With the annual eMERGE conference doors opening in a few hours, you should be doing a few things to prepare for the premier technology event connecting the Americas.
- Prepping the perfect outfit. This isn’t your typical “conference.” Remember this is Miami – correction this is South Beach. Call your tailor gents, or bust out your Canadian tux, and ladies typical to Miami protocol, you can wear whatever you want. #winning. Tropicult will be on site like last year patrollin’ for the best dressed.
- Getting your agenda together! This is the difficult part. Multiple stages, a huge venue, The schedule this year is packed with sessions, workshops, speakers, showcases, pitches, the list goes on and on. Lucky for you Tropicult has collected the opinions of notable attendees, locals, and techies from all over with their picks. Hopefully, this helps you narrow it down a bit!
Vanya Lazarova
Vanya helps extraordinary leaders be at their best. Passionate about creating tools and programs she helps entrepreneurial leaders scale operations and improve their leadership.
Fun Facts:
- Based in NYC, Founder of Live Authentic.
- Traveler – Recently returned from Thailand where she studied mindfulness and meditation and apply their teachings in her work with business leaders around the world.
- Head Coach of Tokyo based Organization Earch-You
- Regular contributor to The Conscious Company Magazine, Addicted2Success, Medium, Thrive Global, Conscious Magazine and others.
Her picks:
1. From Startup to Scaleup, a conversation with Endeavor Entrepreneurs. – I chose the session because it focuses on what I help my clients with. One of the programs I offer is called “From startup to scale up”. It is a clear and simple system that helps entrepreneurial leadership teams mature their startup to a full-fledged company. I believe without making the transition from a flexible model to a systematic one, a company won’t be able to grow and achieve its vision. You can take a look at the program HERE.
2. Scaling your tech and your team- I’m all about helping leaders scale and figuring out how to work best with people and integrate it with your tech is crucial to success. I would love to hear what the speakers have to present.
3. How Technology is Transforming the Practice of Mindfulness: I’ve been implementing mindfulness in my leadership development work with clients and additionally just came back from South East Asia, where I learned a lot in the field. It is definitely a hot topic for me and my clients and I believe mindful and connected leaders are the leaders of the future. We live in a world that’s awakening to higher levels of awareness and the collective consciousness is rising, which is becoming obvious every day. As we move towards that, we see how technology brings innovative and accessible tools to help more people explore mindfulness and meditation worldwide. I currently work with a startup which is developing a platform that allows users to explore their state of mind and work with coaches and mentors (sherpas) to guide them on their journey of personal and professional development.
To find out more about Vanya and her work, visit www.liveauthentic.net or connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram @_liveauthentic_
Carlos Vazquez
An EdTech Entrepreneur, Carlos officially began his teaching career with the NYC Teaching Fellows. He holds an M.S. in Web Strategy and Design along with an M.S. in Education. He is adjunct faculty at Miami Dade College and serves on the Vice Provost’s Council at FIU. He will also be speaking at eMERGE this year!
Fun Facts:
- Father to an adorable lil one!
- President & CEO of Miami Ed-Tech.
- Founder of Miami based startup VideoRehearser.
His picks:
1.Inclusion in Technology: A Fresh Conversation Beyond the Obvious.
2. Higher Ed and Government Influencing Policy
3. The shark tank
The first two are perfectly aligned with his passion areas and the shark tank is a great way to see what startups are doing.
“Plus pitbull is judge lol”
Liza Benkovitch
Liza is the Director of Strategic Partnerships at KiwiTech and is currently looking for startups that need tech development and are looking for capital to scale. She has a passion for community building, innovation and technology.
Fun Facts:
- Born in Moscow, grew up in Toronto and Miami. She is fluent in Russian, English, and conversational in French and Spanish!
- She likes to dance bachata, salsa and kizomba, and is also ‘re-learning’ how play tennis.
- She is the Vice President of Fundraising for the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW).
Her picks:
1.Liza is looking forward to attending the 100 Open Startups which she said is an “excellent initiative.”
2. Odense: The Transformation of a traditional Industrial Town to the Global Cobot Capital. “I’m really interested in cities’ transformation.” This session is expected to have a lot of food for thought and cultural takeaways around municipal development because Denmark is very progressive.
3. Startup Bootcamp Demo Day.
Temante Leary
Temante is an EdTech enthusiast and an adjunct professor at Miami-Dade College in the School of Business. He completed law and business school at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, FL.
Fun Facts:
- He is the President CEO and co-founder of Class Updates an education technology startup company that developed a mobile communication application for seamless real-time communication between students and teachers.
- He keeps up to date with Golf and was excited about the recent Tiger Woods win.
- He travels with a pack. Meaning he is a family man!
His picks:
1.Launch Pad Stage because its a great place to engage with other entrepreneurs and innovators. Everyone shares ideas and you gain valuable insights about investors.
2. The Textpert stage because of their awesome interactive presentations.
3. 100 Open Startups Speed Dating because of the direct connection with investors and potential partners.
4. Pitbull. 😎
Yasiara Ortiz
Yasiara Ortiz obtained her undergraduate and Masters degrees from Columbia University. She currently leads her own company, Misstudy, through which she counsels students looking for academic opportunities and financial aid anywhere in the world. She is also a TED “conferencist” and a sought-after speaker. Her talks to universities and companies usually focus on how students and youth can prepare themselves to be competitive in a globalized world.
Fun Facts:
- She is bilingual! Her hometown is Madrid
- She loves the beach
- One of her students wanted to be a professional magician. He studied entertainment business. He is now working with David Copperfield and has done shows with Daddy Yankee and other celebrities in Los Angeles. This is one of Misstudy’s many success stories!
Her pick:
Stop by her booth! Yasiara has a Misstudy questionnaire that you can take at eMERGE. It is fun and informative! She’s been in the higher education industry for more than 12 years and has helped hundreds of students find out what they should study and where they should study. Every time they get excited about getting into college, she gets excited!
If you haven’t gotten a ticket to eMERGE make sure to register.
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