50 events in five days sounds like a schedule you are supposed to conquer. It is not.
Forward Festival returns for its 16th year from August 17 to 21, with more than 50 events across Madison, in person and virtual. Faced with that, most people do one of two things. They try to see everything and burn out by Wednesday, or they freeze, pick nothing, and tell themselves they will catch it next year. There is a better way, and it starts with finding someone who knows the terrain.
Ross Larson knows the terrain. He is a software engineer at Paradigm, a meetup host, a speaker, and, since 2023, a board member of the Forward Fest. "I wear a few different hats," is how he puts it. He came in as an attendee more than a decade ago, started hosting events wherever he could help, and eventually got asked to help run the whole thing. "It has been an honor to serve with all of the fine folks that make the Forward Fest what it is," he says. He keeps showing up for a simple reason: "The events grow and change with both the people and the industry continuing to change."
So we asked him the question a friend would text you in mid-August: I can only make it to a few, where do I go? Here is his field guide.
The events Ross would not miss
There is no single right answer, and that is the point. "The beauty of the Forward Fest is that the perfect event varies from person to person," Ross says. His picks start with who you are and what you are after.
Quick picks to start with
If you write software, he points to DevFestWI on August 19, the day-long developer conference. He admits a bias: he is hosting a roundtable there on AI and inclusivity. If you want to meet people at the end of a workday, the High Tech Happy Hour hits its 25th Anniversary on August 20, a quarter century of the same idea that still works. For a shot of startup adrenaline, Pressure Chamber returns for its 13th year, where emerging companies pitch for the prize of the "coveted golden suitcase."
And if you just want to ease into the week, the Forward Fest Happy Hour Kickoff Party is where it begins, with a first taste of the new Forward Festive Ale. Worth noting for the planners: if you hold a Forward Visionary Pass or the All-Inclusive Forward Pass with Swag, you also walk away with a four-pack of that ale.
The sauna that became a networking event
The most surprising thing on this year's schedule is a networking event held in a sauna. If that sounds like a gimmick, it helps to know that Forward Fest has always treated networking as something you can reinvent.
"The Forward Festival has always had a variety of different networking events, from listening to jazz with venture capitalists to the High Tech Happy Hour," Ross says. "Last year, I went to a board game networking session which was a great time. In general, finding different ways to connect with people and their interests is part of Forward Fest."
The Sweat Equity Sauna Happy Hour runs the evening of August 17 at Saunaday. The organizers pitch it as a reimagined alternative to traditional networking, built for founders, creatives, and builders who want something more real than surface-level conversation. What actually happens: steam, sauna, and a cold plunge, followed by rest and hydration. It is hard to keep a small-talk reflex going through a cold plunge. That may be the point.
Is the government your next customer?
Some sessions are worth planning your day around, not because of the topic on the page but because of what you leave with. If you have ever wondered whether the government could be a real part of your sales plan, Ross sends you to "Is the Government Your Next Growth Customer?" on Tuesday, August 18.
It is built for the founder who is not sure this channel is for them. You will learn what Wisconsin companies already sell to the government, walk a decision tree to figure out how you might sell, and run a readiness check to see if you are actually ready to pursue it. You leave knowing whether to make the call, which is more than most sessions give you.
Practical AI without the hype
The other session to block off leans into the year's loudest topic. AI is changing how people start companies, ship products, and solve problems, and most of the noise around it is exactly that, noise. The "100State AI Summit: Practical AI for Founders and Builders" on Friday, August 21 is for the people trying to separate useful examples from hype.
Ross points to one thing in particular: a practical framework for AI implementation and tool selection, "so you can decide what's worth adopting instead of chasing every new tool." A framework you can use beats a demo you will forget.
The one a first-timer would walk right past
Every field guide earns its keep on the insider pick, the event a newcomer would stroll past without a second look. For Ross, that is Madison Women in Tech's annual job fair on August 19 at the UW Memorial Union.
"I appreciate that there is a job fair dedicated to women and nonbinary folks in tech," he says. His advice cuts both ways. "If you're looking to hire, you should consider having a presence there, and if you're searching for a role as a woman or nonbinary person, this is a must-attend event." It is the kind of room where a single conversation can reroute a career, which brings us to the part of Ross's own story he does not usually lead with.
The moments that stick with you
What a chance breakfast can do
Ask Ross whether he has ever watched Forward Fest change someone's life, and he does not reach for a case study. "I can find someone like that by looking in the mirror."
Back in 2014, he attended some of the early Forward Fest events while still living in Northeast Wisconsin, working at a healthcare tech startup. He came back in 2015, this time looking for a new opportunity, and ran into a college classmate who happened to know about a relatively small software company in Middleton that was hiring. That chance connection led to the referral that landed him at Paradigm, where he has now worked for 10 years.
"A chance connection started knocking over the dominos that led me to be able to move to Madison and take a more active role in the community," he says. "It was a very eventful breakfast."
That is the whole case for showing up, told in one story. You cannot schedule the classmate. You can only be in the room.
The moment he still thinks about
Not every Forward Fest moment is a hire or a raise. Some of them just change how you see.
Last year at DevFestWI, Olivia Barrow gave a talk on inclusive writing that stuck with Ross. She drew a line between performative inclusion and the real thing, and she made it concrete with running shoes. Some brands market to people who are on their feet all day, or just starting a fitness journey. Would you rather buy a shoe from a company that calls you a "recent couch potato" or a "first miler"? Same customer. Different judgment baked into the words.
"We all need to think about the words we use and how they define the audience that we are trying to address," Ross says. It is a small talk, in a side room, at a developer conference. A year later he is still quoting it, which tells you something about the kind of thing you find when you wander off the headliner track.
Why Madison, why this fest?
What the city gives Forward Fest
You could run a tech fest anywhere. You could not run this one anywhere.
"Madison is a place that is small enough to form a tight community, but large enough that the things you do can change the world," Ross says. He describes a city that pulls people from across Wisconsin, the Midwest, and the world, and keeps the Midwestern work ethic and the instinct to see the whole community win together. Add interesting locations and people chasing the latest ideas, and it is hard to find a dull moment in the week. "It's deeply Madison while having a wide open perspective."
The honest part
Ross is also honest about the hard part, which is the more useful answer. "In Wisconsin, we're not always good at celebrating our successes or admitting our weaknesses," he says. The winter months are good for locking in and focusing, but they can also pull founders into isolation, away from the community that reminds them what they are building and how to help each other. Forward Fest is one of the ways back. "In every industry, it helps to have old friends, and those people start by being new friends."
Build your own week
So do not try to see all 50 events. Find your few.
The full 2026 schedule is live at forwardfest.org, five days of it, from August 17 to 21. Start with whichever of Ross's picks sounds like your people, then browse the rest and build the week that fits you. Somewhere on that schedule is your version of a very eventful breakfast. You just have to be in the room.
