Tech Fest to Take Over WaterFire Arts Center

Editor's Note: The Ocean Inno Tech Fest is not affiliated with Rhode Island Inno or American Inno. 

On April 27, startups, entrepreneurs, families and other supporters of the Rhode Island tech ecosystem will descend upon the Waterfire Arts Center.

The reason? The first-annual Ocean Inno Tech Fest.

It's the brainchild of David and Kathy Gomez, the duo behind the Red DWG Library coworking entity in Pawtucket.

"Ocean Inno Tech is an event that is bringing together a lot of different innovation and tech companies that are doing amazing things here in Rhode Island," David Gomez said in an interview with Rhode Island Inno.

"It’s going to be one big party."

It will do this through panel discussions, presentations, a happy hour, meet and greets, networking opportunities and two keynotes, featuring Kimberly Kowal Arcand, NASA visualization lead, and Brian R. Gruttadauria, vice president and chief technology officer at ORACLE. Music will be provided by Hasbro, which is serving as a headline sponsor of the event.

While the festival has many of the elements seen at a traditional professional conference, Gomez wanted to emphasize that Ocean Inno was family-friendly and celebratory.

"It’s going to be one big party," he said. "I don’t want this to be like a regular conference or expo. [I want attendees] to celebrate the innovation that’s here, and connect with the organizations that are going to attend."

The event was painstakingly planned, with Gomez stating that he hopes to make Ocean Inno an annual festival — and something that continues to both highlight what Rhode Island has and entice more companies to the state and the region.

"Putting this tech fest together, [we found it was a] yes for economic development, a yes for students, a yes [for] diversity and inclusion and equality," Gomez said. He added that as "an immigrant, as a veteran and as a father of a young seven year old," he (and Kathy) wanted the festival to reflect the state's strong diversity and representation from across the board.

And, they wanted students to be able to attend.

"There’s some of the best education systems in the world here; Brown, Salve Regina and RISD, among other amazing schools," Gomez said. "Why don’t we have this in the springtime so we can try and keep [the students] here in Rhode Island, before they go to Boston or NYC or overseas? ... I want them to see that there are amazing tech companies doing incredible work [here]."

Tickets are free for students (with a minimum donation to WaterFire) and between $45 and $95 for other attendees, depending on the package they choose.