Shark Tank stars kick off Tech Week Grand Rapids

When Kristen Williams first attended Tech Week Grand Rapids three years ago, she expected to learn about technology.

She left talking about people.

The Meijer chief technology officer still reaches out to leaders she met during the annual event when she’s working through questions about artificial intelligence, technology strategy, and leadership.

“I personally connected with three different people last year that I have maintained a relationship with over the last year,” Williams says. “I’ll have a question around some of the stuff I’m working on, and I’m like, ‘Let me go to these people who are doing the same stuff as I am and are having the same challenges.'”

Organizers hope thousands of people have the same experience during Tech Week Grand Rapids, Sept. 14-19.

Now in its fifth year, the event is expected to bring more than 15,000 people to Greater Grand Rapids. More than 100 workshops, panel discussions, demonstrations, and networking events will explore topics including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, medical technology, mobility, advanced manufacturing, entrepreneurship, and more. The week begins Sept. 14 with a fireside chat with stars of ABC’s Shark Tank, Daymond John and Robert Herjavec, at GLC Live at 20 Monroe.

The rest of the week, companies, schools, startups, manufacturers, investors, and nonprofit organizations will open their doors to share what they’re learning when it comes to tech, what’s changing in the industry, and where they’re finding opportunities to connect and innovate. Students sit beside CEOs. Entrepreneurs share ideas with investors. Engineers introduce students to careers in technology. People who are curious about technology can step inside companies and join conversations that are usually held behind closed doors.

Raising visibility

Organizers say people from across the country are coming to see what West Michigan’s technology community has to offer.

“It has brought a light on our area,” Williams says. “The awareness and visibility is truly fantastic and very hard to come by. I don’t think that would be happening without Tech Week.”

Behind the scenes, Andria Romkema, senior vice president of business development at The Right Place, has helped guide that effort along with a 30-member advisory board. While co-chairs rotate, community leaders credit Romkema and The Right Place team with keeping the vision moving and coordinating the partnerships that have allowed the event to grow. 

“When we started Tech Week, we had 12 community partners, 11 events over four days, and about 3,500 attendees,” Romkema says. “We knew there was something special happening, but we couldn’t have predicted how much the community would embrace it. What we’re seeing now, with more than 15,000 expected attendees and over 150 events, is a testament to the incredible commitment and creativity of our partners. Every organization that steps up to host an event, share their expertise, and open their doors is really what makes Tech Week work.”

Shawn Crowley, co-CEO of Atomic Object and one of this year’s co-chairs, says Tech Week has succeeded because it belongs to the community.

“I think one of the fundamental organizing principles that Andria and The Right Place did with Tech Week, and I think it was the stroke of genius that’s made it continue to succeed and grow, is that it’s built by the community,” he says. “The Right Place has created a framework and a call to action for community organizations to participate in it.”

Instead of creating every session, The Right Place invites businesses, educational institutions, startup organizations, and nonprofit groups to develop programming around their own expertise. The unconference model, allowing for over 150 overlapping events over the 6-day period, is united under the Tech Week brand, and The Right Place team provides branding, marketing support, and event marketing tools such as centralized registration and brand kits to help hosts promote their events. Crowley says the decentralized model gives organizations a reason to open their doors, introduce people to their work, and build relationships that continue long after the week ends.

“It was really about how do we build stronger relationships,” he says. The goal is “creating those relationships that are enduring beyond events and programming.”

Working together is becoming even more important as artificial intelligence changes the way many companies do business. Williams says this year’s conversations will focus less on what AI might do and more on how people are using it right now

“Last year there was a lot of hype and discussion. I think this year it’s going to be grounded in things that are real, like what people are really doing, what they’re actually accomplishing,” she says. “I think there’ll be a lot of great discussion around the challenges of it and what do we, as a technology industry, need to think about for the challenges of AI and the opportunities that we’re going to face.”

Attracting talent

She also expects conversations to focus on attracting technology professionals at a time when many companies are rethinking their workforce.

“Organizations like ours are desperate for that talent, and now it is: how do we attract that talent, to say, ‘Hey, come here. There are real and cool things happening here, and we need that talent.'”

Crowley says Tech Week gives West Michigan an opportunity to introduce those professionals to the region.

“People in tech want to go to where the opportunities are, and they want to go to where the innovation is,” he says. “Tech Week is a way for us to show off what we have.”

He says the event also gives business owners, investors and startup founders from outside West Michigan a chance to see the region’s growing technology community and meet the people who help new businesses succeed.

Steve Downing, president and CEO of Gentex and another Tech Week co-chair, says that visibility is making a difference.

“It’s really only been the last five years or so that we’ve done a better job of helping the community understand what it is we actually do and the level of tech and what we’re working on,” Downing says. “That’s helped us recruit tremendously.”

The Zeeland-based technology company recently welcomed interns and co-ops from 21 colleges and universities, including Northwestern University, Yale University, the University of Washington, Iowa State University, Purdue University and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, along with Hope College, Calvin University, Grand Valley State University and other Michigan schools. Downing says the company’s growing ability to attract students from outside the state reflects increasing awareness of the technology careers available in West Michigan.

Tech Week also gives Gentex an opportunity to introduce young people to careers they may not know exist.

“We typically have a lot of tech there and some of the engineering teams there doing presentations to kids,” Downing says. “We’re trying to drive home the point that if you’re interested in this type of tech, you don’t have to go to Silicon Valley to participate in it.”

Community-driven

He says West Michigan offers another advantage.

“We actually not only engineer all our own products, but we actually build them as well,” Downing says. “Part of it is the engineering work and the tech that goes into the final product, but then you have the other half of that tech, which is how are you going to manufacture this?”

Williams says many people are surprised to learn companies like Meijer are also technology employers.

“I don’t think that people think about all the ways that food gets there and all the work in engineering that makes it happen,” she says.

The event’s community-driven format keeps Williams coming back.

“One of the things that’s really cool and unique about Tech Week is they’re not creating all of the content,” she says. “It’s a crowdsourced opportunity for the content.”

She recalls one discussion about building the future technology workforce where the conversation extended well beyond the speakers.

“It wasn’t just about the panel,” Williams says. “The people in the audience came because they really cared about the topic.”

Downing says those conversations are the most important part.

“It’s not just about what you can teach, because that’s only a very small part of this,” he says. “Really, it’s about what you can learn.”

Crowley hopes attendees leave with new ideas, new relationships and a stronger connection to the region.

“I hope people leave with a stronger sense of community, having met some new people or reinforcing relationships that they have,” he says. “The relationships plus the inspiration of what’s going on drives an appetite to stay here and thrive and be part of this community.”

Photos by Tommy Allen and courtesy of The Right Place

This series, West Michigan Tech, aims to spotlight tech organizations and employers in the Greater Grand Rapids area that are delivering innovative programs, addressing talent pipeline challenges, and striving to develop, attract, and retain top talent in West Michigan. This series is underwritten by The Right Place.