TechJam 2018

TechJam invaded Boston's historic Government Center bringing with it a tech block party like no other. Now in its 6th year, TechJam allowed participants to explore all aspects of technology along with music, food trucks, and interactive art experiences. The event showcases new ideas and innovations. One company brought a "Back to the 80's" theme along with neon colors, scrunchies, and....(you may have already guessed it) fanny packs!  Robots and mechanical bull riding were also included in the festivities this year.

TechJam 2017

Local Speakers, Bands, Beer & Food Trucks to Rock Boston TechJam 2017

Speakers, Music, Food Trucks, Libations and Games Provide Entertainment as Local Tech Community Takes Over City Hall Plaza at 5^th Annual Outdoor Innovation Event

 Boston – June 6, 2017 – Boston TechJam – a celebration of the technology ecosystem and culture of New England- and Boston-area entrepreneurs, startups, established tech companies, venture capitalists, non-profit organizations and higher learning institutions – has released its 2017 content lineup!

Over 7,000 Boston TechJam attendees will gather at City Hall Plaza on Thursday, June 15 from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m.to join the part block party, part tech showcase. Although speakers were missing from last year’s event, Boston TechJam 2017 is bringing an exciting lineup that will feature robots, fitness and audio tech.

“Attendees have been asking for more opportunities to learn from the wealth of experience and knowledge Boston has to offer, so we’re thrilled to bring speakers back to Boston TechJam this year,” said TechJam co-founder Mark Lorion, president and GM of Apperian. “These high-caliber guests will appeal to everyone – from students just starting out to long-time, seasoned executives.”

In addition to the newly added speaker lineup, two of the area’s top bands will perform, Jack’s Abby will be pouring beer and food trucks will be lining up, creating a fun environment for networking, discovery of local innovation and idea sharing to accelerate the region’s technology ecosystem and culture. There will even be a robot at the event that may deliver you chocolates and a surprise speaker or two.   

“Boston TechJam, now in its fifth year, is a networking event unlike any other: a giant block party with innovative companies showing off their latest inventions,” said Ben Maitland-Lewis, CEO of PrettyInstant.com and Founding Music & Entertainment Director of Boston TechJam. “The incredibly fun and unique-to-the-area atmosphere really brings the community together to celebrate all that we as a city are contributing to the world.”

This year’s entertainment line-up includes:

• Speakers – Throughout the event, speakers will be discussing Boston’s audio tech scene, how MA is shaping the fitness industry, and how robots are making the world a better place. 
• Live Music – Award-winning bands will play funk, soul, R&B, pop, and reggae to keep the party grooving. Bands this year include East Coast Soul, joining Boston TechJam for their second year, andSpiritual Rez, performing their only live show in Boston before continuing on tour.
• Games and Exhibits from over 100 Local Companies – While the bands are rocking, entrepreneurs, startups, established tech companies, venture capitalists, non-profit groups and students will be checking out local innovations and enjoying fun, festival-style activities and games. The exhibiting companies will be organized as “Innovation Villages” to inspire community and networking within the event.
• Food and Libations – Attendees can stay fueled at the festival by enjoying beer from Jack’s Abby and munching on eats from a variety of Boston-favorite food trucks, including: Chubby Chickpea, Moyzilla, Rhythm & Wraps, Roxy's Grilled Cheese, Sabroso Taqueria, Zo on the Go, Vice Cream, The Sausage Guy, Revelry and Collettey's Cookies.

Register for the event now at www.bostontechjam.org.

The event would not be possible without the thought leadership and financial support of underwriting sponsors Autodesk, Cengage, Chewy, Cybereason, EBSCO, Kronos Incorporated, Monster, Optum, PTC and Rapid7.

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About Boston TechJam

Boston TechJam is a showcase and accelerator for new ideas and world-class innovations coming out of the Boston region. The event brings together early stage companies, entrepreneurs, students, established enterprises, venture capitalists and artists to celebrate the region's technology, entrepreneurship and culture. Equal parts idea exchange and celebration, Boston TechJam is an unconventional meeting ground for local innovators, visionaries and up-and-comers. The 18+ event will take place June 15, 2017 on Boston City Hall Plaza.

Boston TechJam is supported by Autodesk, Cengage, Chewy, Cybereason, EBSCO, Kronos Incorporated, Monster, Optum, PTC and Rapid7. Founding collaborators include Apperian, MassTLC, East Coast Catalyst, Pretty Instant, Influence Central and SHIFT Communications, additional collaborators include BostInno, Boston New Tech, CIC, General Assembly, Launch Academy, MassChallenge, MassDiGi, MassTLC Education Foundation, MITX, Resilient Coders, SheGeeksOut, TechGen, Venture Café, WBUR and the City of Boston.

