The State of Miami Tech (1/3): Who is Wynwood Tech ?
Miami Tech is a dark place to many outsiders. It is seen as a place with missing work ethic, lack of know-how, an inability to execute, and a sense of self entitlement. This is accurate in many levels and has been best summarized as:
“A sunny place, with shady people”.
It is also a place with a mixture of cultures that is unique to us in a global context. Miami is a melting pot for diversity that manifests itself as a community with vast potential for growth by being different and drinking cafecito.
Who is Wynwood Tech ?
Wynwood Tech was established in a hot and humid night in December of 2015. It’s sole purpose was to connect people virtually with no regard to geographical location.
There was no other agenda other than to share knowledge and stay in touch.
Huh ? Another Miami Tech Slack Channel ?!
In the year that followed after establishing Wynwood Tech, the community was criticized for being yet another Tech Slack channel. Why another tech channel ? What was so different about us ? Why didn’t we just join one of the already established channels ?
“… other communities were stagnant, and lacked passion.”
All valid questions, and something I struggled with for a long time. Given the segmentation across the different tech communities in Miami, it seemed counter intuitive.
I felt that other “online" communities were stagnant, and lacked true technical resources.
In my own world, something didn’t feel right, but, was this reason enough to start yet another Slack channel ? What would make people really see this through our eyes ?
For some time, I didn’t have a definitive answer. We kept going back to what really differentiated us ? Was there real value in what we were doing ? It turns out that there was.
It wasn’t until our last event (Tech Crawl) on March 9th, 2017, that I finally understood why we are different and why we’ve grown to be a haven for technologists, creatives and startups.
At the event, someone in conversation made a remark that resonated with me.
“I love the type of people that come to this, you would never be able to get this group of people together at any other event”.
This made me think, what was it about this group of people that was different ? And it hit me… I finally understood.
Wynwood Tech is not a community revolving around events. It is not a community for businesses that deal technology.
It is a representation of our true potential and it has grown to be more than a community.
It is a movement driven by people; plain and extraordinary people.
This is what makes us different. The people. People that seek change. People no longer being ok with living in the shade that Miami is known for.
These people are some of the best technical resources in Miami, ranging from all kinds of positions across startups, established businesses, and corporations.
Where We Are Today
In the time of this writing, the community has sent 302,000+ messages across 51 channels, by 851 members.
We are out to create a technology industry in a city that was mainly built by Real Estate & drugs.
Mark Cuban says that “Hiring people who you think will love working there [at your business]” is the key to a successful business. With no funding other than bootstrapping from our own pockets, we’ve been able to create an entity that people love and support.
It’s the technologists, the creatives, the entrepreneurs, and the thought leaders that make up this small yet amazing group of people that serve as community leaders in Miami.
Wynwood Tech is the vehicle that will elevate Miami’s Tech culture and pave the way as we transition to a new era.
We are a movement of enlightenment. Miami’s very own renaissance.
It is time to reach our full potential as a city.
It is time for Miami to awaken.
Thank you !
To the contributors of Wynwood Tech.
It is you the reason we are here, and you are the reason why we are who we are. Together we will continue elevating the quality of our community and push forward with the movement.
Thank you you all for giving this city hope to prosper and grow into our full potential.
Special Thanks To:
