Sloss Tech has made a comeback.
The sold-out tech conference took place in the Magic City on Aug. 4. Downtown Birmingham's historic Lyric Theatre served as the conference hub, with satellite events and breakout sessions taking place at other locations around town, including the Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema.
After four previous sold-out events, the Covid-19 pandemic led the event hosts to postpone the conference until this year, leading to an overflow of pent-up demand in Birmingham’s tech community.
Now that the event has ended, the BBJ asked members of the community to weigh in on what worked and what they'd like to see next time.
What were the highlights?
Malcolm McDonald, Birmingham general manager for Endeavor, said the highlights included the conference partnering with organizations like Endeavor and Birmingham Bound to bring in speakers, adding that putting Endeavor entrepreneurs on stage in Birmingham was a powerful display of what the Magic City can do when it collaborates as an ecosystem.
"With these partnerships, Sloss Tech gave Birmingham’s tech community the rare opportunity to connect with truly great operators and investors from across the country," he said. "One of the other highlights has been talking to speakers after the conference and hearing how much they loved Sloss Tech and Birmingham. We truly created a world-class tech experience and that’s something Birmingham should be very proud of."
The value for McDonald was in hearing what’s happening in other cities and learning from "hyper-successful" entrepreneurs and investors in similar markets.
"It’s easy to assume Birmingham can’t compete with other tech markets, but when you hear real stories of grit and growth it’s easier to visualize our future and say, 'We can do that too,'" he added.
Derrick Austin, director of innovation at Hardware Park, said the conference did a good job with the "who, what and where." Venues such as Lyric Theatre and Sidewalk furthered the dialogue on the city's history, he said.
"Historically we know that steel was Birmingham’s economic driver now we’re embracing our unique positioning in all things Tech. The spaces were intimate enough to allow collisions — of both familiar and new faces — which in turn allowed for conversations and connections to naturally flow," Austin added. "The production value of Sloss Tech felt very high and the energy in the room was definitely electric. I loved how they incorporated the rogue hawker “Snack-Attacks” as a way of keeping the buzz up in between moments. To me that shows an awesome level of attention to detail and intentionality to make those in between moments engaging."
Austin also noted the representation, adding that it was "inspiring and refreshing to see and hear from so many voices from the African Diaspora who are doing important work in the tech ecosystem."
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Birmingham startup LunarLab Benefit LLC, said the conference highlighted important things in tech happening in the city for both residents and outsiders.
"Having an event like this here really helps to show the world that Birmingham can be competitive nationally as a tech hub," Anderson said. "It was refreshing to see that the speakers reflected the diversity of Birmingham's tech ecosystem."
For Anderson, panel discussions focused on growing the tech ecosystem in Birmingham, which featured practical steps on how the community can get to the next level, were especially impactful.
What about next time?
"For next year, it would be great to see more of this type of focus," she said. "I would also love to see more representation for larger or enterprise tech and even tech for small businesses."
McDonald said he would like to see more networking facilitated next year.
"There was so much talent and brilliance in one room, it would be great to have more time and space to make connections," he said. " ... The Lofts were awesome, I would love to see them expanded and activated more next year.
Austin said he'd also like to see the conference expanded next year, incorporating representation from the hardware side and physical product community.
"I’d also love to maybe see streets blocked off to encourage folks from out of town to experience the history, vibrancy and architecture downtown," he said. "Also, maybe some more 'workshop-forward' breakout sessions or more sessions geared towards the education (and) cultivation of tech ecosystem workers in common roles who are supporting startups.
"Dreaming out loud here, but the mantra 'Dinner Table of The South' was thrown around several times during breakout sessions, which made me think about what it might look like to dovetail Sloss Tech with Birmingham’s food scene to further the story we’re telling about the city."
Nikia Hackworth, business systems analyst at Kemper and guest speaker at Sloss Tech 2023, said next year, she also wants Sloss Tech to be bigger.
"Now that Birmingham has shown the world what we are about, let’s build on that and go bigger," she said. "I’m very excited for Sloss Tech 2024."
Her only critique was for more corporations to invest in their tech employees and purchase a ticket for them. Hackworth said Sloss Tech got it right by showing the world what Birmingham has to offer.
"This event showed young people, college graduates, entrepreneurs and people looking to make a career change don’t have to leave the city," she said. "Birmingham has a space for you. The keynote speakers and the tremendous amount of diversity (were highlights). Sometimes when you think of tech, it looks a certain way. Sloss Tech eliminated that misconception."
She added that speaking at the event left her feeling inspired.
"Seeing the motivation in the audience's faces was everything," Hackworth said. "I was truly operating on my purpose. I was able to speak, break barriers and inspire the youth as well as my peers. It was an amazing experience. I’m so grateful I was given the platform to share my tech journey via Ed Farm."
