THE BOOK
SPRING 2018
Tech Square ATL is a membership community with a media publication dedicated to connecting you to people at the heart of Atlanta’s tech scene. We spark these connections through our special events, featured stories, and collaborative workspace. Learn more at TechSquareATL.com.
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A Breakthrough Question You come to Tech Square to create your next breakthrough. Often times, this breakthrough begins by asking a simple question that starts with the phrase: “What if we...?” Around the time of the 1996 Summer Olympics, Dr. G. Wayne Clough, the thenpresident of Georgia Institute of Technology, asked, “What if we connected the Georgia Tech campus to Midtown Atlanta to create a new front door to the world?” In response, the private sector stepped forward and asked, “What if we designed and built new buildings for more people to live and work at this new place called Tech Square?” From this came the core of what we find in the neighborhood today. Today, Tech Square has the highest concentration of startups, students, corporate innovators, and academic researchers in the entire southeastern US. To galvanize this prismatic collection of people into a strong collaborative community, Tech Square ATL offers a variety of shared experiences to those seeking their own breakthrough. We began the year with our own “What if we...?” questions. This issue of The Book explores the three main questions we posed:
What if we... 1. Explore a single theme through many different conversations? 2. Focus our storytelling on breakthrough talent? 3. Carve a clear path for members to stand out from the crowd?
We hope you enjoy the breakthroughs that came from these simple questions.
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What is Tech Square?
“Diverse, innovative, and vibrant.”
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“A collaborative community linked via shared experiences.”
“A hotspot for new ideas.”
Tech Square by the
100+ Startups
NUMBERS 10 Top 10 Engineering Programs
Startup Accelerators
Research Labs
20
Corporate Innovation Centers
1,300+ Students call Tech Square home
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10
1 Top 10 MBA
Program
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WHAT IF WE...
Explore a
SINGLE theme through many
DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS?
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Data Links Us All For the first time, we focused every conversation this season on a single theme: data. Neighborhood experts asked probing questions, approaching the topic from various angles according to their expertise. What are the implications of data from wearable fashion? Who is responsible for ethical use of data in business marketing? Where is the public complicit in privacy breaches, and how can we best protect each other? We also took a closer look at the data that’s all around us. What do we know about the members of Tech Square ATL? How can we better connect them? We explored those questions and many more this season. Read on to see what we discovered.
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Predictions about Data “We’ll have humanoid personal assistants. They’re going to be socially savvy, they’ll Aamir Goriawala have physical adeptness to hold things, and have the common sense to partake in our lives. You could show the robot how to load the dishwasher, cut vegetables, or pull out weeds.”
“We as humans
are gonna get more involved with our own data, better Carl Bedingfield understand where our data is going, and how to manage that data. We will actually gain benefit rather than just conveying that financially to large companies who are really good at taking advantage of us right now.”
“The ‘what next’ will be easier to identify. That is to say, we can help decision makers Rahul Basole understand what they should be doing in the next phase. We’ll combine standard visualization techniques with more forward looking techniques like simulation and scenario modeling.”
The Hot Seat podcast calls on domain experts to share their knowledge with Tech Square ATL members during a public recording session often held in The Garage. The season’s first Hot Seat, Talk Data To Me, featured three leaders who gave bold predictions for how our lives will be shaped by advancement in data technology over the next five years.
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Subscribe to the Tech Square ATL channels on iTunes and Soundcloud.
Power Meal
TIMELINE
MARCH 19
FEBRUARY 20
FEBRUARY 5
Data on the Catwalk
Big Data Bliss is Ignorance
Privacy and Big Data
MARCH 8
HumanvsMachine Data Analytics
FEBRUARY 12
BlockchainBomb Austin Lee
Cara Snow
Ed Rieker
Cody Trawick
Veronica Young
FEBRUARY 20
MARCH 15
Digital Clutter
Breaking Down Cryptocurrencies
FEBRUARY 1
FEBRUARY 28
The Case of the DisappearingData
Ethics in Marketing Data Jeff Garbers
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Ajay Ganapathy
Kyle Cemate
Adam Harrell
MARCH 23
APRIL 12
Data’s Role in Startup Investing
Predictive Data APRIL 5
APRIL 24
Visualizing Your Data
Data-Driven Decisions Geoff Wilson
Sig Mosley Carrie Moore
Scott Lopano
APRIL 30
APRIL 11
Data andCommunity
Data Aftermath
APRIL 18
MARCH 29
WTF Data Shane Matthews
Carl Bedingfield
Big Data, Big Disruption ScottHenderson
Chris Heaton
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Insights “
Jessie Lian
It’s important to build trust. Trust will bring people in for the journey, even if the outcome hasn’t been visualized yet.
