Tech craze hits Industry City with BigApps Block Party

The once dormant warehouses in Brooklyn’s Industry City were full of life on Saturday July 19, as the neighborhood hosted the first ever BigApps block party. “I’m a local designer in Sunset Park and it’s great to come out and see people support local people and businesses,” said Sarah Healy, a local jewelry designer. The event, which was New York City’s largest tech expo, challenges its participants to “build apps, devices, and other digital products that make New York City a better place to live, work, learn, and play.” “This event gives is great for the city since technology is the wave of the future, and without it we can’t accomplish much,” said Laurent Delly, co-founder of ideacoil, an expert feedback resource for entrepreneurs. He added, “The world’s getting smaller due to technology, and we must embrace new innovations that help us meet these challenges.” People who presented had to develop original products not used in previous BigApps competitions, and had to present pitches of their projects to a panel of three judges, followed by setting them up to show the public.The public then voted on what they felt was the best idea, with the top five “People’s Choice teams” earning the opportunity to demo their products for four minutes to the judges, and the winning team earning an automatic berth to the BigApps finals. The top 20 teams from the 150 team field will also go to the BigApps finals/award ceremony in mid-September.