Techweek Los Angeles

I got a Thu&Fri attendee pass for students ($ 20 instead of $ 50) Maybe since I went on a Friday, a part of the tables/​booths were empty.
The entire place was much much smaller than I expected and I literally only find 2 – 3 tech displays in the entire expo. Rest were mainly people promating their business, recuiting, or just fliers about their «virtual app» and services. Felt like a PR week than Tech.
Praise and props to the 3D printer booth that actually displayed their tools and to the high school team and the kid who came up to introduced us to their the Lego-​builts and mobile forklift creations. But man… started robotics building since 4^th grade and placed 37 out of 600 in the nationals. These kids are our future…
The American Airline lady felt like she hated her job… Anyway, some of the talks and conference were good but I felt like the better ones are on the earlier days. I definitely was expecting more futuristic ideas and concepts built than PR promotions during TechWeek.

FRAUD ALERT!!! — Canned Tuna is now considered tech?
SMELLS FISHY.
Where do I begin? So, most of the events were canceled at the last minute. The judges for the competition were actually there to sell you their service. The rules for competition included «…no company that has raised more than $ 3 million can compete.»
So, the finals included (shocker) a company that raised $ 12 million as the Co-​Founder of Canned Tuna Company so elegantly mentioned on stage in front of the judges. Oh yeah, they sell Canned Tuna in over 150 stores. How is that a start-​up? How is that a tech company? And what about the $ 3 million cap?
I asked the person in charge and the response was…“you misunderstood the part about $ 12 million funding.“
Not sure that was an answer to my question. but hey, if I had $ 12 million in funding I would probably beat out every one else too.
In any case, isn’t this supposed to be about startups — the 2 guys in a garage with an idea and no money. You know, the reason all of us get into this. We have an idea, little money and lots of will power.
So, the investor meetings that I paid over $ 150 for were ummm, interesting. Most of the investors did not show up. (Surprised?) The ones who attended were… shall I say, not forthright about why there were there. Well, actually one was. He told me he was not there to find a company. Still not sure just why he was there. But anyway.
Oh yeah, just to add a little more salt in the proverbial wound… No refunds.
I left feeling like I had been scammed and I have learned that if you feel like that it’s probably because it’s true.
Congratulations Techweek. You took home a lot of money this week. You swindled a ton of cash out us hopeful wide-​eyed trusting entrepreneurs.
NOTE: Do not go here. I repeat. Do not go here.

Got a Summit Pass and it’s been worth it so far!
Techweek is a 3 day festival right on the Santa Monica Pier and I would describe it as Coachella for geeks and that’s perfect for me.
Great speaking engagements including Susan Paley the former CEO of Beats by Dre.
Fantastic start up tech companies giving tons of cool swag. I especially liked Zeel which was providing complimentary chair massages and discount cards on in-​home massage purchases!
Plus I noticed Unilocal is a sponsor and this feels like a mega Unilocal event with an iHeartMomo photobooth, a Jarritos drink bar, and more.
The Summit Pass lets you into most speaking events and I felt like that was useful so you can hear and learn about how tech is constantly innovating and what is successful.
The Rockspace booth was especially cool to get a Starbucks gift card and beer/​cocktail tickets.
There’s a ton of vendors and the schedule is jam packed but 3 days is more than enough to check them all out. Great festival overall and I’m looking forward to day 3.
Tip: parking off Ocean under the pier was $ 6