A hub for innovation and community in Wilson, NC

MENU

WRAL TechWire Innovator Partnership Gig East 2018 Buy Tickets

Buy Tickets

WRAL TechWire Innovator Partnership
Gig East 2018

2018 GiG EAST: 

The Future of Work Outside the Metro

October

30

2018

DETAILS

Edna Boykin Cultural Center
108 Nash Street

WRAL TechWire Innovator Partnership Gig East 2018 Buy Tickets

ALL ARTICLES >

With high speed and high tech, Wilson’s Barton College stands out

Barton College, in large part thanks to its access to high-speed gigabit Internet, is helping students develop the skills necessary for their futures — futures that will undoubtedly be directed by technology.

Read More

Companies prove the future of work in Eastern NC is bright

Eastern North Carolina cities like Greenville and Wilson have seen a rise in industries outside of their agricultural economic mainstays in recent years.

Read More

Gigabit internet continues to drive Wilson innovation

Collaborations between public and private organizations charter innovation in Wilson, and proponents of the city-owned fiber optic network use it as a building block for a brighter tomorrow.

Read More

2018 GIG EAST: The Future of Work Outside the Metro

October

30

2018

Buy Tickets Now!

DETAILS

The Future of Work Outside the Metro

 

Start October 30, 2018 @ 9:00AM
End October 30, 2018 @ 12:30PM

VENUE

Edna Boykin Cultural Center
108 Nash Street

Gig East 2018

SCHEDULE

 

  • 19:00 A.M.

    Check-in & Networking in Lobby

  • 29:30 A.M.

    Theatre Open for Seating

  • 39:45 A.M.

    Opening Remarks – Grant Goings, Wilson City Manager

  • 410:00 A.M.

    Keynote – Gary A. Bolles

  • 510:40 A.M.

    Panel Discussion: Blockchain, emerging technology, and its impact on work

  • 611:20 A.M.

    Break

  • 711:30 A.M.

    Panel Discussion: Preparing for the future workforce

  • 812:20 P.M.

    Closing Remarks – James Amato, WRAL TechWire

Gig East is Wilson’s home for technology and innovation networking. Our events focus around gigs – whether its conversation around our gigabit network, Greenlight, or creative conversations inspired by the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park. We bring eastern North Carolina together to explore next generation technology. Join us for our bi-monthly meet ups and our annual technology summit, held in early November.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

NEVER MISS OUR LATEST NEWS AND EVENT UPDATES

SPEAKERS

Terry Yates, CGCIO

Smart Cities & It Project Manager
VIEW BIO

Thom Ruhe, President & CEO

NC IDEA
VIEW BIO

Gary Bolles

Chair for the Future of Work, Singularity University
VIEW BIO

Tom Snyder

Executive Director, NC RIoT
VIEW BIO

Sam Penfield

Emerging Technologies Group, SAS
VIEW BIO

Krystal Cox

Principal, Wilson Academy of Applied Technology
VIEW BIO

Scott Turnbull

National Technology Leader, US Ignite
VIEW BIO

Sarah Updike

IT Business Consultant, BB&T
VIEW BIO

SPONSORS

Gig EAST - City of Wilson Logo
Gig EAST - Techwire Logo
Gig EAST - Greenlight Logo
GiG East - Barton College Logo
GiG East - Barton College Logo
Gig East-Speakers-Terry Yates

Terry Yates, CGCIO

Smart Cities & IT Project Manager

Terry Yates serves as the Smart Cities Program Manager for Cary, North Carolina. He has more than 26 years of experience in voice, data and security systems within North Carolina Local Government. This includes extensive work implementing various business, traffic, scada, public safety and fiber optic networks. He is directly responsibility for the Town’s mobility program and license agreements with telecommunications and wireless providers, and is involved with the North Carolina Triangle Region’s Google and AT&T Gigabit Broadband projects. Terry has led various multi-million dollar projects and in now focused on Smart Cities initiatives for Cary.  He has served on various appointed boards, task forces and committees and is a Certified NC Government Chief Information Officer.

