Above: An overflow audience listens to venture capital discussion at eMerge Americas. Photo by R. Adams.

The opening day of eMerge Americas 2016, the tech conference and expo taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center Monday and Tuesday, offered impressive numbers, inspiring talk and serious business. Not bad for an event only in its third year.

Manuel D. Medina, managing partner of Medina Capital and founder of eMerge Americas, opened the proceedings calling attention to a headline in Monday’s Miami Herald “Technology on the money: Fintech startups take root in South Florida.”

“Just a few years ago, this headline would not have been possible,” said Medina. “eMerge Americas started as a dream … to create an open platform to bring in legacy technology companies with innovators who would bring provocative content, discuss the opportunities and issues of the day.  … Be a platform where leaders of technology from all over the world gather, where CEOs do a lot of business, where the next leading innovator gets his lead investor and [where] technology brings thousands of people from all over the world to Miami and help propel Miami into this technology world we live in.”

In its initial edition, in 2014, the event, with founding partners Knight Foundation, Medina Capital, Miami-Dade County and Greenberg Traurig, attracted an estimated 6,000 participants, 220 companies and a modest initial international participation. Two years later, eMerge sold out, boasting of 13,000 participants (Medina noted that organizers had to close registration) and 500 companies from 60 countries.

Knight Foundation’s support for eMerge reflects its increased focused on supporting and propelling a network of entrepreneurs in South Florida through more than 180 grants. Many of the organizations in Knight’s network demonstrated their services and ideas at the foundation’s booth on the exposition floor Monday, a schedule that continues throughout Tuesday, with opportunities to learn more about initiatives such as the Knight Enterprise Fund and organizations such as Endeavor Miami, LaunchCode, Startupbootcamp Miami, PowerMoves Miami, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and more.

But numbers only tell part of the story says Matt Haggman, Knight Foundation’s Miami program director. So while it’s good to see continuous growth in numbers and activity, he said, “what I think is even greater than that is that now there is a belief that Miami really is a center of high-impact entrepreneurship and innovation. People think of Miami as a place where if you have an idea you can build it here; you have the wherewithal and the tools and the people to do it here, so what we are creating is this real important sense of possibility. eMerge is at the heart of that.”

Above: Gen. Colin Powell and moderator. Photo courtesy eMerge Americas.

As in previous editions, the event actually started with a hackathon on Saturday and Sunday leading into the two days of presentations, panel discussions, networking events and a startup showcase. The event features a Government Innovation Forum bringing together top government officials and business leaders from 34 countries to explore using disruptive technologies in public-private partnerships.

Also, for the second year, eMerge Americas will host, on Tuesday, a Women, Innovation and Technology summit, a showcase of women in technology and business. While panels throughout Monday illustrated the important roles women play in the tech industry, Tuesday offers a more focused approach, including a keynote by Monica Lewinsky on “The Price of Shame,” and discussions featuring business leaders such as Aminda Marques, executive editor of the Miami Herald; IBM Vice President, Women & Diversity B2B Marketing Denise Evans; and Miriam Lopez, president of Marquis Bank.

Monday’s impressive program of speakers and panels opened with Ret. General Colin L. Powell, former U.S. secretary of state, in a broad-ranging talk in which he addressed technology, leadership, becoming a former secretary of state, racism and, inevitably, presidential politics.

He set it all up by saying, “Why would you get an infantry officer [to talk at a tech conference]? Well, remember: It was the military that developed the internet. We did it. It wasn’t Al Gore. It wasn’t Microsoft. It was the United States Armed Forces.” And he spoke also of “the transformative nature of the technological revolution we are going through now,” and how “by your presence here, you understand the important role that Miami can play in all this. How Miami can be the center of the activity that spreads the technology and spreads the potential of this technology throughout this part of the country but also throughout Latin America.”

A wide-ranging array of talks after Powell included a discussion between AOL co-founder Steve Case and Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen about Case’s new book, “The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future,” and a panel with Haggman on identifying and cultivating promising startups.

AOL Co-founder Steve Case, right, interviewed by Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen. Photo courtesy eMerge Americas.

In what has to be considered eMerge style, the bookend keynote Monday was by skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk in conversation with Jon Fortt, co-anchor of “Squawk Alley” on CNBC.

Hawk, a skateboarding pro at 14, world champion skater for 12 years in a row, spoke about going through hard times in a downturn of the sport but also finding it was his real passion.

“When skating took a dive, I learned that I loved doing it — even if I wasn’t getting paid for it.”

A big break came, improbably when he was approached to develop a video game. “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater” video game became a hit. Four more followed, the most recent “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5” released last fall.  The sales of the first four had already surpassed $1.4 billion.

“It was released and the skate industry just started calling it The Game and that was it,” said Hawk. “I knew they loved it and that was it. That’s all I cared about.”

Back in 2014, Medina closed the first edition with what sounded like a hopeful declaration: “We are making history here in Miami. This is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. … Get ready for this thing to grow bigger.” On Monday, he was proven right — sooner than many expected.

Fernando González is a Miami-based arts and culture writer. He can be reached via email at [email protected]