We Innovate, Where You Vacation. 14 things About SiliconCaribe at 14 years old.

I can’t believe I’ve been doing this for 14 years. This is why it’s so important to stop and reflect regularly. So Yeah, SiliconCaribe is now in its 14th year. It all started in February 2007. The pandemic almost made me forget actually, even as I’ve been working on some new things for the brand. While reflecting, I decided to do this threadlike list of 14+ things about SiliconCaribe. It’s really about sharing the story about the start, the community, the impact, and giving a glimpse into what is next. 

This is definitely a gratitude post.

THE WHY

I started the blog CaribbeanTechNews.com in 2005 to hold all the news that was coming to me and to put it all in a central place so we could see what others were doing in the Caribbean and that others could also see what was happening in our Region. Thanks so Susan LeeQuee ( my business partner who introduced me to blogging) and Khary Sharpe (who taught me a bit about plugins and servers). They were both patient with me during that intense 2-week learning curve of domains, WordPress themes, plugins, and setting up hosting servers. CTN was a hobby for like 2 years. I was busy growing an Interactive Agency. 

Then Everything changed in February 2007. 

I changed the name of the Blog from CaribbeanTechNews.com to SiliconCaribe.com and my then business partner Susan LeeQuee and I also launched our first Kingston BETA event. 

Why did the blog name change? At the time the world was breaking out into Silicon everything. SiliconValley was in San Francisco, Silicon Alley ( New York) Silicon Roundabout ( London) Silicon Savannah ( Kenya), etc and I wanted the world to know that great people, ideas, and tech startups resided in the Caribbean too.

In other words…We Innovate, Where You Vacation. 

So it’s been 14 years. And what a journey.  From a Blog to accidentally kickstarting a tech startup movement to now growing things into a Digital Media powerhouse helping entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives in the Caribbean and around the world to stay informed and inspired by the Future of Technology in Caribbean Business.

THE IMPACT SO FAR

1. This is a threadlike account showing 14+ ways SiliconCaribe’s has had an IMPACT in the Caribbean and Diaspora. And what we entrepreneurs, the tech community, and its supporters have done so far. The blog, the community, the movement. It was about showing to ourselves first, then the rest of the world.  

2. SiliconCaribe kickstarted Jamaica’s Tech Startup Scene in 2007 with the Kingston Beta event which had 90 attendees, from 4 Caribbean countries at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. We charged JMD$600. Thanks to my fellow Internet entrepreneurs Sandor Panton ( Top5Jamaica.com), Jamie Ranston ( HomeView), and Chad Cummingham ( jamdeal.com) who all lovingly threatened me, when I paused Kgn BETA because I was growing Dutchpot interactive agency at the time with my co-founder Susan and figured I needed to focus. Plus Kgn Beta was meant to be a now and again event. And to be honest, I just didn’t know where Kingston Beta was going and I sure as hell didn’t know it would attract so much attention and so many people coming to meet up, pitch and share. 

3. Kingston BETA led to Caribbean Beta 4 years later In 2011, the first tech entrepreneurship conference in the Caribbean – 350 people, 32 teams from 8 Caribbean countries, luminaries from SiliconValley, and once again held at Jamaica Pegasus Hotel. Thanks, Prudence Simpson, Director of Sales there. It also led to CaribbeanBloggersWeek, Agrihack, Startup Weekend Jamaica events, and startup showcases at SXSW and Miami’s Black Tech Week.

4. Kingston BETA went on to be SiliconCaribe’s signature event, becoming the first and longest-running Caribbean Tech Startup Community Event. Over 11,000 direct event attendees, covering 10 Caribbean countries plus the Diaspora US and UK. With a reach of over 10 million people online along the way. The event that became a movement ran for 11 years. Whew, Chile!!!  I ended it June 2018 for a sabbatical, with No regrets, with only an abundance of gratitude. 

