Get ready: Technical.ly will be exploring these 12 hot topics in 2020

The aughts are over. Twenties, we’re ready for ya.

2019 was a big year for us at Technical.ly: We celebrated 10 years of publishing in Philadelphia. Early in the year, we ran stories in each of our four markets about how they each changed in the decade; check out those recaps for Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C. and Delaware. We also published lookbacks on news stories across those 10 years in Philly, specifically, with our This Month in Technical.ly History series.

This year, in three out of four markets, we introduced the next iteration of our RealLIST series, RealLIST Engineers, which honored between a dozen and 20 technologists who are influential in both their professional work and communities. We also rebooted the Technical.ly Awards: Come attend D.C.’s event to hear winners announced IRL on Wednesday, Dec. 18, and see Philly’s winners here and Baltimore’s winners here.

But the new year is nearly here, which means it’s time to look forward with an all-new editorial calendar.

Technical.ly’s editorial calendar is a reporting series with monthly themes relevant to our local tech communities. The idea is to give ourselves an opportunity to dive deeper into 12 topics our community cares about (while still maintaining our regular diversity of coverage).

In 2018, we dedicated extra reporting to topics such as office trends, team dynamics and workforce development. A few past themes are returning next year in some form, but our 2020 calendar is mostly new. Check it out, with some notes on how we’re thinking about each theme and other info about what you can expect that month:

JANUARY — Early Employees

• Think: company formation, hiring, culture building
• How do a company’s first hires impact its development? How can those hires grow with the company?
• We’ll also publish the 2020 edition of the RealLIST Startups, aka our annual list of each market’s most promising new tech companies; look for a call for nominations soon.

FEBRUARY — Hiring Trends

• Think: talent acquisition strategies, in-demand skills, career growth
• What jobs are most in demand now? What are best practices for bringing great people onto your team?
• We’ll also host our annual NET/WORK jobs fair in Philly while prepping for Baltimore’s and D.C.’s, happening in March; look for more details soon.

MARCH — Gender Equity in Tech

• Think: inclusion, equality, unconscious bias
• How can tech become more accessible for people of all genders? What organizations and people are doing the most interesting and impactful gender equity work?

APRIL — Community Building

• Think: incubators, meetups, mentorship
• What does authentic community development look like? Who has been working behind the scenes to better connect their local tech ecosystem?
• We’ll also be prepping for Philly Tech Week 2019 presented by Comcast — the 10th annual (!!!); learn all the ways to get involved here and how to get started on organizing an event here.

MAY — Global Expansion

• Think: trade, regulations, emerging markets
• How should growing companies make the leap to taking on international clients? What are best practices for opening (or joining) an office overseas?

JUNE — Racial Equity in Tech

• Think: representation, access, social impact
• How can tech become more accessible for people of all ethnicities? What organizations and people are doing the most interesting and impactful racial equity work?

JULY — Design

• Think: UX, graphic design, product design
• Which local technologists are doing the coolest user-facing design work? How can design be better informed by accessibility practices?

AUGUST — Workplace Culture

• Think: team dynamics, inclusion, scaling
• What strategies should be put in place to create the culture that you want? How do team dynamics change as a company grows?
• We’ll also be hosting our annual Super Meetup events across multiple markets; look for more details in the spring.

SEPTEMBER — Civic Tech

• Think: Election Day 2020, open data, smart cities
• How are local government and the tech community collaborating to create technology for good? How can tech be used to increase access to resources for all residents?

OCTOBER — Software Development

• Think: programming languages, side projects, cybersecurity
• What are the tech stacks of local tech companies? What cool dev projects are local pros working on?
• We’ll also be reviving our RealLIST Engineers; look for a call for nominations toward the end of the summer.

NOVEMBER — Workforce Development

• Think: education, apprenticeships, upskilling
• What skills are most needed for technical jobs in this new decade? What local training programs are most effective?

DECEMBER — Technology of the Future

• Think: workforce shifts, climate change, CES 2021
• What do futurists say our collective 2021 looks like? Are robots actually coming for all our jobs?

Many of these follow a similar line: helping you do your job better. You can expect a handful of profiles on folks doing the most within these sectors, guest posts from relevant experts and a whole bunch of reporting on trends, challenges and solutions.

For instance, in March, we might write a handful of profiles about folks working to close the gender gap. A story published during Global Expansion Month might be a how-to list for managing employees working in a different time zone. And you might expect to see an updated roundup of local coding schools in the fall.

Have an idea for a story? Know someone working in one of these spaces who deserves some shine? Looking to align your marketing campaign with a sponsored content package? Drop us a line by scrolling to “Have an idea? Let’s talk” below: