TOP NEWS

Silicon Beach Fest Expands Event Lineup, Sets Keynotes

Silicon Beach--the self-appointed name that has been used to describe many parts of Southern California's tech community, but which has seemed to have centered itself over Santa Monica and surrounding towns--has no shortage of events and conferences. However, Silicon Beach Fest, the upcoming conference which combines both the local high tech community as well as the entertainment industry, seems to be emblematic of the spirit and energy which has become apparent recently in the local startup scene.

Organizers of the conference (disclaimer: socalTECH is a media sponsor), which runs from June 19-22nd, said today that the keynote speakers for the event will include Mark Suster of GRP Partners, and Neil Galan of Galan Entertainment. The conference also said it has added some "pre-events" from June 14-18th, which stretch the conference out to more than a week. Those events now include a hackathon, a dedicated day in Pasadena at Idealab, an opening party hosted by KCRW, and even a day of beach games, like surfing, volleyball, and basketball.

The conference is being run by Kevin Winston, best known for the many local entertainment-meets-technology events under the Digital LA brand. The conference said it now has more than 150 speakers, including executives from local accelerators, venture capitalists, entertainment companies, and startups scheduled for this year's event. Last year's event attracted more than 2,000 attendees.