Plugging In: How to Better Connect Yourself to Orlando’s Startup & Tech Community
The startup and tech scene is currently one of the most prominent scenes here in Orlando, and everyday, it continues to grow. Just like the music and art scenes here in the city, there are events you can attend, places you can go, and people you can meet, to get plugged in.
Plugging In is a response to new and old residents of Orlando who are dying to know how to get better connected to the burgeoning tech community in Central Florida.
PART I: Events
Monthly Events
There are meetups for just about everything these days, so there’s no doubt you can find something that interests you. Whether it’s the Orlando Tech Meetup, where startup culture and innovation are celebrated, Indienomicon, where indie games reign supreme, or industry specific meetups like Downtown UX, there is a meetup for you. This is a snapshot of some of the more successful, oft-happening, meetups that we are aware of. Central Florida is not short on meetups.
Orlando Tech Meetup – Five local tech company demo’s followed by questions from the audience, networking, and socializing.
Indienomicon – Independent game developers demo their latest creations. Play games, discuss gaming news, and industry trends.
Startup Grind Orlando – A staple fireside chat with a successful entrepreneur, networking, beer, and pizza.
Nerd Nite Orlando – Fun-yet-informative talks across a variety of subjects.
Sports and Entertainment Tech – Features a guest speaker from the sports or entertainment tech industries.
Iron Yard Crash Courses – Take an intro course on iOS, Ruby on Rails or front-end development.
Starter Studio – A 3 month accelerator program that holds founder’s talks and a brown bag lunch series open to the public.
Tech Talks – Speaker led discussions on topics in technology, media, and entertainment.
One Million Cups – A weekly morning event “designed to advocate, engage, and connect entrepreneurs.”
Code Specific Meetups
- Javascript Meetup
- Orlando Ruby Users Group
- ONETUG – Orlando .Net Users Group
- Downtown UX Meetup
- Central Florida Android Developers Group
- Central Florida iOS Developers Group
Yearly Events
Monthly meetups bridge the gap and keep the tech community connected in between major annual events such as Orlando Tech Week, and most recently OrlandoiX. Annual events are often bigger, farther reaching, and help to bring in outside thought leaders to the community. Annual events bring the tech community together at once, and connect you outside of your staple meetups.
Indie Galactic Space Jam – Weekend long hackathon at which teams are tasked with developing and designing space-themed video games.
OrlandoiX – Five days of everything tech from gaming tournaments, to digital expos, battle of the geek bands and more.
Orlando Tech Week – A week-long celebration of community and innovation in the heart downtown Orlando.
Weekend Launch – An experience in which entrepreneurs, developers, designers, and artists are invited to pitch, develop, and launch a startup over the course of three days. Come with an idea, leave with a startup.
Starter Studio Demo Days – Celebrate the Starter Studio graduates while networking, watching pitches, and interact with the Starters.
BarCamp Orlando – An event bringing community members, coders, and developers together.
CodeCamp – A day of learning and networking among coders and tech professionals.
WordCamp – An annual WordPress conference and expo featuring speakers and networking over three days.
