Jerad Bachar wants to see Pittsburgh play host to more tech-focused events in the future and he's planning to deploy the resources of the region's largest tourism organization to do so.
As the CEO of VisitPITTSBURGH, a group that looks to more generally attract trade shows and other leisure-travel business to the region, Bachar is hoping to leverage the city's tech talent and workforce to serve as one of the main focuses for VisitPITTSBURGH's post-pandemic strategy.
Bachar said it's an endeavor that stems down to two main beliefs: Events that have a direct economic tie to the region are easier to attract in general and these events often provide educational- and business-related resources for the already existing industries that operate here. Pittsburgh's tech sector, Bachar said, can meet both of these needs.
"For us, it really is about making sure that we're strategic in our outreach to those particular organizations that have direct ties back to the region," Bachar said. "If we hold a robotics conference, for example, here in Pittsburgh, that means a lot more industry practitioners can go and take advantage of those networking and educational opportunities. But if that was held in another city, [these local companies] may not be able to send an entire staff or entire team to go to that conference because it's just too expensive and too time-consuming, but if we put it here in their backyard, then it's much more accessible to a broader audience."
To further highlight this tech-minded commitment, VisitPITTSBURGH recently appointed Jim Jen, the chief operating officer at North Side-based tech startup investment firm Innovation Works Inc., and Gerardo Interiano, the vice president of government relations and public affairs at Strip District-based autonomous vehicle company Aurora Innovation Inc., to serve on the organization's board.
VisitPITTSBURGH is also working with several local partners to help facilitate these efforts.
As part of a collaboration with the Pittsburgh Robotics Network, a nonprofit membership organization that represents dozens of Pittsburgh-based robotics firms, VisitPITTSBURGH will bring the Robotics Safety Conference from the Association for Advancing Automation to Pittsburgh in October. It's also working with the Warrendale-based Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International to support the Pittsburgh launch of Mission Autono, a competition for university students that has participants design and develop software for autonomous vehicles, which is tentatively planning to result in an event held locally come 2024.
"How we can help these local organizations bring those events here to Pittsburgh; a lot of these organizations are developing these events within their organizations, and they have the ability to take them anywhere," Bachar said. "It really is about post-Covid and how do we continue to drive the tourism recovery in the most robust way possible and this alignment with local organizations and economic ambitions of the region is so important to that strategy."
VisitPITTSBURGH estimated that prior tech and innovation events held in Pittsburgh saw crowds of nearly 1,000 people, who go on to generate about $1 million in director visitor spend throughout the event.
