In addition, many speakers and panelists were invited to inspire women business owners to maximize their potential. One of the many highlights was a panel on growing and scaling your business from four local women — Carol Fenster of Baby Abuelita, Leila Chang Pipich of Florida Dental Benefits, Susie Taylor of Bibbitec (watch for her on Shark Tank) and Ginny Simon of Ginny Bakes — who did just that. Read more on that post plus a post about what not to outsource on The Starting Gate blog on MiamiHerald.com/business.

Social entrepreneurs were the focus of the Americas Business Council Foundation’s Continuity Forum. Participants were treated to A-list speakers such as Kofi Annan, Steve Wozniak and Chris Hughes Hip-hop artist Emmanuel Jal even had the suits in the audience dancing in the aisles (see accompanying photos). One key focus was the showcase of 32 social entrepreneurs, who presented their ventures and are seeking grants from the council. On Wednesday, the council will announce who of the 32 will be funded. Read more about the speeches on Starting Gate and watch the blog for the results on Tuesday.

Many events are coming up including the Emerging Technology Business Showcase on Nov. 30, WebCongress on Nov. 29-30, Incubate Miami’s Demo Day Dec. 6, Tekfight on Dec. 7, HackDay on Dec. 8-9, ITPalooza Dec. 12, Wayra's Demo Day also on Dec. 12, the Americas Venture Capital Conference (AVCC) Dec. 13 and 14 and others.

Watch Starting Gate for more on all these key events and others — all part of the Season of the Startup.

Follow Nancy Dahlberg on Twitter: @ndahlberg