Posted on

Geek Week AZ

I had a meeting today with some of the all-stars in the local tech and business event planning community. The foundation is still being laid and nothing is set in stone, but we discussed ways to work together to make all the tech and business events in Phoenix bigger and better.

In Phoenix, we have quite a few great events, and while some are bursting at the seams, they could all use a little more exposure. Ranging from 80-600 attendees, these events have the potential of collectively drawing crowds of 1,000-2,000 people (with 5,000+ in the not-too-distant future) if they strategically work together.

The general concept is to plan the events around each other to make what could be called a festival of conferences. Each participating event would still organize its own content and have its own committees, but there would (ideally) be an umbrella committee that works to line up the venue and festival-wide sponsorships.

Imagine if we could all take a week off and enjoy back-to-back events like PodCampAZ, AZ Entrepreneurship Conference, Ignite Phoenix, BarCampPhoenix, Startup Weekend Phoenix, and even BIL Conference.

This type of event would draw people from all around the Phoenix metropolitan area and even people from out of state.

There is much to be done before anything like this can happen, but the meetings have started and it is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality.

Posted on

AZ Entrepreneurship Conference – November 19

The 3rd Annual AZ Entrepreneurship Conference is less than two weeks away! Are you going?

This year’s event will include the usual broad range of entrepreneurial topics, but will have a touch of social media. The speaker line-up is among the best Phoenix, AZ has seen in one place, especially in the tech entrepreneurship realm.

It’s going to be absolutely amazing.

In this economy, you might want to learn what is happening in our local banking market. It’s something you need to know if you are in business.

And there will also be an announcement from Microsoft that will benefit anyone with a software startup (under 3 years old) or a new project.

Businesses and entrepreneurs looking for funding, talent, real estate plays for the future, green initiatives or innovative ideas will find them all at the Third Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship conference November 19 at the Buttes Resort in Tempe, Arizona The day-long event will connect participants with some of the most interesting and active entrepreneurs and investors across the U.S. Last year’s event was standing room only, with this year’s event expected to draw even larger audiences.

Keynote speakers include a collection of heavyweights sharing their in-the-trenches experiences in building, funding and selling their companies.

Keynote Speakers:

  • AllanKaplan, Co-Founder of Limelight Networks and Director of Clearview Capital Partners
  • Matt Mullenweg, Founding Developer of WordPress
  • Gary Vaynerchuk, Founder of WinleLibrary.com
  • Bill Reichert, Managing Director, Garage Technology Ventures
  • Howard Lindzon, Partner in Knight’s Bridge Capital Partners and Founder of Wallstrip

Full conference will include:
– The State of Startup Financing
– Creating a Product that Can Sell
– Local Successes
– Lessons Learned
– State of the Blogosphere
– Sustainability Initiatives
– State of Funding in Arizona
– Social Media Best Practices

Conference details:
Location: November 19, 2008
7:30 am – 7:00 pm
at The Buttes Resort (2000 Westcourt Way, Tempe, AZ)

Registration ($150) includes lunch and a continental breakfast: http://www.azentrepreneurship.com

Posted on

PodCampAZ 2008

Last year was the first PodCampAZ. It was a lot of fun, but this year is looking like it will be even better.

Before, it was organized by Brent Spore (@iboughtamac) and his wife Michelle (@mspore). This year, they have been working with over a dozen volunteers to make sure the event scales — they’re expecting more speakers, more attendees, and the event will span two days.

PodCamp AZ 2008
November 1 & 2
Phoenix, AZ
(register now!)

I volunteered to give two presentations (one on each day).

First, I will talk about the future of Internet video and interactive interfaces. Many content producers use a traditional broadcast model for their content, which is very unidirectional. The Internet allows for two-way communication, which opens the door for many different ways of producing a show.

The other presentation will be about turning online connections into “in real life” (IRL) connections. Some people have concerns that “social” media is making people less social in real life. It can if that’s how you use social media. However, social media can be used as a tool to help you be more social.

Posted on

Social Media Best Practices

One long-lasting meme in the blogosphere (and with SEO being such a hot topic, it’s here for a while) is “tagging” — and I’m not talking about descriptive keywords to facilitate content browsing and organization. This is tag-you’re-it tagging. I was recently tagged by Francine Hardaway, who was tagged by Sally Boldt-Strebel, to post about a best practice of social media.

Instead of saying my best practice first, and then tag people, I’m going to do it backwards.

Tag:
I am going to ‘tag’ EVERYONE in the Phoenix area. This Thursday at Social Media Club Phoenix, the topic will be social media best practices and everyone who wants to participate can share theirs.

My social media best practice:
Come to the Social Media Club meeting on September 11th and I’ll tell you!

Posted on

StartupWeekend Comes to Phoenix, AZ

If you haven’t heard of StartupWeekend, check out the site: StartupWeekend.com. A brief summary:

Startup Weekend recruits a highly motivated group of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more to a 54 hour event that builds communities, companies and projects.

It’s that simple. A large group of people get together and work through a weekend to start a company. It’s bazaar, exciting, and fantastic.

I think they have held at least two dozen of these events in various cities around the country. Finally, Phoenix will get its turn! It will be held October 17-19 in Chandler, AZ, and tickets are $40 (to help cover food, drinks, etc).

Here are all the links you need:
StartupWeekend.com main site
Phoenix.StartupWeekend.com
Idea gathering/voting

If you would like to assist in planning or offer to sponsor part of the event, let me know! Along with Gregg Drennan, Justin Crossman, Derek Neighbors, Sean Tierney, Steven Shaffer, and others, I will be helping organize Startup Weekend Phoenix!