Civic News

Baltimore Innovation Week 2016: 70 events and 10K attendees

It was the most events ever for the five-year-old event series organized by Technical.ly.

The crowd at the #BIW16 Media Conference, one of 70 events that took place during the week. (Photo by Tim Savage)

The tradition is set. And helpfully, more groups of people are joining in.
That’s the message coming out of the fifth annual Baltimore Innovation Week. The annual open calendar of events around technology, entreprenuership and innovation that we at Technical.ly organized with the support of dozens of community partners, event organizers and sponsors, including our title sponsor 14 West, part of The Agora Companies.

biw-event-totals

BIW events by year.


In reviewing the week’s footprint and impact, one of the biggest changes this year was an unexpected jump in the number of events that landed during the week — 70, a more than 20 percent jump from last year. That follows 2015’s big surge in the aggregate number of attendees. (Look back at five years of BIW magazines for insights.) All told, nearly 10,000 people were out during the week.
It’s what an organic community event series looks like: habits are formed and relationships grown over time.
In truth, among the loudest early feedback following #BIW16 was that perhaps, yes, we’ve crossed the threshold of there being too many events during one week, a lesson we’ll take into next year.
It’s worth a reminder of the Innovation Week format: We at Technical.ly organize several of the week’s larger and more-programmed events, including an awards ceremony and a series of conferences, alongside a curated community calendar of events from you that align with BIW’s mission. In tandem, the events offer a comprehensive picture of Baltimore’s tech and startup sector. Those community events range from a broadly inclusive Kaiser Permanente social good hackathon to the gargantuan networking affair Beta City.
As always, beyond the powerful little moments of connections and discovery, lots of bigger outcomes can be pointed toward. Here are some from #BIW16:

Companies: 14 West / Betamore / Technical.ly

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Baltimore is setting a national standard for diversifying its economy

19 tech and entrepreneurship events to check out before the holidays

Tech lab space opening in new 4MLK building, thanks to $2M in public funds

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

Technically Media