The in-person conference will feature global brands, world class speakers and business leaders. Sponsors include Google, Disney, Northwestern Mutual, Bridgewater Consulting, Ally Bank, Block, TIAA, CapTech Ventures, Red Ventures, Intuit, ADP, Spotify, and many more.
The 50 plus speaker lineup will be led by writer, activist, comedian, and techie, Baratunde ThurstonÂ, author of the New York Times bestseller How To Be Black and host of television series Lenovo Late Night I.T. and PBS’s America Outdoors.
“This year we will emphasize three pillars: meaningful networking, career advancement, and actionable learning. The balance we want to strike is 40% block party 60% tech conference,” according to Dennis Schultz, Executive Director of the Blacks In Technology Foundation. “I want every attendee to walk away with knowledge they can immediately apply… and have fun in the process.”
Greg Greenlee, Founder of Blacks In Technology says, “After 2 years of not having in person events, I am extremely excited that this year’s BITCON will be a hybrid conference. There is no replacement for the in-person engagement experience and BITCON has always been the perfect safe space for our community to interact.”
This year BIT anticipates over 1,000 attendees. Onsite, there will be dozens of workshops, training sessions, technology demos, leadership conversations, and technical talks for beginners and experts alike. Topics and tracks include Web 3, cryptocurrency, NFTs, metaverse, AI & ML, gaming & e-sports, cloud/DevOps, cybersecurity, data science, social responsibility, government policy, career development, entrepreneurship, and professional storytelling.
Additionally, attendees can participate in one of the largest in person career fairs for diverse tech talent, join a gaming tournament with a $5,000 grand prize, or enter a startup pitch competition with a $10,000 in non-dilutive funding.
Author, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and BITCON 2022 speaker Arlan Hamilton adds, “Conferences like BITCON are important for those marginalized and underestimated in tech. If we aren’t invited to have a seat at the table, we need to build our own tables.”
Multiple BITCON attendee and Agile Coach, Alex Bernardin, adds, “I support BITCON and the BIT community because it’s the support network that I didn’t have when I was coming up.”