Here’s your primer for BIW’s 2020 Innovation Celebration

Want to find out how Baltimore’s innovators responded to 2020? Friday, Oct. 9, is the day.

That’s when Baltimore Innovation Week’s single-day Innovation Celebration will spotlight the work of technologists, entrepreneurs and impact leaders who are responding to the needs laid bare by the pandemic and calls for racial justice.

More than 10 partners joined to organize panel discussions and interviews with the folks at the center of this work. Plus, we’ll hand out some awards and close the whole thing out with a trivia game.

Register here

To help you get ready, we’ve prepared a quick primer on the day’s events. Check out the full schedule, and the links for background reading:

CRM Marketing During COVID-19: Keeping Customers Engaged Throughout A Pandemic

• 9 to 10 a.m.
• Led by Response Labs CEO Dan Dawes and VP of Strategy Andy Locke, this session digs into the ETC-based agency’s work in the grocery and casual dining industries. For background, check out this blog post from the company on a dining survey it put out.

Startup Success Stories: Responding to COVID

• 10 to 11 a.m.
• Led by ETC and moderated by its president Deb Tillett, this panel is delving into the stories of Baltimore companies that adapted and moved quickly in the pandemic. Panelists include:
  • Aaron Hsu, CEO of transparent mask company ClearMask, which saw demand rise for its product and FDA clearance
  • Eric Hamrock, cofounder of Stocastic, which applied its AI tools to take triage out of the ER for COVID-19 patients
  • Sebastian Seiguer, cofounder of emocha Mobile Health, which applied its mobile video health tools to provide remote monitoring for hospitals, employers and schools

The front lines of COVID response teams: Who really is impacted most in a pandemic

• 11 a.m. to noon
• The experience of frontline workers has been much discussed when it comes to needed supplies and support. This panel features experiences directly from Baltimore’s healthcare institutions responding to COVID. Panelists include:
  • Dr. Janaki Deepak, assistant professor at University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of VA Lung Mass Clinic
  • Dr. Marik Moen, lead nurse for the city’s COVID Isolation Hotel Recovery Center at the Lord Baltimore Hotel
  • Dr. Alexander Kaysin, medical director of University of Maryland School of Medicine’s family practice
  • Moderated by Dr. Lori Edwards, assistant professor at UMD School of Nursing

Building Access and Bridging Structural Divides

• Noon to 1 p.m.
• As needs became clear on the community level during the pandemic, grassroots responses surfaced just as quickly, with organizations collaborating and spinning up new services to address health and education gaps. Technical.ly, Impact Hub Baltimore and Innovation Works are organizing this panel to go inside these coalitions. Panelists include:
  • Shantay Jackson, project manager for the mental health-focused Baltimore Neighbors Network to check in with residents and combat stress and isolation
  • Rajan Patel, cofounder of Dent Education, which trained and employed youth to make face shields amid a PPE shortage
  • Rebecca Yenawine, executive director of Teachers’ Democracy Project, which collected, refurbished and distributed devices to students who lacked tech access
  • Jonathan Moore, CEO of Rowdy Orb.it, which formed coalitions to set up Wi-Fi hotspots in West Baltimore and Cherry Hill
  • Moderated by Innovation Works President A. Jay Nwachu and this reporter

Register here

Interview: Trevor Brooks, Homesafe 1st

• 1 to 2 p.m.
• Brooks, an Accelerate Baltimore alum and Baltimore native, discusses how his current company Homesafe 1st is offering public health tools for cities to eradicate and isolate infectious disease and the role of Amazon Connect.

Entrepreneurship Evolved: Innovation During a Pandemic

• 2 to 3 p.m.
• In this university-focused session, Towson University and University System of Maryland collaborate for a pair of discussions on the following:
  • An impact study from Coppin State University on Open Works‘ maker mobilization to spin up face shield production
  • Towson University’s newly formed StarTUp Accelerator with Eric Hamrock of Stocastic and Patrick McQuown, executive director of entrepreneurship at TU

“How to Get to Yes” — Investors on How They Decide to Invest

• 3 to 4 p.m.
• Baltimore venture capital firm Squadra is leading a session with investors covering the why, how and when of their investment decisions. Panelists include:
  • Claire Broido-Johnson, managing director of the University System of Maryland’s Momentum Fund
  • Troy LeMaile-Stovall, the recently appointed CEO of Maryland startup investment and support agency TEDCO
  • Dr. Jacob Vogelstein, managing partner of Catalio Capital, the biomedical-focused venture firm that recently spun out of Camden Partners
  • Emily Dufree, program manager of CareFirst’s corporate commercialization and venture arm, Healthworx

The 2020 Technical.ly Awards in Baltimore

• 4 to 4:30 p.m.
• Join this reporter and Technical.ly Business Development Manager Alex Galiani as we honor the local tech and entrepreneurship leaders who have made a big impact amid challenging times in 2020.
• Check out the nominees and VOTE here through Monday, Oct. 5.

Happy hour and trivia!

• 4:30 p.m.
• Close out the day by raising a glass to the work we’ve done this year, and trivia led by Response Labs’ Andy Locke.

Register here