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Wednesday, August 20
 

7:30am CDT

Minimum Viable SEO: How to Boost Your Visibility & Credibility On a Budget
Wednesday August 20, 2025 7:30am - 9:00am CDT
Description:

If you’re already investing in content marketing but haven’t seen real results from SEO—or haven’t tried it at all—this talk is for you. SEO today isn’t about gaming the algorithm or writing dry, keyword-stuffed blog posts. It’s about making sure your best content gets discovered by the right people, at the exact moment they’re searching for solutions like yours.

In this session, content strategist and SEO consultant Olivia Barrow will show you how to integrate modern SEO best practices into your existing content workflows—even if you only publish one article a month. You’ll learn how to validate your content ideas with keyword research, create articles that match search intent, and optimize posts so they rank better in search without sacrificing clarity or credibility.

This is not a technical SEO workshop—it’s a practical, approachable framework for small marketing teams that want to get more ROI from content they’re already creating. Whether you’ve had disappointing SEO results in the past or have never touched it, you’ll leave with a clear, actionable process for increasing your visibility and establishing your brand as a trusted authority in your industry.

Key Takeaways:

Why traditional “SEO content” no longer works—and what to do instead

How to layer SEO onto a content strategy focused on thought leadership and trust

A simple keyword research method for validating blog topics

How to structure and optimize articles to match search intent & reader knowledge level

How to tap into internal expertise to add original insights to your content

When and how to use GenAI to enhance your content

How to get started even if your site has technical issues or past content that’s not optimized
Event Organizers
avatar for Margie Romani

Margie Romani

Social Media Breakfast - Madison
Social Media Breakfast Madison is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization with a focus on social media education and professional industry networking. Our monthly events are FREE, and engage an ever-growing group of diverse professionals from a variety of industries including: academic... Read More →
avatar for Genéve Friede

Genéve Friede

Board Member, Social Media Breakfast - Madison
Experienced Store Manager and Store Social Media Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit industry. Skilled in Grassroots Marketing, Operations Management, Coaching, Retail, and Sales. Strong sales professional with a Associate’s Degree focused in Electron... Read More →
Sponsors
Wednesday August 20, 2025 7:30am - 9:00am CDT
DreamBank 821 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703

8:30am CDT

Wisconsin Founders and Funders Breakfast
Wednesday August 20, 2025 8:30am - 10:30am CDT
Join other founders, investors, and innovators in the Wisconsin ecosystem for breakfast with Hyde Park Venture Partners, a Chicago-based early stage venture capital firm who invests in midwest-based companies, for a community event focused on helping companies raise their first or second round of institutional venture capital.

Hosted by Hyde Park Venture Partners

Wednesday August 20, 2025 8:30am - 10:30am CDT
Hollander Grand Cafe - Hilldale 701 Hilldale Way Madison, WI 53705

9:00am CDT

Inside the Code: Your Team and AI in action
Wednesday August 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Join Flexion, a Madison leader in system modernization and human-centered design, for a live, interactive build where you don’t just watch innovation, you help create it. In this hands-on session, Flexion’s engineers, designers, and product experts will guide this session as we:
1. Decide, Collaborate, Kick off
• Cast an up-front vote to choose our community-submitted product idea
• Collaboratively refine scope using Liberating Structures for truly inclusive design
2. Build Together
• Apply Ensemble Coding (driver-navigator) enhanced by GenAI assistance
• Deploy a working minimum viable product (MVP) to the cloud by lunchtime under a strict Definition of Done
3. Architect for Adaptation
• Reveal Option-Enabling Architecture (OEA) principles that let us refactor live safely
• Blend Lean UX discovery with agile delivery for always-deployable quality

Who Should Attend?
• Product and Technical Leaders (entrepreneurs, decision makers, product managers) eager to see human-centered, high-velocity development in action
• Hands-On Teams and Coders ready to master AI-augmented ensemble and cloud-first workflows
• Anyone passionate about innovation and modern software development practices

What You’ll Gain
• Practical workflows for live ensemble and AI-powered coding
• Hands-on experience with adaptive architecture
• Techniques to bake quality and continuous deployment into every sprint
• New connections across Madison’s innovation community
• Entry into our hourly attendee list and a final drawing: one lucky winner receives free Flexion software consulting services to fuel rapid, effective innovation

This participatory showcase reflects Forward Fest’s spirit of entrepreneurial collaboration and technical creativity. Be part of the action, help build the future of software live at Forward Fest 2025!

Hosted by Flexion Inc (flexion.us)
Event Organizers Sponsors

Wednesday August 20, 2025 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
100state 17 S Fairchild Floor 7 Madison

1:30pm CDT

Idea - Prompt - Prototype - Repeat
Wednesday August 20, 2025 1:30pm - 3:00pm CDT
Ever had a product idea but didn’t know how to begin building it?

