Exciting things on the 2019 slate

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​As we ramp into 2019, we at the Austin Forum on Technology & Society are especially excited about the content and programming we have in store for you this year. As the founder and executive director, I wanted to take this opportunity to briefly recap 2018, give a preview of what will be an amazing 2019, and share some exciting news about our team.

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​Last year was our first year in the new Austin Central Library, and we could not be more excited to have the Central Library as a partner and a venue. The Forum and the Library share some common objectives, including providing great information for free to anyone seeking to learn. The new Central Library is not only beautiful, but was designed with community in mind: it has numerous shared learning rooms, a demo amphitheater, and more. We are very fortunate to have our big events in the Special Events center on the ground floor, which can seat well over 300 people in a presentation format. As the largest monthly technology series in Austin, we took great advantage of this extra capacity. We had over 2000 attendees at our monthly events last year, and we expect to break 3000 this year. We are so appreciative of Sharon Herforth and her team at the Library for making us a partner, and for providing a great venue for you to learn, meet experts and passionate Austinites, and be part of the Forum’s growing community.

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​Last year’s programming provided a dozen great events, with wonderful feedback and crowds. The “Tech Trends,” AI, blockchain, social media, and IoT topics in particular drew very large crowds, and we also saw great interest for events covering drones, energy, computer security, gene editing, transportation, and smart cities. We also launched our podcast series, the Austin Upload, and had 10 great episodes in Series 1, and we launched our new blog series, the Austin Update as well. Throughout the year, we collected over 120 devices—phones and smartphones, tablets, laptop and desktop computers—for Austin Pathways to provide for families in need—thanks to YOU! At the year’s final event in December we continued with tradition of working with local business Toy Joy and the Blue Santa program, and you contributed money and toys enabling us to provide over 70 toys to children for Christmas. Again, THANK YOU!

​For 2019, we are already off to a great start! We had nearly 300 people attend the “Tech Trends for 2019 & Beyond” event on January 10, and the RSVPs for our February event are already looking very strong. We hope to see you there for Robyn Metcalfe of Food+City presenting on technology and the future of food. Also, Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer of SXSW, will give a short overview of what to expect at SXSW this year, and will give away two SXSW Interactive 2019 badges! February’s great event is only the beginning of a fantastic year of programming: we will cover digital experiences and marketing, creating successful tech companies, and the impact of 5G this spring, then revisit AI, blockchain and IoT with entirely new presentations  and speakers in the summer. The fall and winter programming are being determined now, but potential topics include the commercialization of space, 3D printing and new manufacturing technologies, how technology enables finance, technology for security and defense, and more. Of course, we will also produce Series 2 of the Austin Forum Upload soon, with a great group of experts you’re sure to have heard of—and want to hear insights from! We are going to ramp up the Austin Forum Update blog series starting in February, and we invite YOU to contribute! We will offer a least two workshops—on AI and on IoT—and possibly another special event that I’ll keep a surprise for now… And of course, we will continue the very successful program with Austin Pathways to collect and deliver technology devices to deserving families. Finally, we will close the year by bringing back the “Tech for Giving & Sharing event, with a new format designed to help your companies and organizations know how to give back easily and with real impact. In other words, it’s going to be our best year ever—again!

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​One reason it’s going to be great is our group of annual partners and advisory board members is the best any organization could possibly hope to have. In addition to technology leaders Dell, Cisco, Arm, and Nvidia, we’ve added CognitiveScale, Hookbang, DoubleA and Agile Stacks. We also continued to benefit from the great support of SXSW, Austin Energy, and Austin Technology Council,  and from awesome Austin-based companies: Atchley & Associates, Cesari & Reed, Brad Englert Advisory, and The Ott Group of Keller Williams Realty. These partners make the Austin Forum possible, and make it free for all of you to come learn every month, meet experts and leaders and influencers, forge new collaborations, and make new friendships. They are our lifeblood—and they provide leadership that helps us develop the best content for you! You’ll hear from many of them at events, in podcasts and via blog posts this year, as well as the many other experts we have on tap for 2019.

Houli 

Vanessa

Finally, I want to give a huge thanks to Jennifer “Houli” Houlihan, the outgoing managing director for the Austin Forum. Houli was a quiet force for the Austin Forum as we grew our events in the new Austin Central Library space, ensuring that we had a wonderful year. Houli is now transitioning to tech full-time starting with an intensive tech training program, and the Forum—and many of you she met along the way—contributed to her new direction and passion for tech and society! She’ll be coming around now to learn along with all of us, and we are pleased to welcome as her replacement Vanessa Burnette! Vanessa is a long time attendee, who more recently has been volunteering with social media and live streaming. Vanessa now assume the managing director role, and we’re excited to have her build on Houli’s success and help us ensure we offer you the best 2019 content and programing possible!

​That’s a long update, and thanks for bearing with me. I greatly value your support for the Forum, and the curiosity and passion you bring to the events. I have met so many wonderful people over the years, and it’s clear the Austin Forum is one of the truly important, influential tech organizations in our community. We help people learn and grow, we help experts share their expertise and influence people and companies, and we help everyone connect to other great people. While we are all about technology, we care deeply about the role of technology in society—and that means people. We do this for you, and we appreciate everything you do to support is. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you again on February 12 and throughout the year!
 
Jay Boisseau, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Austin Forum