In the Springfield Tech Council’s second annual conference, they are expanding the focus, expecting a larger audience and dog-sitting a famous robot canine.
The conference is taking place at the DoubleTree’s Glendalough Convention Center on Wednesday, March 8 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free and open to anyone who registers. A continental breakfast and box lunch will be provided, and a happy hour will conclude the day, beginning at 3 p.m.
Vendor booths will be set up around the convention center, and various sessions and events will take place throughout the day, featuring guest speakers from tech companies around the country.
“I think it’s exciting to have all of these people in one event and be able to connect with each other and learn from some of the great speakers that we have,” said Emily Buckmaster, the executive director of the Springfield Tech Council. “We have some really great topics and speakers presenting.”
Robot dog, tech companies help expand conference focus
The inaugural conference in 2022 focused heavily on the topic of cybersecurity, according to Buckmaster. But this year, they are casting a wider net to “really hit on how there’s something for everyone.”
This year’s topics, or “tracks,” will include:
- Cybersecurity
- Converging/Emerging Technologies
- Development/DevOps
- Leadership in Technology
- Modernizing Buildings with Technology
For the converging/emerging technologies track, Buckmaster said they have a session planned on ChatGPT, an open AI chatbot that launched in November 2022.
“That’s proving to be very popular,” she said. “It looks like we’ve got a lot of people indicating they’re planning to attend that one.”
Some of the sessions are invitation-only, though the majority are open to all of the registered attendees.
Springfield and other Missouri-based companies whose leadership will be among the scheduled speakers include Pitt Technology Group (Springfield), Baton Pass (Branson), WarehouseQuote (Kansas City), Midwestern Interactive (Joplin), Bluebird Network (Columbia) and Jack Henry (Monett).
There will also be representatives from Check Point Software Technologies (Tel Aviv, Israel), Palo Alto Networks (Santa Clara, Ca.), Boston Dynamics (Waltham, Ma.), Pondurance (Indianapolis), SQL Data Partners (Highland Springs, Va.), Appalachia Technologies (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Livella Brand Group (Lenexa, Ks.), Aflac (Columbus, Ga.) and Biamp (Beaverton, Or.).
In addition, there will be a few sponsored sessions, with speakers from Biamp, Boston Dynamics, Arctic Wolf (Eden Prairie, Mn.), Verkada (San Mateo, Ca.) and JMARK (Springfield).
Boston Dynamics, an engineering and robotics design company, will be bringing their famous robot dog, dubbed “Spot,” which is often used in construction and manufacturing settings for jobs that may be unsafe or difficult for humans.
Buckmaster is excited to be able to feature that piece of technology that “a lot of people haven’t seen around here.”
Springfield Tech Council expects larger audience for second conference
Founded in June of 2021, the Springfield Tech Council was created to provide a centralized voice for the Springfield area’s growing tech community.
“Springfield Tech Council exists to unify and amplify the professional tech community in the Ozarks,” their mission statement reads.
The Springfield Tech Council is composed of hundreds of individuals and local businesses, who share a common goal of shaping and sustaining the future of tech in the region.
While most of the recurring networking and educational events the Springfield Tech Council hosts are for members only, the conference is open to non-members. According to Buckmaster, they had around 225 attendees last year, and already had 370 registered to attend this year, as of March 6.
“We’re hoping to hit 400,” she said. “…It’s really neat to see – just across the board, we have people from hospitals attending, school systems attending, startups, data centers and different things like that.”
Springfield Tech Council has roughly 300 members, according to Buckmaster, and the young organization stands to grow with the tech industry.
In addition to their regularly occurring events, they host quarterly workshops and have recently started getting involved in political advocacy. This year, they are helping bring back the Excellence in Technology Awards, which existed prior to the Council’s existence but has been dormant for a few years. Although the official details are yet to be disclosed, Buckmaster said that it will be held in November at the White River Conference Center.
“We’re excited about that – where we’ll be able to really help elevate and just recognize the tech community,” she said. “…Helping people realize what else Springfield has to offer them, but also what all is being offered to Springfield.”
