The place was crowded. The crowd was awesome. Some of the talks were outstanding (some not so much), and I didn't make a fool of myself when I talked. By any definition, the Ignite Seattle 2 was a success.
Met a few old friends, like Brady Forrest (one of the organizers of Ignite), Josh Petersen (43 Things), Hans Omli (Shoestring Venture), John Cook (Seattle P-I), Krishnan Iyer ("stealth" startup).
I also had the opportunity of meeting Hillel Cooperman (Jackson Fish Market) face to face, which gave a fun talk about where to eat when you are not on your town and how to order great food (he writes a blog about food). Hillel left Microsoft recently and we've been talking to him about cooperation with Sampa.
I've met a few other people, like the OATV guys, Bryce Roberts and Mark Jacobsen. I had the opportunity to talk pitch them on Sampa. And when they tell you they "see the problem and know there is a need for the solution" it really means a lot. It means the concept passed the sniff test for "not dumb idea", but then, we have to prove that we are the team that can execute and conquer that market.
Some extra feedback on the event:
Brady Forrest was extraordinary! The guy 'owned' the event, in a good way. He was calm, focused, relaxed and having fun. I've organized events before. So stressful that sometimes you don't enjoy it the party.
The accoustics was good. Not great, but not bad either. I've done talks like this before to hundreds of people in a bar setting that only the ten people in front of you can really hear you. This one, I'm pretty sure people could hear all over the room.
The place was too packed. When I arrived at around 8pm there was no way to find people because you couldn't move. By 9:30pm things were a bit better. This is a networking event (dare I say a 'social networking' event?) It is important to have space to walk around, meet people without the need to push people to get through or have to yell your name when having a conversation.
I wish I had met more entrepreneurs. I don't like name tags, I think they are horrible (note: this event didn't have that, thank you!), but there should be a wall with posters of all the startups in Seattle. I want to know about them. Or some other way for you to know who is there.
More girls than I would expect. Which is a good thing. It is my view that software doesn't have enough women touch on it.
Actually, I posted this on your other Ignite post, too, but I wouldn't want anyone to miss it because it is the reason for my egg-zistance, my raison deggtre:
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was a success.
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October, 2007