REGISTRATION
AI in the AM is your standing invitation to show up, ask anything, and stay sharp.
SC Tech, an initiative of SC Competes, is launching this new virtual series specifically for South Carolina’s AI industry ambassadors — people like you who are ready to lead the charge on AI adoption and want to keep pace with what’s coming next.
Think of it as AI office hours. Short, practical sessions where you can ask real questions and get real answers directly from AI, tech, and cyber leaders across the state. We’ll cover tools, workflows, strategy, cybersecurity, implementation — whatever’s on your mind. Every session kicks off with a quick topic, but the real value is the conversation. No presentations. No pressure. No such thing as a dumb question.
These AI in the AM sessions will be held every Tuesday from 8:00 – 9:00 AM, May 26th – June 30th.
Every week, 1 Million Cups gives entrepreneurs a platform to present their business to a supportive community for ideas and connections to grow it. It's not a pitch; it's a chance to learn and collaborate.
Catalyst by Beemok will return in 2026, continuing its mission to support and invest in early-stage companies.
The first half of June’s Chucktown U webinar will feature a Beemok team member providing an overview of the 2026 competition. The second half will be dedicated to an interactive Q&A session, giving attendees the opportunity to ask questions directly
In its inaugural year, Catalyst by Beemok awarded more than $2,625,000 to local startups, backing founders across a range of industries and highlighting the strength of the Lowcountry’s growing innovation ecosystem.
As momentum builds, the 2026 program will open applications on May 15, with a general deadline of August 1 and a student deadline of August 31. Finalists will take the stage at the live pitch competition on Saturday, November 14.
Catalyst by Beemok is designed to create meaningful opportunities for founders, offering not only access to capital, but also a platform to share their stories, connect with investors and engage with the broader community.
Founders are encouraged to begin preparing now as Catalyst by Beemok returns for its second year.
Presenter: A Member of the Catalyst by Beemok team
Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM
Registration: Click here to register
This is a doubles pickleball tournament. Please include the name of your doubles partner during registration.
Players are encouraged to arrive at least 30 minutes before their scheduled match time for check in, warm up, and tournament announcements.
Free parking will be available on site for all players and guests.
Athletic attire and court shoes are recommended.
You will get a time slot assigned to come and play in between 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Limited paddles and balls will be available if needed.
THIS EVENT IS FREE TO COME AND WATCH
This event is focused on bringing people together through community and mental health awareness in a safe and supportive environment. Along with the tournament, speakers will share personal stories to encourage open conversations around mental health.
Quest is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with mission to strengthen the mental fitness of students and young adults through recreational, educational, and community building activities
Quest is a Charleston based 501c3 nonprofit, mission is to strengthen the mental fitness of students and young adults through recreational, educational, and community building activities.
Let’s Play Pickleball is a Charleston pickleball club focused on growing the sport through tournaments, social events, and community engagement for players of all skill levels.
Join us on June 6th for the Quest Pickleball Charity Tournament hosted by Quest x Let’s Play Pickleball at LTP Daniel Island. This event is designed to bring the Charleston community together through pickleball, connection, music, food, and a shared purpose.
We are expecting over 128 players throughout the day along with friends, families, and supporters coming out to enjoy the event atmosphere. The tournament will feature doubles play, live music, local vendors, food and drinks, giveaways, and prizes throughout the day. Whether you’re playing or simply coming to support, we want this event to feel bigger than just a tournament.
Doubles pickleball tournament
Story sharing about mental health struggles or adduction
Live music
Food and beverage vendors
Local community vendors
Giveaways and prizes
Community connection and networking
This event is proudly sponsored by Charleston Custom Cabinetry, a locally owned company specializing in high end custom kitchen and bathroom cabinetry.
Live music during the tournament will be performed by Liam Murphy and his band.
REGISTER
Luke Wright
Christine Callahan
Meghan Corsello
Matt Williams
Peter Jordan
Elliott Friedman
6:00 PM - Networking
6:30 PM - Welcome remarks by Kim Lahey & Killough Law Firm and InnoVision Awards
6:35 PM - Introduction to venue host: CODE/+/TRUST
6:40 PM - Introduction to Peter Jordan, Founder of Carolina Venture Studio
6:45 PM - Moderated panel, including interactive Q&A with audience
7:30 PM - Post panel networking
8:00 PM - Event concludes
The "post a job and pray" era is over. A tactics-first session on the modern outbound recruiting stack — Clay, LinkedIn, Lemlist, and HubSpot — from the inventor of programmatic job advertising.
