HardwareCon and ZNE Center Welcomes Hundreds of Entrepreneurs to San Leandro

On February 28th and March 1st, the City of San Leandro and the Zero Net Energy Center welcomed over 500 entrepreneurs developing manufacturing businesses.  HardwareCon3 is the first U.S. conference focused on providing maker businesses with the skills and connections they need to grow successfully.  As a result, the event attracted entrepreneurs from across the United States and beyond — I overheard a variety of conversations spoken in Italian, Chinese and German while at the conference!

The City sponsored the event along with a host of well-known tech industry companies, including Autodesk, Panasonic, GoEngineer, TransmediaSF and many others.  Mayor Pauline Cutter welcomed the participants to the City That Makes Things, followed by a keynote address by Carl Bass, CEO of Autodesk.  Carl’s delivery was inspiring — a lifelong maker and learner, he enthralled the audience with his own personal experiences and observations about how modern technology is changing how things are made.

We’re delighted that Erik Katz, founder of HardwareCon3, brought this conference to San Leandro.  Erik is a technology advisor and community organizer immersed in the Bay Area Maker Movement and hardware startup scene.  Erik also is founder of the non-profit Maker Mart, which produced Makers@theMint, a large scale retail pop-up event at Historic Old Mint in downtown San Francisco which was featured in Forbes.  Thanks also to the volunteer team that pulled off this first of its kind event, especially Maya Zuckerman and Beth Rogozinski!

And as always, a big round of appreciation goes to Byron Benton and IBEW and NECA, who agreed to host HardwareCon at ZNECenter.

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