Dear MCAD Students!
On September 16, 2026, MCAD is hosting Twin Cities Startup Week (TCSW) on our campus. TCSW is a weeklong celebration and learning opportunity for aspiring artists, designers, and (creative) entrepreneurs, organized by BETA. This year, five local universities are hosting TCSW, and September 16 is "MCAD Day".
This is an incredibly supportive, diverse, vibrant, and upbeat community of entrepreneurs, creatives, and technologists that I invite you to explore, meet, and get to know.
You can find the entire week's schedule here.
The day at MCAD, on September 16, is organized in collaboration with St. Catherine's University in St. Paul, and we will welcome their faculty, staff, and students on campus for the day's activities, along with the business and startup community at large.
I want to encourage you to attend the day's events as your classes permit, and invite your friends to attend as well. Throughout the day, we are expecting about 300 people on campus for various events.
The Creative Entrepreneurship Department is hosting a workshop at 11 am on September 16:
Pitch Like a Performer: Your Story on Stage
Your pitch deck is complete. You are dressed for the occasion. Now prepare your voice, your body, and your authentic self. Learn quick, accessible theatrical techniques to manage nerves, strengthen your presence, connect with your audience, and land your pitch with impact and confidence—in a way that feels unmistakably like you.
Facilitators:
Denice Burbach is an arts educator, director, and higher-education faculty member with more than two decades of experience spanning professional arts organizations and classrooms from college to early childhood. Her work centers on helping people find their authentic voice, build confidence, and connect with an audience through storytelling and performance. Drawing on a career in theatre, directing, and education, Denice brings practical, accessible performance techniques to the entrepreneurial stage—no acting experience required.
Zelia Gonzales is a Minneapolis-based clown, improviser, and facilitator. They hold a Bachelors in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and a Masters in Creative Leadership from Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
There are lots of opportunities to meet folks in the creative and business communities of the Twin Cities, to network, learn, and share the work you are doing at MCAD.
From 1:30—3:00 p.m., the Creative Entrepreneurship Department, along with other MCAD departments and units and St. Catherine's University, will host an education showcase, where we will share our campus programs and the creative work we are doing in the Twin Cities and beyond. If you are working on a business idea, have already started your business, or are doing freelance or gig work, please reach out to me - we'd like to provide you with space to share that work. Space at our tables is limited, so please reach out as soon as possible.
TCSW is also giving away a limited number of free tickets to students interested in attending the entire week of events. Please email me, and I will share information on how you can get a free ticket as you register for the week.
Also, if you'd like to volunteer that day, please let me know. I'm looking for a few people to help with setting up our showcase in the afternoon.
I hope to see you there!
Olaf