More than 500 Tech
Leaders Come together for an informative and inspiring morning
This past Tuesday, March 12, more than 500 tech leaders gathered in Boston for MassTLC’s Annual Membership Meeting. The day began with MassTLC President and CEO, Tom Hopcroft, who emphasized MassTLC’s purpose as the region’s leading tech association: to accelerate innovation by providing member companies with the connections, knowledge and visibility needed to help them get where they are going, faster.
Hopcroft honored outgoing Chairman of the Board, Mohamad Ali, Chief Strategy Officer of HP, for his service to MassTLC and the tech community at-large. When Ali took to the podium he announced his successors Steve Krom, VP and GM of AT&T and long time Boston-area business leader, Kirk Arnold, who most recently served as COO of Avid Technologies. Krom went on to share a joint vision for his and Kirk’s work with MassTLC, including a commitment to addressing the region’s workforce challenges and a greater focus on promoting Massachusetts as a place to start and build a company.
Next Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick, took the stage along with Scott Kirsner of The Boston Globe, for a “fireside chat.” Kirsner started the interview on a humorous note, asking how much time politicians should spend on regulating soft drink consumption to which, Patrick responded, “Scott you do know which state I’m the Governor of, don’t you?” After a few laughs from the speakers and the audience, the conversation moved on to more serious issues including proposed tax plans, workforce and education. Watch the interview below.
The Governor also welcomed questions from the audience, including one from educator Kelly Powers, the computer science department chairwoman at the Advanced Math and Science Academy in Marlboro, who asked Patrick if he would support having computer science as a core course. Watch the full Governor Patrick Q&A session here.
Following an inspiring video highlighting the Patriot’s recent history, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots joined PwC Partner and long-time MassTLC supporter, Dean Petracca, on stage for the second “fire side chat” of the morning.
Kraft shared how he came to purchase the Patriots and what his advisors and “sweetheart” thought of his decision in the early days. He went on to address how he builds teams, his top criteria for hiring (integrity and work ethic first, brains last) and a humorous story involving President Vladimir Putin and the case of a missing Super Bowl ring. Kraft also provided words of encouragement and wisdom to those starting companies or with big ideas, encouraging them to ignore the naysayers and stay on track. Watch the interview below.
Kraft closed out the morning by addressing questions from an audience of enthusiastic fans. Watch the Robert Kraft Q&A session here.
Special thank to our platinum event sponsors, PwC and AT&T and our gold event sponsors Akamai and CA, for their help in making this day possible.
Check out these great photos from MassTLC board member, Dan Bricklin.
