You are reading

Queens Tech Night is Back, Tickets Now Available for June 9 Event

Ben Guttmann, speaking at Queens Tech Night in November 2019 (Photo: Courtesy of Ben Guttmann)

May 24, 2021 By Ryan Songalia

Queens Tech Night, a free networking and community-building event for techies, will return for a meet-up at Culture Lab LIC next month.

The event will run from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on June 9 at 5-25 46th Ave. in Long Island City. The two previous meet-ups were held indoors, but this one will be held in the parking lot next to the building to allow for greater ventilation given COVID-19.

The evening will feature two keynote speakers who will also engage in conversation. The speakers listed are Julie Samuels, the executive director and founder of Tech:NYC, a non-profit that aims to attract tech talent to the city; and Dennis Walcott, president and CEO of the Queens Public Library.

There will also be a question and answer segment.

Representatives from a number of tech companies and non-profits will be in attendance. Many will have tables, providing attendees with the opportunity to network.

Ben Guttmann, who is an event organizer, says he looks forward to hearing people’s perspective on the future of the industry post COVID-19, and their views on the city as the elections approach.

Queens Tech Night was first held in November of 2019 and another event took place in January of 2020. The organizers decided against holding the event virtually while the city was shut down.

Guttmann says the plan is to do three or four events per year, with the aim of creating a community that works together to innovate.

“The best possible thing is somebody meets somebody here, they decide to do work on a project together, start a company, to go do great things in Queens,” said Guttmann, who co-founded the Long Island City-based marketing agency Digital Natives Group.

Digital Natives along with Kaufman Astoria Studios, the Long Island City Partnership and Plaxall are the official organizers of the event.

Past events were attended by about 200 people, and Guttmann says about 100 people have already reserved tickets for the June 9 event. He says tickets can be reserved via EventBrite and noted that capacity limits are contingent upon what the state guidelines will be as of the event date.

Guttmann, who also teaches digital marketing at Baruch College, says there’s an “incredible amount” of tech talent in Queens, with much of it focused on specific industries, like finance and fashion. He believes the borough has the potential to become a significant tech hub.

“There’s two million and change people here in Queens that come from an incredibly diverse range of experiences and skills. I think we can hold our own with anybody,” said Guttmann.

Organizations that will have representatives at the event include Cornell Tech, NY Hall of Science, Pursuit, Office of the Queens Borough President, Queens College Tech Incubator, Queens Public Library and Tech:NYC.

 

email the author: news@queenspost.com

One Comment

Click for Comments 

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Queens Together launches ‘Unofficial US Open Dining Guide’ encouraging fans to sample restaurants along the 7 line

Aug. 20, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

The US Open returns to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this Sunday, with more than 1 million attendees anticipated to take mass transit to the iconic annual tennis event. With hundreds of thousands of fans set to take the 7 out to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, there is a world of delicious local eateries lying beneath the elevated train tracks should any fan wish to stop en-route to the US Open.

Can Queens’ food scene thrive with both trucks and restaurants?

Aug. 19, 2025 By Jessica Militello

In Jackson Heights at 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, Roosevelt Avenue is buzzing with energy as commuters file in and out of subway cars and onto the street and cars and trucks grapple to get down the busy road. The street is filled with rows of shops and restaurants, along with food carts, street vendors and food trucks along the avenue. The almost-but-not-quite the weekend lag leaves hungry commuters faced with another choice to make throughout their day and the array of food truck options in busy areas like Jackson Heights offers customers convenience and delicious food without breaking the bank, two features that can feel vital, particularly with rising costs of living and pressure from inflation.