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[UPDATED] Have questions about the Portland tech and/or startup communities?

You’ve done your homework. You’ve thumbed through “How to Portland startup scene.” You scan Calagator on a regular basis. You attend any number of events. You pop into the Portland Startup Slack every now and again. And you’ve both asked and offered on Portland Startups Switchboard. But still. You’ve still got a few questions about the Portland startup community.

Get ready to be happy. Our friends at New Relic are kicking off the year with an event that’s going to help get some of those questions answered. (Disclaimer: We probably won’t get to every single question.)

That’s right. It’s time for the FutureTalks Tech Panel + Kickoff Celebration.

Please join us this month for our New Year’s celebration! Thanks to all of you, we became the 3rd largest tech Meetup in Portland last year. And this month we will be hosting our 40th FutureTalks PDX event!!

We have also invited a few leaders from the tech community to join us, and asked them to share what trends they see for the region’s tech and startup community in 2017. This panel discussion will include Q&A, so get your questions ready!

The event will feature insights from three informed leaders in our community—Malia Spencer from the Portland Business Journal, Rebecca Campbell from New Relic, and Skip Newberry from the Technology Association of Oregon.

So there are those experts. And, well, then there’ll be me. Three out of four ain’t bad. It’s a free event. It can’t be perfect.

Not only is the event free, it will also be preceded and followed by happy hours. So you can mingle and network ahead of time. Then, listen to some insights and get some of your questions answered. And then—if I happen to start droning on in my nasally monotone or continue using some overplayed “wasn’t even witty the first time I said it, let alone this time” analogy—you’ll need another drink. So you can repair to second happy hour at Portland City Grill (New Relic’s upstairs neighbor) after the event.

Doors open at 5:30PM on Monday, January 9. 2017. Q&A starts at 6:30PM. Due to weather conditions, this event is being rescheduled. New Relic is located in Big Pink at 111 SW 5th Avenue, Suite 2900.

For more information or to RSVP (not required), visit FutureTalks Tech Panel + Kickoff Celebration.