Flying cars, virtual reality gloves, rock-picking robots, and the future of companies such as Boeing, eBay, Amazon, Redfin, and Nintendo.
The 2018 GeekWire Summit was our biggest event yet, an action-packed national tech conference that explored what’s next in the innovation economy and brought together more than 800 business, tech, media and government leaders.
The panel discussions and fireside chats on stage in Seattle covered a wide spectrum of industries: aerospace, e-commerce, real estate, philanthropy, education, and more.
For the first time, we added two new stage tracks: IoT and healthcare.
Burgeoning startups were also in the spotlight as we hosted the finals of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch series and heard from forward-thinking inventors.
Our big philanthropic effort, Geeks Give Back, launched at the GeekWire Summit to support various nonprofits working to move people out of homelessness.
In between it all, attendees made new connections with like-minded peers who came to the conference from all over the world. They even got some exercise, too.
Read more about the Summit below, and see other coverage from Axios, CNET, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, Ars Technica, and Pymnts. See all the social chatter on Twitter here.
A big thanks to Bank of America, our presenting sponsor of the Summit.
Also, thanks to gold sponsors: Amazon, Davis Wright Tremaine, Living Computers Museum + Labs, Washington IoT Council, Madrona Venture Group, Microsoft, OfferUp, Smartsheet, WSGR, Wave Business, International Coach Federation, PWC, Regence, WeWork Labs, Flatiron School and Alaska Airlines.
And to our silver, supporting and exhibitor sponsors: Moz, Seattle Foundation, Hired, CoLocation Northwest, Global Innovation Exchange, Avalara, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Facebook, British Columbia, EY, Vaco, Synapse, Perkins Coie, Northeastern University-Seattle, Validar, Crown Castle, Metahelm, Skykick, Edelman, Synapse, Rigado, Validar, Southport on Lake Washington, Zonar, Washington State Department of Commerce, Bsquare, Growersand Flexential.
Thanks to our partners: Bloomberg, Bootstrapper Studios, Strideline and ALLtech.
See you at our next event, the GeekWire Gala, this December.
GeekWire Summit Welcome Party
Living Computers: Museum + Labs played host to an opening night party and guests mingled on three floors of the Sodo institution, checking out exhibits and networking amongst cutting-edge technology and vintage hardware. The warm-up party was hosted by Vulcan Inc., whose founder Paul Allen also launched Living Computers. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The GeekWire Summit kicked off with some news, as Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann announced a $15 million commitment to map neighborhoods that help kids get out of poverty. The doctor and scientist, who oversees a $43 billion philanthropy as CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, shared insights and new developments in the quest to end disease, transform U.S. education and lift people out of poverty around the world. Read more here.
Geeks Give Back
GeekWire and Bank of America teamed up with the Seattle Foundation for our 2018 Geeks Give Back Campaign, focusing on impactful support for families and individuals affected by homelessness in the region. The fourth annual Geeks Give Back campaign, announced on stage at the GeekWire Summit, aims to make meaningful change in the lives of our neighbors. Read more here.
Power Talk: Kat Holmes, Director for UX Design at Google
In this power talk, Kat Holmes of Google explained why inclusive design choices are much more than a good idea — they are becoming an economic imperative.
Fireside Chat: Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin
Glenn Kelman knows how to make a statement. The Redfin CEO shared insights about the changing dynamics of the human-powered real estate industry, and what it means for cities. Read more here and here.
Fireside Chat: Jamie Siminoff, CEO, Ring
Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff left “Shark Tank” empty-handed but caught the attention of Amazon, selling the smart doorbell and home security startup to the tech giant earlier this year for a reported $1 billion. He talked about how the deal came together — read more here.
Panel: The Future Of Blockchain
Lawrence Lerner of Pithia and Arry Yu of Washington Technology Industry Association’s Blockchain Council explained how the ever-changing and nebulous world of cryptocurrency will impact society and business.
Power Talk: Brent Frei, President of TerraClear Inc. and Mark Frei, Co-Manager, Isidore Farms
In the heart of one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, technology entrepreneur Brent Frei came to talk about life on the farm. Specifically, Frei, the co-founder of Smartsheet, and his brother Mark Frei, took the stage to share details around their latest venture, a rock-picking robot called TerraClear. Read more here.
Panel: Cybersecurity, Social Media Manipulation, Fake News and the Future of Democracy
Emilian Papadopoulos, president Good Harbor, and Laura Rosenberger, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, discussed how technology is impacting politics and media.
Power Talk: Pokemon Go, Harry Potter and the Future of AR
Pokémon GO developer Niantic Labs shared tips for how to combine augmented reality (AR) technology with user psychology to achieve mainstream success.
GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch Finals
It was only a few steps up onto the stage at the GeekWire Summit, but Seattle-area entrepreneurs still reached great heights — just like they did during this season of GeekWire’s Elevator Pitch series. And one pitch eventually rose above the rest, as a panel of judges crowned our first champion, Jonathan Kumar, CEO of Samaritan. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Tony West, Chief Legal Officer of Uber
Uber’s new chief legal officer, Tony West, joined the company at a pivotal moment, bringing experience from the very agency investigating his new employer. The former Justice Department lawyer is helping turn around the company’s toxic reputation. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Devin Wenig, CEO, eBay
What’s the future of online commerce? Devin Wenig has a unique perspective on this question as just the third CEO in the history of eBay, overseeing a business with 170 million active customers and $88.4 billion in gross merchandise volume. He talked about the state of the company, the competitive landscape, new business approaches, future innovations and the underlying trends driving this important sector of the tech economy. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of Dreambox
DreamBox Learning’s CEO, president and board chair leads a company at the forefront of adaptive learning, pioneering new approaches to personalized technology with implications well beyond education. She talked about what Amazon and Netflix can teach us about learning. Read more here.
