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The 2015 Vermont Tech Jam Features Jobs, Student Projects and Talks Hosted by a Former Reddit Staffer

October 14, 2015 – Burlington, Vt. – Former Reddit staffer Victoria Taylor is among the speakers at the ninth Vermont Tech Jam, a free job fair and tech expo which takes place Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24, 2015, at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center.

Taylor, former Reddit talent manager and coordinator of its popular Ask Me Anything series, will emcee a series of short talks called the Tech Tank. Her appearance is made possible by Vermont PBS, which has tapped her to host a new series of tech-themed “digital shorts.” At the Tech Jam, Taylor will facilitate audience Q&As with local innovators, including: Barry Finette, UVM College of Medicine Professor and founder of THINKmd; Dave Porcello, founder of cybersecurity startup Pwnie Express; Logic Supply Product Manager JP Ishaq and Content Marketing Manager Darek Fanton; Josh Castonguay, director of generation and renewable innovation at Green Mountain Power; and Middlebury College student Terrance Goguen, ’16, CEO and founder of JoyRyde, an app that deters users from using their smartphones while driving.

The Tech Tank, organized with support from the Vermont Department of Economic Development, takes place on Friday from 1-3 p.m. Other Tech Jam highlights include:

  • More than 60 exhibitors, including dozens of local tech companies with jobs to fill. Numerous Vermont colleges and training programs will also be present, including Champlain College, Community College of Vermont, Vermont Law School, Girl Develop It and Vermont Works for Women.
  • “20+ Tech Jobs”: Large employers including Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer describe their available tech jobs and the qualifications required to fill them, Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
  • GameTheory GameLab: On Friday, staffers of Burlington-based GameTheory illustrate the principles behind video game design by inviting Tech Jam attendees to play physical and digital versions of various games. On Saturday, attendees can play games created during a recent Game Jam and vote for their favorites.
  • “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”: Three local tech professionals describe their circuitous career paths, moderated by Pat Boera of Champlain College Career Services, Friday, 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
  • The winners of the 2015 HackVT competition, a team of software developers from C2, explain their web-based application, One Day, on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Designed for this year’s theme, “Hack the Climate,” the app measures users’ daily energy consumption.
  • Student STEM Showcase: The Vermont Agency of Education organizes this rotating display of STEM projects from K-12 students across Vermont. Participating schools include Burlington’s Integrated Arts Academy, Williston Central School, Mount Abraham Union High School, Windsor High School and Richmond Middle School, part of Vermont’s interstate school district in Hanover, N.H.
  • An “Art-cade” featuring the PinBox 3000 cardboard tabletop pinball system, created by Cardboard Teck Instantute, on Saturday, from 1-3 p.m.
  • Free admittance to keynote presentations during the International Conference on the Edges of Innovation for Smarter Cities, organized by the local chapter of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, taking place upstairs from the Tech Jam.
  • Tech demonstrations from IEEE sponsors in the Tech Jam expo hall.
  • On Friday night, during the exhibitor reception, the Vermont Technology Alliance will present the winners of its annual Vermont Tech Jam Innovator and Ambassador awards.

Find an event schedule, a complete list of exhibitors — and sign up for the weekly Tech Jam email newsletter — at techjamvt.com.

The Vermont Tech Jam, presented by Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer, is organized by Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, and the Vermont Technology Alliance, the trade organization supporting Vermont’s tech business community.
Partner sponsors include BioTek, Champlain College, Vermont Technology Alliance, Green Mountain Power, Logic Supply, the Vermont Technology Council and Novetta, a “big data” cyber-analytics company whose Boston-based division is seeking to establish a Burlington tech hub.