Can you briefly introduce yourselves?

Hello, my name is Honza Steinbach and, together with Filip Procházka, we founded TechHeaven in Plzeň after gaining some experience from organizing DevFest.

What exactly is TechHeaven and why do you consider its existence necessary?

TechHeaven is an NGO that can, in theory, be considered as two separate entities but that is not a good way to think about it as both parts are highly interconnected. It’s a hub (a coworking centrum where people can work on their projects) and holds regularly organized events about programming, new technologies, and partially even business. The important part of these events is not only the gathering of new information but also the networking which can possibly lead to new projects created by the people who get to know each other here.

How does TechHeaven stand out from other similar projects aimed at IT people?

Well, it’s in Plzeň, for one. The idea of regular events for developers has been around for quite a while and, for example in Riga, it works perfectly. For us, it’s not about re-inventing the idea but we want to bring this concept to perfection by using state of the art technologies and constantly improving it.

How can people get involved in this project?

I think it differs from person to person. If someone is interested in technology or wants to start an interesting project, they’re more than welcome to attend one of our events or come to our hub, which we want to open by the end of 2017. But we also welcome people interested in helping us – the more people are involved, the more events we can organize. Everyone who wants to get involved, please contact me at honza@techheaven.org.

What are your plans for the near future?

At the moment, we are setting up our first event TechHeaven: Valley vs Czech Republic taking place in DEPO2015 in Plzeň on Friday, September 22. The event is for 100 participants and there are still tickets available. I do recommend attending the main event as well as the barbecue as I believe both will be a blast.

Do you have any other plans?

Other plans? We’d like to organize a couple more events by the end of the year and open the hub. If all goes well, we’d like to have it fully operational at the beginning of next year. We’ll keep in place the processes that go well and learn from our mistakes. If you want to stay updated on our progress and efforts, follow TechHeaven on Facebook or Twitter. Every opinion is very important to us as it tells us what works and what doesn’t. Even if it’s just about the little things, such as if to serve chicken or pork during the next event.

Why did you start a collaboration with eMan?

eMan is not afraid of using new technologies, works on interesting projects and appreciates programmers, something that cannot be said about some other companies like banks. You have also a branch located in Plzeň, so a long term cooperation can be beneficial to us all.