Kansas City gears up for Techweek, which begins Monday

Techweek launches Monday in Kansas City, a testament to the world that this town’s got tech.

Kansas City becomes only the sixth city to hold the weeklong binge on brainpower and gadgetry, joining Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit, New York and Miami.

Organizers expect up to 5,000 attendees. Although the total pales next to Chicago’s 15,000 in June, at that city’s fifth annual Techweek, it promises to be Kansas City’s largest single tech gathering ever.

“We really want to open Kansas City up to a national audience,” said Drew Solomon, vice president at the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City and one of many local figures working with a Chicago-based company, Techweek Inc., to put this week together.

Techweek is a way to showcase what the area has done with Google Fiber, its embrace of “Smart Cities” technologies and its Big Data Summit. The two-day data science summit in its third year moved up its calendar two months to become part of Techweek.

It helps that Kansas City hosts tech-infused companies such as the digital marketing firm VML, health data company Cerner, supply chain software maker Data Systems International and wireless operator Sprint, said Katy Lynch, chief executive of Techweek Inc., which produces, operates and markets the seven-day event.

“We’ve had our eyes on Kansas City for quite a while,” Lynch said Thursday in Kansas City.

There are only six Techweeks a year because each one consumes the Chicago company’s staff and resources. About 15 Techweek Inc. employees, an equal number of employees from partner firms and 50 volunteers — all from the Chicago area — will be here next week.

Local players expand the effort, but it’s all-in for Techweek Inc.

The schedule also showcases LaunchKC, a grant program that will award 10 startup businesses $50,000 each in investment backing. And one of those companies will be a People’s Choice winner selected by popular vote.

In addition to showing off Kansas City to the world, Techweek focuses inwardly.

It’s about giving locals — whether they’re budding business brains, skilled sets of hands or dreamers looking for the nerve to act — a collective nod that this city offers support, connections, opportunity and resources.

“We want people to know ‘You are not alone,’” Solomon said.

For the average area resident, Techweek is a symbol of how Kansas City fits into technology’s invasion of practically every corner of our livelihoods and lives. Technology is changing the way we do our jobs, the kinds of jobs being offered and what we need to know to get those jobs.

Technology is creating new items for use every day, and it is infusing old familiar things with powers previously unknown.

Techweek hits all those points through summits that combine speakers, chats and Q&A sessions with demonstrations across various threads in technology.

There are sessions on 3D printing and robotics, the Internet of things, drones, investment funding, mobile health and wearable technology, among others.

There is a free jobs fair and a free expo, at which companies large and small will show off what they do. The expo includes 70 of the top 100 companies that vied for those $50,000 grants.

Events are centered on Union Station, and most require an $80 “attendee” pass available online. Free events require an “expo only” pass, which essentially requires an online registration but can be gotten at the door too.

The schedule also branches out to the Sprint Accelerator in the Crossroads Arts District, to KC Live in the Power & Light District, to Wheeler Downtown Airport and to other local venues.

Kansas City’s Techweek stands apart from the rest thanks to the heft of its LaunchKC investment grants. Other cities typically have awarded one grant of $50,000, not the 10 to be announced Friday at Union Station.

The 20 finalists — 12 of which hail from the Kansas City area — will make their short presentations to judges, with an audience at hand and one online as Techweek and LaunchKC will stream the event live.

Casey Adams is one of the 20 hopeful finalists, having survived the winnowing of nearly 500 rivals. He has turned skills learned as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense in Afghanistan into the Kansas City Drone Co. It uses drones to build maps, photographs and videos to help insurance companies rapidly assess the extent of storm damage to roofs and cars and to help farmers spot and treat stressed crops.

Adams said he skipped a massive robotics conference in Las Vegas to stay here and prepare for the LaunchKC finals and his pitch to judges.

“I need that $50,000,” Adams said, to automate his software’s data collection and processing.

Organizers say a city’s first Techweek mostly tries to engage the local tech community. Subsequent years emphasize bringing in outsiders to discover and connect with the local technology crowd.

The 3,000 registered attendees as of Friday included hundreds of university and high school students, said Sam Kennedy, chief sales officer at Techweek.

Ryan Weber, at Kansas City’s technology trade association called KCNext, is hoping this Techweek gains more out-of-state attendance than usual because of other cities’ Techweek track records.

The attendee totals already ensure “this will be the largest tech event in Kansas City ever,” Weber said.

Techweek and local teams began their final push on the week’s activities three months ago, and planners gathered for their last weekly session on Wednesday. It was a conference call between teams in Kansas City and Chicago to tie up loose ends.

A few vacancies remained at the job fair and one sponsorship spot was still open. Someone needed to check how many hackers the Sprint Accelerator could accommodate for the 24-hour Hackathon that starts at noon Saturday.

Kansas City to Chicago: “Do we need to send out a call to our groups for volunteers?”

Chicago to KC: “We need 50, and 200 here have applied. It’s not even close to a problem.”

Techweek highlights

Monday: Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, kickoff party, and LaunchKC meet and greet

Tuesday: Grand tour

Wednesday: Big Data Summit, Digital Sandbox angel investors, drone exhibit

Thursday: Emerging City summit, startups expo, hiring fair, Square co-founder Jim McKelvey keynote address

Friday: Wearable technology summit, iKC Unconference, 3D printing and robotics, LaunchKC finals

Saturday-Sunday: 24-hour coding Hackathon

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 2:29 PM with the headline "Kansas City gears up for Techweek, which begins Monday."