by Steve Earle | Oct 29, 2014 | ITPalooza, Marketing, Newsletters
South Florida’s Largest Tech Conference Letting Attendees Vote to Select the Critical Knowledge They Need to Keep Their Skills Marketable
If you think the rancor between Charlie Crist and Governor Rick Scott has reached new heights, you will be interested in the competition between local techies for a speaking session at the upcoming ITPalooza 2014 conference. The binary code is flying — tweet out the vote!
With more than 2,000 expected, 60 speakers, 65 sponsors and 50 user groups from across South Florida, the 3rd Annual ITPalooza is set to deliver its annual South Florida technology conference on Dec. 4 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences located at 3301 College Ave in Davie.
“This year’s event will offer a first of its kind opportunity to let the IT community decide which critical technical topics will be delivered,†said Alex Funkhouser, ITPalooza event founder and CEO of SherlockTech Staffing. “Technology evolves so rapidly that it’s really hard for professionals to keep their tech skills current and marketable. The IT community is choosing what’s the most interesting to learn and what’s crucial to their professional development.â€
Thirty-six speaking slots will be chosen from the voting. Those interested in leading a session or voting for their favorites can visit the “Voting for Sessions†area of the ITPalooza website at http://itpalooza.org.
Reflecting its commitment to the South Florida IT community, ITPalooza will once again be hosted by NSU’s Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences (GSCIS). Under the leadership of Dean Eric S. Ackerman, Ph.D., the GSCIS partnership with ITPalooza promises to offer attendees the very best of South Florida technology.
In addition to the continuing education technical sessions, hiring fair, and vendor exhibits, a dedicated management track focused on the unique needs of CIOs and other top-level IT Executives will be featured. More than 50 CIOs are scheduled to participate in the CIO Council luncheon and roundtable sessions www.iCoastCIOCouncil.com. The event culminates in a holiday party that features a band comprised of local technologists.
Above all, ITPalooza is dedicated to raising money for various South Florida non-profits including Miami-Dade County Public Schools’ STEM Advisory Board, The Stockdale Foundation, Marine’s Toys for Tots and more. Over the last two years, ITPalooza has raised in excess of $75,000 in donations and cash.
Those interested in attending ITPalooza are encouraged to visit the event’s website where more information can be found regarding sponsorship and speaker opportunities — http://itpalooza.org
About ITPalooza: Led by an organizing team of dedicated local IT Professionals, www.ITPalooza.org is an annual event that brings together the South Florida IT Community for a day of learning, sharing, networking, and fun. ITPalooza is facilitated by ITProCamp, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that organizes technical training events across the country. www.ITProCamp.org welcomes Tech Groups to join forces and help each other learn new technologies, develop speakers, and grow memberships.
by Steve Earle | Oct 29, 2014 | Events, Marketing, Newsletters
DNNCon is an informal, community-organized event that is put together by DNN users just like you. Everyone from developers to users participate, share ideas, and get to know each other at this annual event. DNNCon offers training sessions for anyone looking to learn how to use DNN more effectively, as well as sessions on advanced technique, security, administration, marketing tips, skinning, and so much more.
Read the latest DNNCON Newsletter
by Steve Earle | Oct 27, 2014 | Marketing, Newsletters
How cool is this?
We had over 900 registrants for TechWeekend @theDolphins – And the Dolphins won again!
One of the winning {FinTank} hackathon apps will be used at the Thursday evening Nov. 13th Dolphins vs. Bills game
Our reserved section of lower bowl tickets is almost sold out, if you want to join TechTailgating@theDolphins with a discounted game ticket, use the promo code “FINTANK” to buy online though this special link FYI- the Promo code expires this week.
To see pictures of the {FinTank} hackathon winners, go to www.TheFinTank.com
by Steve Earle | Oct 27, 2014 | Events, Marketing, Newsletters
Tech Weekend @ The Dolphins was held on Oct 25/26th at Sun Life Stadium. The event was filled with activities, including a Hackathon, Teach-a-thon, Coding Track, IT Track and a variety of user group meetings. The size and layout of the event had to be seen in person, as it kept going on and on. Just when you thought you’d come to the end, there would be more rooms and more events further down the hall. There were over 900 registrants. Even with the distraction of beautiful S. Fla weather, over 450 came to the free event the first day, and 100 the second.
Folks from all age groups were in attendance, from 5th graders to retired programmers that wanted to get back into the community.  The Ranger Kids were all dressed in matching orange T-Shirts, drawing attention as they paraded through the large stadium layout.   The attendees learned, and then networked afterwards, sharing what they’d discovered. The hackers worked feverishly to get their latest ideas into presentable form.
The results were remarkable.  The presentations included ideas like ways to help cut lines at the women’s restrooms, how to use the stadium for other events like Tech Weekend, how to use the time between plays to add extra excitement with the game by earning game tokens for trivia and micro-bets, and it even spilled out into the parking lot where an app showed how to have the perfect tailgating event. There were so many exciting ideas that it must have been near impossible to select a winner. Some of the strongest statements happened when an investor from the crowd told an attendee he would back her idea even before she finished her presentation. The IT judge from the Dolphins said he’d use one of the apps as a statistician and scorekeeper for the Dolphins. Even the event organizers jumped on board as we plan to use the app to help us organize our Tech Tailgating @ The Dolphins for the November 13th game against the Buffalo Bills.
While all of this is remarkable, I found the best comment of all when I came to my desk Monday morning. I’d received an invitation to connect on LinkedIn from James Stephenson, an attendee who I’d chatted with throughout the event. He brought his daughter to the event as part of the Teach-a-thon. She is a remarkable middle school student that was interested in the entire event. His note to me said: “My daughter was so enthusiastic, we spent the rest of the evening together working on her projects”. As an event organizer, what more can dream for but to inspire our attendees, especially our youth, to study technology, try hard and reach for excellence?
We thank Microsoft and Citrix for their phenomenal support by staffing many of the tracks with experts and allowing us to award tickets to attendees of those tracks.   We thank the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, without whom this event would not have been possible. And, we especially thank our hosts. The Miami Dolphins, who’s support and execution made this the largest-ever Tech Event for an NFL team, held at an NFL stadium!
by Steve Earle | Oct 27, 2014 | Job Opportunities, Marketing, Newsletters
Apply to this Job.
The Director of Application Development will deliver end-to-end solutions in supporting project activity and maintaining existing core business. The successful candidate will establish and maintain effective working relationships and lead a team of independent and creative thinkers, as well as establish quality standards and process improvement benchmarks.  The Director will provide cost estimates to support development projects, and ensure that resources stay on target to meet commitments.
SherlockTech loves to share $500 referral fees!
