Transcript 0:01 Hey everyone. Today I wanted to share my experience at Slosh. Tech. Slosh. Tech is dubbed the South's hottest tech conference, and I think they meant that literally. 0:13 It wouldn't be a complete trip to Birmingham if I didn't see discarded chicken wings littering the street, beautiful sunsets, and the inside of Hattie B's hot chicken. 0:23 This year, Slosh Tech brought together hundreds of attendees for three days of tech talks, networking, and southern hospitality. I've been struggling to sit down and talk about this. 0:36 How do I organize three days' worth of notes, feelings, and observations in a way that's relevant for creators, entrepreneurs, and people who probably don't know Birmingham as well as I do? 0:49 I'm admittedly sharing this with a heavy heart. 0:53 I have critiques that come from a deep place of love for all that the city of Birmingham has given me, and all that I hope the city can become for other creative entrepreneurs. 1:04 There are a few caveats to this event recap. I attended as a volunteer, a creative entrepreneur, and a former Birmingham resident. 1:14 I did not attend as a web developer, app developer, aspiring SaaS or tech founder, or investor. 1:23 Slosh Tech has had incredible media and creative representation in the past from the likes of Casey Neistat, Gary Vaynerchuk, Alexis Ohanian, Bazoma St. John, and more. 1:36 I wanted to hear from current media and marketing folks, understand more about the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Alabama, and explore if I'd like to be a speaker at a future event. 1:47 I'll be sharing what elements of the event I enjoyed, areas of opportunity for improvement, and future recommendations. 1:54 If you're new here, I shared all of these reflections and insights in my newsletter, Please Hustle Responsibly, so if you're not subscribed yet, subscribe. All right, let's get into it. The good, what I enjoyed. 2:09 The keynote talks were really exceptional. The founder of Johnny Cupcakes, Dr. 2:14 Ruja Benjamin, and Zach Kass really gave us some incredible takeaways about building an irresistible brand experience, the disconnects between tech advancements and social progress, and the human expectation conundrum for machine learning capacity, respectively. 2:32 In many ways, I think the question is no longer how to do something, but what to do. We're often asking the wrong questions by well-meaning people who are looking for superficial solutions instead of deeper change. 2:47 What truly has meaning? What can make a healthy and positive impact? And how do we continue to build community and ecosystems together? 2:58 There was also a really standout panel on policy and tech that featured an elected official. 3:04 It was unfortunately the only part of the conference that addressed this very needed topic, as AI policy and other tech policy seems to be falling behind or just straight up nonexistent. 3:17 On a local and statewide level, there seems to be a lot of entrepreneurial ecosystem support, as showcased through Innovate Alabama and Innovation Depot. 3:27 The southern hospitality was on full display from the moment you checked in to the various brand activations that really elevated the experience. 3:36 Stella Saurs gave away free Stella Artois on opening night, Shipt sponsored all the snacks, NASCAR had a stock car made for the event and a simulator game inside of Sidewalk Cinema for the kids, and Trimtab Brewing cooked up something special for the after-party. 3:52 I wouldn't be me if I didn't find all the other creators at the event. 3:56 Amidst the plethora of DJI Osmo Pocket threes floating around, I got to meet and/or run into Will Lokamy of Birmingham Mountain Radio, Desta Massey, an incredible photographer, Alexis and Hank Washington, who are incredible designers, Mason David Irwin, another photographer, Brian Johnson, another photographer, and Martez Knowles, who is the founder of Bold As Lions Studios, incredible photo and video professional. 4:24 Their work is amazing, and it's always fun to be in great unserious company. 4:28 I think there's such a special creative community in Birmingham and Alabama in general that would, without a doubt, elevate the entrepreneur and everyday stories coming out of this state. 4:40 Which makes this next section especially hard to talk about. I could not get past how much energy was placed on the recruitment of new businesses instead of uplifting and retaining current talent and founders. 4:54 The numbers also prove that there's a better ROI in expansion and retention of current businesses rather than recruitment, so I'm confused about where the disconnect is coming from. 5:05 They had incredible speakers at every panel and talk I attended, but none of them except one had a built-in Q&A part of the session. What happened to audience engagement? 5:18 I would be fine with fewer sessions if it meant incorporating time for Q&A from the audience into every single session. 5:26 While the panelists were asked questions from a moderator, many of the questions pertained to why they personally wanted to move to Alabama or start a business in Alabama, and were often too high level to provide actionable insights, especially for someone who might be considering Alabama as their next business move the way I did when I moved to North Carolina. 5:49 Many of the discussions around AI were centered on cost-cutting and quick turnarounds rather than enhancing creativity, quality, relevancy, or capacity. 6:01 Overall, my main issue is that it still feels like Alabama as a whole is trying to convince people they're cool and great for business and not racist, instead of actively creating marketing campaigns that leverage and bridge storytelling, data, and the personality of the state. 6:23 Use Alabama as a character, not a flimsy prop. Don't just hold it up and show me how shiny it is. Tell me its history, quirks, transformations, and the beautiful people that make it possible, 6:36 and actually pass policies that make it attractive to live and work. Adorkable main characters don't work, and Alabama has so much wonderful complexity to share with the world. 6:50 To truly become the South's premier tech conference, Sloss Tech has to compete with AfroTech, RenderATL, and more. 6:59 Here are my unsolicited recommendations to make this conference one that I would wholeheartedly share with others to attend. First, create intentional networking activities that connect attendees with local businesses. 