Ignite at the Summit: Three offbeat, fast-paced talks
Elizabeth Nelson, James Davenport, and Shannon Mead gave short presentations following the rubric of Ignite Seattle, the successful, 12-year-old speaker series that gives participants five minutes to give a compelling talk on just about any topic.
Fireside Chat: Reggie Fils-Aimé, Nintendo of America President
Nintendo of America’s President and COO gave us a closer look at the video game company’s ongoing evolution, sharing details of the company’s latest initiatives such as Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Labo and current and upcoming games for the holiday season. Read more here.
Live News: President Trump’s emergency alert test
A special test of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s national “presidential alerts” went out to millions of cellphone users across the country at 11:18 a.m. on Wednesday. A loud tone and vibration warned users to check their phones. At the GeekWire Summit, attendees held up their smartphones as the text came in. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Dennis Muilenburg, CEO, The Boeing Co.
Boeing’s CEO, president and chairman talked about everything from flying cars to his vision for an aerospace traffic system. Read more here and here.
Panel: The VC View
Joanne Chen of Foundation Capital; Aileen Lee of Cowboy Ventures; and Sheila Gulati of Tola Capital shared thoughts on AI, investing, and the state of the tech industry. Lee offered advice to the Seattle tech community — read more here.
Inventions We Love: Crazy and Fun Inventions
Inventions We Love has always been a crowd favorite at the GeekWire Summit, as new products for work and play and everything in between are pitched and then picked apart. Three inventors — Bob Crockett of HaptX; Diane Lansinger of SEEVA Technologies; and Stacey Flynn of Evrnu — showed off haptic technology for virtual reality, processes for creating clothing with less textile waste, and a way to ensure that self-driving automobiles can see more clearly. Read more here.
Fireside Chat: Raj Singh, CEO of Accolade
Accolade CEO Raj Singh, the veteran Seattle entrepreneur who previously sold software giant Concur to SAP for $8.3 billion, discussed why now is the time for health tech to take hold, from understanding benefits to maximizing outcomes to boosting the lives of patients.
IoT Track: The Retail Store of the Future
Technology already radically changed shopping, with the transformational nature of e-commerce. But now the physical and digital worlds are melding together in interesting ways. Panelists included Hointer CEO Nadia Shouraboura; Impinj CEO Chris Diorio; and Aimee Johnson, the senior vice president of marketing programs and digital innovation at Starbucks. Read more here and here.
IoT Track: Farming, Food and the Impact of Connected Devices on Agriculture
Ranveer Chandra of Microsoft; Dr. Sindhuja Sankaran of Washington State University; and Maria Angeles Capellades Sola, the director of geospatial engineering at The Climate Corporation, discussed how technology is changing the way farmers work.
IoT Track: The Future of Factories and Offices
Sarah Cooper of Amazon; Salla Palos of Sellen; Ryan Mullenix of NBBJ shared insight into how connected devices will impact factories and offices.
IoT Track: Security
The proliferation of connected devices raises significant questions about security, from the everyday devices found in your home to critical infrastructure inside power plants. Panelists included U.S Congresswoman Suzan DelBene; Finite State CEO and Co-founder Matt Wyckhouse; and Franziska Roesner, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at The University of Washington. Read more here.
IoT Track: Smart Cities
Connected devices promise to boost efficiency of densely populated urban environments, but privacy and security challenges abound. Panelists included Kate Garman, technology policy advisor with the City of Seattle; Alex Alben, the former technology executive at Starwave and RealNetworks who for the past three years has served as chief privacy officer for Washington State; and Tara Prakriya, a partner group program manager in Microsoft’s Azure IoT division who focuses on connected vehicles and Azure Maps.
IoT Track: Inside the Smart Home
For too long, the smart home has been anything but smart. Will a new generation of connected devices and technologies finally open the door on the home of the future? Panelists included Charlie Kindel, the recently-appointed senior vice president of products and services at Control4; Lidiane Jones, vice president of software product management at smart speaker maker Sonos; and Franck Rougier, the founder and CTO of smart home startup Kirio.
IoT Track: The 21st Century Coliseum
Eric King, vice president of technology for the Sacramento Kings and Golden 1 Center, and Ian Wheat, director of esports and innovation, shared details about world’s most technologically-advanced and sustainable arena.
Health Track: Building the Tricorder
This conversation about a universal AI diagnostic featured Chad Robins of Adaptive Biotechnologies and Desney Tan of Microsoft.
Health Track: How to Live to 200
Inspired T.A. McCann’s podcast How to Live to 200, the managing partner of Pioneer Square Labs discussed aging and technologies that are reshaping health and human longevity. He was joined on stage by Arivale CEO Clayton Lewis and M3 Biotechnology CEO Leen Kawas. Read more here.
Health Track: The Power of Personalized Medicine
This was a deep look at how technology plays a role in personalizing treatments for individuals. Panelists included Jay Shendure, a professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington; Vineti co-founder Heidi Hagen; and Elizabeth Krakow, a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Health Track: The Future of Primary Care
Technology will reshape the everyday doctor’s visit, removing both literal and metaphorical headaches for patients, insurance providers and doctors alike. Panelists included 98point6 CEO Robbie Cape; One Medical Group CTO Kimber Lockhart; and Vera Whole Health CEO Ryan Schmid.
Health Track: AI and the Future of Healthcare
Artificial intelligence is changing the way medical treatments are developed and how health care providers do their jobs. Panelists included Saykara CEO Harjinder Singh; and Mindshare Medical CEO Michael Calhoun.
