit on Higher Education Technology and cybersecurity issues. Info.

Oct. 29 • Ghana-Tennessee Business Roundtable at Spencer Fane LLC on Union St., Nashville, details.

Oct. 29 • Nashville Technology Council "Emerging Leaders in Tech" (ELITE) graduation event, details.

Oct. 29 • Event: Artificial Intelligence in State and Local Government, Baker School of Public Policy & Public Affairs, 4:30-5:30pm CDT, followed by reception in Nashville at Nashville Yards at 901 Church Street. Details.

Oct. 29 • Venture South presents Deal Terms for Startups, details. 11:30am ET. UT Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Oct. 29 • 2026 Business Perspectives conference by Doeren Mayhew, Spencer Fane, Wilson Bank & Trust at Loews Nashville Hotel. Details.

Oct. 29 • 2026 Nashville Business Hall of Fame, by Junior Achievement of Middle Tennessee, honors Damon Hininger, former CEO and now advisor to CoreCivic, Music City Center. Details.

Oct. 29-30 • The Body Politic: symposium highlights artists, community leaders, scholars, and other civic actors whose work advances democratic ideals in and beyond Nashville. Supported by the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy in collaboration with Dialogue Vanderbilt, the James Lawson Institute, and the Program in Culture, Advocacy and Leadership. Details. Agenda.

Oct. 31 • Technology Maturation Awards - Deadline for applications for University of Tennessee Research Foundation, details. 

ALL VNC Calendars here. All VNC news coverage here. VNC

.last edited 30 Oct. 2026 0821