Matt, (Music Director)

“This is a gathering of creatives unlike any other. With aggressive networking and learning opportunities around every corner, Glappitnova finds a way to inspire and challenge attendees, while still doing so in an open, relaxed, and welcoming atmosphere. My advice — Discover this secret while it’s still a secret.”

 
Matt, (Megabot’s Founder)
“I had a great time! However, please do not include my story online because of all the “behind the scenes” stuff that was said. “

 

Shelby, (Sr. Brand Planner)

“We had a blast attending and we really appreciate the hustle behind it. Personally, this was my second year attending the event and I was able to make hugely meaningful bonds at the event, similarly to last year. You should be immensely proud of your progress year-over-year with the event! Overall, I loved attending Glappitnova again this year. I can’t stress enough the value of the audience you’re cultivating here– culture-conscious, thoughtful, young minds can be hard to come by and even harder to market to. I encourage you to continue catering to this audience through feeding their inspiration with a more multimedia/creative focused event. I feel like Glappitnova may be a pretty cool space for live podcast/show tapings for more discussion-based shows (Acquired, Code-Switch, and Another Round are just a few examples of podcasts that could work well in this kind of atmosphere.) More like this!”

Luke, (CEO)

“Funny story about Glappitnova is that I went to an event 4 years ago, and it is where I met my now close friend and CTO.” [Update: They recently raised 40 million dollars]

Jeff Staple, (Design Icon)

“Glappitnova was a completely different speaking event! I’ve done lots of talks before, but this felt like an improv stand-up gig! I could feel the intimacy and immediacy of the audience. Something new and different and I loved it.”

Rafiq, (Investor)

“I thought people were genuine and shared ideas openly. The layout of the chairs, couches, lighting drew everyone in.”

Afrobella, (Award Winning Beauty Blogger)

“My Glappitnova experience was brief but interesting and even within my short time, I made some valuable contacts and new friends. I felt kind of weird following a musical act, but I guess the audience did appreciate it because several ladies approached me afterward to introduce themselves. Also, I met Sam (Musical Performer Sam Trump) and was then able to get him hired for an event tomorrow!”

Ian, (Project Runway)

“Glappitnova was truly an inspirational experience. Having so many people eager to learn and to teach at one event is the future of education and networking, not only did I enjoy myself socially I learned a lot from my fellow panelists as well as panel attendees. I can’t wait to attend next year… Cheers! “

Kouri, (Civic Leader)

“Kudos to Nick and the entire Glappitnova team on creating an open space for professionals from multiple sectors to share lessons on their success, triumphs and the walls they had to knock down in order to thrive. I really enjoyed the opportunity to share my experiences with Mark Zuckerberg and on the work that we are doing in Commissioner Richard Boykin’s office to combat joblessness, gun violence, and dwindling community hope.”

Anna, (Digital Influence Artist)

“Thanks for having me, Nick! It was fun. I met a lot of cool people and enjoyed the stories they told. Would love to stay up to date on all future plans!”

Harper, (Tech Pioneer)

“I thought the event was really great. I really liked the diverse audience, the design and the people who were speaking. It was solid.”

Max, (Maker)

“I try to say yes to everything to expand my abilities and learn in places that aren’t part of in my day to day work. Glappitnova was one of those times and I am very grateful for being chosen to moderate the panel. Speaking on the topic of keeping creative talent in Chicago hit close to home and I was able to speak my mind, make people laugh, think, and learn from the experience of the participants in the panel as well as from listening to the other speakers and the crowd at large. People were very polite and considerate. You could tell they were all there for the right reasons. It’s aalwaysnice to feel that you are part of something and that our worries/goals are shared. I really had a great time and am glad you reached out.”

Brittney, (Non-Pofit Leader)

“For the past 3 years, Glappitnova has been an event I look forward to discover and connect with some of the best and brightest talent Chicago has to offer. Up until this past year, the connections really haven’t meant much, but since launching my own venture, I appreciate, even more, the space that Nick has created for us to be free, connect and build with one another. This year was different, as I got to take the Glappitnova stage and share my stories with the crowd. I find joy in fostering relationships with the people I meet at the event and this year was no different. It’s one of the events I look forward to each year in Chicago.”

Seth, (Tech Entrepreneur) 

“It’s not just tech,” he said. “It’s cultural issues. It’s issues like race and poverty, along with entertainment and design.” He also likes that it includes not just speaking events but activities such as yoga, dancing, and bouldering, a form of rock climbing.

Todd

“Glappitnova creates the unique space where everyone from all backgrounds, industries, and regions can come together to fellowship, learn and build to take individual and collective goals to higher heights. It’s not often you get to share space and have authentic conversations with influencers who are so open about their story and secrets to success, but Glappitnova provides that incredibly rare opportunity.”

Youssef,

“Anyway, I’ve seen a ton of great feedback internally about the Glappitnova event in SF and I think folks are excited about doing more in the future.”

Nicole,

“Thank you for such a wonderful program. I had a great time and thought the concept was fresh and out of the box.”
 
Hollis,

“So I went to your event on a happenstance I get E-Mails and RSVPs to so many events and I decided to honor this one. First of all I want to thank you for creating this kind of platform for people to get this essential person to person experience that we’re lacking so fundamentally as humans in society right now. It’s so crucial for people to get these kinds of enriching words right now. Most of the time when people hear things that they need to hear it’s usually at a graduation, wedding or some big life event. To just have these kinds of things where people can just come to and absorb these kinds of energies you’re doing so much work that will pass your lifetime so it is appreciated.

So hear the important parts, I grabbed a lot from coming to this event mostly because there was somebody on the panel who I knew as a person and it was Kaz and hearing him speak it wasn’t new to me but I got some perspectives that I’ve never gotten before especially since he was so free-flowing and sharing it openly and I felt that was important to the nature of the event. Next was Jeff Staple. Now I’m not really into fashion so I didn’t know who he was or what his importance to the culture or the event was. Hearing his story about literally breaking all laws and restrictions to that he found in his life, up until that point, it let me know that you really have to take it to the highest levels to complete whatever task it is you feel like you’re meant to do. 

There was a part in the event where we called the audience on stage and I was one of those people and I said what I said about being fearless. To me this literally is my Mantra if you are not Fearless you can’t attain shit so don’t even bother trying. You’re going to have to work past barriers in your mind that you’ve never done in order to get to this next place and if you don’t have that armor you’ve already lost. You have to be fearless. 

But on a deeper level getting randomly selected in the audience at Google is something that I’ve always wanted to do and now just by coincidence I’ve managed to find myself there I’m glad this was the first time I’ve got to speak at Google. Later that night I went to my studio and my band that I’ve been making music with for like 10 years, my partner I founded the group with, decided that he didn’t want to do what we were doing anymore. We had a huge huge huge fight was terrible like Yoko Ono style but the gem here is, had I not gone to this event it would have not given me the extra gas I needed at clearly such a very important time in my life. It was very much like the universe that spoke to me earlier that day and what happened that night is what was seeming like what was meant to happen. 

So despite the emotional toll that took being at that event let me know that I’m going to be very happy in the future. I’m fortunate that you had this event and gave some new life to my life situation right now. That insight from the panel and the experience as a whole allowed me to reflect and make sense of all the insights/moments/experiences that I’ve gotten in my life up until that point. Sometime in the future I’d love to offer some more introspective words that alot of people that I’ve come across in my life have told me other people need to hear and I think coming to this event may be the beginning of that course for me on a broader level. All of my contact information is in my signature. But it was a PLEASURE to meet you and I can’t wait to come to the next event.”