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Influencer

Co-Executive DIrector - Tampa Bay Tech

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Posted By Joe Hamilton

Introduction

To call Daniel James Scott an influencer is something of an understatement. The highly-regarded entrepreneur turned full-time advocate has made headlines in multiple publications for his work with Tampa Bay Tech, which represents one of the largest and fastest growing tech hubs in the nation - Greater Tampa Bay. In his position, Scott has the ear of national tech giants with combined revenues of over $500 billion. Some of these companies include Accenture, Agile Thought, Jabil, Kobie, Raymond James, TechData and Valpak. With a down-to-earth demeanor and a true love of tech, Scott is the voice Tampa Bay Tech needs.

Years in St. Pete

20 years – and I’ve found this to be one of the most welcoming and friendly ecosystems I’ve ever worked in and I encourage anybody else to test that hypothesis on me and call me first.

Organizations involved in

As of today I’m currently involved with Tampa Bay Tech, of course, as my day job. Treasurer of Lion’s Eye Institute for Transplant and Research, I’m also on the board of RNG Tampa Bay, which is Florida’s largest in-house technology recruiting group.

What gets you out of bed every day?

The number one thing that gets me out of bed in the morning is my kids. The second thing that I think about is the Tampa Bay Community. I get the incredible job of being able to drive around this fantastic region and get to see every single office space, every single square inch of this place. And it astounds me every day to learn new things.

Why St. Pete?

Tampa Bay is so multi-faceted. If you think about 7-8 counties, 5 MSAs. There’s always something new to do, there’s a lot of core density of tech talent in Hillsborough or Pinellas. But the great thing is I can drive up to Pasco or down to Sarasota or over to Polk and get to see all of these incredible tech shops of all of these brand name companies that are located here in the Greater Tampa Bay area. Who wouldn’t want to be around that and who wouldn’t want to work in that environment. There’s so many great jobs here.

What is one habit that you keep?

The habit that I keep most religiously is my calendar. I’m in the car a lot so I feel pretty fortunately about being able to traverse Tampa Bay pretty readily, but you’ve got to keep a pretty tight calendar.

Who are some people that influence you?

There are incredible personal mentors of mine here in the Greater Tampa Bay area. John Morrow – he served as our Entrepreneur in Residence at USF-St. Pete, Wayne Brass – started the technology accelerator at USF.

What is one piece of insight - a book, methodology, practice - that you would share with our readers?

I don’t necessarily any set of processes or procedures, I love learning, but I don’t sit and think too much about how I’m doing it as long as the job is getting done and I’m creating positive impact.

What is one thing you wish you knew about your work 3 years ago?

Three years ago, I just took this job. I wish I knew almost everything. The events component – I love bringing people together – I wish there was a playbook that somebody would have handed me and said “this is how you get 1200 people in a room cohesively and well and provide the best content.”

What’s next?

We just ran our poweredUp event, which is a celebration of tech by allowing the technologists themselves to share their stories. The next thing is November 9th at the Armature Works we’ll do our 15th annual Tampa Bay Tech awards.

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