Phillymag hearts our technology community

The June issue of Philadelphia magazine puts the technology, investment and entrepreneurial communities of Philadelphia on full display.

The Phillymag feature led with an Editor Larry Platt-penned profile on King of Prussia VC military man Mike Burns, of Guggenheim Venture Partners — as of Monday night, the piece didn’t seem to be available online.

The piece was interspersed with pieces on three groups we’ve been so proud of helping bring to the forefront — “the funders, like GoodCompany Ventures and DreamIT Ventures; “the scenesters” like Indy Hall, Philly Startup Leaders, Roz Duffy and others and “the startups” like Azavea and 123LinkIt.

During the past year, we’ve seen a growing number of legacy media stories covering our areas of interest. It’s the collision of a number of factors, not the least of which is the growing awareness around the richness of our communities.

(The edition also included a profile of a more professional segment of the rich DIY movement afoot, though, like the Burns profile, the link doesn’t yet seem to be live.)

We might even humbly suggest Technically Philly’s 16-month existence — with many a story left untold — is further evidence of that.

[Full Disclosure: We write weekly about the technology and innovation communities for the Philly Post daily blog from Phillymag.]

Philly invades South by Southwest

Indy Hall founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi lead "How Geeks Grabbed Philadelphia by the Balls."

AUSTIN – In the Courtyard Rio Grande Hotel, just across the street from the Austin Convention Center, BarCamp Philly organizers Roz Duffy and Kelani Nichole walked up the escalator with a burlap sack and hustled down the hall.

“It’s our bag of balls,” said Duffy with a smile.

Culminating Philly’s strong presence here (TP has seen our share of Phillies caps and jerseys) was the Saturday session “How Geeks Grabbed Philadelphia by the Balls,” a panel led by Indy Hall co-founders Alex Hillman and Geoff DiMasi that aimed to help residents from other cities foster a tech community.

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Editorial: City government calls for tech support

Allan Frank, city CIO

Here’s a test.

Just how innovative and influential, forward-thinking yet practical is the technology community in Philadelphia? Because you’re being challenged.

We’re still reeling from a presentation that Allan Frank, the city’s chief information officer, gave at a meeting of Refresh Philly Monday night.

The Nutter administration is investing $100 million during the next four years into city technology, including a complete overhaul of Phila.gov, as he told 75 mostly professional, tech-savvy 30 and 40-somethings in a modern, white-walled conference room on the 45th floor of the Comcast Center yesterday.

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