If you missed a Tech Brew

Here You Go 😉

If you have an idea for a Tech Brew speaker please reach out to our Brew Master techbrew@softec.org. We are always looking for great ideas.

Professional Public Speaking

Public Speaking is a must-have skill for entrepreneurs because great persuaders have a competitive edge in the age of innovation.

Toastmaster’s mission is to teach its members Professional Public Speaking skills. The goal of a Toastmaster is to Captivate, Inspire and Motivate audiences to act on proposals. This goal should sound very familiar to aspiring entrepreneurs and business leaders that have to recruit teams, inspire investors, and present MVPs to prospective customers. It is the most basic skill required for every business leader. You cannot lead if you cannot communicate, and that starts with public speaking.

The speaker is Distinguished Toastmaster Sherrie Goodrich from the Nina Toastmaster group in Santa Maria.

Podcasts to Build a Stellar Brand

Alex Sanfilippo from PodPro gave an exciting presentation on the evolution of Podcasts and his vision for the future of this technology. Alex is a great advocate for the Podcast industry, and as you might expect, it was a great interview. Alex’s business provides a Podcast SaaS Solution to connect hosts and guests. Alex is an excellent online presenter, and he did not disappoint. This was our first hybrid Tech Brew with Softec members attending both online and in person. Our host for the evening was Story Labs, a premiere co-working space in San Luis Obispo. The in-person crowd filled the conference room to capacity with an equal number online.

Industrial Scale Robotic Farming

“Think of it like a car-sized Roomba, but instead of cleaning carpets, it carries special lights that kill pests and diseases originally targeted by pesticides.”

Tonight (11/8/21) at 5pm, we welcome Adam Stager, the founder of TRIC Robotics to share how his team uses ultraviolet light to kill pests without chemicals and how the robot he and his team developed applies the treatment, collects data, and more! Adam will provide a glimpse into the future of robotic farming and how TRIC Robotics is solving real-world problems through automation.

Blockchain & Cryptocurrency

Everything you need to know but are afraid to ask!

Tonight (August 9) at 5pm, we welcome soon-to-be-published author Ethan Turer to give us the low down on Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. John Oliver says it best (on the topic of Cryptocurrency): “It’s everything you don’t understand about money combined with everything you don’t understand about computers” Are you ‘Crypto-Curious?’ If so, Ethan will show you how to become more ‘Crypto-Conscious’ by sharing how real-world applications of cryptocurrency are already shaping our everyday lives.

A New Model for Decision Making

Using Data to Make Better Choices

Tonight at 5pm PDT, we welcome the expert in data mining, Kevin Hanegan, to share his framework on how we can use data to make better decisions.

He will explain how the 6-phase approach shown above can be used to make better decisions by: (1) asking the right questions, (2) acquiring the right data in the right format, (3) analyzing the data using an analytical framework, (4) applying your expertise and that of others while being aware of any unconscious bias, (5) announcing your decision to all stakeholders, and (6) assessing the decision and iterating through the process again based off the findings. Kevin will show how you can adopt this framework to address these questions (and more):

Can you use existing data to improve the quality of your decisions?
Is there data available we can use to make better decisions?
What data should you be capturing?

Kevin Hanegan is the Chief Learning Officer at Qlik, a data mining company. He’s the author of Turning Data Into Wisdom and his passion is the intersection of business, technology, learning, and psychology.

Please make plans to join us on Monday, May 10, 2021 (TONIGHT) @ 5pm for a discussion on how you can leverage data to make better decisions.

Trust but Verify

How Technology Helps Prevents Fraud

You are invited to join us for a discussion on data mining public records for improved due diligence on a national scale for insurers, lenders, and government agencies.

On Monday October 11th, we welcome AFX Research, LLC, a locally based leader in public records aggregation. Our special guest Brad Gustafson will share how his company is accelerating access to public records to save their clients millions of dollars by avoiding fraudulent claims.

How Technology Impacts Financial Markets

We all know that technology has an impact on our daily lives, but how is it impacting your investments? How is it driving the seemly unstoppable growth of the financial market?

On September 13th, we welcome an expert in financial technology (Fintech) to Techbrew. Henry Schwartz has worked in Fintech for over 30 years and in 2020, sold his Fintech startup (Trade Alert) to a multibillion dollar company. Henry has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, on TheStreet.com, and has appeared on CNBC multiple times.

Henry Schwartz is the founder of Trade Alert and Senior Director, Head of Product Intelligence for Cboe Global Markets, Inc. On September 13, he will be joining us from the financial epicenter of the world (New York City) to show us how Fintech is being used by traders to reduce risk and maximize profit for investors.

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