The Philly tech scene can feel disconnected, especially for those new to the scene, but leaders say consistent collaboration could bring people back together.
That’s why Philly tech support org 1Philadelphia hosted the Ecosystem Assembly last Wednesday and invited orgs to present their schedules for the fall. It was an opportunity for established leaders, new faces and everyone in between to get on the same page, Danae Mobley, executive director of 1Philadelphia, told Technical.ly.
“Philadelphia’s tech community is unique in that when it is at its best, it is not monocultural.”
Alex Hillman, Indy Hall
“Sometimes you don’t know what’s out there,” Mobley said. “Being able to mix with people and bump into them organically … you can come away with a whole list of things to fill your fall calendar.”
Those events range widely, from weekly meetups to major conferences. Founders Alley plugged its second annual conference, the city’s Department of Commerce shared information about this year’s Startup World Cup pitch competition and Indy Hall explained its 20th anniversary plans.
Orgs like Ben Franklin Technology Partners and Wexford also presented, explaining how they hope to support programming this fall through their spaces.
Despite all the activity, these orgs all have unique audiences that don’t always cross over. The disconnect between groups within the ecosystem mirrors the same divide we see in the city’s neighborhoods, Alex Hillman, founder of Indy Hall, said. Once people find a place they fit into, they stay there and don’t make as much effort to explore everything else.
Indy Hall is celebrating two decades of operation this month, and a recent focus of the coworking space has been creating opportunities for community leaders across sectors to interact, Hillman said.
Over the years, Hillman has seen the ecosystem struggle with coordination and collaboration, although he acknowledged that things have improved significantly post-pandemic.
“Philadelphia’s tech community is unique in that when it is at its best, it is not monocultural,” he said.
That’s why the org is hosting twice-monthly Neighborhood Nights, after-hours coworking sessions for organizers and their members to come work on events or related projects. The goal is to create opportunities for cross-community meetings and collaborations.
“My hope is that at these events … [people will] discover those similarities,” he said. “It’s so much more powerful when people can discover the similarities for themselves.”
Collaboration as a catalyst
For some org leaders, encouraging collaboration is a strategy for lifting the whole ecosystem.
After Erik Caputo’s own experience struggling to break into the scene, he started Founders Alley to highlight resources in Philly. That way, founders coming in can explore and decide what group they identify with, he said.
“By centralizing all this under one roof, I hope to bring more cognition to what Philly’s doing, and hopefully collaboration that comes after that,” Caputo said.
Leaders also hope that working together will inspire innovation. The purpose of meetup group Coffee and Code Philly is to be a consistent place for engineers to come together and learn from each other, organizer Tony Siu said
Coffee and Code Philly is planning hackathons this fall and inviting companies and technologists from outside the region to teach workshops, Siu said. His goal is to create spaces where technologists feel inspired to build tools and resources.
“You can have the agency to build something cool,” Siu said, “and strive for whatever the gaps [might be] in the Philly tech ecosystem.”
