TechJournal Deck Party

http://www.techjournalsouth.com/deckparty/atlanta.php

Well, it was my first face to face tonight with our adoring public. Wei and I met at the TechJournal Deck Party at the ATDC (atdc.org) at Georgia Tech this evening to network with some like minded entrepreneurial individuals. There were a few note worthy people like Lance Weatherby who works at the ATDC and Alan Pinstein, another web entrepreneur. I even got to chat with some Peak 10 girls who have some nice solutions up in Norcross if Wei and I decide to go with the CoLo. There were deffinatly some VC people there, a lot of developers, some marketing people sprinkled in and some students who showed up as well (perhaps for the Bass and Stella Artois). All in all, it was a great learning experience and I look forward to speaking with some of my contacts again.

Wei, Mike Schinkel and I were discussing though, that it's hard at a meeting like this that has so many people who might not actually be anything we need. And when you spend a lot of time chit-chatting and find out 10 minutes later that, though they are an interesting person, they offer nothing to Wei and My venture. If nothing else, it's nice to hone the people skills and it's a good way to teach yourself to go up to complete stranger and talk to them.

Networking 101 - DO IT!

Web 2.0 is about networking right? So naturally... networking is necessary to ensure the project takes off on the right foot. I made a post on Craigslist a couple of days ago looking for a talented hacker as well as a natural buzz maker. The search is still on for these two positions but what I didn't expect was to be invited to the local Web Entrepreneur Meetup group to part-take in their activities.

I must say, I was very impressed with the people that came. Even though I did not get a chance to meet everyone, I did meet some like-minded people who I now can talk shop and bounce ideas off of.

If you're doing a start-up, I'd highly recommend you go out there, meet local talents and talk up your idea. This was something I KNOW I should have done in D.C. and at the local Business Bureau meetings but for whatever reason, I ignore what I knew and my idea never took off. Maybe I wasn't THAT excited about my first idea or maybe I under played the value of networking or maybe I was just too afraid; either way, you should learn from my mistakes if you're reading this blog and get yourself out there.

I never understood why when I ask my hacker friends for referrals they could never throw me a name. If I suck and you didn't like working with me, someone should tell me; PRONTO! However, if you are a developer and work with other developers in an agency, then shouldn't logic dictate you KNOW some developers? *Sigh*

Anyway, if you have an idea and are starting at the ground floor, you can ONLY go up. Networking isn't just important on the web via some random social networking site. Networking has always been important for jobs, referrals, and getting the back door discount on your daily services. Think of the last time you got into a club for free or a discount in meals... all that came with networking.

(www.atlanta-web.org is the group I met up with today.)