The Visit
Several months ago, Marquis Bradley, a motivational speaker and Somewhere Fest and Conference rep, stopped by Groover Labs for a tour.
Event Venue setup before the first day of panels.
We’ve given a lot of tours over the past six years. And after a while, you start to recognize patterns.
Some people focus on community.
Some focus on price per square foot.
Some ask for a membership agreement almost immediately.
And every once in a while, someone comes in with a big project in mind, and while they’re on the tour, they start matching their ideas with our capabilities. You can almost watch it unfold.
We saw it five years ago during the Rise of the Rest Midwest swing (which ended up being canceled because of the pandemic), and we saw it again with Marquis. As he explained the vision for the conference component of the music festival, it became clear that our event venue might be the perfect site for them.
If you know Marquis, you know how infectious his energy is, so you can only imagine how we caught his enthusiasm. After he left, we reserved the event venue just in case.
The Conference keynote fireside chat.
Tour to Teamwork
And we’re glad we did. Not long after, Jessie and Adam Hartke, organizers of the Somewhere Fest and Conference, came for a tour, and we talked through what Groover Labs could offer the conference. A few days after that, the venue was officially booked.
Just like that, we were part of a music festival.
Problem Solving
We’re not event planners, though we work with clients from across the country, and we consult on the most efficient ways to use our venue. But we are problem solvers, so this gave us the opportunity to try something new. With support from the production team at Marauder, Kent AV, and an incredible group of local and national partners, we developed a plan to prepare the venue for the panelists and fireside chats.
They gave us a Somewhere Fest dinosaur for the weekend.
Shaping Communities
If you’re not familiar with Somewhere Fest, the conference element is the structured, conversation-driven component of the music festival, designed to bring artists, civic leaders, and technologists together to talk about the big ideas shaping creative communities–especially communities centered on art and music. Panels and fireside chats focused on local media, placemaking, social change through music, band management, and more, with many panelists coming from Wichita and across the Midwest.
Setting the Stage
Harvester Arts transformed the event venue into a room alight with purplish alpenglow, perfect for meaningful conversations. Marauder set the stage and managed production. Kent AV handled all audio and visual responsibilities.
A Space for More Than Just Tech
The result? Hundreds of people came to Groover Labs who might not have otherwise walked through our doors. And we loved having them. We even gave tours to guests from out of town who wanted to know what we do.
We think it takes a village to build and strengthen a startup ecosystem. You don’t have to work in tech to be part of our community–just bring your curiosity, collaborative spirit, and creativity. With all the music-driven development along the St. Francis corridor – from Midtopia to Somewhere Works – not to mention the $300 million Wichita Biomedical Campus nearby, we’re excited to be located in one of Wichita’s most exciting and fastest-growing areas.
Thanks to everyone who helped make the conference a success. Now we’ve got one under our belt. We hope to see you back next year!