On March 3, over 600 people from 10 Impact Hubs around the world near-simultaneously participated in Impact Hub’s second-ever global Mash Up under the common theme “Tech For Good.”The quarterly community event series gives attendees the chance to hear inspiring ideas from selected Impact Hub members in PechaKucha format (20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each) and conclude the evening with networking over an apero. Impact Hubs from Stockholm, Munich, Prague, Brno, Bucharest, Minneapolis, Floripa, Sao Paulo, Geneva, and Zurich connected through live virtual windows as well as real-time reactions on the #impacthubmashup tagboard. The March Mash Up was the largest to date and the first time introductory Impact Hub video tours were shared between participants eager to catch an inside glimpse into the global network.
The tagboard and virtual window to other Impact Hubs explained (Photo credit: Impact Hub Vienna)
As we prepare for the third Global Mash Up on June 30 (topic: “Sustainable Food”), here is a look back at “Tech for Good” highlights from Impact Hubs Minneapolis, Munich, and Prague.
Impact Hub Minneapolis-St. Paul:
“The Mash Up is an exciting manifestation of the principle ‘Think global, act local.’ We can’t wait to do it again!”
Danielle Steer, Maker at Impact Hub Minneapolis-St.Paul
(Photo credit: Brittany Birnie)
As a first-time global Mash Up participant, Impact Hub Minneapolis-St. Paul brought together members of their “Tech for Good” Community of Practice for three fantastic presentations touching on a spectrum of topics.
Tom Brossart of FOOD BUILDING kicked off the event by explaining how “the rapid global adoption of new digital tools and platforms” like AirBnB, Car2Go, YouTube, and ThriveMarket has led to positive effects, including “greater transparency, collaboration, and sharing in a variety of fields” as well as “more authentic human-scale relationships between producers and consumers.”
Up next, Sue Marshall, co-founder of NetZro, highlighted the potential for the food industry to dramatically shift the supply-chain carbon footprint. Her new radically-disruptive integrated solution is streamlining the food supply chain, recovering thousands of gallons of water and eliminating 28 million pounds of waste annually.
Mine the Bird founder, Mark Daigle closed the evening. He describes his upcoming technology company as “stealing back the Internet” and surprised attendees with the potential of IoT (Internet of Things) and mobile beacons to help better serve disenfranchised communities. Stay tuned for his launch!
Impact Hub Munich:
“Great speakers and participants discussing till late about their inspiring projects and ideas to do “Tech for Good” – amazing evening!”
Karolina Krauss, Impact Hub Munich Team
(Photo credit: Impact Hub Munich)
Also new to the Global Mash Up, Impact Hub Munich organized an intimate gathering featuring five engaging speakers.
First, Martin Jaehnert presented a smart bin and smartphone app revolutionizing the experience of recycling by turning it into a game. Binee makes the recycling process exciting and fun, providing users with feedback on the environmental impact of their recycling and tracking their waste.
Next, Markus Jaritz, Senior Interaction Designer at Mozilla Firefox led a discussion on the philosophy, challenges, and potential of open source projects – inviting everyone to take on responsibility to design technology for the common good.
Dr. Philip Tuchscherer, optic designer at ewo, followed with an illuminating look into his projects on lighting up public spheres. ewo combines sustainability and efficiency through experimenting with the newest halogen technologies.
Matthias Ender then introduced Zipati, a solution-oriented app for anyone disenchanted with politics. Users take responsibility for their cities by documenting “issues” (e.g. a missing bicycle path) that are summed up, clustered, and sent to the appropriate politician.
Wrapping up the evening, Martin Laarmann from Make Germany pointed out the importance of exchange and community-building platforms. His project, the Make Germany and Make Munich fair, brings together more than 10,000 entrepreneurs annually to further develop ideas around “Tech for Good.”
Impact Hub Prague:
“This MashUp was amazing, full of great projects, emotions and participation of everyone at one moment in one place.”
Jana Nováková, Impact Hub Prague Team
(Photo credit: Impact Hub Prague)
Considering Impact Hub Prague has hosted a total of 27 Mash Ups, it’s no surprise that their second global event attracted a full house. Over 220 attendees packed the space in anticipation of seven spirited presentations.
Aneta Hebrová of GreenGlasses set the stage. The online sustainable city living guide shows where to find locally-made, organic, second-hand, DIY, low-waste and other greener products, services and places in Prague.
Next, Jakub Balada and Jan Čurn presented Apifier, a hosted web crawler (not only) for developers. Out of 6,500 applications to the inaugural Y Combinator Fellowship program in August 2015, this project was one of 32 selected.
Presentations followed from SilverJobs, a project battling age discrimination by helping people over 50 find new jobs with dignity; For Impact, a company connecting non-profits and the business sector through manufacturing programs; PrPom a website offering experiential first aid courses; Flits, a mobile-first platform for live video streaming generated by artists and concertgoers themselves; and Liftago, a mobile application that connects passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire and ridesharing services.
The evening ended in a bow and an uproar of applause, another successful Mash Up for Impact Hub Prague.
Do you want in on the excitement? Global Mash Up events are open to the public, and all Impact Hubs are invited to participate. Join us in June! Learn more or bring a Mash Up to your Impact Hub by filling out this simple form.
