When the Old-Timers Mingle With the Upstarts

Tech Post, which looks at people and ideas driving the local technology industry, runs Friday on the WashBiz Blog, at washingtonpost.com/washbizblog.

In Washington politics, of course, we have the two-party system.

In Washington technology, we have new and old.

Peter Corbett, who runs a local Web consulting company called iStrategyLabs, has been one of the cheerleaders of the effort to bring new tech (social networking, widgets, etc.) and old tech (system integrators, databases, etc.) together. And Thursday, at District club Local 16, more than 400 people from the local Web 2.0 scene and the more established technology companies that dot the Beltway are registered to come together and mingle.

"There didn't seem to be too much crossover between the two crowds," Corbett said. "This new media community in D.C. has a lot to learn from the veterans out in Northern Virginia, but they also bring a ton of talent and passion to this area."

A big question is how many veterans will show up at Local 16. The guest list shows a huge turnout -- but not many, yet, from old tech. The plan for the party makes clear there's a desire out there to connect old tech and new tech. But will this party be a first step toward that, or will it further illuminate how far apart the two communities are?

On his blog, Corbett wrote that he has two goals for the party. First, "I want business to get done: find talent, find funding, meet a partner/a client/an advisor," he wrote. Second, "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."

A big part of the aim is to raise the profile of people active in social media but operating under the radar. "A lot of the other folks are night- and weekend-, basement- and condo-type things," Corbett said. "While they're working for the Booz Allen Hamiltons of the world and the AOLs and the Accentures, they're trying to build the next best Clearspring."

Meanwhile, a player from old tech has been working with a few guys from new tech to create a company to energize hiring and business across Washington's technology scene.

The company, called CrossMine, is a local jobs database that soaks up listings from hundreds of start-ups as well as more established companies like the government contractor SRA International. It's the brainchild of an old-time entrepreneur in the area, Bob Nelson, though its roster also includes Barg Upender, who's hard at work building a local Web development firm called Intridea.

"I came up with the idea of going to all the Web sites of all the high-tech companies in Washington and mining the jobs out of them and putting it into a central directory on the Web," Nelson said. Nelson has had a window into the process as an adviser to the Reston firm Clarabridge, which does this type of service for big companies.

"In Washington in particular we are highly underserved in the number of entrepreneurial companies we have, relative to the knowledge workers, PhDs and research facilities we have," he said. "And part of the reason is the region isn't as networked among entrepreneurs as it needs to be."

CrossMine is just in its testing phase. It has raised $100,000 from two well-known venture capitalists and entrepreneurs: Jim Rutt, former chief executive of Network Solutions, and Tom Spahr, one of the early people at McLean tech giant MicroStrategy.

CrossMine is looking for more money. But it's still decided to sponsor Thursday's old tech/new tech party.