Above: The team behind the social media outlet Booksie, focused on controlling parent oversharing, begins its presentation. Photos by Alec Schwartzman.

A little over a year ago, LiveNinja, a software company that connects people with experts through video chat, started serving waffles to its team every Wednesday to keep up office morale. Since then, the casual breakfast has become a major weekly event for Wynwood and beyond.

“There were only eight or nine of us, and every time we would always have way more waffles than we needed,” said Danielle Ungermann, LiveNinja’s community manager. “We started inviting friends, and eventually decided this was something we wanted to make an event out of. We realized we already had some of the community coming in, so why not invite more of the Miami tech startup community to join in.”

The gatherings, sponsored by Knight Foundation to help talented people connect, have expanded to include an eclectic crowd, drawing from South Florida’s growing pool of creative, innovators and entrepreneurs.

“I read about [Waffle Wednesdays] first in the Miami New Times,” said Ari Good, a local international tax attorney. “I only realized once I started coming that it was a technology-based event. It is an absolutely great place to find out about upcoming tech startups.”

Cooking right in LiveNinja’s 2,000-square-foot loft-style headquarters, Chief Creative Officer Alfonso Martinez has whipped up a number of unconventionally delicious waffles that vary weekly. Past favorites have included flavors such as apple pie, carrot cake, s’mores and sriracha chicken. This week’s offering featured an upside-down pineapple waffle topped with a maraschino cherry. The unusual dishes serve a dual purpose. Not only do the sweet and savory variations satisfy attendees’ taste buds, they also inspire conversation.

“Networking can be a boring, stuffy, daunting event,” Ungermann said. “Since we started it, [Waffle Wednesdays] has taken on a unique point in the networking scene. You walk in the door, and you instantly have a conversation starter.”

This Wednesday’s event diverged slightly from the standard meet-and-greet with one or two presentations. Wyncode Academy, a coding bootcamp for aspiring tech workers, will hold its Cinco de Wyncode Pitch Day at 6 p.m. Thursday at The LAB Miami. The event provides the nine-week boot camp participants an opportunity to present their new projects. This week’s Waffle Wednesday gave some of them a chance to rehearse.

“It’s always such a pleasure to come to Waffle Wednesdays, not just when we are practicing our pitches,” Johanna Mikkola, co-founder and managing director of Wyncode Academy, said in her introduction of the presenters. “They have opened their doors to us long before we even launched WynCode … It is a sign of how truly open and wonderful LiveNinja is, and how they are building a community here.”

The seven presentations ranged from FoodNag, an application for preventing food waste and spoilage; to Therapist on Demand, a mobile platform to help connect patients and therapists through live-video feeds; to Muzaik, a comprehensive and self-updating online database of musicians.

While the pitches were thought-provoking, they are just a bonus, Ungermann said.

“It is great having all these presentations, but they aren’t the focal point of being here,” she said. “I believe that this event goes beyond Miami tech and networking. It is a community gathering in the middle of the week.”

Alec Schwartzman is an editorial intern for Knight Foundation. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @AMSchwartzman.

To stay in the loop with everything #WaffleWednesday, please visit facebook.com/groups/LNwafflewednesdays. The event happens every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at 120 NW 25th St., No. 301, Miami.

Photo: This week’s #WaffleWednesday featured a great turnout of focused Miami professionals.