A few months or so ago, I saw an interesting phrase from Intel fly by on Twitter. It was the line “Upgrade Your Life” which I thought was a very creative melding of technology and real life. I was definitely intrigued. To my surprise and pleasure, a few weeks ago, I was invited to attend an all-day summit on June 2nd titled “Upgrade Your Life” on the Intel Hillsboro campus where I would be meeting with several notable technology bloggers and “digital influencers” as well as key Intel staff members in a series of round-table discussions revolving around one’s digital life.
The list of invited attendees is a stellar one and I feel humbled to be included in the list.
- Alli Worthington of Blissfully Domestic
- Amy Oztan of Selfish Mom
- Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks
- Christina Tynan-Wood of Geek Girlfriends
- Helena Stone of ChipChick
- Jeffrey Sass of Dadomatic
- Kristen Chase of CoolMomPicks
- Mia Kim of PopGadget
- Stefania Butler of City Mama
- Suzanne Kantra of Techilicious
For more information about the event, please see the Intel’s InsiderScoop blog post.
2010 Summit Topics
This year, it seems that Intel desired to add some male and dad perspectives to the mix (see below for information about the 2009 Summit). Not only was I invited, but all a fellow Cast of Dads member, Jeff Sass, will be part of the summit as well. I believe this is an exciting decision on Intel’s part as I think that the “daddy blogger” influence is rapidly coming to maturity and a force to be reckoned with. I think it is critical to provide a balance of opinions and perspectives when it comes to these types of conversations.
I have seen the agenda of the summit and it will be packed with a variety of subjects critical to a digital lifestyle. I have often spoken about how truly difficult it is to meld technology and family, as they are often opposing forces. This summit will be reviewing the impact technology has on healthcare, entertainment and education as well as environmental considerations when diving head first into tech. Also, given that I have three girls in elementary school, discussing how technology can be quickly and effectively be injected into the classroom is of great interest to me since we are shaping the minds of our future!
Specific sessions are:
- The Workplace: Old, New and Saying Adieu
- Personalizing Healthcare
- That’s Entertainment
- Improving Classrooms through Technology
- Green Living
- Mad Science: Creating the Future Today
Of particular interest for me is the session on future technology coming from Intel, but I’m really curious to learn others’ perspectives on how technology impacts their lives and their families’ lives. It should prove to be a through-provoking all-day event.
The 2009 Summit
There was a similar summit about a year ago that had a comparable set of tech influencers but the event was geared primarily towards women. The participants in 2009 were: ComputerShopper’s Sarah Anderson, Tekzilla’sVeronica Belmont, TechMamas’ Beth Blecherman, CBS’ Natali DelConte,TechieDiva’s Gina Hughes, Manic Mommies’ Erin Kane, PopGadget’s Mia Kim,This Week in Fun’s Sarah Lane, ChipChick’s Helena Stone, Geek Girlfriends’ Christina Tynan-Wood, and .51’s Maria Webster.
The 2009 “Upgrade Your Life” Participants
Disclosure
As with all of my posts, I need to make a disclosure to ensure that I follow the important FTC guidelines and associated codes of ethics. That being said and for true transparency:
Disclosure: In accordance to the FTC Guidelines and WOMMA Code of Ethics, I am disclosing that Intel Corporation has covered my travel, accommodations and costs related to my visit to Intel’s Oregon-based offices.
That being said, I do plan on talking (hopefully a lot) about what I learned and other insights from the summit. I encourage my readers to send me any questions you may have about the topics or for Intel’s position on technology, digital lifestyles or anything else. I can’t promise that I will get all of those answered, but I will definitely try.
HTD says: Intel has proven to be an innovator in so many spaces. I’m encouraged that they are actually soliciting the help of individuals outside of their organization.
