About FashionCampNYC 2009 @NYTech first major #Fashiontech Event

“More and more NY Design and  tech worlds are colliding and I am amazed about how much they have in common and how little they know about each other !  I am not speaking of  shopping or  Social  Shopping;-  We are looking at all aspect Creative product Life cycle management; research, development, concept, design, production, sales, presentation, marketing, delivery, consumer and business support!”

That is from a 2009 email, sadly those words are still true today- On September 12th and 13th, 2009, FashionCamp the first fashiontech (open)conference was held in NYC. It was an idea I had for bringing together fashion and tech interest. I bought the url as a commitment to it seeing it through  without any ide of how I would execute. It  should be noted tha both FashionCampNY’s [2009 NYU ITP  & 2010 @ Parsons New School ] took a large team of vested persons many who had never met  to pull off! Most have gone on to affect change in technology and fashiontech. About 200 attended and there was a notable shift in teh attendance  of women and minorities!  Not bad for a community  event!

So how do you take an idea, from a concept to a reality;- Simple, Tell somebody what you want to do either

Indirectly -In April 2009 my email signature read,

“Thanks, More info is on site www.fashioncamp.org. We want 2 bring
together all who Design, Make, Show, Sell, Market or Buy using
technology!”  (Fashioncamp.org is now defunct see planning site )

I honestly did not think or rather was not ready to approach the “tech” guys on fashion, and so did not think about it. When I joined the BarcampNYC4 planning group and responded on the thread my signature automatically was attached. That signature caught the eye of “one of teh tech guys”, Jonathan Berger who responded.

We (me & my partners, cc’d here) just launched a fashion-oriented startup called MarketPublique.com (now closed), an online vintage auction marketplace. We should DEFINITELY talk about FashionCamp! Do you have a prospective date or venue yet?

A few week later I met the guys from Makerbot and was introduced to wearable etchnology. Oh those were the days… we planned two events, but everyone soon got busy … still nothing beats the original…

Or directly… Bolstered ,  in  May of 2009 I rached out to Nate Westheimer who ran the NYTech Meetup.

“I am helping a local group plan a (FAX) fashion Career expo and Think they need to include the technology aspect, especially companies that offer training in propritory business design and new and emerging solutions for entrepreneurs. I will see aviary and some of the companies that i am aware of at Barcamp this weekend.

Many of these business companies are unaware of tech developments or these companies. I really wamt to seek out companies on the Nytech board/community who target entrepreneurs. I am hoping This showcase as well as barcamp may help,.”

Nate introduced me to Yuli ziv,  and i later attended the first Fashion 2.0 meetup, by this time I was learning there were many  avenues and possibilities. Fashion 2.0 Approacheds teh mainstream  and vers more toward teh social.  Then there is wearable tech scene younger more academically inclined, students from eth many design school,  xtremely  tight knit and niche (till recently)  I came from teh local cottage indie design scene, teh one now emerging as the focus of many startups! Their is also the virtual reality  focus. All fashiontech is not the  same.

Here is a copy Nate Westheimer (NYTECH) and Yuli Ziv (Fashion 2.0)

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You  just LUV ‘fashionn or style!  

http://www.doodle.com/r684v7ukae46a42m

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Thanks to I’ve explored soft circuitry, 3D printing, laser cutting, what developed into Haptics, virtual technology, telepresence, Social media marketing and teh conversation prism.