5. For 11 years, from February 2007 to June 2018, Kingston BETA tech event became a huge community, a movement, a home, a safe place to think, pitch, fail, learn and commune with people who were trying new things online and with other technologies. It’s where you met college students, yuppies, entrepreneurs, corporate executives, creatives, government peeps, academics, job-seekers, investors under a single roof. That energy at each event was exciting and soul-enriching.

6. Over that time too, led by Kingston BETA, SiliconCaribe became and is still the leading producer of Caribbean Technology Events. We’ve produced over 300 events across 10 Caribbean countries, plus Diaspora USA, and the African continent.

7. SiliconCaribe produced the first Caribbean Bloggers Week with events in Kingston, Port of Spain, New York, and London. This was in 2016. Attended by hundreds of content creators and influencers.

8. SiliconCaribe co-produced Pitch Agrihack with a European Nonprofit— a Caribbean-wide hackathon across 10 Caribbean nations focused on the intersection of Technology and Agriculture. 

9. SiliconCaribe took Caribbean Entrepreneurs and their Startups from Kingston BETA community to SXSW, Black Tech Week, and Kenya conferences.

10. SiliconCaribe also staged Jamaica’s first Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Trend Forum in 2018 at JAMPRO HeadQuarters. It was a sold-out event.

11. Our network of events really made an impact. But SiliconCaribe.com the Caribbean Tech News supported and amplified it all. SiliconCaribe has been syndicated by Dow Jones for about 4 years to over 159 countries in 22 languages. Dow Jones publishes The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch.

12. The SiliconCaribe Site also has won some Blog Awards: SiliconCaribe won Best Technology Blog 2010 (Jamaica Blog Awards), Best Technology Blog 2011 ( Jamaica Blog Awards). Blog of the Year 2010 ( Jamaica Blog Awards) Thanks Corve Dacosta for launching the Jamaica Blog Awards initiative. I wish he’d bring it back and take it Caribbean also.

13. Having experimented with vlogging since 2009 when I test-launched SIliconCaribe TV on Youtube. Then doing This Week in Caribbean Tech as a live chat show with over 32 episodes. Thank you NCB and Real Vibes for sponsoring that. Now we have a 2021 version coming this month.

I finally settled on The SiliconCaribe Podcast ( audio) where I interview Caribbean Tech Entrepreneurs and Creatives and share their stories about they are leveraging technology and innovative thinking to change the face of Caribbean Business and Culture. It’s done in seasons now. You can subscribe to it on Spotify, iTunes, and Google podcasts. Listened to in over 45 countries. Season 3 going live this month in audio and video with Amazon Web Services as a lead sponsor.

14. We launched our first annual list this year – The SiliconCaribe’s Top 50 Caribbean Women in Tech. The list has its own site – CaribbeanTechWomen.com. Thanks to the amazing judges who areCaribbean Women in Tech themselves. 

15. SiliconCaribe has always been about the community first and sharing our stories with each other and the world. This continues. Some of our SIliconCaribe and Kingston BETA Community Regulars are: @moniquepowell @melissapowell @trevorforrest @gordonswaby @staceywilson @biancawelds @marcgayle @rorywalker @kylelewis

16. I am grateful to everyone who attended, pitched, shared, volunteered, spoke, bought event tickets, sponsored, advertised, and was part of the SiliconCaribe journey these last 14 years. I am grateful for you following where I led and me following you where you wanted to go. I am always grateful for the community, the relationships that are still alive and vibrant today.

And the Good news…we’re just getting started….

17. The Mission continues…..just in a different form with SiliconCaribe evolving into becoming a digital media business, tapping into the community, the ecosystem….educating, chronicling this Rise of Digital Caribbean.

To continue to connect people to the possibilities ….of The Future of Technology in Caribbean Business. Through the SiliconCaribe blog, podcasts, lists, newsletters, and events.

Onward and Upward together. So grateful for SIliconCaribe at 14years.