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Technical.ly 15th Anniversary

Baltimore history through tweets: 15 posts from tech, community and social justice leaders since 2009

We scoured the platform now known as X and found one signature statement for each year, from the Super Bowl to the Freddie Gray protests and beyond.

Words by:
Alanah Nichole Davis headshot
Alanah Nichole Davis,  @reporteralanah
Edited by:
Sameer Rao headshot
Sameer Rao,  @AManCalledSrao
Feb 15, 2024 3:53pm
Baltimore's skyline at night from Harbor East. (Technical.ly/Sameer Rao)
Since 2009, Baltimore has experienced tremendous change, from its place in the national spotlight to the halls of political and economic power.

We were part of that evolution, through our coverage and events like Baltimore Innovation Week.

One way to paint a picture of that evolution is through the public record kept through something else that’s changed a lot since 2009: Twitter.

To continue the celebration of Technical.ly’s 15th anniversary, we scoured the web for Baltimoreans’ old…tweets? Posts?

Whatever you want to call them, or the platform they came from, check out 15 of them below:

2009

In 2009, DeRay Mckesson, a Baltimore-born civil rights figure, served as the director of an after-school program in West Baltimore.

2012

Self-proclaimed coworking maven Shervonne Cherry can be seen in this old tweet chatting folks up about design integration into tech. She was still the creative director for Mindgrub back then.

2013

In 2013, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School was gearing up for Baltimore Innovation Week, which had just launched a year prior.

Also, while this post isn’t from 2013, it is nice to remember when the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl that year.

2015

Technical.ly had its eyes on drones.


And Twitter was blazing with Tweets about local photographer Devin Allen’s TIME magazine cover following the Freddie Gray protests and riots.

2016

Here’s a throwback featuring current Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) Director of Lending Eric Lin and Impact Hub Baltimore Network Director Michelle Geiss. Lin, who worked in another LEDC role at the time, would later be the managing director for Impact Hub from 2019 to 2022.

2017

The now-defunct Red Bull Amaphiko festival and academy were in Baltimore highlighting changemakers like B-360’s founder Brittany Young.

Former ETC Baltimore director Deb Tillet was hanging out with pups and at events like Labs at Light City (RIP), produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, years before her quiet replacement and the installation of ETC’s latest leader.

2018

Local ice cream purveyor Taharka Brothers welcomed Ben & Jerry’s to Baltimore with support from Impact Hub.

2021

Seema Iyer, the then-director of the Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance, gave insights on transportation data in this video we posted.

2022

In 2022, Mayor Brandon Scott proclaimed March 25 as B-360 Day. This year, the celebrations surrounding that day take place over a whole weekend.

2023

McKeever “Mac” Conwell, managing partner of RareBreed Ventures, appeared on Capitol Hill to testify during a session on bills related to the Improving Capital Allocation for Newcomers Act.

TEDCO was at the CIAA Tech Summit. Check out the lineup for this year, including yours truly.

2024

It’s an election year in Baltimore. This year’s election allows the public to find their districts’ candidates using a special tracker, according to Baltimore City Public School Board Commissioner Ashley Esposito.

What will happen to the ecosystem in the next 15 years? Which events, leaders and initiatives will still be here in Baltimore? Let us know your thoughts by emailing baltimore@technical.ly.

In February 2009, Technical.ly published our first article. Fifteen years later, we're still here — but a lot has changed. We're celebrating our anniversary with a look back, and a look forward.

Full disclosure: Technical.ly has partnered with ETC Baltimore, including on Baltimore Innovation Week. In addition, TEDCO is a Technical.ly Ecosystem Builder client, and Technically Media CEO Chris Wink is a limited partner in RareBreed Ventures. These relationships had no impact on this article.
Companies: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance / Impact Hub Baltimore / RareBreed Ventures / Mindgrub / B-360 / Baltimore City Robotics Center / Baltimore Ravens / Emerging Technology Centers (ETC Baltimore) / Johns Hopkins University / TEDCO / Twitter / Technical.ly
Tags: Baltimore / Events / Social justice

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