Portland startups, open source, and tech news, jobs, and events #pdx
Did you know that the OTBC (@otbc) wants to invite you over to their place in Beaverton for cocktails on Wednesday?
Just wondering, since the RSVP list is pretty short right now. Maybe you missed the announcement, or you got busy and forgot. It happens.
Let’s not get into the whole, it’s too far debate. The OTBC can be reached by MAX and bus, and for many of you, it’s on the way home.
So, enough with the excuses.
On the heels of a wildly successful event on Wednesday, get ready for a Portland Lunch 2.0 first and second.
First, the second. You may recall the OTBC (@otbc) and Steve Morris (@stevemorris) hosted Lunch 2.0 back in early 2009 to open their offices in the Beaverton Round.
Well, they’ve recently moved again, not very far, and Steve has more he wants to tell you about what the OTBC has been doing, including at least a couple juicy announcements.
Now, for the first.
Because heading out to Beaverton for lunch isn’t spectacularly convenient for people who work in Portland and with a hat tip to those of you who rarely or never make it to Beer and Blog (@beerandblog) on Fridays due to westerly commute, we’re trying something new, a happy hour.
So, if you’re driving near Beaverton on February 23 in the evening, between say 4:30 and 7:30-ish, why not stop by and take the edge off with some networking?
Yes, I know. 11 steps. Yes, most of these things are supposed to be 12 step programs, but this one—11 Steps for Getting Investor Ready—goes to 11. Besides, we’re looking to feed your addiction to startups. Not curtail it. Oh wait. I think step 12 may be “Profit!”
In any case, our friends over at OTBC in Beaverton are offering to coach entrepreneurs on pitching their ideas and companies to would be investors. All it takes is an hour, beginning at 4:30 PM on November 16. Read More
Sometimes the most difficult part about forming a startup is finding the right cofounders to help you get that idea off of the ground. It’s not easy. And even though there are a lot of fish in the sea, finding that special somone—or someones—is always a challenge.
Now, there’s hope.
That’s right folks. It’s that time again. Time for startup speed dating with OTBC. So pack up all of your cheesy pickup lines, all of your cool startup ideas, and a list of the complementary skills you need to make your venture a success. And head over to the OTBC on September 26. Read More
This Saturday the folks at the OTBC will be hosting another round of cofounder speed dating. Starting at 1:00 PM, the session is designed to help like minded startup types find one another in hopes of making their startup dreams a reality.
Are you looking for that special someone? Someone to help fill those lonely hours? Someone who complements your personality and skills? Someone who can help you get that startup from vision to reality?
Well, get ready to meet Mr. and/or Mrs. Right Entrepreneur, my friend. OTBC startup speed dating is back. Read More
Our friends over at the Beaverton-based OTBC are always trying to help startups and entrepreneurs in the Portland area—like by hosting entrepreneurial speed dating sessions and sponsoring events like Portland Lunch 2.0 and Open Source Bridge.
Now, the OTBC could use a little bit of our help. In the form of feedback:
We get input at our lunches, and through our Meetup.com site, but we’d like to round that out with input from a larger sample of the Portland area tech entrepreneur community. So please take three minutes to let us know what kinds of programs you’d like to attend. These are mostly ratings of 1-to-5 to show interest level in a topic. Lots of ideas are listed, but it goes fast. Really! Three minutes. (OK, maybe four minutes at the outside.) Thanks!
I know you can help, because everyone has an opinion. They’re like… well, everyone has one.
So take a few minutes out of your busy schedule and click some buttons. The OTBC—and our entire startup community—will be better for it.
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For many “side project” entrepreneurs, the most difficult part of getting an idea off the ground—and out of the garage or basement—is finding that business partner that complements their skillset.
Business people with good ideas can write all the business plans they want, but they’ll eventually need a developer. And developers can crank all the code they want, but eventually they’ll need some way of approaching the market or getting more funding. But how are they supposed to find one another?
Enter OTBC startup speed dating.
After some networking time, we’ll have each idea person looking for a team give 2 or 3 minute elevator pitch, have each of them head to their own corner of the room, and let people circulate around to check out the startups that sound interesting to them.
The first speed dating event will be held Saturday, February 28 from 1 – 4PM at the OTBC (located in The Round in Beaverton, right on the MAX line). Best of all? It’s all free.
If you’d like to give folks a little pre-briefing on your startup turn-ons and turn-offs, give them some more details your idea. Word around the campfire is that at least 10 startups will be participating. Details on those startups will be listed this week.
For more information, see the OTBC post, Upcoming, or Meetup. And of course, I will mention that OTBC speed dating is on Calagator, too. (Because I heart Calagator.)
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Good news for a down economy. The folks over at Beer and Blog have teamed up with the OTBC to put together a mini job fair called—appropriately enough—End Joblessness.
Full size jobs, mind you. It’s just the event that’s mini.
So if you’re a company that has so open positions to fill or if you’re a someone looking to get a new gig, head on over to the OTBC this Saturday, January 24.
Here’s how it will work:
- 12:00-1:00pm will be mingling and a beer;
- 1:00-2:00pm employers will get 2 minutes to share their jobs, contracts, and opportunities with the group;
- 2:00-3:00pm work seekers chat with employers to explore working together
Remember. Only YOU can end joblessness.
