Entertainment, Sports and Tech Stars are Coming Out For The B.PHL Innovation Fest

For two days leaders in the tech industry will be showcased along with sports and entertainment stars for the upcoming B.PHL Innovation Fest on Friday September 9th and Saturday September 10th. This year Amplify Philly will take over the reigns from Independence Blue Cross. The goal of the festival is to promote innovation & innovators from the Philadelphia region & across the nation — calling attention to Philadelphia as a place for innovation across multiple industries.

Guests can expect 2 full days & nights of programming & entertainment. During the day, the festival is happening at Location 215 (10th & Spring Garden). When arriving at Location 215, guests will walk through the BPHL Courtyard that is open all day with local food, drink & retail vendors including Herman’s Coffee Lounge – as well as co-working space led by Indy Hall. Inside the venue, all throughout the day are multiple rooms of discussions, lightning talks, and workshops. Every hour is a new session, and the rooms are fairly intimate so you have a chance to engage with the audience as well as the speakers.

As the days wind down, the conversations transition into happy hour events back in the Courtyard. More local vendors, more drinks, and more music from some of Philly’s top DJs. When the sun does set, each night the guests will move to a different local venue for night time programming with national & local performances. Some of the scheduled programming includes:

FRIDAY:
– Day kicks of with the youngest business best selling author in history, Alex Banayan
– Mid day fireside chat with former VP at Comedy Central & best selling author, Tara Schuster
– Day ends with a dialogue around Leadership in & out of the locker room, with Sixers Tyrese Maxey + the Sixers CEO Tad Brown + Sixers Chief Diversity & Impact Officer, moderated by Christian Crosby

SATURDAY:
– Day kicks off with a workshop from Wellness Expert, Nike Run Coach, and GQ Columnist – Joe Holder
– Midday fireside chat with Motivational Speaker & Owner of the Million Dollaz Worth of Game Podcast – Wallo 267. Moderated by REC Philly co-founder Will Toms. Session topic is “Passion to Profits”
– The day ends with another fireside chat with lead singer of Japanese Breakfast & author, Michelle Zauner. Moderated by Anne Ishii of Asian Arts Initiative. And once the firechat is over, Michelle Zauner is going to kick off the happy hour with a DJ set in the Courtyar

Independence Blue Cross originally produced this event over the past three years.  “They never anticipated running the festival themselves for long, but it’s something they wanted to get off the ground & then pass it off to the right stakeholder to take over. Amplify Philly (a 501c3 Non-Profit that I’ve organized to showcase Philly at SXSW over the last 8 years) has become the organizing producer for this year, and for years to come. Amplify decided to take over the festival, as we knew we could position this festival as one that could engage & spotlight great Philadelphians, while also getting the attention from thought leaders across the country to think about Philadelphia a bit differently. That’s the goal of Amplify — which is to shine light on the great people & initiatives happening in Philadelphia,” states Amply Philly founder Dave Silver.

“I love the dynamic of Sessions, Workshops, and Courtyard activations throughout the day — which has a beautiful mix of Local & National Leaders, and then the transition to nightlife entertainment at other local venues. We want all guests to be engaged in the conversations & workshops, and take away at least 1 thing that they can apply back in their workplace that will inspire positive change. Beyond the learnings, because the fest is so intimate, we know all attendees will have the opportunity to connect with other like-minded individuals & further build their own community of change-makers,” Dave adds.  Tickets are available here.