About

The Urban Tech Fair is the brainchild of Software Developer, Publisher, and Blogger Jim Neusom, more commonly known as the Digital Drummer. UTF merges his community and small business advocacy, wealth of connections, and technology experience into purpose and outcome driven activity. Marketing Strategist Jacqueline Taylor-Adams brings definition, clarity, and strategy to the vision as Chairperson and CMO. Collaboration with national technology associations, business organizations, and local community groups allows the Urban Tech Fair to effectively promote Access, Education, and drive Commerce via these urban tech fairs.

With a focus on providing Access, Education, and driving Commerce, the Urban Tech Fair brings urban dwellers ages 12-55 together around under-served communities to demonstrate what is possible through technology and collaboration by leveraging local resources, talent, and innovation (aka the Silicon Valleys that exist in our OWN backyards) into a city by city series of 30 day interactive community based cloud and ground experiences.

By implementing infrastructure within local neighborhoods that initiates outcome driven technology based collaboration among “Local” tech professionals, students, community organizations, and businesses, the Urban Tech Fair enhances individual, business, community, and technology development. The National BDPA is the fiscal sponsor of the Urban Tech Fair.

Programming is designed around designated tracks (26 - 30 tracks). The Urban Tech Fair Global Live Three Day Intensive Virtual Expo will be held August or September 2014.

These fairs are grassroots community based events managed through neighborhood organizing committees made of community stakeholders: organizations (non-profit, etc), public servants, businesses, technologists, and individual volunteers. Each organizing committee also partners with the local BDPA chapter in their city and a local college or university. Each city also identifies a neighborhood commercial corridor that will act as the fair launch pad and wifi hub. Each fair schedule is as such (see attached 30 Day Event Breakdown):
Week 1:
Two mile circumference free access UTF Wifi cloud is set up in commercial corridor
Local press conference (streamed live globally) announcing the launch of the city's Urban Tech Fair, the unveiling of the city's virtual portal website, begin community sign-up for upcoming workshops and seminars and the launch of the local UTF TECH IN MY HOOD mobile video contest sponsored in part by WeVideo
Weeks 1 & 2: businesses within commercial corridor host special events, specials, and activate location based marketing campaigns to drive more foot traffic to there businesses and promote the Urban Tech Fair
Week 3: Simulcast of Urban Tech Fair Global Live Three Day Intensive Virtual Expo
each UTF city chooses the Intensives they want to focus on for their city
host community viewing and study sessions in local libraries, community centers, non-profit facilities, salons and barbershops, and internet cafes
Week 4: seven (7) day ground technology and community showcase feat. UTF 3 Day Tech Challenge, S.T.E.M. It's A Family Affair Day, and a host of workshops, seminars, and special events

Each Urban Tech Fair city and region develops programming within the following tracks:

-MEDIA: Publishing / Journalism / Radio / TV / Video / Print - Digital / RSS Feeds: Curation and Authority Aggregation
-FINANCE: Investing / CrowdFunding / Banking / IT
-Community Building / Activism / Education / Digital Literacy / Jobs - Job Fair
-Business / Mobile Computing / Cloud Computing
-Health Care / Fitness & Wellness / Assistive Technologies /
-Animation / 3D Printing / Robotics / F.F.A.M.E. (Fashion, Film, Art, Music, EduTainment)
-S.T.E.M. It's A Family Affair: Interactive, Live Demonstrations, Pre-K through College School Showcase, Youth Tech Programs, Family Passes for local Museums
-Technology and Spirituality

“While Social Networking is about user generated content...the Urban Tech Fair is about User Generated Activity!” ​​–Jim Neusom, Executive Producer