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Luke Skywalker’s help desk

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What’s happening in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneur/nerd scene (Week of Monday, July 9, 2018)

Every week, I compile a list of events for developers, technologists, tech entrepreneurs, and nerds in and around the Tampa Bay area. We’ve got a lot of events going on this week, and here they are!

Monday, July 9

Tuesday, July 10

Wednesday, July 11

Thursday, July 12

Friday, July 13

Saturday, July 14

Sunday, July 15

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What’s happening in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneur/nerd scene (Week of Monday, July 2, 2018)

Monday, July 2

Tuesday, July 3

Wednesday, July 4

Note: Certain event sites like Meetup.com like to automatically schedule events, often without the organizers being aware of it. Before you attend any events on the 4th of July, check with the organizers first!

Thursday, July 5

Friday, July 6

Saturday, July 7

Sunday, July 8

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Notes from Lakshmi Shenoy’s presentation on the upcoming Tampa Bay Innovation Hub

Photo by Allie Felix. Click to see the source.

Last December, Tampa Bay Lightning owner and philanthropist Jeff Vinik hired Lakshmi Shenoy, VP Strategy and Business at the Chicago innovation hub 1871 to start a similar innovation hub here in Tampa Bay. Last night, Shenoy spoke to a packed room at a gathering organized by Tampa’s Indo-US Chamber of Commerce about the upcoming Tampa Bay Innovation Hub, which will be to Tampa Bay what 1871 is to Chicago.

I took notes and photos during her presentation, which I’ve shared below.

Introduction

  • I was VP of Strategy and Business Development at 1871, an innovation hub located in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart
  • The notion of an innovation hub is less than 10 years old
  • 1871 has been described as “world class”. Why?
    • It’s 140,000 square feet of space whose purpose us to bring together stakeholders and startups to help grow local technology entrepreneurship
    • A place for 500 startups, 7 venture capitalist teams, several participating universities, and a stage that holds 1,000 public events a year
  • It’s a central gathering point for technology and entrepreneurship
  • I loved working with founders and teams at 1871
  • The impact of startups is my personal force forward

The move to Tampa

  • I was hired to start an innovation hub in Tampa Bay last year, and moved here in February
  • To get familiar with the area, I needed to leverage the knowledge of locals, and conducted over 200 interviews with them
  • The locals were open and friendly
  • From these interviews, I formed my strategy and concluded that Tampa Bay faces three key challenges:
    1. Access to talent and capital
    2. Density
      • Tampa is spread out geographically
      • Such a spread-out place could benefit from place making
      • We need a landing zone that could act as a gathering place and that makes it easy for newcomers to find other people in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneurial scene
    3. Branding
      • Startup talent doesn’t think of the Tampa Bay area as a place to set up their startup
      • We need to make a team effort to promote Tampa Bay
      • Use the hashtag #MakeItTampaBay

The Tampa Bay Innovation Hub

  • “Tampa Bay Innovation Hub” is the legal name; the name that the place will go by is under wraps and will be announced soon
  • We’re seeking talent who want to help us and want to be woven into community
  • It’s a physical space whose purpose is to make Tampa Bay a startup place, similar to Station F in Paris
  • It has 3 conceptual pieces:
    1. Practical: It gives you a place where you know where to go to find the Tampa Bay tech scene
    2. Emotional: It provides a community of people who understand the entrepreneur’s experiences and challenges
    3. Perception: It provides an image of activity, visual density, and an abundance of opportunity, and no one person or group up can do that
  • It’s an ESO: an entrepreneurial support organization

The target and partners

  • We’re targeting 3 key groups:
    1. Founders and startup teams at the core
    2. Invested supporters
    3. Tampa Bay’s tech/entrepreneurial community and beyond, acting as positive stewards

  • It’s about creating a big tent that’s open to everyone who wants to be part of creating the conditions for startup success
  • My KPIs are people
  • We must:
    • Have the density to retain people
    • Develop anyone who wants to engage
    • Future-proof people
    • Create exposure and access to new tech

Coming soon

  •  The brand of the hub exists: it’s just under wraps
  • We’re attracting local and international partners — that’s right: international partners!
  • We want to announce space with wow factor
  • Startup signups will start soon

  • This is a very special time for the Tampa Bay community
  • When I came here last fall, I noticed an energy and optimism here
  • I’m happy that I get to be part of this region’s story
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Tampa iOS Meetup returns September 25, 2018

There WON’T be a Tampa iOS Meetup this coming Tuesday, June 26 — and there won’t be one in July or August either. Tampa iOS Meetup will return on Tuesday, September 25.

Things have become quite busy at work, and as a result, I have work and family events that take place at the same time as the usual Tampa iOS Meetup times for the next few months.

It may have looked like there were supposed to be meetups in June, July, or August, but that’s because Meetup.com likes to get ahead of itself. Once you start holding meetups at regular intervals (like Tampa iOS Meetup normally does, on the last Tuesday of the month), Meetup.com tries to help by automatically scheduling meetups on those dates into the foreseeable future. Sorry for any confusion that this may have caused.

I’ll still be around! If you have any questions, or want to talk about iOS, programming, or life in general, you can always reach me at joey@joeydevilla.com.

See you on Tuesday, September 25!

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What’s happening in the Tampa Bay tech/entrepreneur/nerd scene (Week of Monday, June 25, 2018)

Every week, I compile a list of events for developers, technologists, tech entrepreneurs, and nerds in and around the Tampa Bay area. We’ve got a lot of events going on this week, and here they are!

Monday, June 25

Tuesday, June 26

Wednesday, June 27

Thursday, June 28

Friday, June 29

Saturday, June 30

Sunday, July 1

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This diagram reminds me of how many programmers comment their code