BUSINESS

5 highlights during the two-day technology and arts conference Fall Experiment

Sarah Hauer
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee technology and arts conference Fall Experiment is Oct. 4 and 5 at the Wisconsin Center.

The Fall Experiment, dubbed Fall X by its organizers, is Oct. 4 and 5 at the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee. 

The idea is to bring together thought leaders in art, music, gaming and technology from across the Midwest. Throughout the two-day event, a few experimental, art and lounge space will be open: No Studios Immersive Artist Workshop, True Skool Experience, Tech and Art Lounge, and the Women in Tech Lounge. This is the second year for the Fall Experiment. 

Here are five highlights during the conference. 

Steve Aoki headlines 

Musician, DJ and producer Steve Aoki is the headline performer at Fall X Oct. 5. The concert starts at 7 p.m. with the founder of N.W.A. Arabian Prince opening at the Wisconsin Center. 

His performance is an add-on to the general admission tickets to the event. 

Aoki was in Milwaukee in June as a headliner at Summerfest on the Miller Lite Oasis stage. He also delivered a keynote at Summerfest Tech about how technology is changing the music industry

Two pitch competitions 

Hear the next big idea coming from Milwaukee's entrepreneurs. There's $450,000 up for grabs during two pitch competitions — Fall X Pitch and 83 Tech Harbor Reverse Pitch. More than 150 submissions were made for the competitions. 

The winner of Fall X Pitch will receive a $250,000 investment from Rock River Capital Partners and Northwestern Mutual's Cream City Venture Capital. Startups need to be local or relocating to the Milwaukee region to be eligible. The winning startup will also get co-working space in Northwestern Mutual's Cream City Labs. The competition is Oct. 4 at 1 p.m. 

Advocate Aurora Health subsidiary 83 Tech Harbor put out a challenge for technologies, systems or solutions that would improve the health care journey for parenthood and women during puberty and menopause. Five finalists will compete for a six-figure investment and co-working space Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. 

Learn how Amazon employees innovate

Apparently, Amazon employees don't share their ideas in a PowerPoint presentation. Gasp because that's how most of the business world functions. The tech giant's former head of Amazon Prime Global, Aaron Hawkins, will explain how that works during his talk Oct. 4 at 10 a.m. 

Instead of a slide deck, Hawkins says, employees use whitepapers for decision making and expediting innovation. He's written hundreds of these and plans to persuade you to change your decision-making format to a narrative. 

Talk gaming with Arabian Prince

Arabian Prince is a founding member of the rap group N.W.A. He's also a songwriter, rapper, producer and DJ. But Arabian Prince is coming here to talk about technology and video games. He has his own 3D animation and special effects studio and is about to launch a new gaming product called mClassic. 

Arabian Prince will sit down with Tarik Moody Of 88Nine Radio Milwaukee for a fireside chat Oct. 5 at 1:15 p.m. He's also the opening act for Aoki. 

This talk is part of the Longplay track that focuses on gaming. Other sessions include talks on diversity and representation in gaming and esports and careers in the industry

Cream City Code

Milwaukee's largest developer conference, Cream City Code, is taking place within the Fall Experiment this year. Dozens of sessions comprise this track focusing on computer programming. 

Nickolas Means, a senior engineering manager at GitHub, shares stories about the aerospace engineers who build planes and what today's leaders can learn from them. Means' talk is Oct. 4 at 8:30 a.m. Business strategist and coach Kim Crayton will talk about managing heterogeneous groups while minimizing harm Oct. 5 at 8:30 a.m. 

Sarah Hauer can be reached at shauer@journalsentinel.com or on Instagram @HauerSarah and Twitter @SarahHauer. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Be MKE at jsonline.com/bemke