Washington's Two Parties, Face to Face
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Tech Post, which looks at people and ideas driving the local technology industry, runs Friday on the WashBiz Blog, athttp:/
In last week's Tech Post, I wrote about two technology parties held on the night of June 23. I described one party in McLean by the Northern Virginia Technology Council, a celebration of the local technology companies generating the most buzz. I observed that many of these technology companies were run by older, more established entrepreneurs and were typical of the Washington economy -- serving businesses and the government. Then I wrote about a social media party at District club MCCXXIII-Spank, a crowd of hundreds in the nascent but growing Web 2.0 scene. Many of these people were much younger; the party evoked the feeling of the Saturday night bar scene.
After the column was published, local social media firm iStrategy Labs and the NVTC decided to host a Twin Tech Party on July 17 to bring together these two communities. "By mixing together the so-called 'new tech' crowd with veterans in the industry, we think sparks will fly: deals will get done, startups will get funded, partners will meet, companies will find talent and our tech ecosystem will become stronger as a result," iStrategy said on its blog.
Last week's column also elicited some interesting responses from the social media community on the WashBiz Blog. Here are some of them, edited for style, clarity and space.
As one of the organizers of the event, I was glad to have such a diverse crowd pack the house. We had Internet entrepreneurs, social media regulars, Hill staffers, academics and political operatives all in one room. How often does that happen in D.C.?
We made a conscious effort to combine those two "scenes" that you tried too hard to separate. I was wearing a suit and tie, having just come from interviewing members of Congress and one Federal Communications Commission member along with Robert Scoble. There were plenty of other "suits" in the crowd. You just didn't bother to look.
What we did was a first for Washington, and we hope it won't be the last time it happens.
-- Andrew Feinberg
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