Arkansas Celebrates Techtober In October

What do you do when you have a month jammed so full of tech based events they they overflow into the months before and after? You decide to highlight the events and create the buzz around a unified term.

That is what Arkansas technology leaders have done. October 2015 has become known as Techtober and contains a number of high profile tech related events including Made by Few, LR Tech Fest, The Venture Center’s Jolt Hackathon, and the NWA Tech Summit. There are several more and we have them listed on our calendar at the bottom of the Talk Business & Politics Startup page.

John Chamberlin, technology expert and member of the Arkansas Academy of Computing, came up with the idea while sitting at a 1 Million Cups event a few weeks ago. To him, this year is just the beginning.

“We hope to set up a board after this year’s events,” he said. “This year is kind of the Minimum Viable Product.”

Chamberlin decided on the name (Techtober) after searching for available domains. “It sounds good and it seems to fit,” he said.

Chamberlin believes the month can also help recognize the history of technology and he believes that the Arkansas Academy of Computing can be a special part of that. It plans to highlight the industry’s heritage when it hosts an event on October 10th as a part of the Business Meeting weekend at UALR.

According to the Techtober Press Guide:

“Arkansas – A center for continuing technology innovation. Techtober is an initiative that seeks to highlight Arkansas’ position as a technology innovation leader. Arkansas has a long history of innovation and applied technology. Both existing industries and the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem are strongly linked to advancements in technology right here in Arkansas!

Techtober is a chance to celebrate both the heritage and the promise, and focus on the idea that technology is as much a part of Arkansas as rice and soybeans, chickens, Wal-Mart, deer hunting or floating the Buffalo.”

Organizations participating in the events include the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, The Arkansas Venture Center, Arkansas Economic Development Commission, Arkansas Academy of Computing, Arkansas Epscor, Arkansas Research Alliance, Arkansas STEM Coalition, First Robotics, EAST Initiative, Lyuba Bogan, Northwest Arkansas Tech Council, TechFest, Innovate Arkansas and UALR EIT.

Some of the events taking place in October and in November as noted by Startup Arkansas are:

October

MADE BY FEW 1-3
The Conference for Makers of the Web

EAST Night In Open House 1
EAST Offices in WLR

UA Grant to Train Computer Science Teachers Begins 2-3
University of Arkansas

2015 Ozark Mountain Brawl 2
FIRST Robotics Competition | All Day

Forge IDEA Challenge 3rd
Nettleton High School

AMS MANUFACTURING DAY 5
Innovation Hub

AR STEM COALITION MEETING 6
Arkansas State University-Jonesboro | 9-3PM

HANDS ON LAB: ANALYZING TWITTER DATA IN THE CLOUD 7
The Venture Center | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

COMPUTER SCIENCE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 9
Arkansas STEM Coalition | All Day

Arkansas Academy of Computing Summit 10
UALR EIT Building | All Day

EAST NIGHT OUT: OPEN HOUSE 13
EAST Initiative

TECHFEST 16
Statehouse Convention Center | All Day

VENTURE CENTER’S JOLT HACKATHON 17
The Venture Center | 17-18 24 Hrs
17

VENTURE CENTER’S MENTOR TRAINING 27
The Venture Center | 8-12 Noon

MAKER’S BALL @ CAPITAL HOTEL 30
Innovation Hub | 6:00 PM

November

DELTA REGIONAL AUTHORITY PITCH EVENT 5
The Venture Center | 6-8 PM
VENTURE CENTER’S 2 DAYS to STARTUP @ UALR 6-8
The Venture Center | 9-10 AM

SCHOOLS WITHOUT WALLS: TINKERING WITH 7-9 INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Hot Springs Convention Center | All Day

NWA TECH SUMMIT 10
NWA TECH COUNCIL | All Day

Learn more by visiting the Startup Arkansas Techtober page or by following these social media links:

Techtober Media Links
Twitter: @TechtoberAR
Facebook: Facebook.com/Techtober

In addition, Luke Irvin and Southern Ventures have developed and iPhone app called attendit which has the events listed with all of the information. The app can be downloaded from the Apple Store.