I had the pleasure of attending FedTalks2011 – an event held October 11, 2011 at the Warner Theater in Washington D.C. The event was hosted by FedScoop and brought together “the greatest minds in government and business technology to discuss how innovation can aid in the way government works.”
I was introduced to top White House leaders, federal agencies, and the tech industry all in one sitting. The event was pioneered by founder and CEO of FedScoop, Goldy Kamali, who for the past three years has been providing attendees with exposure to great IT minds. Being relatively new to the world of IT, attending FedTalks2011 was a great way to meet and learn from some of the industry’s top commercial, and Government IT professionals. With speakers such as Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President & U.S. CTO, Executive Office of the President, Terry Kline, CIO and VP of IT at General Motors, Craig Newmark, Founder of Craigslist.com, Robert Stephens, Founder of Geek Squad & Chief Technology Officer of Best Buy, and a number of other industry influencers, it was difficult for me not to feel positively overwhelmed with valuable technology information.
Each speaker spoke to the audience about their work in IT with their organization on various topics such as Citizen Engagement, Cyber Security, and Lowering the Costs of Government with Technology to name off a short list of the abundance of topics that influenced my “think outside of the box,” mentality. I am told the event gets better every year which I can certainly believe after being moved by Robert Stephens of Best Buy’s delivery of how he started the popular in home computer fix-it company Geek Squad. Stephens delivered a brief overview of starting Geek Squad in college with $200 to his name. He joked about how it annoys him that people often think that Best Buy created Geek Squad as he laughed and said “I created Geek Squad and later acquired Best Buy.”
From Stephens, to Craig Newmark’s fireside chat with Dr. Peter Levin on Citizen Engagement, and Terry Kline’s convincing delivery of leveraging the consumerization of IT in an organization. I left FedTalks2011 eager to learn more about the IT and government fields of IT knowledge to carry with me until Fedtalks2012.
To learn more about FedTalks2011 visit http://fedscoop.com/fedtalks/fedtalks2011/