 Tech

Hubweek 2016

The Red Balloon is pleased to share the following Hubweek announcement:

HUBWEEK ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH DESALITECH TO UNVEIL FIRST EVER “BREW THE CHARLES” COMPETITION, OPENS REGISTRATION

Six Local Breweries to Brew Their Finest Charles River Beer

BOSTON, MA- July 21, 2016—HUBweek, a weeklong celebration of creativity and innovation in Boston, and Desalitech, a Newton-based global water purification and treatment company, today announced the creation of the first-ever “Brew the Charles” competition to take place during HUBweek in September.

As a signature event during HUBweek, the competition will consist of six Massachusetts breweries brewing exclusive beers from Charles River water that has been purified by Desalitech. The participating breweries include; Cape Ann Brewing Company from Gloucester; Castle Island Brewing Company from Norwood; Harpoon Brewery from Boston; Idle Hands Craft Ales from Malden; Ipswich Ale from Ipswich; and Sam Adams from Boston.

“Greater Boston is home to a number of incredibly creative and innovative organizations with global impact,” said Linda Pizzuti Henry, co-founder of HUBweek. “The Brew the Charles competition is an exciting opportunity to showcase the amazing work going on across the region, highlighting the growing beer industry right here in our own backyard. We’re thrilled to partner with Desalitech and the six local breweries to reimagine–and taste–one of Boston’s most famous natural resources—the Charles River.”

The collaboration will kick off in early August when Desalitech will facilitate a limited withdrawal of water from the Charles River and treat it through one of its breakthrough, industry-leading units that employs a reliable and efficient treatment process known as reverse osmosis. The result of Desalitech’s treatment of Charles River water will be potable, clean drinking water delivered to the six participating local breweries. The participating breweries will then initiate their brewing process and craft their final product over the coming weeks.

“As industry turns its attention more and more to water reuse and sustainable business practices,  we are proud to be a Massachusetts company that is helping large businesses and municipalities rethink their conventional water sources and reuse more of their water,” said Nadav Efraty, CEO of Desalitech. “We are thrilled to join with HUBweek and the Bay State’s creative local breweries to educate the public about the importance of water efficiency and the future of our natural resources.”

The Brew the Charles competition builds on last year’s HUBweek event with Harpoon Brewery, in which Harpoon partnered with Desalitech to brew a limited edition Charles River Pale Ale. This year, participating breweries are encouraged to demonstrate their creativity and innovation by brewing any type of beer, which will be showcased and judged by an expert panel, their fellow brewers and the audience as a part of HUBweek during a signature event on Friday, September 30 at the Boston Public Library. Audience members will have the opportunity to sample and vote on their favorites as part of the event, and a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Charles River Conservancy’s Swimmable Charles program. Registration for Brew the Charles and other HUBweek events is open now at HUBweek.org.

The Charles River Conservancy launched their "Swim the Charles" Indiegogo campaign to create a permanent swimming area on the Charles River. The campaign, which has raised over 45% and runs until September 12, can be found here.

HUBweek will engage participants across a wide range of topics and industries to understand and experience the innovation and problem solving that’s taking place here in Boston. This year’s lineup will also include:

• Demo Day at the Hynes Convention Center: On September 30 from 12-6pm, 160 visionary companies from leading local startup incubators, accelerators and corporate innovation labs, including MassChallenge, Greentown Labs, Harvard i-lab and MIT, will pitch, share and demo their work for recognition of their impact.
• Faneuil Forum in Faneuil Hall: On the evening of the first presidential debate, HUBweek is inviting participants to join in a truly civic dialogue and debate around today’s most pressing ethical issues, led by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel. Sandel will engage participants in debating today’s most pressing ethical issues, including everything from taxes to immigration.
• A number of competitions which will cumulatively give away more than $1.25M over the course of HUBweek, including: The Art of Talking Science; Babson Breakaway Challenge; Beantown Throwdown; Brew the Charles; Climate CoLab; Demo Day; Filmmaker’s Fund Award; MIT IDE Inclusive Innovation Competition

About HUBweek

HUBweek is a weeklong creativity and innovation festival, and a first-of- its-kind civic collaboration between The Boston Globe, Harvard University, MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital. The inaugural HUBweek festival took place in October 2015, and had 46,000 attendees, 106 events over 8 days, as well as 70 collaborating organizations participate. HUBweek’s mission is to convene, celebrate and showcase the most creative and inventive people in art, science and technology making an impact in Greater Boston and across the globe.

Hubweek 2016

The Red Balloon is pleased to share the following Hubweek announcement:

HUBWEEK ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH DESALITECH TO UNVEIL FIRST EVER “BREW THE CHARLES” COMPETITION, OPENS REGISTRATION

Six Local Breweries to Brew Their Finest Charles River Beer

BOSTON, MA- July 21, 2016—HUBweek, a weeklong celebration of creativity and innovation in Boston, and Desalitech, a Newton-based global water purification and treatment company, today announced the creation of the first-ever “Brew the Charles” competition to take place during HUBweek in September.

