A new Fiesta event – a “tech crawl,” if you will – aims to lure students, technology enthusiasts, startup founders, investors, and entrepreneurs downtown to mingle in San Antonio’s growing tech district.
Tech Bloc and Geekdom are co-hosting the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural SA Tech Trek on April 25 from 5-8 p.m, with AT&T serving as the event’s title sponsor. Trekkers can visit participating tech companies, enjoy free food and beverages, and get an inside look into the city’s emerging technology scene.
To RSVP for this free event, click here.
SA Tech Trek was created to help connect participants to established companies and startups in the downtown tech district and highlight the growing number and diversity of businesses joining San Antonio’s burgeoning tech ecosystem.
“We felt there was no better time to launch a new event focused on the growing tech district by bringing attendees into the offices of San Antonio’s downtown tech companies, incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces,” Build Sec Foundry co-founder Will Garrett said. “… The event will bring a unique flair and feel to Fiesta by highlighting the new tech economy growing in our city.”
There will be four main stops (with two at the Rand Building) on the tech crawl, with opportunities for interaction and mingling at each. The trek will focus mainly on emerging tech companies and small business startups in the tech downtown district.
“Five years ago we could not have had a Tech Trek because there was no robust tech district,” TechBloc CEO David Heard said. “We’re nowhere near where we want to be, but we’ve made enough progress [to] where we can now have a walkable tech experience in our urban core. The goal is to get people downtown to walk the tech community and get to know many of our entrepreneurs.”
Attendees can start at the Rand Building and meet startup founders and employees, learn more about companies like Realco Accelerator, and talk to Geekdom members.
“We thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase both the density and diversity of tech companies populating downtown,” said Dax Moreno, Geekdom’s program director. “Every 60-90 days we’re getting a fresh wave of new tech employees, remote workers, and emerging businesses in San Antonio. In Geekdom alone, we’re signing up on average about 70 new members every month.”
Trekkers can also swing by the Vogue Building and visit Codeup, Grok Interactive, Easy Expunctions, and newer companies like DRIV, a Texas-based rideshare company created with help from the tech industry.
And because it’s Fiesta: SA Tech Trek Fiesta medals and T-shirts will be available for purchase at the Geekdom Event Centre from 5-7 p.m. and later at The Last Word on Houston Street, where the Big Bang party kicks off at 7 p.m.
Shirt and medal sale proceeds will benefit the new CAST Tech High School.
The 2017 SA Tech Trek will feature the following locations:
The Rand Building, 110 E. Houston St.
Stops include:
• 2nd floor – Jungle Disk
• 3rd floor – Google Fiber
• 6th floor – Build Sec Foundry, Help Social
• 7th floor – Realco Accelerator, Geekdom community of businesses
• Geekdom Event Cente – San Antonio Coding Academy, TechTalentTuesday
The Vogue Building, 600 Navarro St.
Around 15 local tech companies will participate in the event on the 6th floor of the Vogue building, including Grok Interactive, Codeup, Easy Expunctions, Tech Bloc, CAST Tech High School, Merge VR, and DRIV.
The Last Word, 229 E. Houston St.
The Big Bang Party starts at 7 p.m. Be sure to use #SATECHTREK for social media posts about the event.
