Philly Tech Week will kick off May 6 in the metaverse

One of the year’s biggest, immersive celebrations of technology, creativity and innovation is coming. Yes, it’s in the metaverse. Yes, it will be weird.

A slew of partners are joining forces on Friday, May 6, to curate a single massive collection of immersive gaming, music, art, technology and emerging startup installations. The celebration will serve as the kickoff of Philly Tech Week Presented by Comcast 2022 and will be produced in partnership with Love from Philly and immersive engagement platform Agora World.

Tickets are free:

For a chance to put your innovation, technology, music or art on display, fill out this form.

“Philly Tech Week has always featured new and inventive intersections between technology, entrepreneurship and innovation. That comes with collaboration, and coming together after two years of pandemic, this is just the kind of experimental kickoff we want to be a part of,” said Christopher Wink, the CEO of Technical.ly and Philly Tech Week cofounder.

Organized by Technical.ly, #PTW22 will be the 12th annual celebration of technology, entrepreneurship and innovation. This spring will mark the first in-person PTW events since 2019, along with additional hybrid and virtual activations — including this kickoff in the metaverse. All events will include COVID-19 precautions.

The event will include the group behind Love from Philly, a weeklong celebration of music, film and the creative economy. Love from Philly is produced by the 30 Amp Circuit, a nonprofit dedicated to the health and wellness of artists and creators, in conjunction with the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, celebrating its 15th year of serving up a diverse and daring display of local and global film and media.

“This is an always on crossroads in Philadelphia arts and technology. This experiment could only happen with new thinking and technology” said Benjamin Barnett, the founder and festival director at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival. The 30 Amp Circuit team includes Andy Hurwitz, Keith Scriven and Kimberly Landle.

The tech behind the event is powered by Agora World, a Philadelphia-founded software startup that is developing a browser-based virtual-world building platform. They helped kick off last year’s all-virtual Philly Tech Week, too.

“Agora World is a platform for collaboration and experimentation. We couldn’t imagine a better way to bridge two vibrant creative communities with our technology,” said Ethan Berg, Agora World’s cofounder.

The partnership’s overarching goal is to enable technology and the intersection of creativity originating in Philadelphia. All are welcome.