For eight years now, music lovers, artists and creatives of all sorts have gathered in Iowa City, Iowa, for one purpose: the Mission Creek Festival, an annual week-long event that features a variety of concerts, comedic performances, literary readings, film screenings, public lectures and myriad other cultural events.

But this year, organizers are adding one more element: a tech conference. 

The inaugural Mission Creek Tech + Innovation Conference will be held April 4-5 as the festival—which is slated for April 1-6—comes to a close. A number of speakers have been confirmed so far, including Riley Eynon-Lynch and Dan Sweeney of Pear Deck, the BIG Ideas School’s Shawn Cornally and David Gould of the Downtown Project in Las Vegas, as well as a keynote by Matthew Israel, director of Artsy‘s Art Genome Project. 

The Conference will kick off Friday evening with a social hour and continue Saturday morning at the University of Iowa’s Pappajohn Business Building. For a complete schedule, visit Mission Creek’s website. 

Through Friday, Feb. 14, early-bird tickets are available for $75 and until March 29 tickets will cost $85. Pricing and availability for on-site registration has yet to be determined. 

We asked organizer Wesley Beary a few questions about what it takes to help organize Mission Creek and why he thinks Iowa City is ready for a tech conference:

Silicon Prairie News: What do you think a tech conference adds to Mission Creek? Why is Iowa City a good venue for this type of event?

Wes Beary: Mission Creek does a great job of both connecting us to the broader national context and connecting others to our region. Iowa City provides a vibrant backdrop while keeping things intimate. Mission Creek gives us a chance to bring in some inspiring individuals as well as letting the secret of our growing tech community out into the world.

SPN: How did the idea for a tech conference at Mission Creek come about? What groups came together to make this event a reality?

WB: Iowa City has a great core of technologists who love to get together and have tons of different specialized meetups. The organizers of these groups even get together themselves to discuss ways to better collaborate and foster community. A conference seemed like a natural fit to cross pollinate within these groups and bring in some inspiring content.

SPN: The conference’s speaker slate is fairly diverse. How were they chosen and what do you think they bring to the event as a group?

WB: Diverse speakers were chosen to help provide awesome stuff across our diverse tech community. Our national speakers will highlight the big picture, local speakers supplement this with efforts already happening here. All of the speakers are doing exciting work and bring their excitement and inspiration to share.

SPN: Why should an entrepreneur consider attending?

WB: Exciting people and things surround us, but can easily get lost in the shuffle. Mission Creek Tech + Innovation provides a chance to get inspired and make lasting connections.

SPN: What piece of Mission Creek Tech + Innovation are you most excited about?

WB: I feel lucky to know so many fascinating and inspiring people. The speakers will give us loads to discuss and the setting provides a great opportunity to get to know each other, which provides a great opportunity for what excites me most, helping people make awesome connections.

Credits: Photo courtesy of Wesley Beary.