The Technology Association of the Bluegrass (TAB) will launch the inaugural TECX conference in Lexington on September 19-21.
The event is aimed at bringing together Central Kentucky's technological, entrepreneurial and creative communities to foster innovation, with a mashup of breakout sessions, keynotes, a hackathon, and a career expo. TECX events will be held at multiple locations in and near downtown Lexington, including the Central Public Library, tech incubators Awesome Inc and Base 110, the historic Lyric Theatre, Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center, and the University of Kentucky Gatton Student Center. Conference programming will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, with additional entertainment and activities scheduled in the evenings.
“We are hoping that the first-ever TECX conference will be a time when students and professionals can step away from their day-to-day to gain knowledge, connect, and be inspired,” said Katy Brown, executive director, TAB.
Speaker Anne Ward, founder and CEO of Circleclick Media, will present her keynote address, titled "Privacy is the New Luxury," to conference attendees at the Lyric Theater at 9 a.m. on Friday, September 20. Ward is an IBM Futurist Thought Leader and O'Reilly author. She was named “Top Inspirational Entrepreneurs to Watch” by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2017 and “The Mother of Startups” by CNN in 2017.
Toli Lerios will present his keynote address, “Startup Ecosystems Beyond Silicon Valley,” on Saturday, September 21, at 3 p.m. in the UK Gatton Student Center's Worsham Cinema. Lerios is a serial entrepreneur and advisor who holds 26 U.S. patents, including the early Invisalign orthodontics. Lerios won Stanford’s Walter J. Gorges Award for Excellence in Teaching, and created Facebook’s dynamic image processing infrastructure for photo layouts in timeline.
“TECX captures the soul of startup innovation: unbridled creativity and diverse experiences mixed with practical advice to make disruptive change materialize," Lerios said. "It reminds me of the early days of Austin's South-by-Southwest conference, which was at the core of the town's transition from sleepy college town and government seat to the high-tech capital of Texas."
TECX attendees can also look forward to an augmented reality tour of downtown Lexington, a look-and-learn at UK’s solar car, multiple Art Tech installations, an evening art gallery hop and more.
“Lexington’s tech sector is big and getting bigger. We will soon be one of the largest gigabit
cities in the country,” Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton said. “TECX supports that growth with good information and opportunities to network.”
For more information and to reserve a ticket, check online at tecx19.com.