2020
In February of 2020, Chariot Solutions was making our final preparations for our 16th annual Philly Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise… but we all know how that story ended. By March 9th, we had made the decision to move the entire conference to virtual. Many were skeptical that we could retain the spirit and quality of Philly ETE by moving to Zoom and Slack, but we knew our audience and our team. It was a success.
We kept the spirit alive on Slack.
2021
We planned to be back in person for 2021, because we all believed the pandemic would be over in April of 2020. Where was that crystal ball?
By August of 2020, we were skeptical an in-person event was going to be feasible by the following April. We made an early decision to go virtual, this time having the time to rethink how we could put on the best possible online conference. We booked speakers who normally would not be able to make it to Philly. We came up with different ideas of presentations, and thought about new ways of creating connections. We pulled off another great year of virtual. Surely, by April 2022, we could gather in person again.
And Now: 2022
We started out in June of 2021 with a plan to be hybrid. We watched other conferences, and took notes and ideas. We began booking speakers, some remote. We hired a team to help us with the livestream. We visited the Marriott, our conference venue, to remember what the space looked like. We felt good about our ability to have Philly ETE in this split manner. Where was that crystal ball?
By mid-November, with the Delta variant spiking and Omicron beginning to come into view, we began to find that speakers did not want to commit to travel. We opened ticket sales, and it’s been crickets. As much as we want to gather our community together in person, we know it is not to be. We will gather online again. We hope you’ll join us once more, because regardless of where we are, changes in technology and learning do not stop.
Register for Philly ETE 2022
We’re crafting a lineup which includes the likes of Cory Doctorow, Charity Majors, Richard Feldman, and more. Early Bird tickets are $150 until March 15th, with regular price tickets at $225. Get more information about the conference, and reserve your spot today.