Mass Innovation Nights – the Boston region is the home of the original Innovation Nights events. It all started in April 2009 as Mass Innovation Nights (MIN) with a website and a monthly event designed to help local innovators increase the buzz around new products and companies. Every month ten companies bring new products to the event and the social media community turns out to blog, tweet, post pictures and video, add product mentions to LinkedIn and Facebook statuses, and otherwise help spread the word.

In the last nineyears, the events have helped to:

— Launch more than 1000 products

— Connect dozens of job seekers and hiring managers

— Profile local experts

Held once a month (usually the second Wednesday of the month), registration and networking at 6:00 p.m., presentations start showing at 7:00 p.m., the live events allow local companies to show off local innovation (you must be local to participate as a product launcher). The Experts Corner team has one-on-one conversations with start-ups and entrepreneurs. Innovation Nights are held on site at various venues who donate their space to further the cause of local innovation. We’ve held events at Google, LogMeIn, Autodesk, MITRE, TripAdvisor, Bullhorn Inc and more.

In 2013, the organization celebrated its 500th product launch with a special event in May. Research conducted by the organizers shows that among the first 500 product launchers there were more than 20 mergers and acquisitions, the companies had collectively raised more than $600 million in funding (angel and venture capital), and created more than 600 new jobs. In July of 2017, these numbers had increased to 1000 new products and more than $2.1 billion in funding.

Mass Innovation Nights is a "stone soup" event. Remember the folk story of Stone Soup? A stranger or small group of travelers come upon a poor village. The travelers are hungry but everyone claims to have nothing to share. So the travelers create a fire, hang a pot of water over it and place a stone inside, telling one and all that they are creating "stone soup." Of course, it will taste better with a little something for flavoring, a carrot, a potato, maybe even a little piece of meat. Soon everyone in the village has contributed "just a little something" and everyone sits down to enjoy the wonderful feast. Innovation Nights are like stone soup. Someone has a space where the event is held, with tables and wireless. Other companies have new products to promote. Others are social media mavens who can create buzz. Still others donate a few hours of their time and expertise. Soon, everyone is benefiting from the wonderful event that the community has created together.

Want to get involved? Submit a product. Sign up to be an expert. Or attend an event.