Apple’s Tim Cook meets with Utah app developers at tech summit
Oct 13, 2021, 6:47 PM | Updated: Oct 14, 2021, 9:36 am
SALT LAKE CITY — It was a once-in-a-lifetime meeting for four local app developers at the Silicon Slopes Summit held at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City.
The two-day convention is considered to be the largest business-focused event in Utah, with hundreds of high-tech companies showcasing their products and thousands of people attending.
“It’s a great place for the tech community to collaborate and have fun together,” said Jonathan Johnson, the CEO for Overstock. “Silicon Slopes and the tech community [in Utah] is strong and meaningful.”
But away from the crowds, in a back conference room, four Utah app developers, got a meeting of a lifetime.
They met one-on-one with one of the world’s most powerful tech leaders – Tim Cook the CEO for Apple.
Each one of them admitted it was very intimidating at first.
“It is nerve-racking,” Jody Sailor said. “We saw 40 percent growth [during pandemic]. 30 million teachers and students are using our app.”
Sailor is with Instructure Inc. — the company that developed and published Canvas, the online app for at home learning for students and teachers.
The other app developers included Red Games Co., which focuses on creating family friendly games.
“A little bit of pressure,” said Karleigh Sheendrumm with Red Games. “Pretty exciting. Surprised how genuinely interested and curious [Tim Cook] was. It was nice to have a normal conversation with someone who is invested in the app.”
Greg Fine and Abbie Kohler, the co-founders of ReusciTech, a CPR training app, showed off their product by simulating CPR on a cushion-like product.
Apples CEO Tim Cook meets one-on-one with Utah app Developers .. a story you will only see on @KSL5TV at 6. @Apple pic.twitter.com/vc4hIuEbJR
— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) October 13, 2021
“It was nice to see how engaged [Tim Cook] was with us and his response while we were doing this. You could tell he caught on really quickly and was asking important questions,” said Fine to KSL.
Also in the room was Gary Mangum with Ancestry.
“Super exciting,” he said to KSL about meeting Tim Cook. “And the fact that he came over and said I have that app, I use that app. How awesome is that that he’s using something I’m heavily involved with building for over 11 years.”
The two-day event starts again on Thursday morning with a variety of top business leaders speaking in several different sessions. There is also a convention hall where about 50 businesses have set up booths to display their products.
For more information on the summit to visit their website: https://siliconslopes.com.
