Silicon Harlem 2 Year Anniversary Conference
The first conference I ever attended in my home
borough is called Silicon Harlem. Prior to attending I had some knowledge
of what to expect of the conference - digital, tech, well dressed people, and
the like. I was wrong. Umm. Sort of. It was about tech;
it was about the digital age (I mean what's a conference these days without
that kind of talk right?); and there were tons of well-dressed people.
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| Guest Speakers Brandon Kessler; Scott Saylers & Silicon Harlem Founders |
However, what I didn't anticipate was the amount of
pretty girls that were going to be in attendance. WOW! So many of them! They
were everywhere. Lol! No, seriously what I didn't anticipate was
leaving the conference completely inspired. You see, a lot of what was
discussed at the conference dealt with the integration of technology in the
continuously budding Harlem landscape, specifically in shops, restaurants, and
other businesses that have transformed their customer service and
operations.
A little backgrounder - I grew up in Harlem and I
have witnessed first hand the business landscape in Harlem grow into what it is
today – a vibrant and profitable ecosystem of diverse offerings like niche
coffee shops, bespoke cocktail bars, a Jazz club (shout out to Minton’s), and a
tattoo shop that is so interesting, the television network VH1 decided to give
them their own reality show!
So the conference – it was awesome. The most interesting part was realizing how
businesses, even older ones such as the Kennedy Center on 135th St,
are benefiting by using technology to streamline the process for serving the
elderly through their food pantry. Where
the clunky manual process made for tedious, cumbersome work, the new system
will soon introduce wristbands and barcode scanners to track the individual
services they provide for each member.
Which will mean, everyone will be tracked and supported without fail.
Another example of the utilization of technology
comes in the form of some churches streaming mass and services online and
providing “sermons on demand” for their congregants to enjoy at their leisure. Therefore, if you’re unable to attend mass on
Sunday due to inclement weather you can still watch it on your iphone and make
your donation via paypal as well.
While streaming isn’t something new, the point of
Silicon Harlem, is to highlight Harlem businesses catching a new wave and doing
things differently than they have traditionally in the effort to provide better
quality service to their customers.
