2023 Year in Review - Here's to 2024
It has been a whirlwind year.
At the start of 2023, I jumped into the Springfield Tech Council board chair position, I was trying to get STC Squared moving in any direction, we were eagerly awaiting Emily Buckmaster’s starting date as STC's first Executive Director, and I had just assumed CISO responsibilities at my day job (and STC Cornerstone Sponsor) CNH Reman.
Very quickly, though, STC Squared had a new Presenting Sponsor in Pitt Technology Group, a new working committee was putting the event together, Emily started, and things got moving. We managed to pull off an amazing conference with the help of Kevin Waterland, Kevin Reagan, Mike Lofaro, and, really, most of our local tech community. We grew the event in exhibitors and sponsors, we had more diverse topics, the event had a much better flow and feel, STC managed to find our way into the news cycle (probably thanks to Spot), and we more than DOUBLED the number of attendees.
That event's success led to a dramatic increase in community engagement, we were able to expand the Board of Directors, our committees began to fill out, and we got bold. We decided it was time to try to bring back the Excellence in Technology Awards.
My wife, Rebekah, jumped right in and secured the venue. Another working committee spun up led by Nick Lofaro, brainstormed the event, and really executed well.
However, around the beginning of August, I began to worry. There did not seem to be a lot of interest from potential sponsors.
Then, within about ten minutes (quite literally), I received emails from three different companies interested in sponsorship. Within a few more days – DAYS! – we had ten sponsored tables sold. A month before the gala, we had to call Bass Pro and ask for more space.
Our community wanted that event and made it amazing!
A record 15 awards were handed out, the dinner was amazing, the comraderie was off the charts, and something I never thought of happened: after parties! (Sorry, everyone, Rebekah and I were toast.)
STC didn’t just do those two events, either. The quality of our monthly events was amazing thanks to our Events Chair Kelly Robertson and her committee. Jason Arend put hundreds of hours into our amazing, new website. Our number of registered members surpassed 500. Jack Henry signed on as a new year-long sponsor, joining our existing year-long sponsors Bluebird Network, SRC, Pitt Technology Group, and CNH Reman. The varying levels of involvement from the entire tech community helps STC work toward our goals of supporting tech, connecting people, and improving the community.
Next, let’s talk about what we want to do together in 2024. We will start that at our Learning Over Lunch event Thursday, January 11, 11:30 am at the e-factory. This event will be free for everyone as we want to tell our existing members what our plans are, show new members what we are all about, and all work together on what we want Springfield Tech Council to accomplish this year. Members, bring your ideas. Future members bring your curiosity. We’ll keep it informal, informative, and mildly entertaining. I hope to see you all there!
Here’s to a great 2024,
Dan