A practical, no-fluff talk from Jason S. Gorham — inventor of programmatic job advertising (U.S. Patent 7,653,567, licensed by Indeed and LinkedIn) — on what's actually working in talent acquisition right now. You'll leave with a concrete sourcing and outreach playbook you can deploy Monday morning.
Who should attend: Founders hiring their first 10–50 people, heads of talent, in-house and agency recruiters and sourcers, and GTM/RevOps leaders running outbound (the same stack and tactics apply).
Why it's valuable: Job boards are saturated, response rates on cold InMails are collapsing, and the candidates worth hiring are almost never actively applying. Jason breaks down the AI-powered outbound stack his team uses at TalentXI — Clay for B2B enrichment and LinkedIn network mapping, email discovery workflows, Lemlist for multi-channel drip sequences with true hyper-personalization, and HubSpot as the candidate CRM that ties it all together. Includes a live walkthrough of an end-to-end campaign.
Agenda
Jason S. Gorham is Co-Founder of TalentXI and the inventor of programmatic job advertising — a concept protected under U.S. Patent 7,653,567 and now licensed by Indeed and LinkedIn. He's a Citrix Dual Category Award Finalist, took 2nd place in the IT Expo Pitch Competition in February 2026, and has 20+ years of talent acquisition experience across multiple Fortune 100 companies. He's spoken at Tri-State SHRM, London Recruiting, the ERE Conference, and the Atlanta Recruiter Roundtable.
As part of Charleston Tech Week, SC Competes is proud to host the "Palmetto Tech Showcase" at Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant — a dynamic evening designed to showcase the strength and depth of Charleston’s technology sector.
This isn’t just another networking event. It’s where innovation collides with community. We are intentionally inviting economic developers, manufacturers, investors, workforce leaders, and industry partners who may not always get to see our tech ecosystem up close.
Through live demos, engaging conversation, and meaningful connection, we’re creating space for collaboration across sectors.
The evening will feature:
✨ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT – CHARLESTON, ARE YOU READY? ✨ Something BIG is happening —GET READY: LATINA PITCH LIVE is HERE. EVERY 2ND WEDNESDAY LUNCH & PITCH YOUR BUSINESS WITH US First Location —yes you are reading this right Latina Pitch Live first kick off location: Cannon Distillery 1734 Signal Point Rd Charleston, SC 29412 June 10th ⏰ 12PM – 2PM GOT A BUSINESS? HOLD THE MIC ON YOU MARK ⏱️ & OUR FOUNDER Roxana Massie WILL TELL YOU PITCH IT TO ME. YOU GOT LESS THAN 15 MINUTES GO NOW & SHE WILL TRANSLATE THAT This is NOT your typical event. This is where: ✔️ You step into the room with PURPOSE ✔️ You PITCH your vision with CONFIDENCE ✔️ You connect with people who can actually move your business forward And this time we’re not a regular popup Market anymore we are EVOLVING to a MEANINGFUL BUSINESS networking event where your business is the rock start of the day we’re INDEED ELEVATING. WHAT THIS ROOM WILL DO FOR YOU: ✨ Real EXPOSURE connections ✨ Real conversations (not small talk) ✨ Real opportunities ONE COMMUNITY TWO LANGUAGES ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES Whether you speak Spanish, English, or BOTH… This room was built for YOU. ⚡ NO MORE PLAYING SMALL. ⚡ NO MORE WAITING FOR “THE RIGHT TIME.” THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. PITCH IT. OWN IT. GROW IT. Spots TO PITCH YOUR BUSINESS are limited — you most register to pitch & to attend. “Only 10 Businesses Will Be Selected to Pitch Live.” ⚡ Elite Experience: * 10 business pitches * Judges feedback (quick) * Highlight 2–3 standout businesses Let’s GROW & build something powerful together. This event is powered by: Roxana Massie Founder & CEO Spanglish Connector Spanglish Small Business Association (SSBA)
Nick Fogle graduated into the 2008 financial crisis with a law degree and $250k in student debt. Unable to find meaningful attorney work, he drove a shuttle bus, eventually landed a low-paying legal role, and - unable to afford a developer - taught himself to code using free online resources. He worked his way from intern to lead engineer at a publicly traded software company while building his first startup on the side.
