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August 2, 2 019
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Annual SVTC Program Activities Survey
Drink & Think | Staunton (8/6)
Registration Now OPEN | Valley Business Summit (8/8)
Business After Hours: Staunton Innovation Hub (8/15)
SVTC Luncheon | Building Useful Conversational Software (9/12)
Valley TechCon.19 | Early Bird Registration OPEN (9/25)
Welcome Back Silver Level Member: Segra
Shenandoah Valley Open Tech Jobs
Rocktown Tech Slack Channel Link
Annual SVTC Program Activities Survey
 
  
Are there tech topics you'd like to hear about? Let us know!

Suggest topics for events and luncheons. What tech topics are on your mind? What makes a techie's heart skip a beat? Is there an organization, program, team, or business location you'd like to hear from or visit? Use the link below to take a super short survey to let us know which topics you're interested in. 
  
To know what topics we covered in the past, take a look: 


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Drink & Think | Staunton (8/6)
 
  
August 6, 2019 | Starts 6:00 pm
Staunton Innovation Hub

Join the SVTC and Defense Entrepreneurs Forum Charlottesville ( for a Pop-Up Drink & Think event in Staunton on Tuesday, 8/6,  Staunton Innovation Hub! We're excited to have Daniel Manning sharing about creative leadership. Join us for a chance to learn more!


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Registration Now OPEN | Valley Business Summit (8/8)
 
  
August 8, 2019 | 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Plecker Center, BRCC, Weyers Cave

State delegates invite you to network and connect with local resources.

Agenda:
9:00 Registration, Networking, Business Resource Fair
9:30 Welcome and Introduction
  • Welcome to Blue Ridge Community College: Dr. John Downey
  • Introduction of Keynote Speaker: Delegate Ronnie Campbell
  • Keynote: Bettina Ring, Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry
10:15 Break | Resource Fair
10:30 Resource Presentation
11:30 Break | Resource Fair
11:45 Feedback Forum and Q & A with State Delegates
  • Richard "Dickie" Bell, 20th District
  • Ronnie Campbell, 24th District
  • R. Steven Landes, 25th District
  • Tony O. Wilt, 26th District
Business Resource Fair:
* Local Education & Training Providers
* Regional Chambers of Commerce
* Procurement Technical Assistance Center
* Regional Economic Development Partnerships
* Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center
* Shenandoah Valley Technology Council
* Small Business & Supplier Diversity / SWaM
* Virginia Dept of Agriculture and Consumer Services
* Virginia Dept of Rehabilitative Services
* Virginia Dept of Veterans Services/Virginia Values Veterans
* Virginia Procurement Technical Assistance Center
* Virginia Small Business Financing Authority
* State Delegates Bell, Campbell, Landes, and Wilt

Event Partners:
Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce | Blue Ridge Community College | Harrisonburg Rockingham Chamber of Commerce | Shenandoah Valley Technology Council | Shenandoah Valley Partnership  | Shenandoah Valley Small Business Development Center | Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity

FREE - but space is limited.  PLEASE REGISTER.  (Registration is via the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber. Non-members  should choose "Not a member" on the registration page.) This event will not include lunch.

Register for this event at  http://tinyurl.com/VBSummit19

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Business After Hours: Staunton Innovation Hub (8/15)
 
  
August 15, 2019 | 5:30 am - 7:00 pm
Staunton Innovation Hub

Pre-Registration: 
FREE to members  | 
$10.00 Non-Members
At the Door: 
$10 for Members & Non-Members

Brought to you by the Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce, join us on August 15 for Business After Hours at the Staunton Innovation Hub. Business After Hours gives you the opportunity to network with many local businesses in a casual, after-hours environment!

Networking is the most affordable way of marketing yourself which results in personal referrals and word-of-mouth advertising. Rise above today's multitude of advertising white noise, set yourself apart and make those personal relationships. Grab a stack of your business cards and come prepared to make big connections. Don't delay and register today! 