“
Carl Bedingfield
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The vitality of a community can be measured by the communication density between the members.
”
Josh Bristow
Low barriers to entry, driven by cloud computing, allow even more people to “ not only create and refine data, but solve
problems in a small scale which used to only be possible in a large one.
Ben Andrews
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”
thoughts and behavior about data differ. While they may be uncomfortable with their “ People’s data being available, they don’t care enough to attempt to safeguard it on a daily basis. ” Ajay Ganapathy Consumers think of data as personal info. “Professionals think of data as a raw material. ”
Power Meals by the
NUMBERS
291 Unique
101 Unique
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Power Meals
Connections
Attendees 12
Data-Driven Job Fair Job fairs are meat markets. But it doesn’t have to be that way. So we made it our mission to use data to curate connections that would better serve both job seeker and company. First, we collected data on job seekers’ experience and skill sets. Next, we recorded what type of talent each organization sought. Before the Big Show even began, attendees received a targeted list of opportunities. The day of, indepth conversations replaced resume swapping as the name of the game. Over a thousand conversations led to 621 confirmed matches with both job seekers and companies wanting to have a follow-up conversation. Breakthrough companies, meet breakthrough talent – the Tech Square way.
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Tech Square Job Fair brought together 331
and
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Job Seekers Companies
which created 1132 and 621 Conversations Follow-ups
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WHAT IF WE...
Focus
our
STORYTELLING on
BREAKTHROUGH
TALENT?
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Advice to Your Younger Self “Resist the urge to unnecessarily complicate solutions.”
“Learn to write good unit tests.”
Damian Starosielsky
Melisa Griffin
“Just do it! Apply. Job postings are just a wish list of skills.”
“Ask a horrifying amount of questions.” Vincent Haines
Ben Hirsch
“Don’t be afraid to dive in, even if you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Everybody undervalues networking! Tell people what you’re good at.” Peter Finn
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Eric Pate
Mentor Circles by the
NUMBERS 95
3
Events
31 Mentors
Attendees New this season, Mentor Circles were introduced as a way to learn from industry pros in a more intimate, informal format. Through a roundtable conversation and speed mentoring, attendees learned from seasoned mentors. For one of the Mentor Circles, the Tech Square Job Fair team assembled software developers to connect with job seekers to find out what it’s really like to work as a developer in a variety of settings.
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Caitlyn Seim is a researcher at Georgia Tech who works with haptic technology gloves, which enable people to learn skills more quickly than traditional methods. For many, her research is life-changing. “Some people came in only being able to move a finger, and they left being able to button their shirt,” she said. Caitlyn’s studies have helped with subjects’ rehabilitation, allowing them to read braille or even play the piano.
Caitlyn Seim
Passive Learning via Haptic Gloves 19
Caitlyn’s Journey 2009 Google Travel Traveled to a conference that made her pursue a PhD.
2013 Focused Research Received National Science Foundation Research Fellowship and focused on gloves that teach piano and Braille passive haptic learning.
Late2014 - 2016 Renewed Investment Received the Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship to continue her work.
Making the Move Came to Georgia Tech to study electrical enginneering.
2011 Continued Education Graduated from GT and started working toward PhD in Human-Centered Computing. Received the GT President’s Fellowship.
2014 Spreading the Word Published three papers on Braille haptics, passive haptic learning of piano songs, and learning Morse code through haptics.
