The first Portland Lunch 2.0 of 2010 happened yesterday at Extensis. The crowd seemed a bit sparser than usual, but still a nice turnout probably 60-80 people in total.
I’m guessing the long period between the announcement and the actual lunch had something to do with that. A couple people told me they’d almost forgot about it.
Somehow we soldiered on, with the help of Jim Kidwell and his colleagues at Extensis, catering by Nicholas, Extensis swag and stickers.
I’m trying to avoid exclamation points, but if you know me, you know I love me some stickers.
The “What Type Are You” stickers were like personal tags, cleverly part of the name badges, which had room for several, as well as the usual name, Twitter handle, etc.
Being the shut-in that I am, I decided to do Bizarro tagging for a laugh.
Of course, I was the only one who laughed, although several people smiled politely when I explained. I get that a lot.
Anyway, the lunch went really well; people milled around and sat at tables chatting. The mix was about half faces I recognized and half new faces, which is great. I always enjoy reaching new people and new micro-communities within Portland.
That said, I had some fun conversations with people I already know, including an in-depth discussion of how to “earn” the Douchebag foursquare badge with Nate (@unclenate) and Jerry (@b3gl), a “it’s been a long time” catch-up with a very cheery Betsy (@betsywhim), a chat with Lia (@missburrows) about her back surgery and recovery, and a musing with Doug (@dougcoleman) about the machine that compresses t-shirts into tiny, shrink-wrapped chotchkies.
Oh right, that came up because Extensis had some of those compressed shirts.
Doug was kind enough to find a video of that very machine doing its job to scratch that itch. I need to get out more.
Anyway, thanks to the kind folks at Extensis for having us over for lunch, and thanks to Kelly (@verso) for planting the seeds for this well over a year ago.
Upcoming Portland Lunch 2.0s
Stay tuned for more announcements. I’ll be announcing the March host very soon.
I’m always looking for hosts, so if you’re interested or know someone who might be interested in hosting a Lunch 2.0, drop a comment, hit me up on Twitter (@jkuramot), or find me at a Lunch 2.0, if you want to chat IRL.
Want to know what’s involved? Check out the how-to primer.
Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. As with the majority of the tech events in Portland, sponsors make them happen. So, we humbly thank you.
