More than 250 passionate people filled a conference room at EA Sports in Maitland, Fla. last night to discuss a dream. The Orlando area residents in attendance ranged from students to large business owners with Jeans, ties, sneakers, tattoos, glasses, iPads, Google Glass, paper and pen, all on display. What brought this diverse cross-section of people together on a Tuesday evening? OrlandoiX.

OrlandoiX (Orlando Interactive Experience) is an annual, five-day international digital festival launching in 2015. Set to attract an audience of 80,000 to 100,000 visitors to the metro Orlando area, the conference is projected to have an economic impact of $17 to $21 million as a result of hotel room, travel, food & beverage and event activity spending.

David Glass, founder and visionary, held an open-to-the-public, launch event to announce and engage Orlando in the planning of OrlandoiX. Discussing the audience, venues, board of directors, budget and reasons for such a large scale event, Glass described how during October 2- 6, 2015, Orlando will be transformed into a digital village for interactive media, entertainment technology and digital arts.

Glass then invited five board members to share why they are involved, why they believe in this festival and what they think it will do for Orlando. Read live tweets of their comments at @ForwardFla.

Glass believes that the collaborative involvement of the local tech community is key to the success of the annual event, which is why the remaining time was spent as a large brainstorming session. A few poster-sized Post-It notes were filled with feedback from attendees of what they wanted to get out of the events, ideas for events, tips on what success means for the festival and even philosophical hopes as to what an event like this means to our community.

Learn more at www.OralndoiX.com.

Additional OrlandoiX highlights:

• Five days of conferences & interactive exhibitions: Friday, October 2– Tuesday, October 6, 2015
• First three days, Friday – Sunday, will be held in Downtown Orlando
  • There will be a set agenda of speakers and workshops. However, independently-generated events will be welcome to encourage collaboration and cross-industry discussion.
  • Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts: keynote speakers, general sessions, idea-sharing, workshops, developer and design events. This will be the main hub for conference attendees.
  • Chase Plaza & Church Street Exchange Buildings: demonstrations, product displays and company launch zones
  • Amway Center: gaming exhibitions and tournaments, hack-a-thons and design competitions
  • Throughout Downtown Orlando, including clubs, lounges and other venues like Church Street Ballroom: various social events and nightly headline musical entertainment
• The final two days, Monday – Tuesday, interactive exhibitions and headline industry keynotes will be hosted at the Orange County Convention Center.
  • Topics and activities will cover interactive solutions across mobile, gaming, simulation and other platforms, with content from various exhibitors, including companies, creative agencies and students.
  • Nightly musical headline entertainment & social events will occur on International Drive