Purpose

Mid-America Technology Alliance (MATA) hosts monthly Tech Group Leader meetings to help local tech-focused groups discuss activities happening in the tech community, and to encourage groups to collaborate, cross-promote, and coordinate efforts to build a stronger tech community.

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Groups Represented

  1. Jason Arend (MATA)
  2. Chad Boschert (Python)
  3. Scott Bratcher (Creatives, CU)
  4. Sherry Coker (MATA)
  5. Sarah Evans (SpfdSec)**
  6. Nathan Gregg (Creatives)
  7. Amber Gillenwaters (GDG)
  8. Jason Klein (MATA, H4G)
  9. Paige Oxendine (eFactory, Pitch Contest)
  10. Maranda Provance (Geek Fdn, WIT)**
  11. Heath Rust (DreamIT, TIO)
  12. Matthew Stublefield (Atlassian)**
  13. Deb Wilson (Maker Faire, O-STEAM)**
  14. Beth Young (SpfdSec, BSides)

Welcome New Tech Group Leaders!

May Agenda

  • Recap Recent Events
    • eFactory Pitch Contest (was Spin66) (05/15) – Paige Oxendine
  • Discuss Upcoming Events
    • YP Forum (06/07) – Tyler Drenon
    • BSides (07/13) – Bethany Young
    • DevFest (09/20) – Jordan McAdoo
    • Maker Faire (10/05) – Deb Wilson
    • Hack 4 Good (11/01) – Jason Klein
    • Tech Award Nominations (2020) – Dave Sharon
  • MATA Updates
    • MATA Memberships – Jason Arend
    • Review Annual Event List
  • Group Updates

Agenda Discussion

Recent Events

05/15 eFactory Pitch Contest (Paige Oxendine)  efactory.missouristate.edu

  • Over 100 applicants. 4 local startups pitched, winner ECRI (Kevin Wyas)
  • Sponsored by RMI of Jefferson City. Accelerator Funder.
  • Hoping to host as annual event, earlier in spring (Feb or Mar 2020). Would like to have more students represented. Possibly even collegiate competition.

Upcoming Events

06/07 Young Professionals Forum (Tyler Drenon)

  • MATA distributing information about tech community to 250 attendees
  • Jason Arend designing new MATA brochure
  • Jason Klein has 250 MATA Stickers, 250 SGF Flag Stickers, zip lock bags

07/13 BSides Spfd @ Drury (Beth Young)  securitybsides.com/w/page/116970567/BSidesSpfd

  • Looking for Sponsors to pay actual costs of Badges, Lanyards, Breakfast, Snacks, Sodas, Lunch, etc.
  • Free Registration (limit 150)  eventbrite.com/e/bsidesspfd2019-tickets-60675832047
  • Call for Papers (CFP) Deadline was May 15th (yesterday) – More speakers than slots.
  • Launched new logo. See Twitter page  twitter.com/bsidesspfd
  • Sponsors for food and stickers.
  • Looking for T-Shirt Sponsor to cover actual cost of event t-shirts ($940) – Contact Sarah and Brittney

09/20 Google DevFest @ Alamo (Amber Gillenwaters)  meetup.com/GDG-Springfield/events/261460321 

  • Looking for conference sponsors ($500-$5000)
  • Sponsor sheet:  drive.google.com/file/d/17DPkUqnFtIFNDbV_hub1X98o3MMXpb2H/view
  • CFP:  papercall.io/sgfdevfest19 
  • Planning Summer I/O Event – Afternoon
  • Going to GDG academy in Denver in July

09/28 CASA Video Game Tournament @ efactory (Paige Oxendine) https://fwdsgf.com/event/casa-video-game-tournament-2019/ 

  • Designed to promote STEM careers for children. Tentative date is Saturday 09/28.

10/05 Maker Faire @ OTC (Deb Wilson)  theozarks.makerfaire.com

  • Looking for Sponsors  theozarks.makerfaire.com/become-a-sponsor/
  • Looking for Exhibitors, Performers, and Presenters  theozarks.makerfaire.com/call-for-makers-info/
  • Encourage your tech group members to show off tech-related hardware/software/products they are making here in the Ozarks by hosting a booth at the Maker Faire. Cost: Business $300, Non-Profit/K12 $100/$0, Individual $50, Youth $0.
  • Tech Groups that plan to participate: MATA, The Geek Foundation, DreamIT MakeIT

11/01 Hack 4 Good (Jason Klein)  hack4goodsgf.com

2020 Startup Weekend Springfield (SWSGF) (Tyler Hindery)

  • Will begin planning next year event soon. 
  • SW recommends lead organizers rotate every 2-3 events. Looking for several new people to join organizing team with intention to help as lead organizers in future.

2020 Tech Award Nominations (Dave Sharon)  biz417.com/techawards

  • TBD Date (02/27 or 03/05), TBD Location, TBD Categories
  • Will finalize details and open nominations in late June

Regional Events for Tech Calendar  fwdsgf.com

MATA Updates (Sherry Coker)  matasgf.com

  • MATA Memberships  matasgf.com/join/
    • Please consider sponsorship of MATA and get your company in front of about 1000 individuals at various tech events each month.
    • Send leads to Jason Arend, Sherry Coker, Jason Klein. We will visit companies and discuss how we can help them get involved in the tech community.
    • Lead – CenturyLink per Dave Sharon
  • Review Annual Event List (attached)

Group Updates

AITP (Dave Sharon)  aitpozarks.org

  • 09/16 Golf Tournament @ Highland Springs – Sponsorships, Registration
  • 2020 Excellence in Technology Awards – See above

Atlassian User Group (Matt Stublefield 05/14)  aug.atlassian.com/springfield/

  • No meetings during past 12 months. Asked Matt to confirm future of Atlassian meetups.
  • Matt said Atlassian is willing/able to help fund a local AUG (Atlassian User Group).
  • Atlassian does not allow partners (e.g. Matt) to lead local AUGs
  • Matt is looking for a local Atlassian User to lead the local AUG.