Gig East-Speakers-Thom Ruhe

Thom Ruhe, President & CEO

NC IDEA

Thom is President and CEO of NC IDEA. He is an entrepreneur, investor, mentor and works with entrepreneurs, governments, universities and NGOs around the world to embrace the entrepreneurial mindset needed to grow vibrant economies.
During his seven-year tenure at the Kauffman Foundation, he directed the Foundation’s programs addressing entrepreneurial education, mentoring, access to capital and fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems. Thom also led Kauffman Labs for Enterprise Creation, a school dedicated to advancing community deployed experiential-based entrepreneurial education.
Thom has served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council for Entrepreneurship, addressed the United Nations Assembly on Entrepreneurship, lectured at conferences around the world and serves on multiple boards including Innovation Fund America and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina.

Gig East-Speakers-Gary Bolles

Gary Bolles

Chair for Future of Work, Singularity University

Gary A. Bolles is an internationally-recognized expert on the future of work and the future of learning. His focus is on the strategies for helping individuals, organizations, communities, and countries to thrive in the transition to a digital work economy.

As Chair for the Future of Work for Singularity University, he leads the organization’s efforts to empower a global community with the mindset, skillset, and network to create an abundant future of work and learning. In the seismic transition to what Bolles calls the digital work economy, individuals, organizations, communities, and countries all need to develop a shared understanding of the dynamics of disruptive change, collaborate on the development of effective strategies, and ensure that all people have access to meaningful work and lifelong learning opportunities.

As a partner in the boutique consulting agency Charrette LLC, he helps clients to identify and understand trends affecting their organizations and markets, often through strategic conferences, innovation consulting, strategy design charrettes, and collaborative initiatives. Bolles has served as a strategic consultant and visiting lecturer for clients such as Google, Intel, the New Zealand Government, and the United Nations. He has also co-founded a variety of conferences and strategic initiatives, including:

  • Closing The Gap (closingthegap.co), a conference in Palm Beach, Florida, focused on strategies for an inclusive economy, with speakers such as Tony Blair, Tom Friedman, and Robert Reich
  • DGREE.org, a conference focused on the future of higher education
  • Silicon Valley Meets the UN, bringing hi-tech leaders to the international development community
  • SoCap, SocialCapitalMarkets.net, the premier gathering for impact entrepreneurs and investors, and
  • US Broadband Coalition, a consortium of 137 organizations that developed a draft broadband strategy for the country.

Bolles has also served as a consulting producer for strategic events for clients such as Google (Zeitgeist, Innovation for the Nation, ThinkCloud), Singularity University (Global Summit, Exponential Manufacturing, Exponential Finance), TED (TED@MotorCity, TED@Allianz), and National Australia Bank and London Business School (Silicon Valley Innovation Days). Formerly, Bolles was the editorial director of technology publications such as Yahoo! Internet Life, Inter@ctive Week, and Network Computing, as well as the on-screen host of TechTV’s “Working the Web.”

As co-founder of eParachute.com, he helps job-hunters & career changers, from youth to 50+, with online and in-person programs. Trained as a career counselor at the age of 19, he is an expert on world’s most effective methods for helping job-hunters and career changers, from “What Color Is Your Parachute?”, which is the best-selling career book of all time. eParachute has licensed its software to groups ranging from libraries and colleges to membership groups like AARP. Bolles has also authored a series of video courses on the future of work for LinkedIn Learning’s Lynda.com.

Gig East-Speakers-Tom Snyder

Tom Snyder

Executive Director, NC RIoT

Tom is Executive Director of RIoT, supporting Internet of Things and disruptive technology industry growth. By day he runs RIoT Labs at HQ Raleigh. In his spare time, Tom co-instructs Product Innovation Lab, a Forbes award winning multi-disciplinary course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State.

Prior to joining RIoT, Tom held an executive leadership role at the ASSIST Center, a National Science Foundation sponsored effort to create wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring. Previously, he spent two decades in product development and technology incubation in NC.

