Consider Philly Tech Week 2018 presented by Comcast a yearly check-in on Philadelphia’s tech ecosystem: its stakeholders and community members banding together to hold the conversations that shape its future.
If that is true, then this year’s new all-day conference, Introduced by Technical.ly, rallies that dialogue under one roof, with programming, demos, networking and connections happening at the Science History Institute on May 3.
Get ticketsFor this reporter, the conversations help inform coverage of topics ranging from the challenges of scaling a startup in Philadelphia to the future of digital education.
Here’s a look at just seven speakers — from investors to founders to nonprofit leaders — that will shine a light on ongoing, essential discussions to Philly’s tech community:
Sylvester Mobley
The Air Force veteran and founder of digital education nonprofit Coded by Kids is joining a panel called “School Doesn’t Suck: 3 Ways Classrooms Are Changing.” His organization is one of 27 stakeholders to join the CS4Philly effort, a push to get coding into Philly public schools. What will the future of tech education in Philly classrooms look like?
Kathryn O’Connor
You know that ubiquitous draft latte from La Colombe? That’s very tech and very Philly, as founder Todd Carmichael worked with local industry to create the first “textured” drink in a can. “At Product Marketing: Lessons On Smarter Selling,” we’ll hear from O’Connor, La Colombe’s VP of Marketing, on how the draft latte and other La Colombe products came to be in 62 percent of U.S. stores.
Josh Kopelman
A Philly Tech Week veteran, the First Round Capital chieftain is back to serve as keynote speaker at an interesting time: his Philly-based firm, which invests in companies across the country, landed a string of exits in the last few months, most notably an Uber stock sale to SoftBank reportedly worth $800 million.
Wil Reynolds
If you don’t already, you should keep tabs on the video content from the founder of digital marketing firm Seer Interactive. Listen carefully to Reynolds’ talk, titled “Supercharge your marketing by prioritizing HUMANS over HACKS,” and you might get some insight into how the founder built his company of 130 staffers, spread between Northern Liberties and San Diego.
Jewell Parkinson
SAP’s head of human resources will share how the software giant, whose North American headquarters is located in Delaware County, is working on areas like pay equity and inclusivity in today’s polarizing political climate.
Maya Baratz
As the Comcast Technology Center continues to soar in Center City, what impact might the Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator have on the Philly tech ecosystem? At Introduced, hear from Techstars’ Maya Baratz, the accelerator’s managing director, on the latest updates on the project, which looks to connect 10 or so startups with space, mentorship and $120,000 in capital.
Vidur Bhatnagar
Keriton founder Vidur Bhatnagar will rep Philly in a panel of realLIST startups from our five markets, moderated by Technical.ly Editor-in-Chief Zack Seward. It should be interesting to listen to the founder list the pros and cons of scaling a company here.
Bonus: While not tied to the Philly area, Backstage Capital founder Arlan Hamilton — who went from sleeping on friends’ couches to the head of a VC firm that has invested $2 million in women, people of color, and LGBT founders — should resonate with Philly’s scrappy, resilient spirit.
Before you go...
To keep our site paywall-free, we’re launching a campaign to raise $25,000 by the end of the year. We believe information about entrepreneurs and tech should be accessible to everyone and your support helps make that happen, because journalism costs money.
Can we count on you? Your contribution to the Technical.ly Journalism Fund is tax-deductible.
Join our growing Slack community
Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!