Hi Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs,

I hope everyone has had a great summer thus far. Last month’s one AWE meetup on Google Wave was packed, but this month is overflowing with more and even better events: "Reduce the Risk of a Failed Startup" on August 15th and "Welcome to the New ATDC" on August 20th. I’ll send another email in a few day about the ATDC event so that I can focus on the August 15th event in this email.

REDUCING RISK OF STARTUP FAILURE by PAM SLIM
First off we have a SPECIAL event on August 15th; the first of its kind from AWE. We are hosting national-calibre entrepreneur, coach and author Pam Slim in a day long seminar & workshop entitled "Reduce the Risk of a Failed Startup: Lessons from the Field." Pam is the author of a blog and book of the same name: "Escape from Cubicle Nation."

REAL, HONEST VALUE
This is NOT going to be a "multiple streams of income" or a "secrets of {anything}" seminar. Pam’s not here to up-sell AWE members on expensive subscriptions or more expensive seminars; Pam is simply in Atlanta for a short time (and away from Phoenix and her family) and it seemed like a great opportunity to bring her expertise to our AWE members.

So this seminar will be a down-and-dirty, brass tacks event for people ready to put the time and sweat equity into launching their own real business providing real value to their future customers but wanting to learn how to do so with minimum risk. And this seminar is not going to be delivered by a "talking head" whose only claim to fame is their seminars but instead by a highly regarded business coach who has truly "been there, done that" when if comes to startups and entrepreneurship.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? (AND WHO MAYBE NOT?)
Unlike many AWE events for those with existing companies this event is primarily targeted at those who are currently working as an employee but who has visions of launching your own business in the near future. There will be value even for existing entrepreneurs but the most value will be for those who are ready to get started on their own.

NOT JUST A SEMINAR; ALMOST AN INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP
While discussing the potential of holding this event Pam made it clear to me that she really prefers to engage with attendees and try to help from conceptualize their own solutions for their own real world situations. So don't attend excepting to just sit and listen but instead plan on participating throughout the day. Bring you concerns and your fears about your own startup plans and let Pam help you come up with your own solutions that will work for you and your life.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT PAM & HER BOOK
If you want to see what others like Chris Brogan and (Atlanta local) David Eckoff had to say, or just to learn more (in the Twitter stream):

http://pamsliminatlanta.com/
http://twitter.com/davideckoff/statuses/3125782999

Or what one of these YouTube videos from Wendy Piersall, "theboltman", Brian Bliss, Nicholas DiBiase, and Jeff Moriarty (the last one is a rather humorous!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNvDWNL190
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq4dOGvZwZg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98DD2j_1GQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhYcuoFxbWs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKwwk8TZHsI

DON'T SKIP THIS EVENT AND WISH YOU HAD NOT
You know what's going to happen? You'll skip this event but later find out that everyone else was raving about it. Seriously.

And this isn't an event we expect to repeat, at least not anytime in the near future.

So don't skip it. Bottom line is I think if you want to launch your own business and you miss this event, you'll wish you hand not.

WIN A FREE REGISTRATION!
So you are interested in attending but don’t have the funds to spare? Or you want to attend but are one of those procrastinators who give organizers the cold sweats at night because you plan to attend but won’t sign up until the last minute? Then have we got the deal for you!

TWEET SOMETHING INTERESTING USING #pamslimatl
For every 25 people who (on Twitter.com) tweet something compelling or at least interesting about this event using the #pamslimatl hashtag we’ll select one at random to attend for free. That’s it, all you have to do is tweet something interesting like why you want to attend, why others should attend, or even why you should get a free ticket and we will select one person at random out of every 25 people who tweet (with one caveat; if your tweet is world class in some way, we reserve the right to pick you instead of picking at random!)

Note: No need to flood Twitter with repeated tweets, although you can if you really want to. You only need to mention it once per 25 people; once we announce a winner we'll start the "clock" over again. We'll announce winners via @atlantaweb.

WINNERS WHO ALREADY PAID WILL GET A REFUND
But if you want to attend DO NOT put off RSVPing! If we pick you as a tweet winner and you’ve already paid to RSVP we will refund your payment. So don’t hesitate.

GET YOUR BOOK SIGNED
Bring a copy of Pam's "Escape from Cubicle Nation" book and she'll sign it for you. You can pick one up at any local bookseller or order it from Amazon in time for the event at:

http://bit.ly/escape-from-cubicle-nation-on-amazon

TO REGISTER (NOW?)
To RSVP for this August 15th Pam Slim in Atlanta $79 event go here:

http://www.meetup.com/atlantawebentrepreneurs/calendar/10983052/

(Compare this special AWE event to the Atlanta August 15th Pam Slim event at twice the price of $168.)

Got any questions? Just email me! I look forward to seeing many of you at this event!

-Mike Schinkel
Organizer; Atlanta Web Entrepreneurs
[address removed]