Pandemic planning for businesses and restaurants, connecting employees to jobs with accessible transportation, voting preparation, and more make up Tuesday’s schedule for San Antonio CityFest 2020.
The third annual San Antonio CityFest, a virtual urban ideas festival, runs through Friday. Its weeklong lineup of events, panel discussions, and entertainment features an array of topics including public health, business and job growth, transportation and development, and recovery from the economic and health crisis of the coronavirus pandemic.
All CityFest 2020 programming is free and open to the public, with pre-registration required. Once attendees are registered they will receive an email giving them access to the festival web app. Registered attendees are also invited to download the Whova app for more opportunities to network, ask the panelists questions, and take the festival anywhere they go.
10 a.m.
San Antonio Report Environment and Energy Reporter Brendan Gibbons will kick off Tuesday’s lineup of events with “Chasing the Curve Part II,” a continuation of Gibbon’s Chasing the Curve conversation with University of Texas at San Antonio mathematician Juan Gutiérrez. Gibbons and Gutiérrez, who also is an infectious disease epidemiologist, will discuss how the upcoming cold and flu season might impact the pandemic.
11 a.m.
Award-winning singer/songwriter Nicolette Good, who released her latest recorded album, Riverie, in 2019, will be giving a special performance. San Antonio Report Arts and Culture Reporter Nicholas Frank will talk with her about what the future looks like in terms of performing and creating music.
Noon
“Business and the Pandemic Pivot” panelists Marina Gonzales, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president and CEO; Magaly Chocano, Sweb Development founder and CEO; and Lisha Garcia, senior certified business advisor with the UTSA Small Business Development Center, will discuss planning successful pandemic survival strategies. San Antonio Report Business Reporter Shari Biediger will moderate the panel.
1 p.m.
San Antonio Report Editor and Publisher Robert Rivard will talk about “The Future of Transportation and Local Development” with Jeff Arndt, president and CEO of VIA Metropolitan Transit; and Denise Hernandez, vice president of development for True Flavors Catering.
3 p.m.
Rivard returns for “Plan Your Vote SA”, a conversation with Alex Birnel, MOVE Texas advocacy manager; and Justin Rodriguez, Bexar County commissioner for Precinct 2. Rivard, Birnel, and Rodriguez will engage in a conversation on preparing to vote in the November election.
4 p.m.
Frank will cap Tuesday’s sessions with an event open only to San Antonio Report members on running a restaurant during a pandemic. Elizabeth Johnson, chef and owner of Pharm Table; Pete Cortez, Chief Operating Officer chief operating officer of La Familia Cortez Restaurants; and Alejandro Paredes, chef and owner of Carnitas Lonja, will share their challenges and successes during this time.
The full schedule is available here.
