Back from the Bust

Back from the Bust

Technology by Isabelle Gan | Contributing Writer

Since the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the region's technology trade organizations have undergone their own soul-searching process, emerging, they say, with a stronger membership and redefined goals.

In Sarasota and Manatee counties, the 1-year-old 82 Degrees Tech has created more opportunities for the technology sector after its predecessor, Suncoast Technology Alliance went defunct.

To the north, its older and bigger counterpart, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, has undergone changes of its own. Formed in 2000 as the Internet Forum, the group weathered the dot-com bust and emerged with stronger programs and a more diverse roster of members.

And in the southern end of the Gulf Coast, a new group recently formed to help technology professionals deal with network security issues. The Southwest chapter of the International Systems Security Association has met twice, says Marc Farron, of Kent Technologies, which helped form the group.

Farron admits there is not as much activity in the Naples and Fort Myers areas as there is north. "There is a dearth of venues for IT people to get together down here," he says.

But things are rolling in the Sarasota area.

"We've created a momentum. We are adding members. We're not loosing members," says Dan Miller, 82 Degrees president and a managing partner at Startup Florida, a Sarasota-based angel investor. "The people who were tired of the Suncoast (Technology Alliance) are opting in right now. And that's a heck of a thing for a volunteer organization."

82 Degrees Tech, named for the imaginary longitudinal line running through the region, was behind last year's downtown wireless initiative, a Sarasota County-run program that provides free wireless Internet access over parts of downtown Sarasota.

The downtown wireless project is one part of the group's efforts to promote the area as an emerging high-tech region, says Bob Hanson, chief technology officer for Sarasota County.

For the group's next project, Miller talks about bridging a digital divide that's present in both counties. He hopes to start a program that will give computers and training to low-income families.

82 Degrees Tech formed early last year after Miller and other technology professionals decided there was a need for a more unified and focused organization. "Part of the issue with the Suncoast Technology Alliance was that the core membership was a little bit watered down," Miller says.

The group has since restructured its membership system to attract what Miller calls "technology creators," or professionals from technology companies, instead of "service providers," such as insurance agents, Realtors and lawyers.

To date, 82 Degrees has more than 100 members, representing about 50 local technology companies.

This year, it plans a host of new events including an Entrepreneur Boot camp, held in partnership with the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, It's an eight- to 10-week program of workshops that "teaches entrepreneurs how to bring a business from idea to formation," Miller says.

Emulating Silicon Valley

Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Technology Forum is refocusing itself as well, not forgetting the pain of the dot.com bust in Tampa.

"You'd think that would be the downfall of the organization, especially as it started as the Internet Forum," says Andy Hafer, executive director of the Technology Forum, which now counts 350 companies as its members. "But, in fact, it allowed us to more clearly define ourselves as an organization."

New programs, for example, have improved the group's role as a hub for networking among the region's technology experts. Programs such as the CIO/CTO networking meetings have brought in fresh members.

"That group now has about 65 CIOs participating. It has obviously formed very quickly, and we're very excited about it," says Tony DiBenedetto, vice chairman of the Forum and CEO and co-founder of Tribridge Inc., a Microsoft consulting firm.

In the last few years, the forum has focused on educational topics for its events, including highlighting an initiative designed to implement an Internet-based health records system for the Tampa area.

Members also have access to high-profile speakers, such as Bill Veghte, a Microsoft corporate vice president who will be speaking later this month about his company's upcoming product releases.

The strategy seems to be working, as more prominent technology companies have signed on to the forum.

Just last month, the group added a major Florida company to its membership list, Clearwater-based Tech Data Corp., a publicly traded computer products wholesaler with $20 billion in annual revenues.

The group has worked to attract not just tech company executives but also IT professionals from non-tech companies, officials from government agencies and universities and venture capitalists.

Like 82 Degrees, the forum will expand some of its existing programs, such as its twice-a-year Entrepreneur Boot camp, to reach out to untapped sectors of the Tampa technology community.

"We'd like to bring more minority entrepreneurs into the program, for example," DiBenedetto says.

"We're definitely not going to be a Silicon Valley overnight," Hafer says, "but it's something we can emulate."

TECHNOLOGY GROUPS

Tampa Bay Technology Forum

Web site: www.tbtf.org

Membership fees: Corporate members, $300, $750 or $1,200 depending on size of company; Affiliate members, $500 (government entities; universities, colleges and schools; economic development organizations; non-profit groups; and trade associations),

Contact Information: Heather Kenyon, 813-610-5774 or [email protected]

82 Degrees Tech

Web site: www.82degreestech.com

Membership fees: Tech Industry Member, $200 to $1,500 depending on size of company; Associate Member, $500 to $3,000; Affiliate Member, $350; Student, $50.

Contact Information: [email protected] or (941) 870-0078

International Systems

Security Association,

Southwest chapter

Web site: www.issa.org

Contact information: [email protected] or (414) 908-4949, ext. 450.