TechBirmingham Blog

Events

Alabama Cyber Now 2018

The Alabama Cyber Now Conference, hosted by TechBirmingham, The Central Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (CAISSA) and the InfraGard Birmingham Members Alliance, was quite a hit.  With over 500 attendees, two keynote speakers, and over 20 breakout sessions, it was a conference filled with education and growth.  We also added 3 training sessions, requested by many of our attendees from last year, and our “Birds of a Feather” sessions which allowed attendees to collaborate with other like-minded cybersecurity individuals.

The morning of ACN began with a wonderful keynote speaker session.   Sadik Al-Abdulla, Director of Security Solutions, CDW,  spoke about the state of security from his many security assessments while we enjoyed breakfast sponsored by Bradley Law Firm.   From there, our attendees were able to attend one of the many breakout sessions and browse the vendor booths to learn about cutting-edge solutions and best practices in the industry.  We came together again for lunch, where Tina Meeker, Owner & Principal of Beacon Information Security, LLC, spoke about how the diversity gap hurts the cybersecurity field as a whole.  After more breakout sessions and education opportunities, we finally wrapped our day with our Birds of a Feather sessions, allowing for networking and conversation amongst our attendees.

As the evening came to a close, we were pleased to hear from many that this conference was “one of the largest and most educational” resources out there for those in the cybersecurity sector.  We fully anticipate an even larger event next year with more educational opportunities, speakers, and resources.

This event could not have been possible without the contribution of so many sponsors, who we have had the honor and privilege of working with.  To learn more about who sponsored this event, visit our sponsors page.


 

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Keep IT Local Mixer

Keep It Local Mixer being held at Innovation Depot on February 8th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.

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TechBirmingham To Host 2nd Annual Cyber Security Conference

AlabamaCyberNOW_stacked_finalTechBirmingham along with the Central Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (CAISSA) and the Birmingham InfraGard Chapter will host the second annual Alabama Cyber Now Conference on April 4, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency in Birmingham, Alabama.

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Kids Code-A-Thon A Success!

It took months of planning, but it finally happened on December 3, 2016, TechBirmingham presented the first ever Kid’s Code-A-Thon at Daxko. We decided that we wanted to create an opportunity for kids to get a first hand look at App Development, from the inception phase to a finished product in which they presented to the whole group. Even with meticulous planning, none of us truly knew what to expect as the 64 young innovators joined the 25 adult volunteers for a day that was beyond memorable.

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Startup Drinks at Innovation Depot’s Velocity Accelerator a Success!

Guest Post by Jordan Lessley, Planet Fundraiser.

The Velocity Accelerator space at Innovation Depot in Northside Birmingham, Alabama, was packed with over 190 guests at the second Startup Drinks Pitch Night on Tuesday night.

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Sloss Tech Garners Huge Coverage Around the Southeast

Now that we are a month removed from Sloss Tech, the Southeast’s preeminent technology festival, it’s still amazing to see all the great exposure this event received. Here’s a look back at many of the articles and videos highlighting this important event for our region.

Birmingham Tech Festival Sloss Tech to debut before Sloss Fest

Sloss Tech bringing tech giants to Birmingham Friday

Sloss Tech preview: A leading futurist on technology and growing business

Sloss Tech Gives Nod to Birmingham’s Origins and Its Future

Birmingham is hustling, bustling and poised for tech growth

Silicon Valley isn’t tech’s only hub. Birmingham’s Jones and Shades valleys are big, too

Alabama entrepreneurs on what made them successful: Move fast, and don’t fear falling

Birmingham tech needs a company that reaches ‘significance’ to break out

How Birmingham can keep its entrepreneurs according to #AskGaryVee

Keeping and growing nerds in our city is key to Birmingham’s success

SlossTech: Alabama Fireside Chat Keynote 2016

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY | DailyVee 052

HARK TV Sloss Tech coverage

8 things we learned at Sloss Tech

7 reasons to regret missing Birmingham’s first technology conference

Sloss Fest 2016: What you need to know heading into the weekend

Sloss Tech: Key takeaways from Birmingham’s new startup event

After a successful launch, where does Sloss Tech go from here?

New technology festival launching in Birmingham this summer

Could Sloss Fest become Birmingham’s SXSW?

 

 

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Birmingham .NET Meetup and Steel City SQL to Host Upcoming Events

Guest post by Robert Schiefer with Birmingham .NET Meetup and Steel City SQL

August will be a busy month for developers in Birmingham, AL as two of our local user groups are organizing several additional events beyond their normal monthly events.

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The Birmingham .NET Meetup group will be organizing a local extension event to the virtual dotNetConf conference which Microsoft holds annually to promote and educate developers about the .NET framework.  dotNetConf.Local 2016 Birmingham will be a free partial day of training held Thursday, August 4th from 11AM to 4PM at Samford University.  Lunch will be provided along with engaging presentations and even a live Q&A session with a virtual .NET team member at Microsoft.

