Forum at 535

An exclusive event series for entrepreneurs, investors, and civic leaders in Connecticut. Attendance is intentionally limited to 80–100 participants to maintain a high-trust, high-caliber setting.

Our Next Event:

What Can Sports Teach Us About the Future of Business?

November 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM

Save Your Spot

An invitation-only gathering for founders, CEOs, and business owners leading companies generating $5M+ in annual revenue.

We are entering an era where intelligence is no longer scarce. AI can generate ideas, strategies, and outputs at scale.

The question is no longer access to intelligence. It’s what creates advantage. The Forum@535 is built around that shift. Designed as a closed-door environment, it brings together a select group of founders and executives to engage in candid, experience-driven conversations on building, scaling, and leading organizations.

The Forum explores how businesses create meaning, generate momentum, and translate both into sustained growth.

Be Part of the Conversation at Our Next Event

What Can Sports Teach Us About the Future of Business?

Sports and big business have always been intertwined. But the way value is being created in the industry—and who gets to capture it—is changing.

Athletes have more ways to monetize their audiences, live experiences have more economic weight, and fan loyalty is attracting new forms of investment. None of these forces are new. What’s changing is their scale and convergence.

So, what can the rest of us learn as these forces evolve?

On November 12, Forum@535 brings leaders from sports, media, marketing, and business together to explore where these shifts could lead, and what they might mean for anyone competing for attention, loyalty, and value. The goal is to turn what’s happening in sports into ideas we can put to work well beyond it.

Sports Is Just The Starting Point

Connecticut has long had a front-row seat to the business of sports, helping shape how games are produced, distributed, marketed, and experienced. That makes it a fitting place to ask a bigger question: What can the forces reshaping sports tell us about where business is headed next?

Because the most interesting ideas coming out of sports may ultimately have very little to do with the game.

Featured Speakers

Check back as we continue to add new voices.

Carol Stiff

Founder/President, Stiff Sports Media Consulting

Amanda Rodgerson Devitt

Associate Vice President for Athletics and Recreation, University of Saint Joseph

André Swanston

Co-Owner, CT United FC

Bob Lynch

Founder & CEO, SponsorUnited

Christopher Salem

CEO & Co-Founder, EFA Movement

Freddie Vargas

CEO, Tater Baseball

Gordon Hay

Co-Founder, ALINE Systems

John Roe

Founder, Chairman, President, SportsBug

Norris Scott

Vice President, Global Sponsorship Sales & Player Marketing, Major League Baseball Players Association

Steve Wasik

CEO, VKTRY Gear

George Stella

Founder & CEO, BIGtoken

Turn networking into real opportunity

At The Forum at 535, networking isn't left to chance.

Through our Key Connections platform, each attendee receives a personalized matchmaking experience designed to accelerate meaningful outcomes. Based on your goals—whether you're hiring talent, seeking investment, exploring partnerships, or advancing policy and workforce development initiatives—our system identifies the most relevant people in the room.

Before the event, you'll receive a curated list of high-value connections, complete with a suggested itinerary of five people you should meet. No guesswork. No missed opportunities.

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