As a signature event during HUBweek, the competition will consist of six Massachusetts breweries brewing exclusive beers from Charles River water that has been purified by Desalitech. The participating breweries include; Cape Ann Brewing Company from Gloucester; Castle Island Brewing Company from Norwood; Harpoon Brewery from Boston; Idle Hands Craft Ales from Malden; Ipswich Ale from Ipswich; and Sam Adams from Boston.

“Greater Boston is home to a number of incredibly creative and innovative organizations with global impact,” said Linda Pizzuti Henry, co-founder of HUBweek. “The Brew the Charles competition is an exciting opportunity to showcase the amazing work going on across the region, highlighting the growing beer industry right here in our own backyard. We’re thrilled to partner with Desalitech and the six local breweries to reimagine–and taste–one of Boston’s most famous natural resources—the Charles River.”

The collaboration will kick off in early August when Desalitech will facilitate a limited withdrawal of water from the Charles River and treat it through one of its breakthrough, industry-leading units that employs a reliable and efficient treatment process known as reverse osmosis. The result of Desalitech’s treatment of Charles River water will be potable, clean drinking water delivered to the six participating local breweries. The participating breweries will then initiate their brewing process and craft their final product over the coming weeks.

“As industry turns its attention more and more to water reuse and sustainable business practices,  we are proud to be a Massachusetts company that is helping large businesses and municipalities rethink their conventional water sources and reuse more of their water,” said Nadav Efraty, CEO of Desalitech. “We are thrilled to join with HUBweek and the Bay State’s creative local breweries to educate the public about the importance of water efficiency and the future of our natural resources.”

The Brew the Charles competition builds on last year’s HUBweek event with Harpoon Brewery, in which Harpoon partnered with Desalitech to brew a limited edition Charles River Pale Ale. This year, participating breweries are encouraged to demonstrate their creativity and innovation by brewing any type of beer, which will be showcased and judged by an expert panel, their fellow brewers and the audience as a part of HUBweek during a signature event on Friday, September 30 at the Boston Public Library. Audience members will have the opportunity to sample and vote on their favorites as part of the event, and a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Charles River Conservancy’s Swimmable Charles program. Registration for Brew the Charles and other HUBweek events is open now at HUBweek.org.

The Charles River Conservancy launched their "Swim the Charles" Indiegogo campaign to create a permanent swimming area on the Charles River. The campaign, which has raised over 45% and runs until September 12, can be found here.

HUBweek will engage participants across a wide range of topics and industries to understand and experience the innovation and problem solving that’s taking place here in Boston. This year’s lineup will also include:

• Demo Day at the Hynes Convention Center: On September 30 from 12-6pm, 160 visionary companies from leading local startup incubators, accelerators and corporate innovation labs, including MassChallenge, Greentown Labs, Harvard i-lab and MIT, will pitch, share and demo their work for recognition of their impact.
• Faneuil Forum in Faneuil Hall: On the evening of the first presidential debate, HUBweek is inviting participants to join in a truly civic dialogue and debate around today’s most pressing ethical issues, led by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel. Sandel will engage participants in debating today’s most pressing ethical issues, including everything from taxes to immigration.
• A number of competitions which will cumulatively give away more than $1.25M over the course of HUBweek, including: The Art of Talking Science; Babson Breakaway Challenge; Beantown Throwdown; Brew the Charles; Climate CoLab; Demo Day; Filmmaker’s Fund Award; MIT IDE Inclusive Innovation Competition

About HUBweek

HUBweek is a weeklong creativity and innovation festival, and a first-of- its-kind civic collaboration between The Boston Globe, Harvard University, MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital. The inaugural HUBweek festival took place in October 2015, and had 46,000 attendees, 106 events over 8 days, as well as 70 collaborating organizations participate. HUBweek’s mission is to convene, celebrate and showcase the most creative and inventive people in art, science and technology making an impact in Greater Boston and across the globe.

TechJam 2016

TechJam 2016 took place on City Hall Plaza in Boston. It was an evening of all things tech including the latest in 3D printing. Models from the 3D printer were presented and had been painted.

Experian Data was on hand to pose the question, "What do you use data to do?" Individual responses were placed onto a clothesline. People were encouraged to tweet their response as well.

There was no shortage of fun as a giant game of Operation persuaded participants to try their hand at something that perhaps they had not played in well...at least a decade!

The life size Operation game is below:

Speaking of giant, City Hall Plaza is now outfitted with large hammocks for anyone's relaxation:

Refreshments abounded at TechJam including these creative cookies which I guess mean that The Red Balloon has officially been "hired!"

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!