TECNA Board Chair Message
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The primary preoccupation on most minds this month is the continuing spread of the COVID-19 virus, the incredibly disruptive effect it is having on people in areas of concentrated spread around the world, but also on the global economy – affecting supply chains, investment, markets, business travel and business confidence. The tech industry is one particularly reliant on global markets, and increasingly on global talent. And while conditions within the US and Canada remain relatively normal, this global event and the uncertainty of what may come next is having a significant impact on so many of the companies we represent. The solution to this global health crisis cannot come soon enough.
March also brings International Women’s Day and I thought I would simply share this message prepared by a member of our team at Venn, Mischka Jacobs, who joined our team in 2017 from South Africa as our Communications and Events Coordinator:
So proud to work at Venn Innovation, an organization that's not afraid of strong, intelligent women. We're a team of 8 with 5 women and 4 newcomers. That's a team embracing diversity and inclusion. "An equal world is an enabled world."
In a new generation of entrepreneurs, there's a new reality where we see women and men in tech pursuing the same opportunities to bring the same impact on the world. As an organization supporting entrepreneurs, it’s important for us to be on the pulse for the bias, so that the new generation doesn’t buy into this, but into equality. And it's important for us to make sure that we ourselves are not perpetuating biases from the past. To all the incredible, talented, brilliant women in our community: we're thinking of you, celebrating you, and wishing you a Happy International Women's Day.
#
EachforEqual
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Doug Robertson
TECNA Board Chair
President & CEO
Venn Innovation, Inc
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New Public Policy Leadership at TECNA
The TECNA
Board of Directors recently voted to have Ryan Weber and Kathy Knight serve as the respective Chairs of the U.S. and Canadian Public Policy Committees, Heather Maxfield of TAG will be serving as the Vice Chair of the U.S,. Public Policy Committee. TECNA's new public policy leadership is well-positioned to help TECNA provide even greater value to the members and industry. We thank Brooks Raiford of the North Carolina Technology Association for his outstanding leadership as the long-time Chair of TECNA's Public Policy Committee and for laying the foundation for TECNA to have a substantial impact on policies critical to growth in tech.
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The 2nd annual TECNA Innovation Awards will recognize staff of TECNA member councils who have been integral to develop and implement innovative and impactful work on behalf of their tech associations. The work being nominated should have a milestone in 2019.
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Nominations may be made by TECNA member council staff, a member of your tech council or Board, or by a community or government partner of your tech council.
Award categories include:
- Membership Retention & Recruitment
- Creative Marketing & Communications
- Talent Pipeline & Workforce
- Major Impact on Tech Community
- Public Policy/Advocacy
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Save the Date: 2020 TECNA Summer Conference
Wednesday - Friday, July 22-24, 2020
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Call for Presentations - TECNA Summer Conference
The TECNA Summer Conference Planning Committee invites speaker recommendations and presentation proposals for the 2020 TECNA Summer Conference.
Below is a list of the tentative session topics planned for the event.
- Powering Emerging Tech Councils
- Talent Attraction
- New Revenue Streams
- Engaging the Millennial Workforce
- Engaging Members Outside of Events
- Benchmarking Dues Structures
- Marketing/Branding Your Region
- Strategic Partnerships
All presenters and panelists are expected to register for the conference and are responsible for their own travel expenses.
Please send any speaker recommendations or presentation proposals to Alina Hardy, TECNA Project Coordinator, at
ahardy@tecna.org by Friday, March 20th.
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Communities of Interest Webinars
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TECNA Communities of Interest (COI) are peer-to-peer collaborations and information-sharing groups exclusively for members: membership, events, workforce and communications.
During webinars, conference calls and Slack Group communications, TECNA members share best practices and gain valuable insights on solving common challenges. Upcoming webinars:
Mark Your Calendars for Upcoming Webinars:
- Communications: Monday, March 23rd at 10:30am Pacific/1:30pm Eastern
- Topic: Why You Should Start a Podcast
- Click Here to Register
- Workforce: Wednesday, March 25th at 10:30am Pacific/1:30pm Eastern
- Topic: Workforce Survey Results
- Click Here to Register
- Events: Monday, March 30th at 11:00am Pacific/2:00pm Eastern
- Topic: Crisis Management for Event Planners
- Click Here to Register
Requests or ideas for Community of Interest webinar topics, contact the COI Chairs:
Plus - new Public Policy Community of Interest forming in early 2020.
Recent past COI call recordings and slide decks are available for download in the members-only portal on the TECNA website. Login at
tecna.org/login and click on the Resources tab to view.
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TechGirlz Partnership Opportunities for TECNA Members
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TECNA and TechGirlz are partnering in 2020 to offer member tech councils the opportunity to host a workshop.
The TechGirlz program works to make learning technology both thrilling and inviting for middle school girls, through their free extra curricular workshops (or TechShopz as their coined them!). From programming to robotics, web/app design, genetics and beyond, there is so much for the TechGirlz to experience. Their vision is to create a world where girls have a lifelong passion and confidence in their use of technology throughout their careers.
TECNA member councils interested in organizing a TechGirlz workshop please contact Alina Hardy,
ahardy@tecna.org.
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- Announces first-ever Iowa Technology Roadshow Spring Tour Dates - read more.
- Announces first-ever Iowa High School Technology Summit - read more.
Venn shares their Entrepreneur-in-Residence talks about the hidden Fintech gems of the Atlantic Canada -
read online.
Venn also announces innovation partnership with Rogers Communications -
read more.
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Subscribe to TECNA Event Calendars
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Click a link below and follow the prompts to synchronize with the default calendar on your system (if available). To synchronize with a different calendar, copy and paste the desired URL into your calendar software in the location where feeds are accepted, often identified with "Subscribe", "Add Calendar", etc.
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Join TECNA's community on Slack exclusively for TECNA Member Council staff. Slack Channels include membership, events, talent/workforce and private channel for CEOs. A policy Slack Channel will be launching soon.
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TECNA Members Only
You can group chat, private message, share files and search the discussion archive for help and best practices shared by other members.
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Thank You to TECNA's Strategic Sponsor
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Keep Us Informed
We are always looking to provide valuable content to TECNA members. If you have any suggestions for content in the TECNA Digest, please email:
news@tecna.org.
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