2019 Programming at the Vermont Tech Jam: Thursday, October 17, 2019 at the Champlain Valley Expo

We’ve created two programming tracks for aspiring and veteran tech pros. Attend all the sessions, just a few, or even jump the tracks.

Business Track

For entrepreneurs, executives and business owners

These sessions will give you a crash course in some of the companies and issues driving the state’s tech sector, from AI to blockchain to small satellite propulsion systems.

9:30-11 a.m. — 7 Tech Wonders of Vermont
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. — Leveraging Blockchain to Build Startups and Jobs
1-2:30 p.m. — Public Meeting of the AI Task Force
3-4 p.m. — Trust.IT: Trust as the Backbone of Business

Career Track

For professionals who want to take it to the next level

Want to boost your career or start a new one? These sessions might help. Practice your conversation skills, learn how to find the right internship and get some advice on changing careers from people who’ve made the leap and lived to tell the tale.

9:30-10:30 a.m. — High-Speed Networking
11 a.m.-noon — Inspiring Internships
12:30-1:30 p.m. — Switch It Up

Session Details

7 Tech Wonders of Vermont

9:30-11 a.m.

Microchips! Mobile robots! Apps for mamas! You might be amazed to discover the wide variety of products that Vermont tech companies produce. Learn about seven of them in this opening session, which features bite-size presentations from startups and established companies from around the state.

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A

High-Speed Networking

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Looking to connect with other like-minded individuals in the tech industry? At this session, you’ll sit down for several nano-size meetings with other professionals. This isn’t a job interview. It’s a chance to discover a potential new career path, make connections, learn about exciting projects and practice your conversation skills before you head out to the expo floor. You never know who you’ll sit next to!

Career Track: Upstairs, Room B

Inspiring Internships

11 a.m.-noon

Looking for an internship? These temporary positions can enhance your résumé and give you valuable work experience. Most of them come with a paycheck, too! At this session — geared toward potential interns and companies looking to start hiring them — representatives from companies with successful internship programs share their experiences and the career opportunities they offer. And an internship adviser talks about how to get hired.

Career Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Leveraging Blockchain to Build Startups and Jobs

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

B“lockchain developer” is the top-trending job in LinkedIn’s recent U.S. Emerging Job Report, with a 3,300 percent growth rate over the past four years. Blockchain, the technology that powers Bitcoin, has been proving its value for many key industries and remains one of the most promising solutions in a world looking for more privacy, security and transparency. Blockchain enables peer-to-peer and decentralized transactions, and its uses are still emerging. Speakers in this session will explain how blockchain helps solve specific business problems while offering an exciting career path here in Vermont.

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Switch It Up

12:30-1:30 p.m.

Feeling burned out on your current career? Been out of the workforce for awhile and wondering how to get back in? Want to try something new and not sure where to start? Whether you just graduated college or hit a wall at work and need a boost to get over or around it, this workshop is for you. Hear from a career coach and others who’ve been there about how to zero in on your unique skill set and determine what’s next. You’ll leave this workshop feeling energized and ready to rock.

Career Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Public Meeting of the AI Task Force

1-2:30 p.m.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning offer great potential for the future of society. In 2018, the Vermont legislature created a task force to study AI and make recommendations for how the state could grow and/or regulate it. For a year, the task force has been deliberating and talking with the Vermonters about their hopes, questions and concerns. At this public meeting, attendees can share their thoughts — and get an update on the group’s progress.

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

Trust.IT: Trust as the Backbone of Business

3-4 p.m.

In this age of data breaches, polarizing views and an ever increasing pace of business, it is more important than ever to build your company on the basis of trust — trusting yourself, your team, your tech and your customers. Join Vermont entrepreneurs and moderators Gwen Pokalo and Bonnie Reese from the Center for Women & Enterprise as they discuss building companies with trust as the backbone.

Business Track: Upstairs, Room A, no registration necessary

2019 Tech Jam Awards

4:30-5 p.m. on the Expo Stage

Who will win the Jammies? Vermont’s tech business of the year, emerging tech business and tech champion will walk away with handcrafted statuettes at the conclusion of this annual award ceremony, hosted by the Vermont Technology Alliance, a tech industry trade group. Nominations are now open. Click here to nominate.

Photo: The 2017 Tech Jam Winners (James Buck)

2019 Tech Jam Awards

4:30-5 p.m. on the Expo Stage

Who will win the Jammies?

Vermont’s tech business of the year, emerging tech business and tech champion will walk away with handcrafted statuettes at the conclusion of this annual award ceremony, hosted by the Vermont Technology Alliance, a tech industry trade group. Nominations are now open. Click here to nominate.

Photo: The 2017 Tech Jam Award winners (James Buck)