NewCo Boston:  Worthwhile Wayfinding – Boston’s most Welcoming Companies

Robot Protype at VECNA

Refreshing, inspiring, collegial, and informative describes my experience at the two-day NewCo Boston’s second annual happening in Boston thanks to its partnership with MassTLC.   You might call it the business equivalent of a “progressive dinner” where the nourishment was the latest in how technology is solving problems alongside smart, engaging, committed teams proud to share their stories.

My visits in included clinical trial disrupter, DrugDev; Robotics innovator, Vecna Technologies, “Go-to-Everything” remote access company LogMein, and EdTech co-work space, accelerator, investor – LearnLaunch.     Day two included internet giant Akamai, highly energetic digs of RueLaLa “land,” incredibly and scarily informative talk at Carbonite on Ransomware – (hold on to your laptops!!), a “coming of age” presentation on VoIP at Fama PR by Sonus Networks, and an upbeat ending at Rapid7.    They were all prepared, upbeat, and interactive.   All deserve a round of applause!

No sleeping on the job at LogMein

Boston is indeed a great place to work and meet smart, diverse, committed business leaders of all ages.  And, you don’t have to be a techie to participate.  Technology is there to create opportunities and solve problems in health care, education, manufacturing, shopping, and communicating more effectively and many skill sets are needed to support these initiatives and more.

Employee Panel at Rapid7

Beside the informative sessions – each charmingly unique – the unusual nature of this unconference attracted a bit of a treasure hunting crowd.   It took a bit of extra effort to find the locations, but among the secondary perks was the opportunity to see the cool quarters of the companies,  meet a wider cross section of the team, try the food, meet other NewCo attendees with  common interests, and hunt for  every parking meter in Boston!   Kudos to MassTLC for this fabulous undertaking.   And by the way – who should attend?  I say anyone that wants to learn and participate in any way with exciting, growing companies – from students, academics, and job seekers to seasoned leaders, and outside advisors.