One of the biggest months in Atlanta tech is happening soon
As fall nears, Atlanta’s tech ecosystem is gearing up for three weeks of practically nonstop events highlighting the city’s innovation and startup scenes.
InnovATL2024 (pronounced inno-VAY-tee-el) starts Oct. 1 and goes through Oct. 19, with an event happening nearly every day. At least 23 conferences, hackathons, parties and volunteer gatherings have been announced so far.
This is the second year of events under the InnovATL brand, which the Metro Atlanta Chamber unveiled last summer to position the region as a thriving innovation ecosystem.
Many of these events took place before InnovATL was launched, but the chamber wanted to create a marketing tool to unify the work that corporations, nonprofits, colleges and universities were doing under one banner.
The events this year range from an esports summit to a three-day conference on generative artificial intelligence. There also will be pathways for attendees to focus on topics they are interested in: diversity and inclusion in innovation, entrepreneurship in higher education, innovation in design and creative industries, the entrepreneurial journey and emerging technologies.
Some of the marquee events of InnovATL2024 are:
- DreamHack Atlanta, an international gaming lifestyle conference, is Oct. 4-6 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Last December, DreamHack Atlanta had more than 40.000 attendees, featured rapper and gaming enthusiast T-Pain and hosted several international esports tournaments that gave out more than $1.2 million in prize money, according to a news release.
- Avant South, a conference focused on the latest innovations in movies and television, sports technology, media, arts and entrepreneurship, is Oct. 7 at Georgia Tech. Executives from Trilith Studios, Netflix and U.S. Soccer are some of the speakers slated to attend.
- Intentionally Good Summit, a gathering run by the nonprofit Goodie Nation, is Oct. 7 at the Woodruff Arts Center. It focuses on diverse founders, investors and experts. Joey Womack, founder of Goodie Nation, also serves as the board chair for this year’s Venture Atlanta conference.
- Venture Atlanta, one of the largest venture conferences in the Southeast, is Oct. 8 and 9 at the Woodruff Arts Center. University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley is a keynote speaker.
InnovATL2024 will wrap up with the HackATL student business hackathon held at Emory University from Oct. 17 to 19, and the UNLOQ404 Creators Summit hosted by United Talent Agency, one of the largest talent agencies in Hollywood, on Oct. 19.
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About the Author
Mirtha Donastorg is a reporter on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s business team focusing on Black wealth, entrepreneurship, and minority-owned businesses as well as innovation at Atlanta’s HBCUs.
