By Howard Greninger
The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) One of the organizers of these so called “Fail Fests” (gatherings where people describe their misssteps in building a business) put it best, “Failure is not something to be ashamed of or swept under the rug, but instead there is so much you can learn from dissecting your failures and see where you go from there.”
The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
Failure is a lesson for success.
That’s the concept of “Fail Fest,” which will be Sept. 21 at the Indiana Theatre Event Center.
“For entrepreneurs, failing is just part of the industry,” said Shelley Klingerman of Launch Terre Haute, a co-work space for innovative start up companies, which is staging the event.
Just look at inventor Thomas A. Edison, who after finally producing the practical light bulb, is attributed as saying, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”
Klingerman said “fail fast, fail forward and fail often,” is the theme of the fest. The event will include speakers who inspire by sharing “a back story, that success was not handed to them.”
The event will include national speaker Guy Findley, executive director of Hollywood-based Media & Entertainment Services Alliance. Other scheduled speakers include Kristen Cooper, vice president of operations and corporate development at Sticksnleaves, a Fishers-based product development firm; and Gary Morris, president of Terre Haute-based Clabber Girl Corp., a major player in the global market of baking powder.
Fail Fests have been staged for the past three years at Launch Fishers, another co-work space, said Rachel Spudic, event manager for Launch Fishers, and Launch Terre Haute will be the first regional site for that event.
“Failure is not something to be ashamed of or swept under the rug, but instead there is so much you can learn from dissecting your failures and see where you go from there,” Spudic said.
The event is coming to Terre Haute, Klingerman said, due in large part to the college population in the county with Indiana State University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Ivy Tech Community College, St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and Harrison College.
The event, to be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sept. 21, is $49, with lunch provided. The cost to students is $25. For more information, go to www.FailFest.us.