He’s passionate about creating and fostering collaborations across disciplines, markets and cultures. He enjoys the outdoors, woodworking, boardgames, big crowds, craft beer and ideas that are just crazy enough to work.

Gig East-Speakers-Sam Penfield

Sam Penfield

Emerging Technologies Group, SAS

With 20+ years’ experience as a consultant and 30+ years developing software Sam has a true passion for programming languages and problem solving. Over the past 2 years Sam has worked in an emerging technologies group helping with integrating Spark with SAS, prototyping SAS product enhancements and over the last year has focused on Blockchain technologies and the integration of SAS from a data management, streaming and analytics perspective.

Gig East-Speakers-Krystal cox

Krystal Cox

Principal, Wilson Academy of Applied Technology

Krystal Cox is the founding principal of Wilson Academy of Applied Technology (WAAT). WAAT is an early college high school, with a STEM focus, designed to help bridge the gap between industry and education. Mrs. Cox’s ultimate vision is to create the next generation of workforce-ready citizens and innovative thinkers by promoting student-directed learning environments, providing authentic industry experiences, and fostering stakeholder relationships. As a native of Wilson, NC, she is fully invested in providing students with opportunities to engage their minds daily, while they are ultimately empowering their futures. On August 2016, she was able to welcome her first class of students into the school she was able to transform from an idea to reality. The school now serves as a workforce development hub for many local businesses in the community. The first class of students will graduate Spring of 2021.

Mrs. Cox’s community work includes serving on the Healthcare Foundation of Wilson Board of Directors. She is a member of Word Tabernacle Church in Rocky Mount, NC and the Wilson Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, a Professional Educational Organization for Women. She also manages an advisory board for WAAT that is comprised of 13 companies that support the school with ideas, time, and financial support.

Mrs. Cox is a 2003 graduate of Beddingfield High School and a 2007 graduate of Barton College, both in Wilson, NC. She graduated from both institutions with honors. At Barton, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with Teachers’ Licensure. She completed her Master of Arts degree in Education with a concentration in Administration and Supervision in 2011 from University of Phoenix. She has spent her educational career as a former teacher and now an administrator in Wilson County Schools. She is the 2018-2019 Wilson County Schools Principal of the Year.

Mrs. Cox is married to her husband of 10 years, James, and they have a four-legged child named Man. He is a Rottweiler mixed with American Wolf.

Gig East-Speakers-Scott Turnbull

Scott Turnbull

National Technology Leader, US Ignite

Mr. Turnbull is an information technology leader with 25 years in academic, government, and non-profit IT leadership. He has helped lead the Smart Gigabit Communities effort under US Ignite, initiating and growing the program in each of the 26+ partner communities across the US and in Australia. He co-authored several of the US Ignite Smart City Guides and Playbooks, and runs numerous national technology challenges and reverse pitch events. Prior to coming to US Ignite, he served as the Technical Section Chief for regional joint response teams in Public Safety. He has led efforts to build several national digital repositories for University consortiums and been the head of academic software engineering at Emory University under their libraries system. He is also a veteran of the US Army Intelligence Corps.

Gig East-Speakers-Sarah Updike

Sarah Updike

IT Business Consultant, BB&T

Sarah Updike is a BB&T IT Business Consultant specializing in connecting technology workers with the human side of work. Sarah’s unique approach to leadership development and associate engagement, “work/life integration”, recognizes that associates bring their whole selves to work and that what brings joy and productivity at home can be brought to the office. Sarah is a passionate champion of associates using their unique strengths to introduce their life’s meaning and purpose into their work.

Prior to coming to BB&T, Sarah worked in the retail sector, gravitating to roles that allowed her to delight and inspire customers and associates. Sarah is currently in her 9th year at BB&T, serves as a member of the BB&T Happiness Council, as co-chair of the Capabilities Action Network (CAN), BB&T’s disabilities business resource group, and is currently pursuing certification as an Executive coach.