Hold the Date | Tech Nite 2023

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Tech Nite 2023 was originally scheduled to take place in the spring of 2023 but was postponed to Oct. 2023. Please pencil the date in and please subscribe to our newsletter so you’re aware as the event planning gets underway – e.g., the nomination season for the 8 award categories should start in the late summer. The forms that will collect these nominations will then be active. See more about Tech Nite: https://svtc-va.org/about-tech-nite/

Sponsorships will be available: https://svtc-va.org/tech-nite-sponsorships/

 

Tickets will be sold as well

 

We look forward to seeing everyone!

SVTC Annual Meeting | June 2023 luncheon: Building Healthy Project Teams: Integrating Agile and Traditional Approaches to Foster Innovation and Success

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On June 1, 2023 the SVTC will host its Annual Meeting AND the June 2023 luncheon. Prior to the Annual Meeting, we will conduct our spring 2023 election for class 1 of directors electronically, as we always do. (Members receive an individually-generated email with a voting link in their inboxes.) Any SVTC member who didn’t have a chance to vote electronically can vote in person, on June 1 with a paper ballot at the Annual Meeting.

June 2023 Luncheon | Building Healthy Project Teams: Integrating Agile and Traditional Approaches to Foster Innovation and Success

Software companies learned in the 1990s that traditional waterfall project management might work well to build a skyscraper, but does not work well to satisfy changing customer requirements. The 2001 Agile Manifesto helped create new ways for software teams to deliver value while adjusting to market realities and new technology. Agile methods, such as Scrum, are now being adopted in many knowledge industries, such as finance, insurance, human resources, and more. But, most leaders, managers, and team members have studied neither traditional nor agile approaches. How can leaders and organizations find the right balance for their project teams? What basic concepts should every leader and manager know to foster healthy and productive project teams? Our speakers worked with a Fortune 100 company to co-create and co-teach a new non-credit training course titled, Foundations of Project Management & Team Communication. Almost 200 people have taken the course in the first year. Come to learn essential project team leadership paradigms, and discover how this short training may benefit your organization and leadership.
Speakers:
Thea Litchfield Campbell, Co-Creator and Instructor for JMU SPCE’s Foundations of Project Management & Team Communication; Professional Development Program Manager for JMU’s School of Professional & Continuing Education
Kai Degner, Senior Director of Certificate Programs at University of Virginia’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies; Co-Create and Instructor for JMU SPCE’s Foundations of Project Management & Team Communication; CEO of Listening Strategiess LLC; Doctoral Candidate in JMU’s School of Strategic Leadership Studies; SVTC Board Member

Annual Meeting and SVTC Luncheon Sign-up | June 1, 2023

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SVTC Luncheon | Mar. 30 | “Technology in Agriculture: Data Collection, Sustainability, and Carbon Offsetting” @ Wood Grill Buffet

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young white man with glasses and beard seated in greenhouse in front of plants

Alex Mann

 

Join us on Thursday, March 30, as Alex Mann lays out the collaboration between technology and agriculture.

About the speaker:

Growing up in rural Virginia amid vineyards, orchards, farms, and the Blue Ridge provided Alex Mann with exposure to a multitude of growing environments and practices. He assisted with commercial agriculture installations in California as well as being a harvest intern at two local wineries for multiple seasons. Inspired by a love of nature, a mind for science, and a desire to make a positive impact on the planet, Smart Grow AgriTech was born in 2018. Since then he has gone full time in the Ag sector partnering with Pure Shenandoah, one of Virginia’s leading hemp companies, and recently turned his focus on carbon offset generation and blockchain technology.

 

 

SVTC Luncheon Sign-up | March 30, 2023

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SVTC Luncheon | Jan 19 | Hiring Tech Talent in the New Normal

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Marcy Engle [Vice President of Human Resources at Rockingham Insurance] and Matt Fravel [SR Human Resources Business Partner, Shentel]

Since March 2020, the work world has changed, and companies have had to adapt and change how they do business. Marcy and Matt will share the opportunities and challenges they have experienced in hiring tech talent in this current environment.

About the speakers:

Marcy Engle is the Vice President of Human Resources at Rockingham Insurance. In her capacity at Rockingham, she focuses on HR strategy, benefits, and employee relations. Prior to her time at Rockingham Insurance, she served in leadership of the human resources function at Eastern Mennonite University, Shentel, and Shenandoah Manufacturing.  In each of these capacities, Marcy was heavily involved in the recruitment process.

Marcy has supported the HR profession by serving as president of both the local SHRM chapter (Shenandoah Valley SHRM), as well as the Virginia SHRM State Council (now called HR Virginia). Currently, Marcy serves as the Co-Chair of the Speakers Committee for the HR Virginia annual conference to be held in April 2023.

Marcy obtained an MBA from Eastern Mennonite University and holds a SHRM-SCP and PHR certification in the HR profession.

Matt Fravel is an SR Human Resources Business Partner with Shentel supporting their IT, Accounting, Finance, and Technical Support teams. Prior to that, Matt worked in a similar capacity for nTelos Wireless. He has over 20 years of Human Resources experience, of which the last 10 have been supporting the Telecommunications industry.

