Want to organize a Philly Tech Week 2020 event? Start here

Community organizers are the heart of Philly Tech Week 2020 presented by Comcast — through conferences, workshops, social events and more, they tell the on-the-ground stories of Philadelphia’s growing tech and innovation economy and the professionals moving it forward.

At last week’s Philly Tech Week 2020 Event Organizer Meetup, community organizers gathered at MakeOffices to learn how to successfully propose, promote, and execute an event for the next Philly Tech Week.

If you are interested in organizing a #PTW20 event, here’s what you missed at the meetup and what you need to know moving forward.

The evening began with announcements about the PTW20 theme, tracks, and ways to participate. Check out our cheatsheet for getting involved in the big week and the changes for this year’s series.

Then, we shared updates about Technical.ly-produced events — save the followings dates and get tickets today!

• PTW20 Kickoff Festival at First Friday in Old City will return on Friday, May 1, 2020.
• Technical.ly Developers Conference will take place Tuesday, May 5, 2020 — and we are still seeking a venue.
• Introduced by Technical.ly is back at Convene CityView on Thursday, May 7, 2020.
• PTW20 Signature Event (aka Philly’s Nerd Met Gala) will close out the week in style on Friday, May 8, 2020 at Cira Green.

Next, we chatted about two special perks for community organizers. First, we are introducing Philly Tech Week 2020 hubs! Local venue partners are holding dates on their calendar specifically for PTW20 programming. Here’s the list of confirmed hubs — with more to come:

• Friday, May 1, 2020: REC Philly (from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and a TBD Old City location (from 5 to 10 p.m.)
• Monday, May 4, 2020: Pennovation Center powered by 1776
• Wednesday, May 6, 2020: Quorum at the University City Science Center
• Thursday, May 7, 2020: Convene CityView
• Friday, May 8, 2020: Cira Green
• Saturday, May 9, 2020: PhillyCAM

Second, we created PTW20 event types to offer organizers more support and visibility during the week. Types include:

• Conferences: Events that are four hours or more, target 100 or more attendees, with a measurable portion of attendees representing areas outside of Philly and measurable sponsor engagement
• Influencer events: Events that have been in existence for at least two years, targeting 100 or more attendees, with organizations that have 1,000 or more followers across all social media platforms
• PTW20 hub events: Events taking place in the hubs
• General events: Events that do not identify as the types above

Each type has requirements and benefits that can be found in the event organizer guide. Organizers that would like to take advantage of these perks can indicate interest through the event organizer application, which is open now. The deadline to request to be a part of a hub is Friday, Jan. 31, 2020.

Before opening up the stage to members of the audience, we reviewed how to access and submit the event organizer application:

1. Visit the PTW20 website.
2. On the home page, scroll down and click the “Submit an Event for Approval” button.
3. Fill out the application with as much information as possible — we understand that all of your event details may not be set at this point, but communicate as much as you can.
4. Wait up to 10 business days to hear back from the events team with more information.

Last, we opened the floor for attendees to pitch their PTW20 event ideas. Here’s a sneak peek of what the community is working on:

• Elements of the Community Inc. is working on Financial Reality Fair that will create opportunities for youth to develop skills in financial planning and literacy by participating in real-world economic interactive activities, simulations and more.
• EY Design Studio PHL will be inviting the community to participate in a collaborative three-part session to think creatively through a user-centered design, development and research lens.
• Data-Core Systems is organizing a session about automated machine learning built for technical and non-technical business leaders.
• PA School for the Deaf is working on a workshop to help companies understand how to be more inclusive of deaf communities in their workspaces and workforce.
• E-Region Enterprises is bringing back the Blockchain Mini Summit where thought leaders will come together  on how blockchain technology is impacting industries and the community.

So get your event applications in as soon as possible! Once you are approved, I will be in touch weekly with more information and next steps. Feel free to review all of the steps involved in this process in the event organizer guide and schedule time with me if you’d like to iron out the details — fatima@technical.ly.