Keeping Connected

With Arizona’s size measuring just under 114,000 square miles, it’s a massive task for the Arizona Technology Council to keep the state’s technology community connected. After all, with a reputation built on in-person events, having a presence from border to border is impossible.

Or is it?

The Council has incorporated two podcasts to help build a personal connection and intimacy with an audience that goes beyond just the membership base. 

AZ TechCast is a monthly podcast hosted on Phoenix Business RadioX that is dedicated to covering technology trends in Arizona and beyond. TechFocus Member Spotlight partners with Michael Beach Consulting to highlight innovative entrepreneurs, transformative leaders and tech titans who are reshaping the state’s evolving tech ecosystem in existing and emerging sectors.

“Listening to a podcast is like hanging out with friends and listening to a topic you’re interested in,” says Leslie Marquez, the Council’s director of marketing + communications. “It helps build a relationship with listeners that keeps them coming back. 

“Podcasts are also great for multitasking. Listeners can tune in from anywhere when it’s convenient for them,” she adds. “We feel like they are resonating with listeners based on the feedback we receive on social media and the requests we receive from members in the community to be on the podcasts.”

AZ TechCast guests are sourced from the region’s most innovative technology corporations, startups and others that are providing technology solutions for society’s most pressing issues. Steven G. Zylstra, president and CEO of the Council and SciTech Institute, and Karen Nowicki, owner and president of Phoenix Business RadioX, serve as podcast hosts each month and have a casual but informative coffee shop-type chat with three industry experts in each episode.

For example, the October 2023 episode of the podcast featured experts Kelly LeBlanc, chief marketing and product officer of IP Infusion; Seth Haller, director of sales – Southwest, West and Pacific Northwest regions at EPS Global; and Sandip Bhowmick, vice president of infrastructure and state broadband director at the Arizona Commerce Authority. In the hour-long informative and dynamic discussion, the panel discussed the challenges of providing broadband access and infrastructure to Arizona’s diverse populations as they shared plans that are already underway to bridge the state’s digital divide.

In the November edition of TechFocus Member Spotlight, the audience was introduced to Doug Hockstad, associate vice president of Tech Launch Arizona, the office of The University of Arizona that creates social and economic impact through commercializing inventions stemming from university research. In its 10-plus-year history, Tech Launch Arizona has taken in more than 2,700 invention disclosures, had more than 615 U.S. patents issued, executed upwards of 500 licenses and options for UArizona technologies, and launched more than 135 startups — all generating an economic output of more than $1.6 billion.

Beyond these recent examples, past episodes of the podcasts can be found at www.aztechcouncil.org/podcasts.