 

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Microsoft officially released a new version of .NET at the end of June this year, which Microsoft claims is

…the biggest transformation of .NET since its inception and will define .NET for the next decade. We’ve rebuilt the foundation of .NET to be targeted at the needs of today’s world: highly distributed cloud applications, micro services and containers.

It is an exciting time to be a .NET developer.  This local dotnetConf event will focus on using the new .NET  Core and ASP.NET Core to build a real-world web application including how it can run on Linux and macOS in addition to Windows.  It’s a new Microsoft and a new .NET.

Organizers are hoping to see a large attendance of .NET developers in Birmingham to show Microsoft how important .NET is here.  Space is limited to 100 but is currently still available so RSVP today!

http://www.meetup.com/Birmingham-NET-Meetup/events/232709578/

 

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The second event is the result of a collaboration between the Steel City SQL User Group and the Birmingham .NET Meetup group. {dev = data} DAY Birmingham 2016 will be a new code camp held on Saturday, August 20th from 8AM to 4:30PM at Samford University.  Code camps are a great way for technology professionals to learn new technologies/skills from industry experts, understand how others are leveraging technology and network with other technologists.

 

unnamed-2Dev Data Day will have 24+ sessions across multiple tracks for attendees to choose from including:

 

  • .NET Development
  • SQL Server
  • PowerShell
  • Professional Development

Birmingham hasn’t had a large cross functional code camp like this in several years so it will be a great opportunity for technology professionals not just in Birmingham but all of Alabama and the southeast.

The event organizers are looking for a few more vendor or corporate sponsors.  If you or your company are interested in sponsoring this exciting event or getting more information visit the Sponsors page on their website or email admin@devdataday.com.

The only optional cost associated with the camp is $10 for lunch if you choose the “including Lunch” registration option otherwise the camp is completely free.  Check out the Dev Data Day website for further details:

http://devdataday.com

Both of these events will be great opportunities to strengthen and promote the technology ecosystem in Birmingham.  These are the type of events that will promote Birmingham as a “technology town” with a strong community and a destination for talented technologists.

We urge you to do your part to support these events by helping to advertise them through word of mouth, attending and/or helping to sponsor them.

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Sloss Tech Coming Up Soon!

 

sloss tech

Unless you live under a rock, it’s safe to say you’ve probably heard about the upcoming tech conference in Birmingham, Sloss Tech. This one day event on July 15 at the Lyric Theatre is in conjunction with the Sloss Music and Arts Festival and is being billed as “Birmingham’s South By Southwest”. TechBirmingham and Telegraph Creative are proud to co-host this event!

With Sloss Tech fast approaching, we thought it might be good to give you a few nuggets of information on the event, speakers and mission.

  • The event is July 15 from 8 am to 6 pm at the Lyric Theatre in downtown Birmingham. This intimate theatre is the perfect setting for the conference. Attendees will have great views of the stage and speakers in this recently restored venue that dates back to 1914.
  • World-class speakers highlight the event! As someone who loves all things tech, you will surely know Gary Vaynerchuk, Robert Scoble and Andy Grignon. If you don’t know them, you should click through those links and catch up. They are innovators, disruptors and change-makers!
  • We have social media accounts! Go follow and like our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts NOW!
  • In addition to the awesome speakers mentioned above, we also have a great lineup of local tech talks from founders and successful tech execs. These talks will focus on local tech successes and why Birmingham was instrumental in their achievements.
  • People are talking about us HERE and HERE and HERE.
  • During the event, you’ll have the option to drink some great local beer. Your coffee and tea fix will be provided by Royal Cup Coffee. You’ll be treated to some awesome Frios Gourmet Pops in the afternoon to battle the heat of July as well!
  • We have some AMAZING sponsors of this event! Without them, it would be impossible to pull it off. Click HERE and scroll down the page to see all of them. If you see any of them in person at the event, shake their hand and thank them.
  • This event has a much BIGGER purpose. Sloss Tech is a key component of TechBirmingham’s multi-year branding campaign focused on attracting tech talent to town. We all know what a great place Birmingham is to live and work, now we need to tell the rest of the world why they want to come here too. This campaign will feature multiple stories, videos and ads on a regional and national level telling the country about our amazing food scene, great cost of living, incomparable outdoor activities and so much more. If you want to learn more about the campaign and how your company can get involved, email us at info@techbirmingham.com.
  • And last but certainly not least, in order to attend Sloss Tech, you have to have a ticket! You can purchase them HERE. A word of warning, this is a hot ticket and will go fast! Don’t let the opportunity to be a part of this great event pass you by.

sloss tech

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