Events Roundup: 10 ways to take action through tech this October

Events Roundup is a Technical.ly column where we highlight events happening in the Philly area each month. Got a submission? Email us the details so we can consider it for our next roundup: philly@technical.ly.

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Even though we’re officially wrapping up September’s reporting for Civic Tech Month 2020 here at Technical.ly, it’s clear to us that the momentum, projects and events pushing for change in our great city are doing anything but slowing down.

Just five weeks before Election Day (Election Month?) and in the midst of an incredibly hard year, organizations and individuals are striving to find innovative ways to share information, celebrate success and build each other up.

Some events that caught our eye this upcoming month include the City of Philadelphia’s weeklong event series magnifying minority-owned business, a night of women technologists debating prominent tech issues and a talk on how to get people of all ages involved in taking civic action.

Like every October, this month is jam-packed with connective and electric events. And one upside to virtual attendance we’re gleaming? You no longer need to race across town to fit in multiple events in an evening.

Philly Culture United Live

This virtual fundraiser is supporting Black artists and gig workers in Philadelphia with donations going to 30ampCircuit, an org that brought microgrants to out-of-work musicians and gig workers back in May and will be providing memberships to REC Philly. The evening will be full of live conversations and musical performances.

• Thursday, Oct. 1
• 6 to 10 p.m.
• Free, RSVP here

A New Kind of Back to Work: Talent, Recovery and the Future of Greater Philadelphia 

This event aims to get employers, workforce orgs and educators informed about the jobs of the future and how skills-based hiring is benefiting both workers and employers. This talent recovery event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and WorkingNation will touch on job creation, diverse hiring, inclusive internal practices and outline clear career pathways, while keeping the recovery of the greater Philadelphia area’s economy in mind.

• Friday, Oct. 2
• 9 a.m. to noon
• Free, register here

Virtual Minority Enterprise Development Week 2020

This City-sponsored series of events kicks off Monday, Oct. 5, and will highlight minority-owned businesses and connect them to resources that can help their firms grow. This year’s theme, “Preparing for the next normal,” will respond to challenges businesses have faced because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The week features more than 40 events, panels, one-on-one coaching and webinars like “Be your own boss: How to start a business in Philadelphia” and “Is your business rebuild ready?”

• Events run from Monday, Oct. 5 through Friday, Oct. 9
• Various times
• Check out and register for a full slate of events here

Generations of Change

Looking to learn more about taking civic action in the weeks leading up to the election? This virtual event, hosted by Mural Arts, invites people of all ages to learn about the importance of youth civic engagement, voting rights and how art can make those efforts more accessible. Speakers include members from the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters, the Philadelphia Youth Commission and local artists.

• Tuesday, Oct. 6
• 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
• Free, register here

Black Girl Ventures Virtual Pitch Night

Black Girl Ventures, which set up a chapter here in Philadelphia last year, is hosting its 2020 pitch night virtually, bringing Black and brown woman-identifying entrepreneurs together to vie for funding. Attendees can vote for their favorite pitch with their own money, which will go to all eight women in form form of pre-seed funding. Winners will receive cash, thousands in Google credits, a consultation with a lawyer and an accountant, business coaching with BGV founder Shelly Bell, a Salesforce package and discounted HubSpot access, along with a yearlong membership to the BGV Connect Incubator.

• Thursday, Oct. 8
• 6 p.m.
• Free, register here

Women in Tech Debate

This Philly Startup Leaders-hosted event brings together thought leaders in tech to debate specific topics relevant to women in tech and entrepreneurship. Attendees will hear from six women on AI, biases and ethics, and will get to vote for a winner in each “match.” The debates will be followed by a networking hour.

• Thursday, Oct. 15
• 2 to 4:30 p.m.
• Free, register here

Running a startup in a down economy

This Quorum virtual talk by Crossbeam CEO Bob Moore will include stories and lessons learned from founding startups during economically challenging times in 2008 with RJMetrics, in 2016 with Stitch Data and in 2018 with Crossbeam.

• Wednesday, Oct. 21
• Noon to 1 p.m.
• Free, register here

Amplify Philly @ Home Part 4

Amplify Philly is bringing us another programmed day of conversations, performances and talks from across the art, business and tech industries this month. Although the schedule for the day is still being finalized, we know Technical.ly reporter Michael Butler will be having an interesting conversation with Lyonzo Vargas, who runs entertainment and wellness company GLBL VLLG. Other themes throughout the day include the social determinants of health, a fireside with TU Alumni Association, LIFT Labs startup spotlights, and a conversation with Greg Clarke who is described as the world’s expert on global identity for cities.

• Wednesday, Oct. 21
• 1 to 6 p.m.
• Free, register here

Java at 25: Retrospective & Futures

This event, brought to you by Chariot Solutions and PhillyJUG, takes a look at how the language has been used and how it is changed in its 25 years of existence. “In its usages from servers to desktops, clouds, phone, and tablets, and as a platform for other languages such as Scala, Clojure, Groovy and JRuby, the initial genius of a platform-independent virtual machine, c-like syntax, and an open bytecode core has made it the goto platform for many engineers,” the event page says.

• Wednesday, Oct. 21
• 3:15 to 5 p.m.
• Free, register here

Seerfest

Seer Interactive’s annual digital marketing conference will feature eight speakers discussing hot topics in audience and data. Every dollar from your ticket price goes to tech education nonprofit Coded by Kids this year.

• Thursday, Oct. 22
• 10 a.m. to 6:45 p.m.
• $100, register here