Sneak peek: Tampa Bay Tech launches poweredUP tech series

Tampa Bay Tech plans to use its “poweredUP” brand at an increased number of events this year.

Jill St. Thomas, co-executive director, Tampa Bay Tech

Tampa Bay Tech began using the brand in spring 2017 for the poweredUP Tampa Bay Tech Festival, one of two flagship events. That event doubled in size between 2017 and 2018, said Jill St. Thomas, co-executive director.

“We felt like last year the brand amplified to the point where it was something we wanted to leverage,” she said.

The first in an upcoming series of poweredUP Tampa Bay Tech gatherings for 2019 will be Feb. 15 at Armature Works in Tampa, when Accenture, a professional services firm, releases its technology trends report for 2019.

“Historically they have presented it locally in Tampa Bay right after their own internal launch to the chief information officers and chief technology officers in our Tech Exec council,” St. Thomas said.

This year, Accenture was willing to go bigger. The tech trends launch will remain a members-only event but be open to the Tampa Bay Tech board and other key stakeholders. About 100 people already are registered to attend, she said.

The “poweredUP” name was drawn from the 56,000 technologists who are powering the Tampa Bay community, St. Thomas said.

The flagship poweredUP Tampa Bay Tech Festival this year will be May 23 at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, she said.

The total number of poweredUP events for 2019 has not yet been determined. The organization is working with Tech Data, the sponsor of the Feb. 15 tech trends event, and newer partners Microsoft, Salesforce and other, to develop programs that are significant and impactful for those leading the tech conversation in the area.

The companies that are members of Tampa Bay Tech, Florida’s largest technology council, have more than 2 million employees, $500 billion in annual revenue and $2 trillion in market capitalization.