Kirk-Anthony Hamilton is the Founder of Tech Beach, one of the leading business tech conferences in the Caribbean that is seeking to foster creativity and innovation by expanding our minds as to what is possible. Kirk discusses Tech Beach and what it aims to achieve, and also shares his own personal journey, especially the change in mindset he had to conquer, in order to challenge all of us to strive for more than the status quo.

 

This episode is also available in Apple iTunes and on Stitcher!

We tend not to give it much thought, but we are all creatures of our environment – our home life, our schools and even the wider community. In the Caribbean, and with the emphasis we tend to have on education, and on being successful in that space, undoubtedly, our attitudes and perceptions of the world, what is possible and what we might be able to achieve, have been shaped by that experience.

However, in an environment in which we are expected to toe the line, be it at school or in the workplace – to not think beyond the status quo, or a particular construct – can we, in the Caribbean, truly foster innovation? The short answer might be no. Like any muscle, creativity has to be exercised, failing which, it atrophies. Hence, even when we are the freedom to create, we might still find ourselves imprisoned by our own self-imposed and limiting thoughts.

Kirk-Anthony Hamilton

That was the experience of this episode’s guest, Kirk-Anthony Hamilton, the Founder of Tech Beach, which is one of the leading tech conferences in the Caribbean. Kirk is also an entrepreneur, investor and experiential designer. He is the Founder and CEO of the Infiniti Partnership, which has interests in the hospitality, entertainment and lifestyle sectors, and the co-curator of the Destination Experience; which gathers a global network of business leaders and influencers to promote investment, prosperity and philanthropy in the Caribbean.

As we continue our look at innovation, our focus today is on another element of the innovation ecosystem – the tech event, such as Tech Beach, but would include meet-ups, conferences, workshops, to name a few. At its core, Tech Beach aims to foster creativity and innovation, by highlighting to its participants what is possible. However, to get to that point, Kirk also had to recognise and challenge his own limiting mindset, which he discusses during our interview.

When we sat to chat with Kirk, he was in the throes of preparing for  Fintech Innovation Island, which will be held in Bermuda later this week, 17—18 October, and at that time, was about a month away. However, we wanted to know more about Tech Beach, what it aims to achieve, the extent to which tech events can foster innovation, along with learning more about Kirk’s own journey to entrepreneurship and thinking outside the box. So, in our conversation with Kirk, some of the questions we posed included the following:

  1. How would Kirk describe Tech Beach, and what drove him to set it up?
  2. How is Tech Beach doing? What has been the response to the event, within the region, and by the international community?
  3. What has been Kirk’s journey to entrepreneurship
  4. Are there any themes or emphases for the upcoming Tech Beach events?
  5. How effective has Tech Beach been in nurturing ICT/tech innovation?
  6. What are Kirk’s thoughts on the sharp increase in tech events in the Caribbean, and whether he thinks having all of those events is good and/or effective?
  7. What might be some of the lessons Kirk has learned since the first Tech Beach?
  8. If someone wants to create a space, similar to what Tech Beach, what advice might Kirk offer?
  9. Where would Kirk like to see Tech Beach in the next 3 to 5 years?
  10. What’s next for Kirk-Anthony Hamilton?

 

We would love to hear from you!

Do leave us a comment either here beneath this article, or on our Facebook or LinkedIn pages, or via Twitter, @ICTPulse

 

Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits:  StockSnap (Pixabay);  K A Hamilton

Music credit:  Ray Holman