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September 12, 2019 | 11:45 am - 1:00 pm
Wood Grill Buffet, Harrisonburg

It's easy to build a bot; it's hard to build a useful bot. Chatbots have been circulating the buzzword bins for the last two years, and a day doesn't go by where you don't hear about some new chatbot being launched to support customers or processes. Now, look at your phone. How many chatbots are you using? Go ahead. I'll wait. With chatbots, you can easily build a novelty, but without a clear plan and intuitive design, you might build something that works, but that nobody wants to use. For this luncheon, we'll discuss what it takes to build a useful and compelling chatbot, as well as how to design and prototype bots before you build them. We will then go over a "useful" chatbot application, and how it was built from end-to-end

About the Speaker
Michael Szul has spent two decades in software engineering in industries as diverse as insurance, energy, travel, and higher education, including consulting with companies such as AIG and Conde Naste. He has worked in both application and product development, as well as framework creation, code generation, API building, and machine learning. Szul is a speaker, blogger, podcaster, Microsoft MVP in AI and Developer Technologies, and author of Building Chatbots in TypeScript with the Microsoft Bot Framework. Currently, he is the manager of undergraduate medical education applications for the  University of Virginia's Health System.


Thank you luncheon sponsor:


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ValleyTechCon19 | Early Bird Registration (9/25)
 
  
September 25, 2019 | 7:30 am - 4:00 pm
Hotel Madison & Shenandoah Valley Conference Center

** Early Bird Tickets (ends 8/31): $100 (+ $7.72 fee)  **
Regular Admission: $125 (+ $9.24 fee)
Student Rate: $50 (+4.67 fee)

Now in its second year, Valley TechCon brings together technology enthusiasts, practitioners, researchers, and business leaders to facilitate idea sharing, collaboration, and innovation. This year there will be three tracks to choose from for the breakout sessions: Technical Topics for Practitioners, The Business Impact of Technology, and Growing Your Technology Business. Within each track,  sessions will cover a broad spectrum of topics. The goal is to inspire new ideas, improve business efficiency with emerging technologies, springboard new ventures, and expand networking opportunities.

Check out all that Valley TechCon.19 has to offer this year!
Ticket Includes
  • Breakfast, morning snack, lunch.
  • 14 breakout sessions.
  • 3 featured speaker sessions.
  • Post-event networking event at Pale Fire Brewing Company (shuttle and first drink included)*.

FAQs
Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?
Individuals of all ages are encouraged to attend, from high school age upwards, through college years, those in a professional career, and those looking to keep up to date in retirement.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Hotel Madison & Shenandoah Valley Conference Center is conveniently located close to exit 245 on Interstate 81 at 710 S. Main St., Harrisonburg VA, 22801.  Directions. Once you arrive, you will find a multi-storey parking deck towards the rear of the hotel. The entrance is located on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. (Historical Cantrell Ave.). Valet parking is also available.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?
Contact via email  econ_dev@harrisonburgva.gov.

What's the refund policy?
Refunds can be requested up until 7 days before the event.

*After conference networking session occurs 3:30-5:30 PM at Pale Fire Brewery in downtown Harrisonburg; one beer ticket per non-student conference attendee


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Welcome Back Silver Level Member!
Segra

Segra is one of the largest independent fiber bandwidth companies in the U.S. Representing a successful merger of Lumos Networks and Spirit Communications, the company now has the most advanced fiber infrastructure network of more than 21,000 miles that connects more than 9,000 on-net locations and 44 data centers throughout nine Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states. Segra provides Ethernet, MPLS, dark fiber, advanced data center services, IP and managed services, voice and cloud solutions, all backed by its industry-leading service and reliability. Customers include carriers, enterprises, governments, healthcare organizations, defense, education and small businesses. For more information about Segra's technology and commitment to customer care, visit segra.com.

 Website:  https://www.segra.com/

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join_our_team_sign.jpg
  • Ryzing Technologies, Staunton (Engineering Technician)
  • Vision Technology Group, Harrisonburg (Tier III Network Engineer)
  • Budget Referee, Harrisonburg (Full Stack Developer with front end web development focus)
GOT ADDITIONAL JOBS THAT SHOULD BE PUBLICIZED ? SEND US A NOTE AND WE'LL PUBLICIZE THEM.
 
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Participate in the local tech conversation: Rocktown Tech (Slack)

Currently there are 18 channels and over 250 members. Please join in! 
Sign-up link:  https://rocktowntech.herokuapp.com/

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SVTC MEMBERS INVITATION: DISPLAY YOUR MEMBERSHIP STATUS
Membership Badge Available 
 
Use our new graphic on your own website (and remember to link back to our website www. svtc-va.org !) 

Choose the graphic file of your choice:

Let us know when you incorporate this graphic and we'll mention your site in return!


Examples:
See how our Level I Members  grep Innovation, LLC displayed our membership badge on their  website!

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The Shenandoah Valley Technology Council does not endorse the companies, organizations, teams, or events mentioned, or take a stand on any of the articles or notices or events included.
 

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Shenandoah Valley Technology Council
800 S. Main Street MSC 3615
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
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