In 2016, he and co-founder Baird Hall launched Wavve, a tool that converts audio content into shareable social videos for podcasters. After 18 months building the wrong product (a radio station platform that never caught on), they built an audio-to-video generator in an all-nighter as a last-ditch side project. That side project made money immediately. Wavve scaled to $150k MRR, bootstrapped with no VC, and was acquired by Calm Capital in March 2021.
He then co-founded ChurnKey, a retention automation platform for subscription businesses that has recovered nearly $300M in revenue across its client base. He writes the Bootstacker Substack on bootstrapping, debt, coding as leverage, and building generational wealth without a venture-backed exit.
Founders, Funders, Executives, Experts, Coders, Creators, Builders & Other Innovators!
Register to Attend
ACCELERATOR SHOWCASE for THE HARBOR ENTREPRENEUR CENTER
June 11 | 1:30–3:30 PM
Meet Charleston’s next startup wave.
The HEC Accelerator Pitch showcases the current co-hort from the Harbor Entrepreneur Center ecosystem. Founders take the stage to pitch their product or service, explain why it matters, and secure funding.
Looking for breakout companies before everyone else finds them? This is your room.
Free to attend.
CharlestonHacks Presents: Hacker Theater
Short clips from movies about tech, hacking, and AI, followed by a panel of subject matter experts answering questions like What’s real? What’s possible? What’s next?
If you’re into tech, movies, science fiction or just being around people who are making things happen, this is the room.
Want to be part of our panel and be prompted by thought provoking questions about your favorite tech movie scene? Reach out to us at hello@charlestonhacks.com.
See you there.
✨ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT – CHARLESTON, ARE YOU READY? ✨ Something BIG is happening —GET READY: LATINA PITCH LIVE is HERE. EVERY 3RD WEDNESDAY LUNCH & PITCH YOUR BUSINESS WITH US Second Location —yes you are reading this right Latina Pitch Live second kick off location: La Sensacion Latina Restaurante 1936 Remount Rd North Charleston, SC June 17th ⏰ 12PM – 2PM GOT A BUSINESS? HOLD THE MIC ON YOU MARK ⏱️ & OUR FOUNDER Roxana Massie WILL TELL YOU PITCH IT TO ME. YOU GOT LESS THAN 15 MINUTES GO NOW & SHE WILL TRANSLATE THAT This is NOT your typical event. This is where: ✔️ You step into the room with PURPOSE ✔️ You PITCH your vision with CONFIDENCE ✔️ You connect with people who can actually move your business forward And this time we’re not a regular popup Market anymore we are EVOLVING to a MEANINGFUL BUSINESS networking event where your business is the rock start of the day we’re INDEED ELEVATING. WHAT THIS ROOM WILL DO FOR YOU: ✨ Real EXPOSURE connections ✨ Real conversations (not small talk) ✨ Real opportunities ONE COMMUNITY TWO LANGUAGES ENDLESS OPPORTUNITIES Whether you speak Spanish, English, or BOTH… This room was built for YOU. ⚡ NO MORE PLAYING SMALL. ⚡ NO MORE WAITING FOR “THE RIGHT TIME.” THIS IS YOUR MOMENT. PITCH IT. OWN IT. GROW IT. Spots TO PITCH YOUR BUSINESS are limited — you most register to pitch & to attend. “Only 10 Businesses Will Be Selected to Pitch Live.” ⚡ Elite Experience: * 10 business pitches * Judges feedback (quick) * Highlight 2–3 standout businesses Let’s GROW & build something powerful together. This event is powered by: Roxana Massie Founder & CEO Spanglish Connector Spanglish Small Business Association (SSBA)
Registration
Get ready for Charleston's most dynamic startup showcase! We're transforming the traditional networking event into a two-part experience that puts founders front and center.
The first hour kicks off with our Business Expo Happy Hour Mashup, where founders will showcase their ventures at sleek display stations while everyone mingles with drinks in hand. Think of it as speed networking meets trade show, but way more fun and way less stuffy. Founders are encouraged to rock their company gear, making it super easy to spot who's behind which brilliant idea.
The energy ramps up when we randomly select four founders for our live panel discussion. These lucky entrepreneurs will take the spotlight to share their stories, dive deep into their startups, and reveal exactly how you can help fuel their growth. The audience gets to grill them with questions during our interactive Q&A session, followed by prime networking time to continue those conversations that matter.
Whether you're a founder looking to connect with peers, an investor scouting the next big thing, or just curious about Charleston's startup scene, this is where deals get made and partnerships are born.
Meet the emcee / moderator: Courtney Lohmann
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CONTACTS
toby@chucktownstartups.comCharleston, SC 29403
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