Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke to Join Local and Global Businesses at The Alexa Conference, Jan. 15-17, Chattanooga, Tenn.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayor of Chattanooga, Tenn., Andy Berke, will join the Alexa development community – as well as hundreds of businesses that are already creating great voice experiences or exploring how to benefit from the technology – at the 2019 Alexa Conference. The event, presented by podcast network VoiceFirst.FM, will take place Jan. 15-17 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Now in its third year of being held in Chattanooga, The Alexa Conference will gather an estimated 600 attendees from more than 12 countries, including executives, developers, entrepreneurs, strategists and marketers – all the roles involved in conceiving and creating voice experiences. Amazon is the 2019 Platinum Sponsor of the annual event, which will feature an exhibit hall, The Alexa Awards and a variety of workshops, in addition to a full conference program.

"As a tech-forward city, Chattanooga is thrilled that the annual Alexa Conference calls our community home," said Mayor Berke, who will speak to attendees during the upcoming event. "We welcome the Alexa community and the hundreds of businesses that are innovating and paving the way for more developments in voice technology."

Mayor Berke will speak to attendees in a special luncheon on Jan. 15 at 12:30 p.m. The luncheon is sponsored by EBP Fiber Optics of Chattanooga, which surprised the nation in 2010 by becoming the first U.S. provider to offer Gig Speed internet (1,000 Mbps) as a standard offer. EPB is a municipally-owned utility that provides electric power and fiber optic communications services as a means of promoting economic development and enhancing quality of life across the Chattanooga area.

"We're excited to have Mayor Berke and EPB Fiber Optics participate in The Alexa Conference and represent Chattanooga," said Bradley Metrock, executive producer of The Alexa Conference, host of This Week In Voice podcast by VoiceFirst.FM, and author of the new audiobook Perspectives on Gender in #VoiceFirst Technology. "Chattanooga is the ideal 'host city' and home for The Alexa Conference because of its emerging growth as a technology center and its groundbreaking Internet speeds – the fastest in the nation."

Chattanooga has seen an influx of tech companies and start-ups over the past several years, according to the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce. This is due in part to the installation of the Gigabit Network, which helped generate as many as 5,200 new jobs and $1.3 billion in local benefit during the first five years, according to an independent study. The Giga Bit Network is a community-wide fiber optics network accessible by every home and business in EPB's service area. In 2015, EPB built on its first-mover record in providing Gig speed internet by becoming the first, and to date, only American ISP to make up to 10 Gig (10,000 Mbps) internet speeds accessible to all of its residential and commercial customers as a standard offer.

In addition to EPB Fiber Optics, other key companies sponsoring or presenting at The Alexa Conference include: Amazon, Magic & Company, Gimlet Media, Mayo Clinic, LEGO, Applause, Botmock, SoundHound, Inc., Capstone, Novel Effect, Audioburst, Orbita, Earplay, Lifepod, Tellables, PullString, Voice Metrics, Oaktree Products, Inc. and PrivaKey.

To learn more and to register for The Alexa Conference, visit https://www.voicefirst.fm/alexaconference. The Alexa Conference is produced by VoiceFirst.FM, which also hosts a portfolio of other voice-technology events for specific industries, including: The Voice of the Car Summit, The Voice of Hospitality Summit and The Voice of Healthcare Summit. To learn more, visit http://www.VoiceFirstEvents.com.

About VoiceFirst.FM
VoiceFirst.FM, which produces The Alexa Conference and other voice technology events, is a podcast network devoted to voice-first technology. Shows such as This Week In Voice, The Alexa Podcast, The VoiceFirst Roundtable and more are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of listeners across 54 countries worldwide. VoiceFirst.FM is owned and operated by Score Publishing, a new media publishing company based in Nashville, Tennessee.

SOURCE The Alexa Conference