From Woz to new civic tech, here’s the Good Tech Summit rundown

Two weeks ago, we told you that Phone2Action would be putting social tech front and center through its inaugural Good Tech Summit. Last Thursday, the Rosslyn-based digital grassroots advocacy platform hosted a full day of programming featuring heavy hitters like Apple cofounder Steve Wozinak, Facebook North America Marketing Director Michelle Klein, former presidential candidate and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Marty Moe, president of Vox Media.

Great night at the @Phone2Action party & great time at the #goodtech17 conference with these two gentlemen! @MartinOMalley pic.twitter.com/oKEcseTLW6

— Andrea (@dr_dre_NC) June 17, 2017

Spotted at @Phone2Action #goodtech17: @yourmembership and #Community Brands CEO @JPGuilbault giving demo to Apple's @stevewoz! pic.twitter.com/a5r1vTTCb8

— Jeb Ory (@jebory) June 16, 2017

According to Gabe Klein, advisor to Phone2Action and founder of CitiFi, this conference has been over a year in the making.

“[Phone2Action] feels like there needs to be more collaboration in the industry as it’s growing and in civic tech generally,” he said.

There were lots of big takeaways for last week’s summit. Panelist Dan Tangherlini, former GSA administrator and president of Seamless Docs Federal, said he felt especially lucky to be featured alongside O’Malley and Beth Blauer, executive director of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Government Excellence, because, he said:

1. O’Malley is remarkably cool, and
2. Blauer is not only an expert, but a thoughtful person in the field of government performance management.

Overall, Tangherlini left his panel about smart cities convinced that the future will have us all, “increasingly applying [various] tools, being different kinds of technology, and techniques, to public service and us dramatically improving the outcomes overall,” he said.

#GoodTech17 featured several talks including how to effectively integrate tech to improve communities and government efficiency, and the effect of tech on evolving corporate cultures and strategies. Phone2Action then ended the day of panels with an announcement of its own — the reveal of its new SocialPulse tool.

SocialPulse provides a platform for organizations to create, launch and share campaigns via social media, and allows users to view and engage with their most active advocates, as well as monitor advocates’ connections with lawmakers.

CANNOT WAIT to use @Phone2Action's new tool SocialPulse. Saving me hrs of time and helping amplify messages across the Twittersphere. Genius pic.twitter.com/MfoIrssYRe

— Bronwyn Flores (@BronwynFlores) June 15, 2017

Many, like Gabe Klein, are excited about the new potential this tool will bring to grassroots campaigns.

“I think for the client it just makes it effortless to see what’s going on and basically almost get reporting in real time—and even alter campaigns in real time,” he said.

The summit ended with some good #dctech fun — food, drinks, music and even a little bit of drunk dialing.

We have our first drunk dial at #GoodTech17 After Party. Who's next? pic.twitter.com/j5h4ng4nrP

— Phone2Action (@Phone2Action) June 15, 2017