St. Louis Startup Week and Other Important Announcements

Zekita Armstrong, the President of Gateway Global American Youth & Business Alliance Academies Inc. presented to the STEM St. Louis Conference this week with a slide stating that the United States will fall behind globally without the innovative workforce and education solutions. I believe her and requested she say it louder for leaders in our community who are in a position to do something about it.

If you have been following Harry, you are watching his development become the new standard for how children grades K-12 are being empowered with the latest technology to become leaders in life.

St. Louis Startup week is this week. Harry and I are presenting Minecraft as a Social Impact and Gaming Business at 1 pm on November 9th, 2021.

This virtual presentation hosted on Zoom will demonstrate the progress, which started from a YouTube channel, has turned into a web-based platform designed to help students acquire real-world skills they can use in life and maybe start their own business.

Watch the recording on YouTube.

Introduction to the Build Buddy platform where you can sign up and get started.

NOTE: We are still in the process of developing the platform. This work in progress is updated daily to reflect the rapid iterations in product development.

Take a look at one of Harry's latest videos as he takes you on a tour of his in-game experience.

We learned from talking with other parents. They wished they could have an extra hour to work or have downtime and make that time productive for their kids. Their kids wished they could keep in touch with their friends, have fun, and build something together. Instead of hosting private sessions with our own friends, we designed a web-based platform and designed customized experiences in Minecraft where kids can congregate together from anywhere, anytime, and meet their learning needs on their favorite platform.

Sign up for our platform.

Get Started Playing Minecraft on the Build Buddy Platform

If you haven't played Minecraft before, you aren't alone. Many parents and grandparents have watched their kids play but many I have talked to don't know how to do it or won't let their kids play because they do not see the educational benefit. We have created a simple course to help you get started if you haven't played before and offer a checklist of steps to ensure you get the most out of your experience.

Take the Get Started Playing Minecraft course.

Build Buddy is enrolled in the Information Technology Entrepreneur Network's Eureka Experience with Lindenwood University.

We are 8 weeks into ITEN's Eureka Experience and it has accelerated the rate of our company's ability to focus on what problems we were trying to solve, how these problems affect multiple stakeholders in our community. Our company is uniquely positioned to help fueled by Harry's passion and my skills to scalable business.

Learn about ITEN's Eureka Experience.

St. Louis University SLUStart I-Corps has accepted us into their program.

To help us accelerate the development of the Build Buddy platform, we are enrolled in the St. Louis University's SLUStart I-Corps program.

SLUStart I-Corps is a program managed by the Research Innovation Group in Saint Louis University's Office of the Vice President for Research. It is designed to help academic researchers, community inventors, and innovators, and aspiring entrepreneurs in the St. Louis region extend their focus beyond academia, the laboratory, and the workshop so that they create successful products and services that deliver real value.

Learn more about SLUStart I-Corps.

Take a Tour of TREX Downtown St. Louis and Participate in a Lab

One of the coolest co-working spaces in St. Louis is at the T-REX building downtown. There are Tyrannosaurus Rexes everywhere. On the walls, on the tables, and in the rooms, it's hard to be somewhere in the building and not see a T-REX. We are scheduling private field trips to learning institutions that want to empower their students with technical skills and get a break from school.

Schedule a field trip to T-REX downtown for a tour and privately-hosted lab.

Harry and Doug are speaking at ATD Techknowledge 2022. This is where corporate learning and development professionals attend to lead workforce solutions with the latest technology.

If you are an educator, you were forced to learn new technology and acquire new skills in addition to your existing responsibilities. Certainly, there had to be a better way. If you think about creating the next generation of leaders, Harry can systematically record his own high-quality videos and engage others virtually with the patience of a six-year-old. That requires forethought and that requires implementation.

Sign up for TD Techknowledge 2022.

Harry has 80 subscribers on his YouTube channel.

After making 42 videos, we have improved the process and speed for making engaging videos. Most of them are educational. Some of them are hilarious. If you subscribe to the channel now, you will see how the dynamics change when we develop other virtual leaders through our platform.

Subscribe to Harry's YouTube channel.

The 101 Homeschooling Activities in St. Louis published on Amazon Kindle

Harry's biggest passion is playing Minecraft. My biggest passion is my son's education. Since the Build Buddy platform is most focused on technology, it was important to demonstrate there are more opportunities to create experiential learning, exercise, entertainment, enterprise, and eating options if you live, visit, or move to the St. Louis area.

Download Harry's book to your Kindle and leave a review.

Learn what Harry learns, when he learns it.

I am the social media manager for Harry in addition to being a proud Dad. There are a number of different activities we do each day in addition to what we learn. Some days we spend at the park. Some days we volunteer at the food bank. There is always a new thing you can learn and ask @harrydevitre a question using the #101stl hashtag.

Follow Harry on Twitter.

When we build together, we learn together.

I didn't start playing Minecraft until Harry asked me about it in December 2020. You probably didn't either and that's ok. The best time to place a bock was 9 years ago. The second best time to place a block is today.