By now many of us made at least one New Year’s resolution for 2017.  You may have already broken that resolution, started over, or abandoned it altogether.  2017 marks the beginning of our fourth year as our “rebranded” organization and the 15th year since the organization was formed.  Our mission at TechBirmingham is broadly described as “strengthening and promoting the technology ecosystem in the region” and each year we look at what we have accomplished and what we can do better in the coming year to serve our members and the community.

2016 was a successful year for our organization by many measurements.  We increased membership by over 50%, produced 2 new high quality conferences for Birmingham (ACN and Sloss Tech), launched a coding initiative for kids with our affiliated non profit Tech Alabama, and saw attendance growth at our monthly TechTuesday  and Birmingham Women in Technology group meetings.  We also partnered with Innovation Depot, local companies and top CIO’s to launch the Keep IT Local Pledge.  This program is focused on encouraging and facilitating local businesses to look local for IT products and services first.  Lastly, we launched the Work Your Magic branding campaign focused on elevating the profile of Birmingham as a tech hub and attracting talent to our city to help address the talent gap.

Through our kids coding initiatives we positively impacted 370 kids through our Super Code Sunday Events at the McWane Science Center, over 660 girls through 100 Girls of Code workshops and had 64 kids participate in our first Kid’s Code-A-Thon.  In addition to the positive impact learning how to program has had on children ages 8-17 in our region, we are also providing the local tech professionals who volunteer to help us with these programs the opportunity to give back and make a real difference in Birmingham.

So, what’s in store for 2017?  Well, we have big plans for 2017 and expect to exceed our 2016 membership, event attendance and impact numbers.

We challenge you and/or your company to get MORE involved in TechBirmingham this year.  Attend an event, be a speaker, volunteer, share your company’s big events and product releases.  In return, we pledge to continue to “work our magic” to help your companies grow, inspire young minds and help fuel Birmingham’s growth.

Don’t forget to check out the Events Calendar to see what we have planned so far for 2017!

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