Where do You go in Detroit to Talk Tech?
Be forewarned. You’re only going to understand this post if you live every day neck-deep in technology and spend your nights dreaming about it.
You know who you are. You’re having a good day today because Feedburner just showed a spike in traffic to your blog (because of the new post you composed on their iPhone/BB), you added five contacts to your LinkedIn Network a few minutes ago, and you just StumbledUpon a great new AJAX control that you can’t wait to use in your next web project.
If you’re on the same page as me, you know how exciting it is to be able to converse with like-minded techies. If you live in Detroit, chances are you’re only able to experience the, “this is what it sounds like when doves cry” moment now and again. It’s no secret; compared to San Francisco, New York, and Chicago, there just aren’t that many of us around.
Last week I was invited to join the Board of Directors of an organization focused on bringing together people like you and me for a ton of networking and some training and professional development (morning learning sessions, etc). The former organization is called GLIMA. We’re changing it up and making it completely tech & business focused.
Joining the board is an extremely self-serving move on my part, and here’s why. At least once or twice a month I’m lucky enough to have lunch with someone that lives where I live: at the intersection of technology and business. Most of the time they’re an engineer or tech guru who is about to roll out a new web startup or software company, and they just want to sit down and talk about it.
I LOVE these conversations. The people are passionate about technology, and excited about everything new that is going on in the industry, and they speak the same language as me. We can talk about the day’s Digg headlines, without dumbing down the conversation.
The problem is, when the meeting is over, I’m left waiting for the next lunch invitation, with not much happening in between. When I ask these people if they belong to any professional tech organizations, I’m never met with an enthusiastic answer.
The new organization (the name will be announced later this week) will fill the void for me, and other techies in the Detroit area. I’ll post more details about some of the professional development initiatives that we’re rolling out as they become available.
We’re kicking it off with a Launch Party at Ignite in the MGM Grand Casino Detroit on the evening of Wednesday, December 12th. If you feel like you’d be in good company at an event like this, click here to register and for more details. It’s only $10 (you’ll probably never get into that night club for that price, so take advantage of it). I hope to see you there.
In the spirit of user generated content, if you have any ideas that you think would work well in an organization like this, drop me a line!
