We’ve been working for months on our reimagined GeekWire Summit, the first major event we’ve hosted since late 2019. And we’re pretty excited about what we’ve got coming up on Oct. 4-5 — amazing fireside chats, fun happy hours and a few other surprises in store, too.

Now in its 10th year, the 2021 GeekWire Summit is going to look and feel a little different — including both virtual viewing options and a limited in-person experience at the very cool Block 41 event space in downtown Seattle.

Tickets are still available, so go here to purchase your virtual or VIP in-person tickets. This year’s lineup is one of our best ever, and we are thrilled to bring back GeekWire events in a safe manner to showcase live journalism from the stage.

The full Summit agenda is posted on the event site under the schedule tab, but we wanted to share a few highlights below.

  • Opening Party: We’ll kick off the Summit festivities on Monday Oct. 4, with an opening party at 4 p.m. followed by our first session at 5 p.m.: An in-depth fireside chat with former Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff. The former Hotwire and Expedia exec has not slowed down since leaving Zillow, bankrolling a handful of new ventures, launching a SPAC that acquired real estate service Offerpad, and even starting a new food-oriented social networking startup with his teenage daughter. You will not want to miss this fast-moving session with a focus on innovation, startups, media, the economy and much more.
  • Where will Andy Jassy take Amazon? The tech giant’s new CEO joins us at the GeekWire Summit at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 5 for his first live, on-stage interview since taking the reins of one of the world’s most influential companies. The longtime leader of the market-leading Amazon Web Services cloud division, Jassy is taking over the Seattle company at one of the most pivotal moments in its history, facing growing scrutiny from the outside and pressure from shareholders to continue Amazon’s pace of innovation and growth, while attempting to implement new leadership principles that recognize the company’s impact on its workforce and the world. We’ll get new insights into Jassy as a leader and Amazon as a company in this GeekWire Summit session.
  • Ciara — who joins us on the GeekWire Summit stage at 11:25 a.m. on Oct. 5 — rose to music fame when she was just 19 years old with her 2004 debut album Goodies, which earned two Grammy nominations. The global superstar went on to release six more albums and won a Grammy Award in 2006 while expanding her career to acting and business. Join us for insights from one of the biggest names in entertainment.
  • Investing in Innovative Ways to Stop Climate Change: The world faces a monumental task: to strip carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions out of every facet of our lives, from power plants to ships, planes and automobiles, from food production to the steel and concrete that are foundational to construction. In this panel discussion at 1:50 p.m. on Oct. 5, experts and innovators share hopeful messages of how we as a society can confront dire climate consequences.

That’s just a small sample of what’s to come next week.

If you can’t make this awesome lineup in person, we are excited to offer free scholarship tickets to those who want to tune into the Summit virtually. Non-profits, students, startups, military and others who feel they are eligible for the scholarship tickets — provided through a partnership with our Summit presenting sponsor Bank of America — can email us at events@geekwire.com to obtain passes.

In addition to Bank of America, we’d like to thank all of our awesome GeekWire Summit gold sponsors: Wave Business, ALLtech, EY, Martin Selig Real Estate, Microsoft, Pacaso and Slalom. Also, thanks to silver sponsors: bcra, Wilson Sonsini, Ziply Fiber, MotionForge and Genpact.

Also, a quick note on GeekWire’s health and safety precautions. We are following all state and federal health requirements, as well as requiring proof of vaccination in order to enter the in-person Summit. See the full COVID policy in the FAQ on the event site here.

Correction: This post has been updated with the correct company that Rascoff took public via a SPAC.

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