Boston has dozens of events and get-togethers to support entrepreneurship and innovation. However, most of these events take place in the city and Cambridge. There aren’t many support groups in the suburbs.

So Eric Braun decided to start the South Shore Innovation, a forum for entrepreneurs and innovators to meet and discuss innovations in business, education, science and technology. The group meets every Thursday morning in Hanover, MA.

“By building collaborative, connected communities throughout Massachusetts will create a better infrastructure for innovation,” said Braun, founder of South Shore Innovation.

To foster startups and small businesses, the group recently decided to launch The Startup Story SLAM! to support Boston Region Entrepreneurship Week (BREW) – a series of events designed to spotlight the region's entrepreneurial ecosystem and highlight Boston as a center of excellence for all things related to conceiving, launching and building new companies.

The Startup Story SLAM! takes place on Oct. 12, 6:30 – 9:00 pm ET at Merchants Row Mall. About 50 people are expected to attend, and more than a dozen people will share their stories at the event. The session is sponsored by Mayflower Brewing Company.

I asked Braun to elaborate on the objective of StartUp SLAM! and who should participate. Here's my Q&A with Braun.

Tell me about StartUp Story SLAM!
The Startup Story SLAM! is an event to celebrate entrepreneurs and innovators. We are asking 10-12 entrepreneurs and innovators to tell their respective stories in five minutes or less. The theme is "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Startup". The event is about storytelling and sharing experience. Participants are not allowed to pitch, lecture, teach or sell.

Budding entrepreneurs need to learn as much as possible about what it takes to start a business, both the good and the bad. The goal of the Startup Story SLAM! is to provide a fun and different venue for the entrepreneurs to learn from each other and connect in memorable ways. It is also a way for early-stage entrepreneurs to share how they stumbled upon their passions and ideas, and tips on attracting investors.

How did you come up with the concept?
Actually, the motivation was somewhat serendipitous. At our weekly innovation round tables, we had started thinking about what sort of event we should host for BREW. Angel investor Joe Caruso was interested in getting areas outside of Boston involved as a way to help spread interest in entrepreneurship. At South Shore Innovation, our mission is to foster and support innovation and entrepreneurship in the suburbs and connect with other centers of innovation, such as Boston and Cambridge. Joe called me and said he really wanted to see something on the South Shore. I took this as a challenge and brought it to our weekly roundtable group. We spent some time brainstorming over coffee and bagels, but nothing was fresh enough. Two days later, I was in the car listening to PRX Radio and theMoth.org broadcast came on. I have always loved listening to these stories. It occurred to me that a storytelling format could be fun for BREW, so the next week, I suggested it at the meeting. Everyone loved it and started throwing out ideas on how it should work and what we should call it.

The result was the Startup Story SLAM!

How will the storytellers be judged?
Storytellers will win 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. However, the awards are not an indication of who is more successful at starting a company. In fact, the winners may not be telling a success story, but hopefully, they will have funny stories.

Who should attend?
Everyone! People interested in hearing the stories, meeting entrepreneurs, supporting innovation in Massachusetts and hopefully those who are thinking about starting a company should attend the event.

To see the list of storytellers and registration details visit here. For fans of innovation stories, the fee is $12 and $9 for storytellers. If the inaugural event is a success, then Braun expects to host it every quarter.