• The Technical.ly Builders Conference is focused on the communications of entrepreneurship, science and technology — also known as “ecosystem storytelling.”
• Next year’s event will be held May 19–21 at Carnegie Mellon’s Swartz Center in Pittsburgh.
• We’re accepting session proposals on case studies, new tools and strategies through Nov. 25.
The Technical.ly Builders Conference focuses on how we communicate entrepreneurship, science and technology. Building and sustaining coalitions, or “ecosystems” — what economic development leadership calls “systems stewardship” — requires an information strategy.
Join us May 19–21 in Pittsburgh for the leading event on storytelling for ecosystem-style economic development.
Builders is for ecosystem builders, place-based marketers and anyone charged with telling the story of entrepreneurs, scientists and technologists — and communicating the work that makes local economies grow. That ranges from advocacy to business development, from business and talent attraction and retention to coalition building and narrative change.
This year is deliberately smaller. Where past conferences drew more than 300 people, we’re tightening the 2027 room to go deeper on the work itself — though we still expect more than 30 states to be represented. Curated seats, sharper sessions, more time with the people actually doing this job.
We’re going to Pittsburgh because we named it our 2025 Startup Ecosystem of the Year, and because few places have a better claim on the technologies now reshaping every ecosystem in the country. Carnegie Mellon University founded the field of artificial intelligence through Herbert Simon and Allen Newell. It launched the world’s first Robotics Institute in 1979. And it’s where Geoffrey Hinton did the backpropagation research that underpins the current AI era.
Planned agenda
The conference runs two days, with a pre-event reception followed by a day and a half of programming.
- Wednesday, May 19: Opening reception
- Thursday, May 20: Full day of programming
- Friday, May 21: Half day of programming
We’ll be hosted at Carnegie Mellon’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, inside the Tepper School of Business at 4765 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213. A hotel block will be announced shortly.
Call for speakers: Pitch us before Thanksgiving
We’re accepting session proposals from ecosystem builders, place-based marketers, economic and workforce development leaders, policymakers and communicators. Priority formats:
- Tool workshops — storytelling aids and new technology, including AI
- Strategy sessions — how storytelling strengthens entrepreneurship, workforce and economic development
- Show your work — a campaign, a program or a narrative you built, and what you learned
Builders 2027 is shaped by a committee of practitioners from across our markets and beyond:
