From the Innovation District’s swanky new District Hall – a dexterous and dynamic facility housing a coffee shop, restaurant, and office space – Mayoral hopefuls Marty Walsh and John Connolly entertained the innovation class with their future visions for our city, centered around the topics of tech, business and innovation here in Boston. Moderated by Jeff Bussgang of Flybridge Capital and Steve Kraus of Bessemer Venture Partners, both candidates were challenged with questions posed by the hyperlocal audience members and those tuning in via Twitter.


Each candidate was given approximately 45 minutes to share the stage with our moderators and field questions in a style more lax in comparison to their recent debate sparrings. It was state representative Marty Walsh who kickstarted the event, noting first, and crucially, that despite his busy schedule he was able to catch the end of last night’s Red Sox game.

Walsh tailored many of his answers to the continued development and proliferation of innovation across city neighborhoods, noting optimistically his intent on bringing businesses, South By Southwest-like festivals, and next-gen services to the likes of Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester – neighborhoods that, admittedly, have a long way to go in those respects.

While hitting the proper buzzwords, Walsh often spoke in broad strokes and generalities. The Twitter dialogue – dialed in through the hashtag #NextBosMayor – seemed hungry for policy-based specifics. Walsh was charismatic, funny, and genuine, but in terms of our city’s innovative future, his answers often skewed toward the status quo.

While dating himself with a laugh-inducing “jukebox” reference, Walsh did offer some more streamlined answers when asked how Boston can maintain and grow its stellar, young tech talent.

“City Hall decisions are a collaborative,” he noted to the crowd full of startup founders, venture capitalists, and young professionals trying to make their way in Boston.”We have an opportunity to create and retain young talent,” he continued, vowing to focus his administration on how to keep the Boston tech scene looking forward without losing its rising star players.

The former union official appears to be trying, however, to connect with the young professionals and millennials who use social media as a second language, reportedly spending $250,000 on just social media campaigns.

City Councilor John Connolly, for his part – who showed up more than a few minutes late to the party – made it abundantly clear that he plans on taking on City Hall, possessing a hearty “willingness to take on entrenched culture in City Hall” in order to avoid stagnant traps that Boston has fallen into in the past. “Entrenched” was a big buzzword for him throughout. He cited past mayors like Kevin White and how they were able to revitalize the downtown and waterfront areas to make them more appealing to businesses in need of better and brighter employees.

Furthermore, not only does Connolly want to challenge the outdated values of City Hall, but he wants to revamp its outdated technology by outfitting it with the likes of tablets, solid internet connection, and voicemail – if you can believe that.

But he also made no secret, as he’s done throughout his campaign, of his intention on starting this process at the educational level. He brought up his work with the educational committee, turning it from a collection of mere bystanders into “watchdogs” over budgetary and contractual issues.

The race to be Boston’s next mayor is far from over. Hopefully events such as this one offer deeper insight into the differences between the two candidates and, perhaps equally as important, how voters can relate to them on a more personal level. The engagement level was palpable throughout the two-hour Q&A session – a testament to the importance of further defining, honing and growing the innovation community in Boston.

BostInno thanks everyone for attending and following along via social media. We hope you found it as valuable and insightful as we did. Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest Boston mayoral coverage, including a deeper analysis on this event to come Monday, Oct. 28.

For a sampling of the tweets traded back and forth during the event, see below:

You can read more stories on Boston startups, technology and innovation at https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/inno