Synapse Florida, best known for its massive, two-day summit in Amalie Arena at the start of every year, is bringing the connectivity back — and this time, it's digital.
As events came to a complete halt in mid-March due to the novel coronavirus, the Synapse team began to think of ways to still complete its mission of connecting the innovation community not only in Tampa Bay, but throughout Florida.
"The word that I've been using is the renaissance into new growth or the new normal," Brian Kornfeld, president of Synapse Florida, said. "We didn't want to be too early, but also not that they're fully settled into where life is going to be, because we have zero clue to how life is going to be. We want to have open conversations about it and how innovation can help; what the new future will look like across a variety of industries technology and subjects."
They are launching Synapse Converge, an online, three day conference that will comprise of panels, keynote speakers, Q&A's, happy hours and even networking.
"It's hard to do (networking) in the virtual space," Kornfeld said. "But the software allows us to control room sizes so they can talk and have a conversation. I think everyone has been on a zoom meeting where 60 people talk over each other."
Upon registration attendees can fill out what they're hoping to gain from the event and an algorithm will showcase other attendees they could speak with one-on-one who may be able to help. There will also be a four-hour mega-block of company demos from across the state, that may have previously struggled showcasing during coronavirus.
The three days will be three half-days, due to the majority of attendees still needing to work or tend to life at home.
"People are not going be back and potentially working full-time in an office at that time," Kornfeld said. "Things are ramping up but they're not going to be back where we were in February. We want people to be flexible, come to a couple of sessions, see the recordings and we encourage people to see the live ones to participate."
General admission is $25. A $40 ticket will provide the attendee access to the virtual event plus one "scholarship" ticket to a student, first responder, military member or anyone who’s career has been affected by the crisis.
"We really wanted the price point to be something where if they can only come for an hour or two it's going to be okay," Kornfeld said. "We didn’t want to turn a profit on this. We want it to be a resource to the community."
But this new foray into the digital sphere does not mean Synapse Summit 2021 will be no more.
"As of now still looking forward to having Synapse 2021," Kornfeld said. "We're actively watching the news and we will see. Everyone's health will be first and foremost priority. But we're still looking forward to hosting the community and bringing everyone in a big way. If we can recreate it virtually and have everyone come together virtually, that's great. But nothing can fully replace that in-person feeling."
