On Thursday, September 24th, the Philadelphia chapter of Tech In Motion celebrated Philadelphia Fashion Week with our Tech Trunk Show: How Technology Drives Fashion. Held in conjunction with The Philadelphia Collection, the evening kicked off with an outdoor cocktail reception before settling down to discuss the intersection of tech and fashion.
While networking with the speakers and other members of the local technology community, guests sipped on craft cocktails from sponsors Art in the Age and Shawnee Craft Brewing.
President and founder of Brick Simple, Det Ansinn, was a hit before he even took the microphone. During the networking hour before the presentations, the two pairs of Google Glass he brought with him were more popular than the cocktails and pizza combined. Below is one Tech In Motion member sporting the much-desired device.
After the attendees had enjoyed the chance to network, the crowd moved inside for presentations from Ansinn, Andy O’Dell (CCO of Clutch Holdings) and Stephan Jacob (CEO and Co-Founder of Kembrel). Each expert focused on a different topic: “Glass & Wearable Devices”, “Mobile Apps: Fashion’s Most Profitable Accessory” and “Online and Offline: What It Means for Consumers.”
Ansinn spoke about how wearing Glass has affected his choices as a developer, saying that “I wear glass full time” because “in order to develop apps you really need to experience it” that way. However, Glass is more than the “ultimate nerd jewelry” – it’s the beginning of something that is going to affect our lives as we integrate technologies such as wearable devices into our everyday experiences.
“For Clutch it’s really more about fashion crashing into technology,” according to Andy O’Dell, on how mobile apps are affecting the way we shop. Using interesting stats and stories, (such as how Target found out one teen was pregnant before her own father), O’Dell explained how fashion and retail is using technology to find out who we are, why we shop, how we buy and what we bring home. “We are not one dimensional, we are all individuals,” he proclaimed, “I just want someone to understand what I’m looking for and give it to me.”
Lastly, Stephan Jacob spoke about Kembrel and how his company moved from an e-commerce platform to a bricks-and-clicks business, and how he keeps it running smoothly. Using real-time technology, his cloud-based inventory system keeps track of all purchases. Buy from the store and it’s removed online. “A well-executed strategy is extremely powerful,” said Jacob, “Customers have come to expect a seamless experience.”
All three speakers then joined forces for a panel-style Q&A with questions from the audience. The topic inspired quite a few questions and a bit of a debate from the attendees, leading to some great conversation. After the time allotted passed and we let the speakers go, audience members still crowded around them with follow-up questions and conversation. It was definitely an inspiring event for attendees and speakers alike.
A big thank you to our speakers for their participation, and to our sponsors for the night: Uber, Art in the Age, Shawnee Craft Brewing, Jobspring Partners and Workbridge Associates. Please join Tech In Motion Philadelphia to hear about our next event!