Help Plan Philly Tech Week 2013 outcomes

Tuesday evening, more than 90 community members and organization representatives convened over pizza and beer at First Round Capital in University City to brainstormed to plan exciting ideas and events for the third annual Philly Tech Week.

Attendees were split into small groups and faced with the task of filling in the following call for collaboration on the blackboard: “We think This Organization with This Organization should work together to This Cool/Important Event/Thing” Groups, which were switched throughout the event to encourage meeting new people, also offered suggestions for making the week better.

Get a sense of what was shared below.

[Full Disclosure: Technically Philly offices are in the First Round space, and, yes, we are the lead organizers of Tech Week.]

Now, as the initial Philly Tech Week calendar is due to launch next week, we wanted to share those ideas so we can work to incorporate these and other ways to highlight collaboration.

• We think student technologist group NVigor with the First Round Dorm Room Fund should work together to start a National Student Conference.
• We think PMFA Foodtrucks with UPenn should work together to share community startup collaboration.
• We think PHS/food co-ops with the city Parks and Recreation Dept should work together to talk about enviro-sustainable tech.
• We think Verizon with community development corporations should work together to discuss/address digital divide.
• We think Girl Develop It Philly with Urban Tech Project should work together to mentor.
• We think Apple/Google with startups and universities should work together to keep talent here.

Thoughts on improving Philly Tech Week in 2013:

• Improve timing of events so those interested in specific track won’t be forced to choose among simultaneous track-specific events. [Think event crawl]
• Provide video/livestream of events.
• Feature events that Technically Philly has had a hand in curating/organizing.
• Add skill level to technical workshops/events: beginner, intermediate, advanced.
• Unify ticketing source.
• Specialized speed networking for investors and entrepreneurs; developers and recruiters; developers who work in different languages; creative industries and developers, etc.
• Provide clear distinction between social events and skills-and-content focused events.
• Host a pre-Tech Week “How to Organize an Event” workshop