At first glance it may sound like a nightmare, but rest assured killer apps are no threat, and tech jams won’t bog down your computer. We’re are literally hours since the close of 2016 Innovation Week and the air around C2 is buzzing with excitement.

A week of geeks

Innovation week has always been for the geek crowd—and we love that! It’s a time for some real props to be given to our ilk, and, no, I’m not talking video games. This was some real coding and intense programming and powerful networking and, well, fun. And the best thing for us was that C2 was able to be a part of it all. Of course, there were countless things that made this week amazing, but here are our four highlights:

Gathering of the minds

The week started off with Tech Jam, a conference where anyone interested in tech can meet and greet some of the biggest names in technology. Industries ranging from: IT (our favorite), to green tech, to cyber security, to robotics, were all fully represented while starry-eyed technovores packed the aisles. C2 exhibited for our 10th year since Tech Jam started, and we had a blast. It’s hard not to in an event heralded as the “ultimate (tech) job fair”.

Now, I know you may be saying: “a tech fair nestled in the woody hills of Vermont? Really?” but that’s because you don’t know that Vermont is the one of the top Tech-hubs in the country. That makes the Tech Jam a great place to capture the minds of the future. After all, hob-nobbing with businesses like SolarCity, Inntopia, and Vermont Drone as early as middle school can truly be life altering.

The secret of success

Step aside Michael J. Fox! From Startup to Success (#startup2success) was an awesome lunch-and-learn event that helped make innovation week so memorable. Hosted this year by yours truly, the BTVIgnite excitement made its home at C2. Startups are this century’s economic cornerstone; nearly every tech idea that we have today was the result of a startup—C2 included! Having a chance to learn from Vermont’s local and successful tech startups gave anyone within earshot the right tools for their startup.

Killing it for 24 hours

What happens when some of the best minds in technology are put in a room with a few laptops, string cheese, and some RedBull for 24 hours? See for yourself why the 2016 Vermont Hackathon was one of the highlights for Innovation Week. Once attendees were assigned the task: create the next killer app for education, the place was set on fire. C2 was a proud, Silver sponsor this year, as we have been since the Hackathon’s inception 6 years ago.

C2 decided to give away an Apple iWatch to keep morale up during the quick-fire challenge, as the Hackathon drew to a close. This amped up the event enough to ensure that everyone involved had a very ‘appy ending. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself…

And now a word from our founder

One last thing that we feel rounded out this week of innovation nicely was Burlington Free Press’s article with advice for startups. C2 made an appearance here as well when one of our own founders, Melissa Dever, waxed reminiscent about the struggles and successes of starting C2. Her advice, along with those of Ted Adler and Brian Leffler (owner/leadership at Union Street Media and Instrument, respectively) was documented nicely by the Burlington Free Press and served to frame the activities of Vermont’s Innovation Week.

Three fantastic events, four highlights, and dozens of great companies all gathering for a week of forward thinking. It’s in weeks like this one that we are most proud to live—and work—in Vermont. Of course, we’ve only mentioned where C2 had involvement, but the truth is there were plenty of other companies involved who made this event such a success. Thank you to everyone who allowed C2 to take part in such an incredible week. See you all next year!