For more information, visit Portland Beer and Blog. To RSVP, see the End Joblessness event on Upcoming.
Yesterday, Steve Morris and the OTBC hosted the tenth iteration of Portland Lunch 2.0 and the first one in the ‘burbs.
Even though we didn’t get an official count, estimates I collected put the attendance between 75 and 100. Pretty typical for Portland Lunch 2.0, but a pleasant surprise for our first venture to the ‘burbs. It was tough to count people because they filled up the OTBC office and its conference rooms and spilled into the lobby.
The fire marshal would not have been pleased.
Photo by Don Park, used under Creative Commons.
Todd and his party train brought about 30 people from Portland, and attendance from nearby the areas seemed high. I didn’t do a scientific poll or anything, but based on the number of new faces, I think it’s safe to say that we had a lot of first-timers. It was a nice mix of the usual suspects and new people. The reactions I saw on Twitter right after lunch included several good-to-meet-yous and the like.
The fare was pizza, but as with most Lunch 2.0s, I didn’t eat. Too busy chatting and networking. Simeon Bateman liked it enough to ping me to find out who provided it. Bellagios if you’re wondering, and a couple of the OTBC’s companies provided it: Integra Telecom and Sonitrol.
A little nugget here: Sonitrol provides security systems and captures audio of intruders; Todd and I agreed that audio would be really funny to hear, like a YouTube for botched breakins. Turns out they do publish some of the audio clips, and they’re as funny as expected. I found this out while chatting with Chuck Mally and Pamela Singleton from Sonitrol.
This Lunch 2.0 also featured a field trip over to Denney Cole’s Portland TechShop. What is TechShop you ask?
TechShop is a membership-based DIY workshop that gives you access to a huge variety of tools and equipment, tons of friendly and easy classes, and a community of amazing people who share your interest in making things.
That’s right, it’s a DIY workshop, complete with tools and machines you just don’t have room for or don’t want to buy. I had to miss the field trip, which bummed me out because several of us agreed that welding stuff and then cutting it apart with an acetylene torch for giggles sounded like a blast. Denney agreed this was the type of activity he wanted to encourage. He might even name a class “Welding for Giggles”. Sweet.
Wm Leler will soon be opening an Open Tech Space there soon, which will be free to anyone, the ostensible reason for the field trip. Sounds like about 20 people made the trip, but I’m still focused on the heavy machinery.
Photo by Wm Leler, used with permission.
So, it was a great lunch all around, and judging by the number of new Twitter follows and good-to-meet-yous, we managed to make some new connections.
Upcoming Portland Lunch 2.0s
Interested in hosting a Lunch 2.0 this Spring or later in the year? Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.
One more thing, will someone please remind me to carry business cards the next time? Every time we have a Lunch 2.0, I sheepishly have to tell people I don’t carry cards. Sorry about that.
It’s been a while, so I’m sure your appetite for good grub and conversation has been whetted.
In case you’ve forgotten, we’re off to the OTBC in the ‘burbs (Beaverton) for the first Portland Lunch 2.0 hosted outside city limits. I saw Steve Morris at End Bloglessness this past weekend; he’s looking forward to showing off the new digs the OTBC recently inhabited in the swanky Beaverton Round.
If you’re sitting in Portland, lamenting the trip West, never fear; turns out the OTBC’s office is only about 100 feet from the MAX Blue Line Beaverton Central stop. And, Todd has graciously organized a Party Train to Lunch 2.0. So, you’re going to need a better excuse than usual to avoid going West.
But wait, there’s more. Wm Leler wants to take advantage to show off his new Open TechShop, and he’ll be organizing a side trip during the lunch for anyone interested. So much good stuff.
Update: A blurb from Wm himself:
Many people have heard about TechShop Portland opening up soon, and since it is close to OTBC we are arranging a tour of TechShop and OpenTechSpace after Lunch 2.0, so people can see how it is coming along and find out how they can help. If you are going to take MAX out to OTBC, we will be carpooling to TechShop and will return you to OTBC. Lots of progress is being made — TechShop had their first class last week, and OpenTechSpace has workbenches and is starting to acquire equipment and tools. TechShop has a new blog at http://portlandtechshop.com and OpenTechSpace is at http://opentechspace.org
Convinced yet? Just be sure to head over to Upcoming to RSVP and make sure to include a comment if you’re vegan/vegetarian. This will ensure Steve has enough of the right kinds of food for you.
Hope to see your smiling face there.
In other PDX Lunch 2.0 news, thanks to Aaron Hockley, our semi-official photographer, for the plug at WorkCamp Las Vegas this past weekend. Aaron was one of three Portlanders who were invited to speak (along with Geoff Kleinman and Lorelle VanFossen), and you can watch his session “Beyond Beer and Blog” here.
Also, AboutUs, our host for the very first PDX Lunch 2.0 last year, will be hosting our one year anniversary lunch in February. They have lots to celebrate, having just closed a round of venture funding last week.
Upcoming Portland Lunch 2.0s
Big thanks to all the hosts who have hosted or plan to host Lunch 2.0. I hope we can keep the Lunch 2.0 train rolling this year. Drop a comment (or tweet @jkuramot) if you want information about hosting one. It’s easy.
