Inaugural Tech and Beer Norwich – Event Roundup

Opening up Tech and Beer Norwich October 2021 

As an original partner of the Tech and Beer events in Norwich, we have spent a lot of time working with Kent and understanding how an event gets run. However, you have to attend one to truly experience it. The event starts with some great, low-key networking over a beer or soft drink. Kent makes it clear that networking has a few key elements. Always say “Hi”, especially if someone is standing alone. This isn’t a space to sell, it’s an event for the tech industry to interact and feel at home without the pitch. Lastly. As Kent describes, don’t be an a**. All elements observed impeccably of course. 

After a round of networking, Tim of Tech East gave an overview of the Tech scene in East Anglia. Highlighting the fantastic eco-system in the area and how the growth of tech is continuing to generate evolutionary and revolutionary opportunities for those involved. 

Speakers at Tech and Beer Norwich October 2021 

The event then moved onto the five speakers from the community, who would cover in their own way a concept relevant to their area of tech of tech in general. We have given a small overview of the speakers and their areas of discussion. The rules of engagement were outlined by Kent. 6 minutes per speaker. No self-promotion. No more than 5 words per slide. Challenge accepted. 

James Rix – Co-Founder, Readingmate 

James Rix of Norwich based Readingmate (in fact one of the tenants of Akcela’s Startup Business Incubator in Norwich, Norfolk) started the speaker sessions unaided by a presentation. A brave move we felt but James delivered it impeccably. Whilst mentioning the company he founded a mere once, James navigated a discussion on how tech can change the world. Why companies such as Facebook (or Meta as the group is now known) grab the headlines, but innovative products and services are not lauded as they should be. An interesting meandering through tech and an excellent start. 

Sebastian Miller – Creative Director, UxCambridge 

Staying on the theme of tech saving the world. Sebastian of Cambridge based UX company, UxCambridge, talked on how UX can reduce energy consumption leading from faster decision-making processes. Enabling the user to get to the goal rather than searching for it. It was an interesting whistle stop tour of UX, chipsets, energy consumption and human interaction. 

Asa. B – SKC Games 

Haverhill based SKC Games gave a fantastic talk on the definition, meaning and future of artificial intelligence. Asking the audience to question what actually AI really means, and what computing power is doing within the space. Learning to produce predictive and accurate outputs, as opposed to truly delivering anything that could be seen as intelligent. In the conventional sense of intelligence. 

Neil Garner – Founder and CEO, Thyngs 

To say that Neil was put under pressure with this, is an understatement. The Founder and CEO of Thyngs was called in last minute, when a member of the speaker panel was unfortunately hit by a potential COVID case last minute. Neil managed to re-engineer a slide deck and deliver an excellent update on how Thyngs create real world relationships as opposed to the general view of ROI or acquisition costs on digital platforms.  

James Adams – Managing Director, Akcela 

James started his presentation by outlining whilst he is !Developer (not a developer for those not versed in JavaScript), he has worked with some tech businesses that in their own market are using tech to make the world a better place. Companies such as Harvest London, solving the upcoming food demands through vertical farming. Readingmate, supporting the future generation to read with machine learning and The Forest of Memories. Whilst James also highlighted his background that includes !Economist, the concept of economic clustering within the Norwich and Norfolk community, demonstrated continued commitment could yield multiplicative returns for the wider tech ecosystem locally. James also announced the launch of the Akcela code bootcamp in Norwich, linked to the Norwich based Business Incubator. 

Speakers Vote and Close 

At the end of the event, the attendees were able to vote online for their favourite speaker. With the inaugural Norwich Tech and Beer speaker being crowned as James Adams of Akcela. The evening closed out with further networking within the community.  

Thanks To Our Partners

As always, we would like to thank our partners who support in making the incubator a reality, Ashtons Legal, Farnell Clarke Accountants, TCN UK  and MAD-HR. Whilst this was not an Akcela incubator event. Without the support of these incredible companies, we wouldn’t be able to make them a reality.