Civic News

Collaborations for the future of Philadelphia

It's why we moved on making the week about collaboration, and the ways in which already existing collaborations are strengthening Philadelphia's technology community.

Some of the more than 150 attendees at the Philly Tech Week signature event

When we began receiving the first additions to the calendar for Philly Tech Week, we noticed a trend: groups were working together to take advantage of venue space together, to reach a wider audience, and to help one another plan great programming.
It’s why we moved on making the week about collaboration, and the ways in which already existing collaborations are strengthening Philadelphia’s technology community.
That much was true when we asked leaders in the community to talk about the relationships they’d already forged and ones they hoped to see happen. During the photo shoot for the inaugural week’s Program & Magazine [PDF], a print publication we distributed at each event and at more than 60 retail locations around the city with the help of Philadelphia Media Network (publishers of the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com), we asked those leaders to talk collaboration. See the video of that shoot below.
http://www.viddler.com/player/8fe4ab8d/
During our closing Philly Tech Week signature event, we brought the week’s theme to an actionable conclusion. We asked the 150 attendees to draft partnerships they thought would be interesting, fun or powerful, and could make Philadelphia a better place to live.
On a sheet of paper, we laid out a Mad Lib-style format that we thought might encourage some bold ideas: “I think that PARTNER ORGANIZATION should work with PARTNER ORGANIZATION to PROJECT TO MAKE PHILADELPHIA BETTER.
The 10 best of those drafts, submitted anonymously, are below the jump in no particular order. We hope it can become a list that is real.

I think that the Food Trust should work with smart techie people to create a resource for farmer’s markets.
I think that Happy Cog should work with the City of Philadelphia to show everyone how beautiful Philly is.
I think that Some awesome accounting firm should work with the School District of Philadelphia to forecast the long-term impact of failing to train new Philadelphia engineers.
I think that Comcast should work with Videogame Growth Initiative to develop videogame epicenter.
I think that Nonprofit Technology Resources should work with School District of Philadelphia to map digital inclusion needs.
I think that SEPTA should work with Inquirer to showcase digital news on train platforms.
I think that WHYY should work with Crane Arts to start a low-power community radio station.
I think that Zero Gravity Studio should work with African American Museum of Philadelphia
to design and develop mobile apps to promote museum activities.
I think that Board of Elections should work with Philadelphia Division of Technology to make it easy to share election information.

Companies: The Philadelphia Inquirer / African American Museum in Philadelphia / Division of Technology / Happy Cog / Nonprofit Technology Resources

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