Six Signs It’s Tech Week
Philly Tech Week is now in its seventh year.
Philly Tech Week is back (April 28-May 6), promising fun events, hands-on workshops and rare access to some of this city’s most interesting hives innovation (and the brains behind them), occasionally with a beer in your hand. The full schedule is here, but let’s look at some highlights:
Innovation Crawl @ Center City | Friday, April 28
See what’s cooking at several downtown hives of the tech industry at your own pace. Maybe start at Technically Media HQ where you can pick up a map and a drink, and check out Quadratron Games and Super Rock Blasters, whatever they are. See also: augmented and virtual reality at PhillyCAM, kinetic backpacks at MakeOffices, a cell counting device for chemo patients at CultureWorks and more stuff all over the place.
Mayoral Tech Town Hall @ Schuylkill Yards | Monday, May 1
Mayor Jim Kenney chats with Technical.ly Philly people about the state of tech work in the city. After a short break there’s the Economic Impact of Technology Panel discussion with Deb Tillett (of Emerging Technology Centers in Baltimore), Patricia Cannon (of Delaware’s Economic Development Office) and Archna Sahay (Philadelphia’s Director of Entrepreneurial Investment).
Disruption & Diversity in Technology @ WeWork Market Street | Tuesday, May 2
A very busy day featuring discussions on women in tech, Disrupting the Status Quo, Recruiting In The Age Of Googleization and more.
Dev Workshops @ Temple’s Alter Hall | Wednesday, May 3
Programming noobs and intermediates are welcome at hands-on workshops in JavaScript and Ruby, led by instructors from Chariot Solutions, Launch Academy and Zip Code Wilmington. Heads up: Go here first, to prime your laptop. This is part of part of a full day of dev-related events that includes Governor Tom Wolf in conversation with Technical.ly’s Chris Wink.
P.S. There are lots of Tech Week events for people who already know what they’re doing, including the AppItUP mobile application idea challenge, the evoHaX web accessibility hackathon and the WORST Coding Practices (…and How to Fix Them) discussion.
#Failfest @ WeWork Northern Liberties | Thursday, May 4
Local tech developers discusses their biggest and funniest screw-ups. Includes reps from Venmo, Skyless Games Studios and more. Beer will be served.
#PTW17 Signature Event @ Pennovation Center | Friday, May 5
The biggest event on the Tech Week calendar is probably this interactive local technology expo featuring an open bar. Local innovators from Ghost Robotics (see below), Flyclops, Hive76, Neon Wasteland and more will set up shop in the App Arcade/Maker Corner. Also: ice cream by Weckerly’s, art by Kid Hazo and Samuel Cusumano, flowers by UrbanStem, etc.
