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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 17 J U N E 1 3 , 2 0 1 6 S M A L L B U S I N E S S F O C U S Last year's MSCW attracted 4,100 participants from 27 states, Japan and Canada. Almost 1,500 tickets were sold for its 70 events and 162 panelists. In its fi rst year, MSCW attracted 1,100 participants, and this year should bring in between 1,000 and 2,000, Knox estimates. Knox says honing the confer- ence attendees is by choice, to create a more intimate experience. While last year's sessions were organized by topic tracks, and attendees could stick to one track and not meet people in other disciplines, Knox says this year panels are organized by broader innovation themes to get attendees to mix more. Also, last year's event was held in multiple venues, whereas this year it will be at the Maine College of Art in down- town Portland. " is is an opportunity for more hall talk and for people to col- laborate with each other," Knox says. Other changes to this year's MSCW format include lightning learning ses- sions from 11 a.m. to noon daily where attendees can learn hard skills or take a 50,000-foot view of a topic. Rather than the noon keynotes being lecture-style, they will be fi reside chats with Knox and another person interviewing the keynoter. Finally, the mixers before the end of the day will give out-of-staters and Mainers a more opportunistic time to mix, Knox says, before the Mainers head home for the day. Many of the changes were prompted by attendee responses to surveys handed out at last year's event, Knox says. Knox says it's hard to measure the economic impact of the event, partly because attendees may carry on col- laborations or interactions afterward. He says MSCW is close to reaching its $150,000 goal from sponsors to run the event. e conference is largely run by volunteers, including Knox. Last year they gave 15,000 hours to the conference. "I'm surprised by who gets involved and why," Knox says of the volun- teers. " ey can be part of something that isn't their own company. It's the 'give before you get' Cohen-Bradford Infl uence Model." Sharing the knowledge Hydroswarm's Bhattacharyya says Knox approached her to talk at the event after being referred by another MSCW member. "I was impressed by her being named to the Forbes '30 Under 30' list, by the hot areas she is in with unmanned vehi- cles and marine commerce," Knox says. Bhattacharyya, 28, is a doctoral candi- date in mechanical engineering who will graduate at the end of this summer. She also was among the fi nalists at the MIT $100K entrepreneurial competition and was named to Robohub's "25 Women in Robotics" list and Connected World magazine's "Women of M2M." Hydroswarm also is targeting extreme athletes who might want to have EVE follow them underwater and record their activities. e goal is to have EVE versions that run from $1,000 for consumers up to $20,000 for more sophisticated uses. "We have a lot of interest from consumers," she says. "EVE can take videos as you are diving or doing extreme sports and follow you around like an AirDog drone." e list of other keynoters looks equally impressive. Mike Perlis, president of Forbes Media, started his career in Camden, where he co-founded New England Publications. Since joining Forbes Media in 2010, he transformed the company from a traditional magazine company to a global technology and digitally driven media business. Former Portland resident Robyn Kanner, designer and co-founder of MyTransHealth in Seattle, is also a UX (user experience) designer at Amazon. MyTransHealth designed a guided search to help transgender people fi nd quality healthcare. Knox says she iden- tifi ed a problem that aff ected her and did something about it. MyTransHealth connects trans- gender people with qualifi ed, culturally competent doctors in their neighbor- hood and has four categories: medical, mental health, legal and crisis care. It's a free site where users can fi lter results based on need, including resource type, language, insurance and accessibility. e company had a Kickstarter cam- paign that raised more than $33,000. Kanner grew up in Maine and is a University of Maine graduate. Among her previous jobs was as a contractor for Boston-based New Balance, where she designed spaces for the Chicago Marathon, the Disney D23 Expo and other venues. "at's My Bank!" 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