Alex Abell started his company wanting to disrupt the sad, lonely desk lunch and now he's looking to do the same for conferences.
"We talked about a networking event focused on branding Tampa Bay as this tech startup, industry hub but that breaks the mold, breaks barriers," Alex Abell, founder of Lunchpool, said. "You have the beaches of St. Pete, the artsy culture in Pinellas County, businesses and beaches in Clearwater and the industry in Tampa. How do you bring all that together? The more we discussed it, we said 'Let's not do a meet-up in one place, let's have it distributed with technology.'"
Abell is launching Break Tampa Bay on January 8, which will be a virtual networking event anyone can join during their lunch hour. Four participants will be placed at a virtual table and can network on a platform similar to Zoom or Skype. A speed networking round will have participants go from table to table.
"I've been to virtual conferences before, where the format is they prerecord speakers and people can access it on their own," he said. "But it seemed to be missing what I believe is the best part of conferences, which is the side conversations you have in between sessions."
There will also be a virtual hall which participants can "visit" sponsor and non-profit booths.
"I want to make sure not only to network but to highlight a lot of stuff in the community," Abell said. "We will have the sponsor tables virtually but we're also talking to Best Buddies and Feeding Tampa Bay, to make sure they have a virtual hall to ask questions, how can I get involved and give back?"
Tickets for the event and interested sponsors and non-profits can all register for the event at BreakTampaBay.com.
"We’re taking the feeling of sharing a lunch break and breaking bread, having a simulated virtual meal with someone," Abell said. "Because that breaking bread or having coffee creates connections. We’re testing it out to see if can we virtualize this, not to replace meaningful in-person discussions but to supplement it in the digital world."
