Procore Groundbreak 2017: VIATechnik Recap

Last week, the VIATechnik team headed down south to Austin, Texas where we attended the 2017 Groundbreak Conference, hosted by Procore. From prominent and inspiring keynote speakers, to a surprise throwback performance from Vanilla Ice, Groundbreak 2017 will not be forgotten! Here’s our top highlights from the show.

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Mike Rowe, host of the legendary Discovery TV’s “Dirty Jobs,” was the keynote speaker on day two. As a group, we really enjoyed his talk, especially his points about  “taking your passion with you” with whatever career path you pursue in life. He mentioned that Dirty Jobs was a love letter to entrepreneurship that started when he was working a sewer project in San Francisco. His talking points about alternate career paths was key, seeing as the construction industry caters to a lot of trades with differing educational backgrounds. Not everyone has to go to college in order to be successful.

Later that day, we attended the Women in Construction panel, which featured Nancy Novak, National VP of Operations at Balfour Beatty, Barb Jackson from Daniels College of Business, Barbara Res an Engineer Attorney, and Ivette Vanas, Sr. VP of Risk Management from Skanska. The room was full of so many bright, talented women, and it was great to hear from these leaders in construction. Our favorite point from the panel came from Barb Jackson, who said that women need to “stop waiting to be asked, stop waiting for your turn, and stop waiting for permission,” not only in their careers but in their personal lives too.

VIATechnik CEO/Founder Danielle Dy Buncio later spoke on a group panel “Real Savings from Immersive Technologies: VR/AR on the Jobsite” with other leaders: Kevin Bredeson, VP at Suffolk Construction, Taylor Cupp, Project Solutions Technologist at Mortenson, and Greg Martin, Senior Manager of Operations at the Weitz Company. The panel discussion let the audience discover the technological disruption of using VR & AR in construction as we know it today. The panelists spoke about how these advanced tools work, how to apply these tools to a project, and most importantly, the value that VR & AR add to a project.

The last day of Groundbreak featured the legendary Steve Wozniak, Apple Co-Founder and computer and tech cult icon, at the final keynote presentation. See more below from our live tweet session to hear Wozniak’s advice to the construction industry, including his views on the future of BIM.

“For anyone with their head in the sand thinking that [BIM] is a trend that’s going to go away, it’s not” #BIM #GBK17

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 29, 2017

Honored to be working on a “Cool Project” like @LGAairport under @SkanskaUSA #GBK17 pic.twitter.com/gUy0t9q94o

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 29, 2017

So amazing to hear about the 4 World Trade Towers project ?? #GBK17 – https://t.co/I6KwM2cXqy pic.twitter.com/fSZbNxXN1j

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 29, 2017

Fun at #GBK17 thanks @procoretech finally found someone taller than us! #WomenOfVIATechnik @VIATechnik pic.twitter.com/d2kR8xQt5z

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 30, 2017

.@mikeroweworks says #DirtyJobs was a love letter to #Entrepreneurship that started in a working sewer in #SanFrancisco #GBK17 pic.twitter.com/rfwtBrF7H1

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 30, 2017

#GBK17 keynote with @mikeroweworks @procoretech pic.twitter.com/olwiOMKWPF

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 30, 2017

#GBK17 @mikeroweworks “don’t follow your passion, take your passion with you”! Awesome! #DirtyJobs pic.twitter.com/ohdWXXYwug

— Ricardo Khan (@KhanRicardo) March 30, 2017

.@ColinJost came to Procore’s Groundbreaker Awards to “fulfill his dream” of addressing an audience of #construction luminaries #GBK17 pic.twitter.com/7R2WZ6Avmk

— Procore Technologies (@procoretech) March 30, 2017

Full house at #GBK17 ‘s Women in Construction panel! Great to be in a room with so many bright and talented women! #construction #wic pic.twitter.com/GV1njvrBGQ

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

Barb Jackson “Stop waiting to be asked, stop waiting for your turn, stop waiting for permission” #GBK2017 #womeninconstruction pic.twitter.com/5zsEv0hsRs

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

“You don’t want to just walk through your space you want to interact with it, you want to use it” @DDyBuncio #GBK17 #AR #VR

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

“We’re using #virtualreality to make sure the owner is darn sure of what we’re providing in the design” @taylor_cupp @MAMortensonCo #GBK17

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

AR VR Panel here at #GBK17 @mamortenson @suffolkbuilds @theweitzcompany @ddybuncio – https://t.co/8Mzpqzf77C pic.twitter.com/xmjV13tlko

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

.@EksoBionics demo in action! @procoretech Groundbreak #GBK17 pic.twitter.com/c5MJpMDos8

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 30, 2017

High stake here at #gbk17 – https://t.co/UqsAUxTJan pic.twitter.com/LQ1Kd0hs1y

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 30, 2017

#GBK17 @vanillaice says “stop collaborate and listen”… good advice #construction industry! @procoretech @VIATechnik pic.twitter.com/KzUa9XOWA2

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 31, 2017

.@stevewoz keynote @procoretech Groundbreak, says what you know is less important than if you are motivated to do it. #GBK17 @Apple pic.twitter.com/30qolhgNKC

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 31, 2017

#GBK17 #WomenInConstruction @VIATechnik pic.twitter.com/DCQbJ8ixmi

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 31, 2017

We agree with @stevewoz: he believes #VR will take off & succeed because of the emotion that it brings up in people. #GBK17 pic.twitter.com/ytU2gihwyo

— VIATechnik (@VIATechnik) March 31, 2017

Barbara Res on #Construction Management contracts at Procore Groundbreak #GBK17 #WomenInConstruction pic.twitter.com/4ZA94JT7Ar

— Danielle Dy Buncio (@DDyBuncio) March 31, 2017