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Tag: thrive pdx

Kveton named interim president of the Software Association of Oregon (SAO)

Rick Turoczy on April 13, 2009

Software Association of Oregon - SAOYes, you read that right. Scott Kveton is taking over as the interim president of the Software Association of Oregon (SAO). And yes, Silicon Florist is your all Kveton, all the time resource.

I know, I know. I just wrote about how Kveton had left Vidoop to pursue Bac’n full-time. So this latest headline seems almost nonsensical.

But, that doesn’t prevent it from being true. I mean, you know a Kveton fanboi like me wouldn’t lie to you. Right?

What’s that? Oh. Okay, the April 1st florist post may have strained our bonds of trust. I hear you.

Well, so how about this?

“After a careful search by a special committee comprising SAO Board members, it was clear the best possible candidate to guide the organization during our formal search for a president is Scott Kveton,” said Michael Phillips, chairman of the SAO board and a partner at David Wright Tremaine LLP, in the press release. “Scott is passionate about the mission of the organization and brings valuable local software industry experience to the post.”

Does that sound more believable? Because it’s true. Kveton will be serving as the interim president of the SAO. Cross my heart.

But you have to admit, it’s not entirely out of the blue. I mean, he was recently named to the Software Association of Oregon board. And there was a vacant president seat.

So it’s not entirely crazy.

Okay, you’re right. It’s pretty crazy. But crazy good.

To make this happen, Kveton will temporarily step down from the SAO board seat while fulfilling his duties as president of the SAO. He will be reinstated as a board member once his role as president comes to an end—likely within 90 days—when the SAO names the next president of the organization.

So why is Kveton making the move?

“I’m excited about the possibilities of getting the current membership together with the independent developers and consultant crowd here in Portland and across Oregon,” said Kveton. “A lot of small software companies struggle with how to grow their business effectively and that’s a path a lot of the SAO membership has already gone down.”

On his blog, Kveton offers:

With Harvey stepping down and me spinning up my own consulting business, the timing seemed right for me to interview for the interim President role and the search committee agreed. I firmly believe there is a great opportunity to link up the experience of current SAO members with that of the entrepreneurial spirit and drive of the independent developer community here in the Northwest.

I hear you, we’ve dabbled in this area before with the Thrive PDX stuff. But this seems different. This is someone who knows—all too well—the startup environment here in the Silicon Forest. Someone who might have the chance to make some connections over the next 90 days that could result in some interesting bonds and strange bedfellows.

I, for one, can’t wait to see where this goes.

Obviously, I wish Kveton the best of luck on this short stint as the president of the SAO (see above: fanboi). I’ve known this organization for a long, long time. And it will be interesting to see what he does during his tenure.

What do you think of this move? Does it have potential? And, if so, what would you like to see happen with the SAO, if anything?

I can guarantee that now is the best time to voice those opinions.

For more information, see Kveton’s post on his new role at SAO.

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Thrive PDX: Making the Portland tech scene stronger

Rick Turoczy on November 10, 2008

We’ve been lucky enough to develop a tightly knit community with the “Web oriented” folks here in town—those startups that focus on Web technologies, Twitter types, bloggers—all of us brought together by a common interest in technology and the potential it holds for Portland.

As lucky as I feel to be a part of that community, there are times when that community starts asking questions that the participants are unable to answer. Questions about business or funding or more established technology companies.

But here’s the thing: there’s a wealth of information like that in other tech communities here in town. And there are organizations that have those groups of people talking.

So why not get everyone talking together?

That’s the idea behind Thrive PDX, an attempt to get more people talking and sharing ideas about how we can all work together to ensure Portland continues to shine throughout any economic condition.

Dawn Foster describes the idea behind Thrive PDX far better than I could:

For some reason, it seems to me like there is this wall between these two groups of people, and it doesn’t feel healthy to me. I’ve been working with the SAO for months (way before we even suspected that we were heading into times of economic uncertainty) to find ways to break down this wall and get these two groups of people together. With the economy taking a hit, we decided that now was the time to do something about it. We felt a real need to get these two groups of people together to find ways to help each other through tough times. Our ultimate goal is to have Portland emerge out of the downturn with a technology industry that is stronger than ever.

If you’re feeling the same way, I’d highly encourage you to join us on Tuesday, November 11, at Kells. Maybe bring someone along who’s never been to one of the tech events in town? Maybe you could tell some friends in more traditional tech pursuits? Or maybe you could just show up and talk to some people to whom you don’t usually talk?

To get an idea of who’s coming—and a visual example of the divide we’re attempting to bridge—take a look at the Upcoming RSVP and the SAO RSVP. It looks like we’re going to have a good cross-section of folks there. And it would be great to have you as part of that mix.