BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Oct 15, 2015) - The MassTLC Innovation unConference, one of the region's most vital gatherings of entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and business and community leaders, will convene on October 23 from 8:30am - 4:30pm at the Hynes (un)Convention Center.
Now in its eighth year and characterized by its attendee-driven format, the Innovation unConference will focus on bringing together Massachusetts' collective high-tech brainpower to power-up the region's innovation economy. Attendees will apply collective energy to think about how best to launch, grow and retain the companies and talent that will carry the state and all of New England into the future.
"The unConference is a perfect example of what makes Boston so appealing as a place for high tech companies," said Acquia Founder and Innovation unConfernece Co-chair Jay Batson, who shares that role with Freewinds Production President and TEDxBoston Co-founder Danielle Duplin. "We already have an amazingly cool, vibrant and tight-knit tech startup community downtown. The unConference amps this up to max-volume by pulling in amazing tech people from a much wider range of tech locations and experience. This is absolutely the event that everybody in the Massachusetts tech ecosystem attends.
"Past unConference participants always point to the 'open format' as the element that makes this work so well," Batson continued. "The agenda is open and determined by the attendees, who propose topics to talk about in small groups -- which always makes for surprising, fun outcomes. Alongside those sessions, some of the country's most successful tech executives attend to hold open 'office hours' to make themselves available to entrepreneurs who can benefit from their experience, insights and contacts."
"Under normal circumstances it can be difficult to navigate corporate bureaucracy to get a meeting with a C-level executive," said Tom Coburn, CEO and Co-founder, Jebbit. "But at the unConference creativity and ambition are the main currency. Meaningful and long-lasting connections are forged here based on common interests and a shared commitment to building Massachusetts companies that will thrive here and around the world."
In the spirit of innovation, the unConference starts off this year with several new twists, including a speed-dating-style structured-networking event, followed by thematic breakout sessions covering marketing, sales, technology development, product management, customer success, operations and CEO/organizational management topics. Following those the day returns to the proven attendee-driven unConference format where sessions are determined by popular choice. This portion of the day also features open networking with a lineup of CEOs helming some of the most successful and exciting companies in high tech including Kirk Arnold of Data Intensity, Richard Dale of OptumLabs, Ralph Folz of WordStream, Howard Kogan of C Space, Deborah Theobald of Vecna and Vecna Cares, and Russ Wilcox of Piper Therapeutics.
In addition, members of the Massachusetts Legislature's Tech Hub Caucus will be on hand to discuss and debate state policy related to issues such as infrastructure and public transportation, support for Gateway Cities, affordable housing and more.
"The unConference is an opportunity to step beyond the typical networking venues and meet on neutral ground to share energy, ideas, and resources for challenging the status quo. It combines the broad senior-level experience we have in Massachusetts with the abundance of high-energy entrepreneurs, resulting in new and creative perspectives and projects that make our region so great," said Tom Hopcroft, President and CEO, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council.
MassTLC Innovation unConference
October 23, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Hynes Convention Center
900 Boylston Street, Boston
Click to Register/Purchase Tickets
Innovation unConference is made possible by the generous participation of Platinum Sponsors Aericon, AT&T, Katz Nannis + Solomon, InterSystems, Microsoft and Oracle; Gold Sponsors CHEN PR, Google and Salesforce; and Silver Sponsors Auriga, Cantina, Digital Realty and GoDaddy.
About The Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc.
With more than 550 member companies, the Mass Technology Leadership Council (MassTLC) is the region's leading technology association and the premier network for tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors and policy leaders. MassTLC's purpose is to accelerate innovation by connecting people from across the technology landscape, providing access to industry-leading content and ideas and offering a platform for visibility for member companies and their interests. More at www.masstlc.org
About the MassTLC Innovation unConference
A one-day conference where hundreds of folks throughout the tech ecosystem --CEOs, founders, investors, developers, marketers, strategists, and more -- come together to exchange ideas and get advice to take them -- and their business - to the next level. It's about giving help and getting help, in an open and collaborative environment. More at www.masstlcuncon.org
Contact Information:
PRESS CONTACT:
Shannon Todesca (for MassTLC)
CHEN PR, Inc.
781-672-3147