Overview of South Sound Technology Conference 2009

UWT's Andrew Fry with the afternoon panel

Today the University of Washington Tacoma hosted the 10th annual South Sound Technology Conference. The event included keynote speakers, several break-out work sessions, and panels on entrepreneurship and local technology organizations.

UWT's Andrew Fry - with the Institute of Technology - moderated the conference and made the first remarks. Also in the opening was a video message from Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA9), who co-hosted the conference along with Congressman Norm Dicks (D-WA6).

Marilyn Strickland, Tacoma's mayor-elect, has a strong interest in technology

The event attracted over one hundred participants, including city and county officials such as Tacoma's newly-elected mayor Marilyn Strickland and Bruce Kendall, CEO of the Pierce County Economic Development Board. Kendall was the first keynote speaker and opened up the topic of entrepreneurship, which was continued by the morning panel.

The conference comes at a critical economic time when Washington State faces an increasingly grim legislative session next spring. However, Kendall brought some refreshing optimism to the table:

Many iconic companies were created during times of recession or depression."

Kendall cited General Electric, created during the Panic of 1873, and MTV, which started in 1981 in the middle of a deep financial crisis.

Several speakers and panelists commented on some of the South Sound's, and Tacoma's, inherent strengths and advantages over neighboring regions - including Seattle. Graham Evans - with Washington Technology Center - noted that because the South Sound has less people than Seattle, networks are much more tighter and focused.

That said, there are challenges we must overcome. Derek Young, who is best known for the popular website Exit133 but is also the president of Seasonal View LLC, emphasized that Tacoma's most important goal was spotlight differentiation. What this means is developing an internal sense of how similar companies are different in nuanced ways from one another. Young believes that avoiding generalist thinking is important for opening businesses up to larger markets.

The morning panel (left to right): Derek Young, Seasonal View LLC and Exit 133; John Dimmer, Tacoma Angel Network; Brian Forth, SiteCrafting; Mark Briggs, Serra Media; Graham Evans, Washington Technology Center

One of the break-out sessions dealt with sustainability and energy. Two representatives from TacomaACTS were present and discussed a variety of environmental initiatives, including a pilot project for green certification which they will continue to develop over the next year. Their hope is to start this certification program at the local scale and then expand throughout the state.

Throughout the conference, Andrew Fry continuously highlighted the vast and interconnected cluster of technology networks that exist in the South Sound region. A number of Tacoma organizations were present, including (in addition to those listed above) Internet Identity, Topia Technology, NewTec LLC, and MorphoTrak.

A running theme throughout the conference was the awesomeness of technology and the seemingly limitless possibilities dervied from its evolution. However, luckily Richard Purcell - CEO of Corporate Privacy Group - was there to knock some common sense back into us.

Technology is a tool. It's only the means to an end. The end is: how do you, in this life, create value."

Technology will most definitely be a key factor in pulling us out of the current recession and moving towards the future. However, it is easy to get lost in technological marvels and lose sight of the values which underpin our society.

Overall the conference was excellent: full of technical information, entreprenuerial strategies, mentorship advice, and - most importantly - philosophical questioning about what we value as a community.

Hopefully our officials who were in attendance, particularly Mayor-elect Strickland, will apply the lessons of this conference to the concrete problems of today.

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