Phoenix Networking Events This Week — September 14, 2026
Here is a list of events happening in Phoenix this week for entrepreneurs, marketers, and small business owners looking to make real, face-to-face connections. From a cybersecurity breakfast packed with C-suite insight to a casual Thursday gathering for founders and creatives, there's something on the calendar for nearly every corner of the business community.
11th Annual Cybersecurity Breakfast Forum
Monday, September 15 | 7:45 AM – 1:00 PM | Grand Canyon University, 2600 W. Camelback Rd, Building 71, Phoenix | $60 AZTC/ACTRA members, $75 non-members
This one skews technical, but don't let the name scare off marketers and entrepreneurs — the room is packed with CISOs, CIOs, and business leaders who all care about the same thing you do: keeping their organizations running and their data safe. Hosted by the Arizona Technology Council and the Arizona Cyber Threat Response Alliance, the forum opens with 45 minutes of breakfast and networking before diving into panels on AI-powered threats and governance, featuring executives from Shamrock Foods, Avnet, RTX, and Cordia Energy. It closes the same way it opens: with unstructured time to trade cards and ideas over coffee. If part of your business touches client data, vendor contracts, or AI tools, this is a chance to meet the people responsible for protecting all three.
Phoenix Central Arizona Business Networking
Wednesday, September 16 | 9:30 – 10:30 AM | Better Business Bureau, 1010 E Missouri Ave, Phoenix | Free for guests (up to two visits)
Run by iNET Alliance, this is a weekly, seat-based referral group built for business owners, entrepreneurs, and influencers who want consistency over quantity — one seat per industry, familiar faces every week, and a real shot at repeat referrals instead of a stack of business cards that never gets a follow-up call. It's a structured hour: members share what they do and who they're trying to meet, then the room works together to make introductions. Guests get two visits to see if the format clicks before committing to a seat, making this Wednesday morning a low-risk way to test out a more disciplined style of networking.
Venture Café Phoenix Thursday Gathering: Making Mega Events Happen
Thursday, September 17 | 4:30 – 7:00 PM | 850 PBC, 850 N 5th St, Phoenix | Free
Venture Café's weekly Thursday Gathering is one of the more eclectic recurring events in the Valley, and this week's lineup is stacked. The headline session brings together the City of Phoenix events team, Visit Phoenix, and Player 15 for a behind-the-scenes look at pulling off mega events like the Super Bowl and the upcoming NBA All-Star Game — genuinely useful territory for anyone in marketing, media, or event production. The same evening also features a CleanTech Night founder feature, mentor hours on agentic AI and Arizona's bioscience sector, a Capital Raising 101 session on closing a round, and a panel on the evolving role of women in entrepreneurship. Sessions run in overlapping blocks from 4:30 to 7, so plan to pick a couple and still leave time to work the room; Venture Café is explicit that this isn't a happy hour, it's a place to build relationships that last.
Closing
Be on the lookout tomorrow for online events listings — including EE online every Friday.
Comments