Quint Studer gives the opening remarks at Entrecon Thursday morning at the Rex Theatre.

I still can’t shake the feeling that something very special happened in downtown Pensacola last week.

As EntreCon closed on Friday afternoon with Quint Studer giving a behind-the-curtain peek at how he built Studer Group, both nuts and bolts and spiritually, you could feel the energy in the room.

People attending the Entrecon seminar Friday morning listen closely to one of the speakers during the two-day event, much of which is being held at The Rex Theatre.

It was palpable. You could see it in the attendees' faces. You could hear in their voices. You could feel it in the air. It was electric. After two days of world-class speakers, panels and networking, the crowd left not only impressed, but also inspired. Those of us who planned for months and executed the event last week heard all kinds of comments during the two days – and they were all positive. Dan Lindeman, owner of A&J Mugs in Pensacola was one such attendee. A couple of weeks before the event, his big concern had been the price of $249. With reassurance that he would get a full refund if he didn’t get some valuable insight from the event (which was promised to every attendee) Dan bought his ticket. On day one, following the third speakers of the day, Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts, Lindeman approached the registration table. He wasn’t looking for a refund. “I feel like after that panel alone, it was more than worth the money to be here,” Lindeman said. And we heard similar comments from others as well: — “There have been some sales trainers in for a day mostly to sell books and tapes. But never anything that matched the needs of the small business community like EntreCon.” — “EntreCon was a great experience. While I’ve had some success as an entrepreneur, I still have so much to learn. I walked away with valuable learnings to implement and share with others.” There were many more such notes, all saying two things – thank you and we’re inspired. Now comes the challenge. I’m proud of the work we did to bring this event to Pensacola. I’m excited that we lit some fires and sparked some movement to make business in our community better and we won’t stop those efforts. But now the future is in your hands as well. As Quint noted in his closing presentation, we need to build a burning platform. We are well on the way with the University of West Florida's Center for Entrepreneurship. Dedicated to economic growth, the Center will support initiatives that foster entrepreneurship over its complete life cycle and act as a comprehensive resource for students, industry and community partners. EntreCon provided the personal tools and the stories. It’s up to you to take them and move business and our community forward. Don’t let the fire and passion felt at EntreCon burn out. Let’s fan those flames and create a better Pensacola.