Matt is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University and holds HR certifications from both SHRM and HRCI. Additionally, since 2020, Matt has served as President of the Shenandoah Valley Society for Human Resources Management (SVSHRM.)

SVTC Luncheon Sign-up | Jan. 19, 2023

Please pre-register so that we can plan the set-up of the location.

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Coffee with Virginia Venture Partners (VIPC – The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation)

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Registration Required: RSVP Here
Past panelists and the Virginia Venture Partners’ team answer all your questions about building a startup followed by small groups.
 

Office Hours with VVP Investment Associates:

https://calendly.com/virginiaventurepartners/ia

VIPC’S Mission

Connecting innovators with opportunities is our business.

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) was formed to support the Commonwealth’s vision for the expansion of innovation, opportunity, and job creation here in Virginia.

VIPC creates technology-based economic development strategies to accelerate innovation, imagination, and the next generation of technology and technology companies. VIPC, a non-profit corporation, bridges gaps at the earliest stages of the Innovation Continuum. Through commercialization and seed funding VIPC helps entrepreneurs launch and grow high-growth technology companies and create high-paying jobs for the future. VIPC helps facilitate national innovation leadership and an accelerated rate of technology adoption through partnerships with innovative technology start-up companies and advanced technology consumers.

The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) is the operating non-profit of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA).

The Commonwealth of Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority | VIPA

Valley TechCon 2023

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HOLD  THE DATE | SEEKING TOPICS AND SPEAKERS

Valley TechCon brings together technology enthusiasts, practitioners, researchers, and business leaders to facilitate idea-sharing, collaboration, and innovation. Organizers are currently soliciting speaker proposals for the 45-minute break-out sessions.

Submission of the outline of a topic in one of the following categories is being sought. (The proposals can be in any format.)

  • Growing your technology business
  • The business impact of a particular technology, or
  • A technical (teach the room) topic for practitioners

Please include resumes (again in any format, it doesn’t have to be a professional resume, just the experience of the speakers). For an idea of the content of previous break-out sessions, you can view the agenda of Valley TechCon 2019

https://www.valleytechcon.com/agenda-2019/Proposals.

Proposals should be emailed to peirce.macgill@harrisonburgva.gov

[More details once the event is further planned.]

Legislative Breakfast Forum 2022

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SVTC members should register this way in order to get the member pricing:

Start with Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce’s page:
https://chamber.hrchamber.org/events/details/pre-session-legislative-forum-11419

  • Choose Register, and then Not a Member
  • Enter “SVTC” in the promo code box at the top of the page – remember to click APPLY
  • Add the attendee info and continue through the process, pay with a credit card

SVTC Oct. 27, 2022 Luncheon: Erin Burcham, President, Verge, discusses the Roanoke-Blacksburg Tech Council

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Erin Burcham is the President of Verge, a collaborative strategic alliance established to grow the Roanoke-Blacksburg region’s innovation economy, technology, and life sciences sectors, and the supporting communities.  It aligns the strengths and programming efforts of the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council (RBTC), the Regional Accelerator and Mentoring Program (RAMP), and the Valleys Innovation Council (VIC).  Erin will discuss the RBTC mission and share her experience with us on how that has changed over time and what the future holds for that organization.  Erin’s insight into the RBTC experience can inform our own as the SVTC charts a path forward into a new era.

 

 

Register Now to Attend

(You will receive a unique-to-you confirmation email with Zoom link)

SVTC Sept 22 Luncheon | Feedback on the Future of the SVTC

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Come talk with us about the future of the SVTC. As you likely have heard, Nicky will be leaving the organization later in the fall (and is currently working remotely), and with her eventual departure come many questions. As a board, we have had multiple discussions regarding our future, and I would like to have everyone in on the conversation.

As members, stakeholders of the SVTC, and local tech users and creators, you serve an important role in shaping our future. We covet your participation, and thorough input is vital to our process. We want to ensure we continue to provide value to our members and the greater community during the transition and into our 2022-2023 year. (Sept. 2022-June 2023)

Please join us on Thu., Sept 22 to talk with us. Several board members will lead the conversation.

Please choose one or more option(s) to send your thoughts our way:

 

Fall Tech Mixer 2022

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Join the Shenandoah Valley Technology Council on Wed, Oct. 6, 2022, for its annual Fall Tech Mixer. This fall networking event is hosted by the SVTC’s Board of Directors. We’re back at Beyond for tasty coconut shrimp!

Come and find out what the SVTC is doing as an organization, and what our members are doing individually. How are things going? Are you working synchronously or asynchronously?

We are going to engage with our stakeholders and the Shenandoah Valley’s tech users and creators at our Sept. 22 luncheon (Wood Grill) about the future of the council and will continue that conversation on Oct 6. Please come with opinions!

Use our online form to send us feedback in case you can’t make it in person: https://tinyurl.com/FutureSVTC

This is where the growing technology community goes in the fall to catch up. SVTC members are corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, coders, programmers, and more. Membership is not required to participate in the Fall Tech Mixer. Feel free to invite a co-worker, customer, friend, or spouse (please register each).

Come out and join current and potential members as they mingle and network. Appetizers are on us! Drinks are Dutch treat.

Parking: Water Street Parking Deck (Interactive parking map Harrisonburg)