After a two-year hiatus, Synapse Orlando will return to highlight local technology and innovation — and ideally expose it to a bigger audience.
The technology summit will take place at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando on Oct. 15. Synapse Orlando will feature demos, exhibits and panels covering topics from cybersecurity to augmented reality.
The second iteration of Synapse Orlando may welcome double the attendees as the first local summit in 2019. Attendance will be capped at 2,000 people, Synapse co-founder and CEO Brian Kornfeld told Orlando Inno. However, the event is meant to be hybrid, with fully-virtual tickets also available.
Synapse became more focused on virtual and hybrid aspects in 2020, Kornfeld said. This virtual option potentially opens up Synapse Orlando, and highlights of the innovative work happening in the region, to more eyeballs, he added. “That opens up the doors for people who may not be able to travel to Orlando. That’s a huge opportunity and something we may not have seen two years ago. Now someone can get a ticket and see a handful of sessions from anywhere in the world.”
Synapse Orlando will feature speakers known in Central Florida and beyond including:
- NFL Hall-of-Famer and former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson
- Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer
- Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings
- Duncan Wardle, founder of iD8 and innov8 and former head of innovation and creativity at The Walt Disney Co.
- Stax founder and CEO Suneera Madhani
Synapse Orlando is part of Orlando Innovation Week, which will include a series of networking events, startup workshops and tech discussions from Oct. 9-15. Immerse, the annual Orlando interactive arts festival, will conclude the week of Oct. 15-17.
Synapse started as an annual Tampa event before it expanded to Orlando in 2019. Synapse Orlando hosted more than 1,000 attendees at Ace Cafe in downtown Orlando at the inaugural event. After a break due to Covid-19, Synapse will return to Orlando this year for the second time.
Synapse Orlando in 2019 was a big deal because it became one of the biggest events highlighting Central Florida’s technology and innovation offerings. Plus, attendees were able to meet potential investors, customers and partners, as well as learn from a diverse range of speakers.
"The panels here were very insightful, and the participants were sharing knowledge and insight and not just talking up their book,” Tony Ruben, CEO of Winter Park-based Blue Halo BioMedical LLC, said of Synapse Orlando 2019.
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