Well, will you lookie there? My how time flies. And any number of other platitudes. Silicon Florist has managed to make it another year. Thanks, of course, to all of you and that awesome stuff you’re doing. Day after day. In this amazing town. And this amazing state. Silicon Florist is now nine years old.
Tonight, I sit here. Much like I did in August 2007. Staring at the screen. Banging on the keyboard. With a nagging frustration.
About the community—or lack thereof. About the attention it deserves. About all of the amazing founders and ideas. About how hard it is to build a company here. About each and every person who is doing something. And who deserves the chance to build something amazing here.
And while a great deal has changed, a great deal has remained the same. After nine years, I still can’t write. I’m still frustrated. And I’m still floored by the potential I see here. And in each and every one of you. By what you’re doing. By problems you’re fixing. By companies you’re building. Or side projects you’re pursuing.
And yet, I’m still frustrated. That—despite all of the progress and change—we seem to be very much where we were in 2007. With a bunch of disconnection. With too few voices. With too little attention and focus. With way too much “scene” and not enough “community.”
But that frustration is still very much tinged with the one thing that made me stand up this WordPress installation nine years ago: optimism. And hope.
And honestly, I can’t imagine anything more gratifying than continuing to watch—and shed light on—all of the amazing stuff happening here.
So thank you. Thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for inspiring me, each and every day. Thank you for putting up with my inept attempts to showcase what you’re doing. And thank you for reading. And sharing. And being part of our community.
Oh. And speaking of community… If you’re up for it, we’ll be hanging out at the Green Dragon tonight (Monday, August 8, 2016) at 5:00PM to celebrate the sunset of Silicon Florist 9.0 and the beta test of Silicon Florist 10.0. I mean, if Windows and MacOS can have 10.0, a crappy blog can, too, right?
Hope to see you. Either in real life at the Green Dragon. Or on the Interwebs.
