Softec, the Central Coast’s premier software and technology association has appointed two ambassadors to keep up with the needs of its growing community events. Brittany McCrigler will represent SLO and North County. Steven Burgess will focus on South County and Santa Maria.
Softec, a local nonprofit organization, is committed to creating monthly events that encourage the advancement of technology and innovation along the Central Coast. Its regularly scheduled events keep gaining momentum and the board has begun appointing ambassadors to help keep up with the many needs of planning fun and valuable events. On a monthly basis there are north and south county TechBrews with TedTalk style presentations on up and coming technologies or products. Every other month there is an open house highlighting a local business and its advanced technology offerings. Annually, Softec hosts the Women in Technology dinner attended by 150 people and the Robotics Expo at the Madonna Inn Expo Center attended by 800 people.
Brittany has taken on a leadership role with the regularly scheduled Women In Technology Events (WIT). She has focused on making the 3rd Annual Women in Technology Dinner on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 a success. She is committed to being the point person at the WIT monthly breakfasts, lunches and happy hours ensuring valuable discussion topics.
Brittany McCrigler is the Director of Education Services at iFixit. She coordinates the iFixit Technical Writing Project, which has served over 11,000 students and created 15,800 open source repair guides utilized by 35 million people around the world. She also teaches technical writing and creates resources for the technical communication classroom.
Brittany is excited to share the joy of technology and the empowering experience of learning technology to all members of our community—affirming her belief that learning builds and sustains communities. She is committed to creating a highly inclusive community of women in tech in San Luis Obispo—ranging from coders to clinicians, educators to engineers and all women and allies in between.
Her areas of focus includes emphasizing gender equity, cultivating support structures, and promoting action and achievement among women. She hopes to use her role as WIT ambassador to develop more mentorship, educational events, and networking opportunities in our local Softec community.
Brittany has a background in physics and astrophysics, specializing in solar physics. She has published articles on topics ranging from women in STEM to repair advocacy.
Steve Burgess joins Softec to be its South County Ambassador. Steve will be a great community outreach person for Softec to organize the monthly Santa Maria Tech Brews and call upon local businesses to participate in and support the many monthly Softec events.
“We are so pleased to have Brittany and Steve join our community outreach,” said Stewart Morse Board President, Softec. “They bring a great spirit for technology to our organization and help us broaden our reach from Santa Maria to SLO to Paso as Softec events continue to grow in popularity.”
Steve Burgess was a founder of the data recovery industry in 1985 and is a serial entrepreneur. He is currently sporting a digital forensics and expert witness consulting business, Burgess Consulting & Forensics in Santa Maria.
He is locally active with nonprofits as a mentor, coach and participant in StartupWeekends, the Hothouse, MIYB/SBDC, CalPoly CIE, EconAlliance/IDEA and Softec.
Burgess is a nanotechnology activist and is also President of the Si Valley based Foresight Institute. He actively authors and speaks about forensics, cyber issues, and nanotechnology.
About Softec
Softec is a nonprofit organization with over 2,000 members committed to creating and promoting technology events for enthusiasts of all ages throughout the community to connect, network, educate and learn.
Our goal is to cultivate relationships, advocacy, and economic development for the software and technology industries here on the Central Coast by aligning local businesses, individuals and educational resources in our community to produce a thriving hub of innovation. Softec hosts monthly Tech Brews in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria spotlighting the community’s latest technologies, an annual Robotics Expo, Women In Technology monthly events and an annual dinner, and open houses.
For more information visit: www.softec.org