This past June, Technical.ly hosted a “Help Plan Delaware Innovation Week 2016” event at Wilmington coworking space The Mill. We brought together more than 50 community members to brainstorm new ideas for Delaware Innovation Week 2016 presented by 1313 Innovation (which, btw, kicks off in just a few weeks on Friday, Nov. 11).
It’s the big annual open calendar of events we at Technical.ly first organized last year. At June’s planning event, attendees split into groups based on the week’s six tracks (Creative, Dev, Civic, Access, Business, Media) to discuss new ideas for making the week better, including advertising, programming, accessibility and more.
Plan your week
Here are a few ideas from the brainstorming session that have become full-blown events. (For a full list of ideas that came out of the event check out our recap article here.)

Dev

• Idea: A coding competition
• Reality: First planned for the #DIW16 calendar, we’re fulfilling this community call with this weekend’s {OpenBracket. As many as 150 technologists will be battling at Wilmington’s Grand Opera House for the chance at that $15,000 grand prize, in an event that we at Technical.ly are helping to produce with representatives from First State Innovation, Zip Code Wilmington, The Kitchen and investor Ben Dupont. (Also: Don’t sleep on our Dev Conf.)

Access

• Idea: Access-focused presentation by public libraries
• Reality: The request for more access-focused presentations by the Delaware Libraries has been realized through TEDxWilmington where 100 attendees will hear from nine speakers in eight talks as they lead a conversation about why information is power. (Note: The libraries are also again up for a Delaware Innovation Award.)

Business

• Idea: High-profile founders to educate on multiple topics: How/when to raise, pitch-deck tips, how to align with a VC, etc.
• Reality: You asked for it all and we’re giving it all to you with Lunch & Learn. You’ll workshop your skills on the following topics with reputable local leaders:
  • Sales Planning with Frank DeSantis, New Castle County Chamber of Commerce
  • Protecting your Ideas with Jim Lennon, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
  • Fundraising with Revital Hirsch, Saul Ewing LLP
  • Social Media & Digital Branding with Gaby Indellini, Greater Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau
  • Company Culture with Nathaniel Measley, The Fun Dept.

Other high-profile speakers to meet your demands:

• John Maxwell (Amazon.com #1 leadership author), Simon Sinek (author of Start with Why and Leaders Eat Last), Liz Wiseman (president of the Wiseman Group), and Dan Cathy (CEO of Chick-fil-A) are all speaking on the Live To Lead Simulcast at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.

• Paul Reville of the Harvard Graduate School of Education at the Ninth Annual Conference on Education.

Honorable mention:

Some sort of “speed dating” event has been suggested at these brainstorming events across our markets and we’re proud that our title sponsor, 1313 Innovation, has met the challenge, making it happen for the first time for #DIW16. They’re calling it Angels and Entrepreneurs.