Technology — Blog — Chris Luecke

It was a random Saturday afternoon in October 2016. I was sitting in my home office in San Francisco, on my computer catching up on a recent company video newsletter. Yeah, I know…that’s a pretty lame way to spend a Saturday, but I promise you that’s not the norm. Regardless, it was the start of a new fiscal year, and as an Account Executive in the manufacturing technology space, that’s always when I’m thinking most creatively about how to grow my business, and better serve my customers.

I’d been toying with the idea of starting a video series for a while. I knew I needed a more frequent, personal way of reaching my clients, and that a standard HTML newsletter would likely get lost in the mix of my customers’ inboxes. Thanks to that internal video newsletter, the idea finally synergized that afternoon: Why not start a video series for the manufacturing sector that also made this “old school” industry more fun an approachable?

It’s Friday night. Typically, I’d be gearing up to play a show, throwing back a few craft beers at a dive bar, or cozying up to a glass of Chilean wine paired with whatever self-help book is the flavor of the month. Not this weekend! I’m rolling up to 1446 Market Street – a warehouse-like event space in San Francisco – ready to make some tech!

Last month, I attended my first hackathon – an IoT hackathon to be specific – because I needed a reset. I’ve been watching the “Internet of Things” evolve through the lens of the manufacturing industry for the past few years now. It was time I took a look at it through a different lens: the lens of the Bay Area tech community.