On Wednesday, July 16, 2014, the BABC of Greater Philadelphia collaborated with UK Trade & Investment to not only kick off the GREAT Tech Awards, but to also connect people with technology and each other. Using three demos and a salute to the GREAT Tech Awards by Danny Lopez, HM Consul-General, New York and Director-General, Trade & Investment USA, this event was nothing short of fascinating. The room at the Quorum Science Center in Philadelphia buzzed with questions and interest in technology and the companies that were showing us how amazing a smart phone or tablet can really be.
Det Ansinn, founder of Brick Simple and a very experienced software writer, intrigued everyone in the room purely by pointing us to the Google Glass lense that rose slightly off of his glasses. Google Glass is one of the many ways we can experience technology up close and personal. Ranging from seeing and sending a text to looking at budgets for your own company without using a computer, Google Glass is an innovation that really captivated the room. Det encouraged attendees to ask about the high-tech possibilities that we truly hold at our fingertips where some people asked about Google Glass itself and others wanted to know what’s next in the world of technology. Det ended the discussion with a joking answer to that question, “SkyNet, is obviously next!”
Danny Lopez, HM Consul-General, New York and Director-General, Trade & Investment USA, got the room excited about competing businesses, technology, and the GREAT Tech Awards. The GREAT Tech Awards focus on companies who want to develop their business in the UK, asking them to compete against one another in education, finance, health, internet of things, lifestyle, and media. From telling guests about the huge success of last year’s awards to naming the judges for this year, Danny used his enthusiasm about the awards to charm the attendees with exciting thoughts traveling to London. Danny really pushed the guests to think about expanding their small and big businesses “over the pond” to the UK. The GREAT Tech Awards allows whoever wins to work with some of the most important people in the UK business world and to really think about the possibilities for their business overseas.
Lisa Hu, Vice President of BlippAR, caught everyone’s attention by using her tablet to show us, on a big screen, how this innovation could really push your business and present fun, interactive ways to connect people to products, companies and technologies. BlippAR is a revolutionary mobile platform using image recognition tech and game-changing new content medium that turns physical imagery, print or products into instantaneous, interactive digital experiences. Users can ‘blipp’ an image to unlock hidden content – such as videos, coupons, recipes and sweepstakes – or actively engage with a brand by playing a game, posing with celebrities, or virtually trying on products. From using a Pepsi bottle to experience sports games and this past World Cup to using a Covergirl ad to virtually try on makeup, Lisa not only received questions but comments on how truly neat the technology is.
Justin Panzer from Eventuosity was next up to show us how easy event planning through technology can really be. From importing your contacts to setting every single venue that’s being visited – whether it be an airport, hotel, or location of the event itself – to even filtering in your excel sheets so they’re all accessible in one place, Eventuosity is a great way to go about planning upcoming programs.
The final presenter, Mrinal Bhasker from RightCare Solutions, finished up the round of demos by telling us more about how technology can work to our advantages in the healthcare realm. RightCare is based on a decade of research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, with a D2S2 platform which enables continuous point-of-care decision support, optimizes workflow, and dramatically improves post-acute care transitions for hospitals and primary care facilities.
Special thanks to Danny and his team for bringing the GREAT Tech Awards to our city. The BABC was truly honored to be able to collaborate with UKTI on such a wonderful UK-based mission to encourage US companies to the UK and UK companies to the US.
Click here for photos from this event!