This live, collaborative session is designed for startup founders, creatives, and curious minds who want to explore physical prototyping without needing deep technical experience or a big budget.

Using AI tools and off-the-shelf components—like sensors, LEDs, or displays—we’ll brainstorm simple ideas as a group, generate code together using AI (like ChatGPT or Claude), and test the results live on real hardware.

We’ll wire things up, upload code, and troubleshoot in real time. Some builds may work on the first try, others may need iteration—or we may pivot quickly to keep things moving.

The goal isn’t polished engineering—it’s about making prototyping feel possible. You’ll see how even non-technical founders can take the first hands-on step toward proving an idea, testing feasibility, or creating a rough proof of concept—before investing in custom design or outsourced development.

You’ll walk away with:

A clear example of how AI and modular hardware can help test real ideas

Insight into how to build early proof points—without upfront design costs

Tools to begin your own shoestring prototyping journey

Inspiration to turn sweat equity and creativity into real momentum

From zero to prototype—experience it live with AI and real hardware.

Hosted by Quantum Ideation and Prototyping
Event Organizers
Wednesday August 20, 2025 1:30pm - 3:00pm CDT
Starting Block 821 E Washington Ave, Suite 200, Madison, WI 53703
  Free, In Person

4:00pm CDT

EdTech Entrepreneur Exchange
Wednesday August 20, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
Join us for an engaging gathering of EdTech entrepreneurs, product leaders, researchers, funders, and policy advocates. The EdTech Entrepreneur Exchange is a unique opportunity to network, collaborate, and share insights on the future of education technology. Whether you're building tools for K-12, higher ed, workforce development, or lifelong learning, this event offers space to exchange ideas, find partners, and uncover new opportunities. The program includes open networking and small-group discussions focused on building solutions that are inclusive, scalable, and research-informed. Appetizers and drinks will be available.

Hosted by Flexion, Inc. & Filament Games
Event Organizers
avatar for Jennifer Javornik

Jennifer Javornik

Chief Partnerships Officer, Filament Games
Jennifer Javornik is an international speaker and thought leader on the topics of game-based learning and games for positive impact. As a video game executive specializing in partnerships, revenue growth, and entrepreneurship, Ms. Javornik is currently the Chief Partnerships Officer... Read More →
Sponsors

Wednesday August 20, 2025 4:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
TBA TBD somehwere downtown

5:00pm CDT

Trivia: UX edition!
Wednesday August 20, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
UX/UI Pub Trivia: Bragging Rights, Beer, and Buttons That Actually Work

Passionate about UX? UI-curious? Plain old competitive? Join us for an hour-long pub-trivia event open to everyone—from first-timers to seasoned pros. Come with friends or solo—we’ll build teams on the spot so you can meet fellow Madisonians. Drinks can be purchased. Hamburger menus will be debated. Winners will be crowned. And maybe… Don Norman will be made proud.

Hosted by Functionaire
Location: The Deliciouser 931 E Main Street
Food and drink available for purchase. 

Event Organizers
Wednesday August 20, 2025 5:00pm - 6:00pm CDT
The Deliciouser 931 E Main St Suite 7, Madison, WI 53703
  Free, In Person

6:00pm CDT

Cinema Showcase – Forward Fest Edition
Wednesday August 20, 2025 6:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
Join us for COPA Presents: Cinema Showcase - where we showcase screenings from some of Wisconsin’s most talented and visionary filmmakers—many of whom have gained national and international recognition, including at festivals like Cannes. More than just a night at the movies, COPA Movie Night often includes live workshops, behind-the-scenes conversations, and interactive Q&As with the creators themselves. Whether it’s screenwriting, directing, or DIY filmmaking tips, each event offers a hands-on opportunity to explore film as both a creative art form and a launchpad for entrepreneurial ventures.

Celebrate local cinema, connect with fellow storytellers, and discover how Wisconsin filmmakers are turning artistic passion into professional opportunity.

Community Organizations Promoting the Arts empowers community arts organizations and creative professionals by providing space that promotes programming for both youth and adults, so they can collectively advance missions, achieve goals, expand access to critical resources and create—together.  https://copamadison.org/

2841 Index Road, Fitchburg WI

Hosted by COPA (Community Organizations Promoting the Arts) & Wisconsin 48hr Film Project
Event Organizers
DS

Dale Sticha

COPA (Community Organizations Promoting the Arts)
avatar for Naomi Shumway

Naomi Shumway

Git Gud Gaming Lounge
Wednesday August 20, 2025 6:00pm - 9:00pm CDT
COPA (Community Organizations Promoting The Arts) 2841 Index Road, Fitchburg WI
 
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Forward Fest 2025
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