Techweek Poised for Major Growth, Appoints Katy Lynch as CEO
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 11, 2015 -- Techweek, the nation's leading technology conference and festival, has announced it plans to expand both domestically and internationally, and to help spearhead these growth efforts, it has appointed Katy Lynch as CEO.
“As an active member in the Chicago tech community, I’ve witnessed the explosive growth of Techweek over the years,” said Lynch. “Right now, we’re in six markets. I’m thrilled to lead the team and look forward to expanding our footprint to several cities, including Boston, Dallas, Denver, Seattle and Toronto.”
Lynch brings to Techweek an extensive expertise in technology, social media marketing and entrepreneurship. In 2010, Lynch founded SocialKaty, Inc., a leading social media marketing agency. After growing its portfolio to more than 60 full-time clients, her business was acquired in 2014 by Manifest Digital, the Midwest's top experience design agency, thus forming an all-encompassing UX, content and social leader in the industry.
“I had the pleasure of working with Katy after the acquisition,” said Jason Benedict, CEO of Manifest Digital. “She is an entrepreneur at heart and, ultimately, what excites her is the opportunity to work with the startup community again.”
As a weeklong celebration of technology and innovation, Techweek hosts 10 standard events, which include an all-day hackathon for developers and hackers, a fashiontech show, a TV and film fest and a hiring fair. There is also a startup competition, now called the Launch Championship, in which startups pitch in an expo format, as well as on stage, to a panel of judges for a chance to take home over $50,000 in cash and prizes. Meanwhile, there are various keynotes, panels, fireside chats and workshops covering topics ranging from health and education, to sports and outer space. Many of the sessions are led by industry leaders, among which for 2015 include Donn Davis, Founder & Partner of Revolution Growth; Michelle Lee, Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office; Howard Tullman, CEO of 1871; and Patricia Arundel, Global Head of Media & High Tech at Google.
In addition to adding new markets, Techweek is launching the 100 Cities Fund to further support the Launch Championship. Named after the number of cities in which Techweek plans to expand, the 100 Cities Fund will invest between $50,000 and $250,000 in the 2015 and 2016 Techweek National Launch Champions and at least $50,000 in the 2016 Regional Launch Champions.
For more information about Techweek, please visit http://www.techweek.com.
ABOUT TECHWEEK
Techweek is a seven‐day conference, expo and festival where entrepreneurs, tech visionaries and thought leaders gather together to enable to innovation ecosystem in the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Techweek curates a compelling programming that allows a global spotlight to shine on each ecosystem and its leaders. Past speakers include Rahm Emanuel (Mayor, Chicago), Travis Kalanick (CEO, Uber), Craig Newmark (Founder, Craiglist), Dan Gilbert (Founder, Quicken Loans), Jonah Peretti (Founder & CEO), Susan Paley (First Employee and Former CEO, Beats by Dr. Dre), Peter Diamandis (Founder, X PRIZE) and Pitbull (World renowned musician). The Techweek expo has gathered more than 200 sponsors, including companies such as Google, American Airlines, Microsoft, Motorola, Redbox, Uber, Yelp and Wordpress.
Cory Zielke, Motion PR, +1 (312) 670-8941, [email protected]
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