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Front Page » Top Stories » eMerge Americas Techweek a huge lure

eMerge Americas Techweek a huge lure

Written by on April 30, 2014
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eMerge Americas Techweek a huge lure

eMerge Americas Techweek is expecting thousands of participants for Miami’s first weeklong technology exposition and conference. 

Put on by eMerge Americas and the Technology Foundation of the Americas, the May 1-7 convention will see a variety of tech-centered events, from a Hackathon to speakers from all corners of the tech world, each focused on highlighting the opportunity for cultivating a technology industry in Miami.

Now is the prime time for drawing the technology sector to the area, and the upcoming Techweek will showcase Miami’s readiness and willingness to move in that direction, said eMerge Executive Director Xavier Gonzalez.

“What the event reflects is the maturity of the tech ecosystem here is South Florida,” Mr. Gonzalez said.

“Why now? Well… the first thing is that Miami has organically begun to really develop a tech ecosystem. That started 18 months to 2 years ago and it started with critical parts of this community beginning to invest in and support the tech space,” he said.

While ticket sales have been going well, because it’s the first event of its kind in Miami, for eMerge this year will set the standard for those to come.

“We’re getting more and more registrations every day. The sales are going great, but we will be accepting registrations at the door,” Mr. Gonzalez said. With its kickoff exposition, eMerge wants the conference and all satellite events to be as public as possible. When the mantra of the week is to spread the word about tech and tech opportunity in Miami and South Florida, inclusion is key.

“It’s very important that this be open to as many people as possible. We don’t want to cut people off from that community of eMerge Americas Techweek. [We want to] really build on that for following years to really make this an annual event that puts Miami on the map as a tech hub,” he said.

The conference expects several thousand participants and exposition goers from around the world. Because the event is positioning Miami as a hub for the Latin American tech market, eMerge expects members of the North American and South American tech sectors to attend and learn about how to leverage that growing – or “emerging” – market, Mr. Gonzalez said. Most attendees will be filling hotels on the beach, he said.

Tickets range from $55 for exposition access to $1,350 for full VIP access to all events and can be purchased online at eMerge’s website. The exposition in the Miami Beach Convention Center May 5-6 will feature a range of speakers addressing the areas of impact technology can have on lifestyle, urban development, education, health care and more. Earlier in the week come events like the Tech Olympiad, Mayoral Summit and Hackathon.

“We have more than 150 speakers, we have more than 200 participating companies and we have more than 100 startups coming to event. This will quite possibly be the most significant tech event that has ever occurred in South Florida,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “There is definitely a lot of activity going on here as we get to the final stretch.”

While the event officially wraps up May 7, it’s viewed as just the kickoff for the continual growth of the technology sector in Miami.

“For us it’s a long-term view, it’s not about a once-a-year event. It’s not about just May 1-7,” Mr. Gonzalez said. “It’s about the long-term vision of establishing Miami as a tech hub for Americas.”

One Response to eMerge Americas Techweek a huge lure

  1. Richard

    May 5, 2014 at 6:49 am

    I originally moved to Miami back in 2003. My decision to move to South Florida has proven to be a good one for me both from a personal and professional perspective.

    Prior to moving to Miami I spent a 30 year career in the technology sector. For nearly a decade I have hoped Miami would embrace technology industry.

    From what I have read eMerge premise is to focus Miami as the catalyst for creating a huge tech center encompassing South America. I certainly firmly concur with this movement.

    Moreover, I think Miami can do that and much more. In fact I firmly believe Miami can become an important tech sector here in U.S. And eventually revival tech sectors such as Silicon Valley and tech center located in Boston.

    What will contribute the most to Miami’s plan to become a big player in the Tech World is to become the preferred destination for the brightest minds in numerous technology fields.

    I mentioned I worked 30 years in the technology sector. Over the years I hired a lot of very bright technology savvy men and women. All my recruiting was for a huge international Fortune 500 company. I could offer potential job candidates very competitive salaries and world-class benefits. My biggest obstacle I had was convincing the brightest technology minds to relocate to an area far less desirable than California or Boston. On the other hand, the greatest technical minds in world will want to relocate to Miami. On a personal level, if when I recruited technocrats I could have offered relocation to Miami, my recruiting efforts would have been exponentially more effective.

    I give Miami kudos for recognizing importance of positioning Miami in technology sector, and hope to personally to help Miami achieve that goal.

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