Six days ago, I announced the creation of the Twin Tech Party, whose purpose is to bring together what the Washington Post has called “Washington’s Twin Tech Towns”.
400 RSVPs later, we got a big party on our hands. Not only will The Northern Virginia Technology Council and their members be in attendance, but the newly combined DC Technology Council and Washington, DC Economic Partnership have raised their hand to support the event as well. UPDATE: The Greater Baltimore Technology Council has joined the party as well!
But wait! There’s more. Sarah Lacy has added us to her User Generated Book Tour and will be dropping in to say a few words, sign copies of her new book “Once You’re Lucky. Twice You’re Good.” and to learn more about our local tech culture. Sarah Lacy has reported on startups and venture capital in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade. She writes Valley Girl, a biweekly column for BusinessWeek and co-hosts Tech Ticker on Yahoo! Finance.
I would be remiss if I did not say that this party is not about celebrity power however, nor was last week’s DC+Tech+Scoble+GaryVee event - it is about mixing up our vast, and somewhat fragmented technology culture here in the greater DC region. That being said, I’d like to state right now that my ultimate hope for bringing this much talent and passion together in one place is two fold:
1) I want business to get done: find talent, find funding, meet a partner/a client/an advisor. If you end up doing something personal, like finding a date…that’s cool too.
2) I want people to start talking about creating an technology lab in the heart of DC that will support entrepreneurs who are building the next iteration of the web. There are folks working in their basements (condos?) all across this metropolis who have the capability to build the next AOL, the next ClearSpring…the next Webs. Imagine what a floor of downtown DC office space filled to the brim 24/7 with the smartest people in a 100 mile radius would produce in a year or more? My guess: a few hundred jobs; 4-5 funded growing startups; a dose of great PR for the region….and perhaps some tax revenue. Pull me aside to talk about this, or just comment here.
Lastly, I’m glad to see so many folk are coming out to Twin Tech; quick note that drinks will be free only so long as our sponsorship dollars hold up…and it looks like they’ll get used up at the bar pretty quickly, so please consider chipping in. The bar will revert to a cash bar as soon as the tab is maxed.
See you out there.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Score! Good job, Peter!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Are there going to be any product demos? Either way, I’m looking forward to covering the event for DCtech.tv! Glad to see Sarah will be there!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
@michael yes i certainly hope so. everyone is encourage to talk about/show off what they’re doing. I’m waiting on confirmation from the venue regarding wireless access….
July 9th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Peter,
I don’t know you yet, but I hope to meet you and thank you for a job WELL done!
Matt
Sucklevine Development
www.sucklevine.com
July 9th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
@Matt: make sure you find me at the event! Also, I can’t take credit for Sarah Lacy attending - Justin Thorp and Frank Gruber have connected her in…
July 10th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Lately, there is a buzz in the DC tech community and it feels like the beginning of something big.
Peter, great job pulling this thing together. Let me know if you need any help.
July 10th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Matt - You should check out Affinity Lab in Adams Morgan (http://affinitylab.com/) if you haven’t already. They have a great space with exactly the kind of DC tech entrepreneurs you describe. They’re also expanding to a second location. There’s room for plenty more though!
July 10th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Peter,
This looks great! Looking forward to reconnecting and connecting
I’d be remiss if I didn’t invite folks to check out our creative event next Saturday ‘X’ at Bebar: www.xindc.tv (info to be updated shortly) Time is 7 - 11pm!
David
www.eightyeightdc.com
July 10th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
@David sadly i’ll be at a wedding, but anyone reading this…definitely go to X. It is the creative epicenter of the greater DC area. Okay, i’m biased…i’m an X artist:
http://www.xindc.tv/artist.jsp?id=peterCorbett
July 15th, 2008 at 9:11 am
Peter,
Unfortunately, I can’t make this event. But I really like what you’re doing. You or anyone else want new venture development/growth advisory help in the interactive digital-media space…contact me RDSmith@SMITH-TRG.com - www.SMITH-TRG.com.
Richard
July 15th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Peter,
We should talk about doing an interactive digital-media event.
Richard
July 15th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
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July 17th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Peter,
Thanks for putting this together. Coming from Boston, I had been wondering about DC’s startup scene. As a mobile / web professional, events like these are always close to my heart.
Hope to meet you and the gang this evening! The event certainly looks promising.
Cheers,
-atul
July 17th, 2008 at 10:33 am
@Atul Happy to have you! Just grab me and say hello and i’ll introduce you around.
July 17th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Thanks for making this happen tonight Peter. It was fantastic with whew(!) a tremendous crowd.
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