AWS (Jason Klein)  meetup.com/sgf-aws/

  • Interested in helping groups with video recording. Contact Myke, Levi, or Jason.
  • Learn more about recording/streaming @ https://www.matasgf.com/events/resources/
  • KC AWS sponsor CenturyLink covers 1/2 of the food cost (~$800)

City Utilities (Scott Bratcher, Board Member)  cityutilities.net

  • Upcoming Budget – Rolling out smart meters for electric (complete) and gas and water (next 12 months). Finding errors in billing and metering. Placing statutes of limitations on errors so that small businesses are not heavily impacted by corrections. Solutions for multi-tenant buildings.

Creatives (Nathan)  springfieldcreatives.com

  • 05/15 Give Your Brand a Voice w/ Josh Sullivan @ Highwater – Well attended
  • 05/16 SATO 48 awards tonight. SGFC sponsoring new award for best credit design.
  • July – Painting The Streets w/ Andrea Ehrhardt @ Dickerson Zoo – Known for painting murals and street art throughout our area. Learn more about Andrea and view photos of her art. https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2018/05/24/629842002/

Creatives Outreach (Scott Bratcher, Outreach Committee)  springfieldcreatives.com

  • Efforts to form a volunteer centric micro agency to assist local non-profits. Junior creatives working with senior creatives.

Cybersecurity Group (Lorne Hazelwood 05/14)  aitpozarks.org/cybersecurity

  • Group meets every 2nd Tuesday 11:30am-1:00pm at efactory
  • Looking for speaker/program in November
  • 05/14 Internet of Things Privacy with Bill Dorman
  • 06/11 No Meeting
  • 07/09 Open Source Tool Exchange (roundtable discussion)
  • 08/13 Splunk TBD with Jenn Gruener
  • 09/10 Blockchain TBD with Nate
  • 10/08 TBD with Sarah Evans
  • 11/12 TBD – Looking for volunteer to speak about InfoSec in November
  • 12/10 Missouri Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (MCCoE) with Dr Shannon McMurtrey

Data Science (Mike West)  meetup.com/Data-Science-After-Dark/

  • Planning to host monthly meetings
  • Jason shared Chad’s Trello board containing Python Group research
  • Jason introduced Chad Boschert to Mike West

Dot NET (.NET) User Group (Tim Franklin)  meetup.com/sgfdotnet/

  • Looking for co-leader, especially over summer months
  • June – Writing extension for Visual Studio Code
  • Have guest speakers for June, August, November
  • Need guest speakers for July, September, October

DreamIT MakeIT (Heath Rust)  meetup.com/Springfield-MakeIT-Meetup/

  • 05/02 Computer Deconstruction Lab
  • 06/06 (6-8pm) Hydroponics 101 – Free Workshop @ Library Center
  • July – Welding
  • September – Annual Coffee Crawl Fundraiser – Watch for announcement in June/July!

efactory (Paige Oxendine)  efactory.missouristate.edu

Geek Foundation (Maranda Provance 05/14)  thegeekfoundation.org

  • TGF still working on our partnership with SPS, getting Coder Dojo up and running, and some form of a non-college training program for adults.

ISACA Chapter  engage.isaca.org/springfieldmissourichapter/

  • Eric no longer board member. Asked him to send new ISACA contact information.
  • New Contact: Mark Garton  mgarton@oreillyauto.com

ISACA SheLeadsTech  sheleadstech.isaca.org

Linux User Group (Kirk Coleman)

  • O’Reilly Auto Parts is planning to host a monthly Linux User Group.
  • Contact Kirk Coleman to express interest or share any feedback, requests, suggestions.

Missouri State University (MSU) Students (Amber Gillenwaters)

  • Hosting a Discord group with 160+ MSU students. Intent to increase student interaction. 
  • Community Groups are welcome to post upcoming events
  • Recruiters are welcome to post jobs
  • Contact Amber for more information about sharing information with MSU students

Python (Chad Boschert)  meetup.com/Springfield-Python-Developers

  • Coordinate with Mike West

SpfdSec (Sarah Evans 05/14)  spfdsec.org

  • Upcoming Socials at SBC on 05/22 and 06/26

Splunk (Beth Young)  bit.ly/sgf-splunk

  • 05/21 @ Alamo – Threat Intelligence with Recorded Future

Tech IT Out Expo (TIO) (Heath Rust)  techitoutexpo.com

  • Tentatively scheduled for Thursday October 17th 2019
  • No Updates

Web Devs (Myke Bates)    sgfwebdevs.com

Women in Technology (Maranda Provance 05/14)  facebook.com/groups/sgfwit/

  • Meetings every 2nd Thursday
  • 06/13 (5:30-7:30pm) @ efactory. WIT will be hosting a panel discussion featuring people who have taken a nontraditional path to training for their tech career (e.g. people who didn’t get a 2-year or 4-year tech degree)

Adjourn 1:00pm

Save the date! Tech Group Leaders typically meet 3rd Thursday 12-1pm. Join the Tech Leader channel on MATA Slack!  https://www.matasgf.com/slack 

Next Meeting: Thursday June 20th 2019 (12-1pm) @ The eFactory – Reply to Calendar Invite: “YES” to sign up for lunch, “MAYBE” if you are bringing your own lunch.