Tech and the Art of Innovation   

The following article appeared in the September 2015 issue of The Connector, a monthly e-magazine published by PR for People.

Cathy von Birgelen, executive director of a technology-education organization in northwest Pennsylvania, started her career on the cusp of the digital age. In 1980, following art school, von Birgelen started a typography/graphic-design business. Eight years later, she added a digital-service bureau.

As von Birgelen started more entrepreneurial ventures over the years, she witnessed businesses struggle to keep up with new technologies. “They needed resources to help them separate the hype and promise of these digital technologies and services,” she says.

So, in 2008, she founded the eMarketing Learning Center, now part of Ben Franklin Technology Partners, a tech-based, economic-development organization that invests in innovation. Current issues, like the recent tug-of-war over net neutrality, directly affect her clients’ potential for success.

“I’m passionate about the possibilities that digital technology enables and how it democratizes access for small business, helping to spark innovation,” says von Birgelen. “If the Internet doesn’t remain neutral, the democratization of technology-enabling processes will suffer, and any progress will be left to existing businesses that typically don’t innovate well as they mature.”

Realizing that innovation is typically sparked when digital creative-types share ideas in a physical setting, von Birgelen recently created digital salons, modeled after the salons from early in her career when artists would gather for lively discussions about art, culture, and life around them while working on their preferred media.

Now, von Birgelen offers Digital Salon Nights, hosted by area businesses, which include lectures or discussions on topics, such as branding in the digital age, blogging, or, coming soon, the politics of social media. The physical gatherings allow attendees to make new contacts, access support and advice, collaborate, and gain exposure.

“When I was in business, we had trade organizations and we still do, however, digital is evolving so quickly that businesses don’t have the bandwidth they need to stay on top,” says von Birgelen. “We all have only so many marketing dollars, so we try to keep an eye on where the puck is going and not get there too early.”

Ann Silverthorn writes about a wide variety of topics in numerous genres. She’s currently working on a biography of William E. Dimorier (1871-1951), a nearly forgotten poet and educator, who dedicated his life to the betterment of young people.

Twitter: @annsilverthorn   Instagram: ann_silverthorn