2016 20
Oculogx uses augmented reality to reduce the operational costs of warehouses. Their system makes order picking both faster and more accurate and is even more adaptable than robotics solutions used by companies like Amazon. Oculogx has three pilots in Atlanta warehouses, testing out the solution in real-world scenarios. Charu said, “Smartphones have permeated every aspect of our existence. Mixed reality and augmented reality are going to do the same thing.�
Charu Thomas Improving Warehouses with AR 21
Charu’s Journey Aug. 2015 A Seed is Planted First played with the HoloLens at The Garage during the HoloHack.
Apr. 2017 Another Win Secured Oculogx won 1st place at Atlanta Startup Battle, receiving $100k investment.
Early 2018
The First Step Started her education at Georgia Tech, studying industrial and systems engineering.
Dec.2016 Solidifying Her Place Oculogx won 2nd place at the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2017, receiving $25,000.
Sept. 2017 Launching The technology debuted at three pilot locations.
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WHAT IF WE...
Carve
a clear path for
MEMBERS to
STAND OUT from the
CROWD? 24
TSQ ATL Badgeholders
The new Tech Square ATL Badgeholder program is open to anyone who believes in the importance of coming together with people from different fields to learn from, collaborate with, and inspire each other. The Badgeholder process charts a direct course for members to activate their status in the Tech Square ATL community. The steps are simple, and the impact is profound. Badgeholders receive a bona fide TSQ ATL 2018 badge, direct access to other Badgeholders, and special invitations to private events and experiences.
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Membership
GROWTH
Since Tech Square ATL planted its roots in 2016, it has blossomed into the largest membership network in the neighborhood. Startups, corporate innovators, academics, and more constitute the over 1,200 members who comprise the heart of Atlanta’s tech scene.
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Badgeholders by the
NUMBERS 17
5
students
8
7
designers
makers
5
coders
academics
3
investors
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2
69 Badgeholders 40 Organizations
generalists
3
civic boosters
4
admins
12
technologists
13
entrepreneurs
Why Did You Join? “To make more connections with cool people doing all kinds of cool things.”
Adina Martinez
“Get wisdom from older members, connections, advice, and ideas on how to integrate more art, culture, and artisan-style small businesses into Tech Square.” Hannah Franklin
“Learn about cool work done by other people around Tech Square and in the Tech Square ATL member community.” Ruilong Ma
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Earning Your Badge Becoming a TSQ ATL Badgeholder is an easy way for you to get involved in the neighborhood. You’ll create at least 10 new connections and learn something along the way. Badgeholder status means you have demonstrated your commitment to our shared belief of creating community. To recognize your achievement, we’ll present you with the newly created TSQ ATL digital badge and invite you to special Badgeholder events and experiences. Unlock this status after you complete three steps:
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1.
HAVE A 100% COMPLETED PROFILE
2.
ATTEND A SOCIAL EVENT
3.
ATTEND A BRAINY EVENT
Go to techsquareatl.com/badgeholder to start your journey today!
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Shared Experiences + Breakthroughs
Our continued ascendance as a species depends upon solving increasingly complex challenges. These breakthroughs do not happen in a vacuum. Rather, they are the natural result of connecting subject matter experts from different disciplines to learn from, inspire, and collaborate with each other. Tech Square ATL exists to create these connections through a density of shared experiences that lead to commerce of some sort.
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THANK YOU! To Our Team The team who make all the Tech Square ATL magic possible is small and mighty. This season came together thanks to some familiar and some fresh faces. We move fast and pull off audacious ideas on short timelines because of this team. Next time you see them, give them the props they deserve. Team: Ashley Summerall, Hannah Franklin, Amelia Davis, Sammi Hudock, Scott Henderson, Nona Dowling, Mehnaz Ruksana, Rachel Zick, Jared Serfozo, and Hayley Charbonneau (not pictured).
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To Our Partners Tech Square ATL became the membership community and media publication it is today because of the unwavering support and active collaboration of our partners. Everything we do is shaped by their ideas and involvement. We can do all of what we do because of the resources and advocacy they contribute to our work.
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