eMerge is about speakers, networking, parties (it’s Miami), celebs (it's Miami), start-ups, and encouragement on the long and sometimes lonely journey to entrepreneurship.
The show floor has a decided buzz this year, with a stage in the middle of the hall and booths all around. Unlike the initial year, when start-ups were placed on a quiet side, this year's start-up village was between the center stage and summit halls -- meaning companies from Toronto-based bar-hopping app Eve to the mesmerizing advertising holograms from Miami-based Holography Box -- saw plenty of visitors.
The path from entry to summit halls also leads past the booth for Florida International University, where scientists are working on technologies for tracking Alzheimer's disease, diminishing eyesight, breast cancer and inexpensive home tests for molecules emitted by termites, mold and chemicals.
On the celeb front, there were Pitbull and eMerge Americas founder Manny Medina, surrounded by eMerge sponsors, ringing the closing bell at the Nasdaq -- the first live close from Florida, the Nasdaq folks proclaimed.
On the encouragement side was the ever-packed booth of the Knight Foundation, which doubled as a free coffee stand and home base for Knight-funded programs including Code Fever (“We had lots of people offering to volunteer this summer," said founder Felecia Hatcher) and Miami’s branch of the Endeavor entrepreneurship program. Also in the booth: Joshua Gaviria, who is setting up a wework space due to open on Miami Beach in July. (The co-working space, now in 15 cities including Boston, Austin and London, connects clients with partners who can offer discounted services on insurance and payroll.)
Jane Wooldridge