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Washington's Two Parties, Face to Face
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I'm flattered that our social media event pulls enough rank to be listed side-by-side with the NVTC, which I've always considered to be a great established organization. The interesting thing isn't that a bunch of social media people threw a party and a lot of people showed up. What I valued about the event is that the social media, politics and policy spaces intersected in so many different ways.
-- Julie Germany
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There is strength in numbers; and after being steadily active in D.C.'s social media community for a while, it's a thrill to see D.C.'s social media network continue to emerge with such a collaborative outlook.
More advocacy groups, more nonprofits and more local, let alone national, campaigns are adopting social tech with measurable success. I see clever, team-building uses of social tech by the Red Cross, by Senate campaigns and so much more.
-- Jill Foster
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I'm one of the few who on any night of the week could be in either of those crowds, and I'm happy to see that there's beginning to be some overlap.
I think the parties were rooted in very different things -- catching some celebs and politicos versus "celebrating entrepreneurship" -- but that many of the people at the 1223 event could very easily have fit in with shirt and tie at the formal event. What scares me a little is how out of place some of the other folks might have been at 1223 in discussing the current state of the Web.
It will be interesting to see how these two scenes continue to develop in the coming year, as I think they have a lot to gain from one another. There's certainly vitality in both scenes, and talking to one another will help to foster some good things.
-- Jared Goralnick
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As someone who's been in both worlds, I have to say your synopsis is accurate. There's a chasm between the traditional tech types of Northern Virginia -- the integrators, the government contractors, the systems folks vs. the social media and Internet application people.
But I think the chasm is beginning to close, and it is no longer an intentionally segregated mentality. The older tech crowd is increasingly recognizing the accomplishments and drive of their younger counterparts. Frankly, events like this make it so because they bring more notoriety.
-- Jonathan Trenn