7:15 The run hosted by Alchemy Run Club was one of the few events that actually allowed participants to see Birmingham at just the right pace. 7:23 They ran through Railroad Park, along the Rotary Trail, across historic Fourth Avenue and Carver Theatre, by the Alabama Theatre, across the 24th Street Bridge to see a slightly overcast perspective of the skyline, and past Frothy Monkey, which is one of the very few breakfast spots open in downtown Birmingham in the morning. 7:44 The rain overnight made it just cool enough and even brought a slight breeze during the day, and we're talking about in the middle of June, so this is incredible news. 7:53 [laughs] However, running isn't for everyone, and some tours promoting micro-mobility, which is a form of technology, could very well increase the attendance. 8:05 I also think some pop-up dinners around town would've been awesome. Artists Thrive and Startup Champions Network do a great job of this at their summits. 8:14 It's a low-stress way to meet new folks, especially if you're attending solo, and show off Birmingham businesses. 8:21 Next, I think they should develop packages that encourage visitors to extend their stays and explore Alabama. This is the first year that they did a three-day conference. 8:31 If they continue this format, programming from Wednesday to Friday during the summer, their entire goal should be getting people to stay for the weekend and explore the state. 8:42 Partnering with Seek Alabama, Alabama State Parks, Alabama Convention and Visitors Bureau, Storyteller Overland, and more to do trip and rental giveaways would be perfect. 8:53 Unpopular opinion, I think they should have printed schedules. I know this is a tech conference, and I appreciate the green conscious effort of the QR codes on the back of the badges. 9:04 However, an easy add-on to the badges would be a two-sided printout of a post they made on Instagram, as so many people were often confused about what sessions were happening and when. 9:16 Going back to something I said earlier, I think adding Q&A segments to increase audience participation is low-hanging fruit. Even five to 10 minutes would make a world of difference. 9:27 I would love to see them organize collaborative workspaces to solve real problems. 9:32 There were a lot of people I ran into who are looking to start their own company and were hungry for ideas where they could use their corporate experience. 9:40 There's something called the Hatchethon happening in Fairhope, Alabama, and I think they could easily incorporate something like this with Sloss Tech. 9:49 Again, I totally recognize this is unsolicited advice, but some future speaker and topic recommendations from me, given what I experienced and sat in on at Sloss Tech, would be the Founders Inc. 10:03 at Fort Mason in San Francisco. 10:05 They do an incredible job on social, and they've really created something special where people from around the country and around the world travel to San Francisco to be a part of their sprints and network. 10:17 I think the Morning Brew co-founders, or at least Alex Lieberman, since he seems to be pretty available, would be awesome for that media plus tech plus exit kind of standpoint. 10:29 Uh, Beehiiv, who is the newsletter provider for my newsletter, could really, really speak to creating remote teams and work culture. I think they do that really well. 10:39 I would love to see something about using AI for personalization. I think that is the next step if we're gonna have all this information on people. Why don't we use it to make things that are specific for people? 10:51 I would love to see the topic of using video for feature launches and product demos discussed more. I would love to see some media training for tech founders. 10:59 A workshop on that would be awesome, and just incorporating tech with entertainment spaces. 11:04 I didn't see too much of that at this conference, but I think it's something that Birmingham is really suited for, as we have some integration with the Birmingham Zoo. 11:13 There's museums, there's sporting events, concerts, all of those things that would be incredible platforms for tech enhancement. Last but not least, remember that one session I attended that had a structured Q&A session? 11:27 Well, I didn't agree with 90% of what came out of that presenter's mouth. [laughs] I won't say their name. I'm sure you can figure it out. 11:35 It was just very clear to me that he's never owned a customer-facing business or bootstrapped a company. 11:42 I would've loved to hear more about what he looks for when investing in a company, rather than hear him tell stories that most people in the room would never be able to replicate. 11:53 One thing I agreed with him on was that sports teams are going to become media companies. Tech and media are very closely related. 12:03 We both provide services that often have no tangible products associated with our business. So how do we find customers or an audience? How do we quantify our experience into dollars and cents? 12:16 How do we fulfill a promise and make lasting change through creativity? These are all questions that both company types have to answer, and maybe even questions that we can answer together. 12:29 I'm very happy that this event is hosted in Birmingham by the great folks at TechBHM, Innovate Alabama, and Regions Bank Foundation. 12:37 I wanna see it thrive for people like me, for people like you, and for people who want to help build a better community and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the South. We don't need Silicon Valley to do that. 12:52 We just need a little Southern hospitality and collective will to work together to create the future for business that we want. Thanks so much for listening. I'll see you guys in the next one. 13:04 [upbeat music] If you've been getting value from Honey & Hustle, I need a quick favor. Would you take 30 seconds right now to leave a review? 13:14 Reviews help other people discover the show, and honestly, they help me know what's landing with you. Whether it's this episode or one from a few months ago that stuck with you, just share what made it worth your time. 13:26 You can leave a review wherever you're listening right now, and I appreciate it in advance. See you in the next episode. [upbeat music]
