Pack NYC meetup featuring .NYC — 150 people
Art Malkov of Meetup.nyc recently helped organize an event in Fresh York. He filed this note.
Meetup.nyc along with NeedGrowth, a Fresh York City-based digital marketing agency, hosted the NYC Changing Digital Landscape at the Interface event space on March 10th in Fresh York City.
The event highlighted all the changes happening in the NYC digital space: wi-fi, hyper-local ads, Fresh York City Council tech initiatives, .nyc SEO value and how these changes are affecting everyone from regular people, to startups and larger businesses.
These changes are blurring the lines between “tech” and “non-tech” in Fresh York City.
This drastic change is affecting everyone within the Fresh York City business community. With the changing digital landscape, it is interesting to see how local government is working to support and bolster this transition.
An expertly assembled panel of city officials and entrepreneurs spoke to an at-capacity room of more than 150 people, on how a more connected Fresh York ecosystem is affecting and benefiting all of us, especially NYC businesses.
NYC is right now one of the most tech-innovative cities in the world, and it is trying to lengthen its lead with initiatives that affect every single person and business in the city. We can’t stop change; we can fight it or embrace it. The entirety of Fresh York is embracing the change, and our lineup of speakers brought the latest news and innovations to the forefront. This is the future of NYC, and the people in the room live and breathe the tech changes.
Meet & Greet: Networking with CEO’s
There were business leaders from all walks of life at the event.
The event kicked off with networking with business professionals, entrepreneurs, and city officials over wine ahead of the beginning of the panel.
In attendance were CEOs, CTOs, startup founders, modest and medium sized business owners, digital agencies, creative directors, young opportunists, and everything in between. As the wine flowed, people were networking and having a great time, allowing for the perfect opportunity to discover the effects of .nyc on other fields and businesses.
It was a rare chance for everyone across multiple industries to meet with the NYC Chamber of Commerce, to understand the future of business in Fresh York, and how they can be a part of it.
Opening Speakers
Art Malkov from Meetup.nyc
Co-organizer of the event, Art educated the audience regarding .nyc and promoted its adoption with people from all walks of life in Fresh York. His startup, Souvenirs.nyc, is built on the .nyc platform and was an SEO case study for the .nyc registry.
Gerardo Albasar from SayHello.nyc
Sponsor and runs a .nyc focused registry. He provided a phenomenally good .nyc deal for all the event attendees, granting them a free one year .nyc domain, complete with free hosting and webmail.
Drew Moffitt from NeedGrowth.com
Drew is a seasoned entrepreneur, veteran marketer, and prominent figure within the Fresh York City tech community. He is a partner at NeedGrowth, where he works with startups, modest businesses, and mid-cap firms to accelerate growth and revenue.
Speaking regarding a recent trend with NeedGrowth clients, Drew echoed the blurring of the lines between “tech” and “non-tech”. Describing it as a move towards a world where everything is redefined as industry + tech: AdTech, FinTech, etc.
Drew explained how this trend is not just with smaller firms but is evident within the largest of the tech giants. Few know that the highest dollar per square foot retailer in the world is a tech firm, Apple, while the largest big data logistics platform is operated by a “traditional” retailer, WalMart.
Mark Jaffe from Greater Fresh York Chamber of Commerce
Mark is the President & CEO of the Greater Fresh York Chamber of Commerce, a not-for-profit organization committed to serving over 30,000 business and civic leaders. In recent years, the Chamber has worked alongside mayors and government officials to champion technology within NYC.
Mark spoke of his most recent trip to China where he helped the U.S. Ambassador and officials from LinkNYC raise $176 million from investors to support the rollout and development of free high-speed public wifi. When complete, LinkNYC will have over 7,500 free public wifi hotspots in all five boroughs. This is a monstrous undertaking that will provide a 10x improvement in digital connectivity within the city, affecting not just businesses, but all residents of Fresh York City.
The Panelists
Clayton Banks – CEO at Silicon Harlem
Silicon Harlem is transforming Harlem into an innovation and technology hub in Fresh York. Its goal is to lead urban communities into the future of tech development.
Erica Hatfield – Communication Director at Transit Wireless
NYC wireless network right now provides wireless and wi-fi coverage extension to 145+ underground NYC subway stations. Services to all 279 underground stations will be rolled out over the next few years, truly allowing wi-fi access everywhere in Fresh York City.
Aileen Gemma Smith – CEO at Vizalytics
Vizalytics partnered with the Fresh York City Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation to build Neighborhoods.nyc, a website that draws from the Knowledge Graph to provide traffic, transit, quality of life, health, inspection, event, and other information regarding each of the more than 400 neighborhoods in the city’s five boroughs. The site allows NYC residents to receive localized real-time information allowing for safer, healthier lifestyles and fewer daily delays. Neighborhoods.nyc will launch in late March 2016.
Stacey Levine – Head of Communications at LinkNYC
LinkNYC is the first-of-its-kind communications network that will replace over 7,500 pay phones across the five boroughs with fresh structures called Links. Each Link will provide superfast, free public Wi-Fi, phone calls, and device chargers along with tablets for Internet browsing, access to city services, maps and directions.
LinkNYC also allows for businesses to advertise out-of-home in a unique way that benefits residents, tourism, and all industries.
Dmitry Dragilev – CEO at JustReachOut
In 2014 Dmitry used JustReachOut to scale a startup from 0 to 40M+ page views, which was later purchased by Google. JustReachOut guides startups in the process of acquiring press outreach, a necessary step for any growing business.
Erica Gonzalez – Digital Strategy Director at Fresh York City Council
In April 2015, Fresh York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito introduced Council 2.0, a roadmap for making the Council more accessible and transparent through digital technology. This plan includes the “Council Labs” website, engagement through social media and SMS, and working with Open Data. It is a revolutionary way for NYC locals to get involved with how the city is run, since the Council carries equal weight to the Mayor’s administration. From fresh legislation, budgeting, and even land use, it is easier than ever for residents of Fresh York City to know, and be involved with the evolution of this city.
Moderator
Erik Grimmelman – CEO at The Fresh York Technology Council
Erik has served on the Counter-Terrorism Technology Oversight Panel, National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, National Security Telecommunications.
