Uprise2018 - Being a Top 100Y Member

What is Uprise?

The Uprise festival is one of Europe’s leading Talent and Tech Festivals. This year, the Uprise festival was running a 100Y Membership program for the top 100 young innovators in the UK and Ireland. The aim of the program was to help raise the profiles of the individuals and allow them to network with others. They would also get access to the 2-day festival, including workshops and talks on a variety of topics.

Earlier this year, while Chloe Mullan and I were undertaking our placement year at Kainos, we heard about this fantastic festival for young innovators through Twitter and decided to submit an application form to be part of their Top 100Y program. A few months later, to our delight, we received an acceptance email for the event and also found out that one of our Kainos colleagues, Jordan McDonald, was accepted as well. So, we packed our bags and set off to Dublin.

Day 1:

Upon arrival at the Uprise Festival at the Richmond Centre in Dublin, we received a warm welcome from the Uprise team. We grabbed a schedule and a cup of tea and made our way to the Dublin City Council Stage for the grand opening of the festival.

The grand opening of the event included an introduction to what the festival was about and a brief overview of what was in store for us. We were super excited to get started!

Day 1 of the event consisted mainly of workshops, roundtable sessions, and panel discussions. There was a variety of different themes ranging from workshops in harnessing live chat to panel discussions on the growing tech community in Dublin. It was great to see the opportunities available for start-up companies and upcoming developers in tech!

A networking app was also set up so that each member could create a profile about themselves, which made it easier to network and get in contact with other people. We were able to book into and see how many spaces were available for workshops and round table discussions, which we found incredibly useful! It also allowed us to book meeting rooms to catch up on emails or any work that needed to be done!

After Party:

With day 1 coming to a close, it was time to head out for a few drinks. It was clear to see why the Uprise festival keeps coming back to Dublin. After exploring the beautiful city and heading to the Jameson distillery, it was wonderful to experience some of the beauty and culture of the city.

After a few Guinnesses, we were able to get talking to a number of companies and startups from all over Europe and even some from Belfast that we hadn’t heard of before. It was great to hear about the interesting work that is being done all over.

Day 2:

After a night of networking, it was time to come back and do it all again.

Day 2 consisted mainly of panel discussions and talks, with a main focus on blockchain. We both agreed that our favorite was a panel on “Regulate or Rogue” based around using blockchain and whether or not regulations were needed in that space. Neither of us were very familiar with the topic, so it was great to learn about it from some of the best and most knowledgeable in the industry!

Conclusion:

It was a great event for networking, and we got to talk to so many new people. We also got to hear and chat with a number of different start-up companies, who were working with new technologies and doing some really innovative stuff, so it was great for inspiring new ideas.

We are really thankful to both Kainos and the Uprise Festival for giving us this platform and allowing us to take part and raise our personal platforms. We hope to continue innovating and to have the same opportunities and more in the next upcoming year!