Think Big Festival is Sept. 20-21
COEUR d’ALENE — Innovation Collective will present its “Think Big Festival 2019” Sept. 20 and 21. The event will feature a free Robotics Tech Carnival, a speaking event with more than 20 industry experts and tech parties around town.
This is the festival’s sixth year. It’s a chance for Idahoans to interact with industry experts from tech-forward companies like Google, Facebook, Niantic, Amazon, Idaho National Laboratories, Itron and more.
Day One of the festival kicks off with a block party and tech carnival, where attendees will get a hands-on experience with real robots. Attendees will get to try the da Vinci Surgical System, drone racing, virtual-reality experiences and have a chance to check out the world’s largest robotics education company, Sphero. This part of the event is open and free to the public with no registration required. The Tech Carnival will take place on Lakeside Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets.
Day Two will focus on industry experts and their thoughts on the future of transportation, money, education, health and more. The speakers will begin at 9 a.m. at Schuler Auditorium on the NIC campus and are scheduled to last until 4 p.m.
This year’s lineup includes:
- Esther Wojcicki, the “Godmother of Silicon Valley.” Wojcicki has raised exceptionally successful children, including the current CEO of YouTube and 23 & Me. Google was started in her family’s garage.
- Ross Finman. Finman is the head of augmented reality for the company that created Pokemon Go, Niantic. Finman, a Coeur d’Alene native, founded a company called Escher Reality in 2016, which Niantic acquired. Finman has his finger on the pulse of the future of augmented reality.
- Gabriel Jones started his career in health-care technology. After time with Group Health and several others, Gabe ended up working as an adviser to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he advised Bill Gates on how technology can help humans live healthier lives. Today Jones is the CEO of Proprio Vision, a company that combines computer vision and mixed realities in the health care field.
The speaking event ends with the presentation of the second “Burt Rutan, Confidence in Nonsense Award” to a local who has shaped or transformed an industry by thinking really big and then developing new technology.
The final events are a series of parties throughout Coeur d’Alene where local startups are featured at various venues. These local companies display the technology they are working on as well as answer questions about where they are headed as a company.
Think Big tickets are on sale now. Registration is $49.95, but for a limited time festival goers can reserve tickets at a discounted price of three tickets for the price of two at: www.eventbrite.com/e/think-big-festival-2019-tickets-59731213668?discount=3FOR2
For more information, contact Chris Cochran, chris@innovationcollective.com.