I’m a huge proponent of professional social gatherings (a.k.a. parties) here in Nevada to bolster our tech/design economy. Lifelong experience has proven to me over and over that people do business with people and if you’re not out starting and maintaining relationships you eventually suck at your business and/or your career. And there you have it: business is largely about parties and meeting people hahahah!
From a branding perspective it’s ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE that our Greater Reno Tahoe brand perception is that of a great place to party and hookup 
I’ll blog about why Reno’s burgeoning meat-market is vital on another post…just know that the 20-30 something tech/creative’s are in high demand everywhere on the planet and we need to hold on to every single one of them here locally. Frankly, my business cannot grow without them.
A long time a go (1999 - 2002) Michael Thomas (now at EDAWN) ran Greater Reno-Tahoe’s first technology oriented social-networking driven organization, the TechAlliance @ NewNevada. Perhaps the greatest boon to northern Nevada’s tech economy back then was what was then known as Cocktails.com. It’s where we all got together, got on the same page and built momentum with cocktails in hand.
I met Robb Smith for the first time at a Cocktails.com event and he convinced me to joined the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (then known as YEO) which has been perhaps one of my greatest professional life experiences. Back then there were startups like Ken Hawk’s iGo, CandyBarell.com, HardwareStreet.com, HomeSeekers.com and a dozen others. UNR’s Mike Reed, Nevada Bell’s Dick Bostdorf and Reno attorney Garrett Sutton were instrumental in the TechAlliance’s startup. More recently, thanks to EDAWN/Michael Thomas we’ve got the newly formed Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network kicking ass and an we’re on the world’s design radar with a fully legit and operatin cool AIGA chapter.
At the beginning, Cocktails.com events would last all night with everyone spilling out of bars, nightclubs and JK’s Nugget in the wee hours of the morning. It was a great time of forming a tech-community. Then: Dot.com bust…and as Paul Harvey would say “now know you know the story….”
Michael Thomas to came to work for Twelve Horses in 2002 and the TechAlliance eventually folded in to a newly formed state-wide effort known as Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (NCET.ORG). (DISCLAIMER: I’ve was on the founding board and am now the Chairman of this wonderful organization — so this is blatant promotion.) About a year-and-a-half ago under Dave Archer & Emily Lowe’s exceptional care, we brought back Cocktails.com as Tech Thursday’s. These events have been awesome, however, they’ve leaned a little too much on the professional and a little too less on the networking/drinking/have fun/hooking up. In perhaps kinder words, Tech Thursday attracts an “older behaving crowd”. Folks that have to be home before sundown.
WiFi Wednesdays are, by design, intended to be much more geared to the twenty/thrity-somethings rather that “all-inclusive professionals”. If people aren’t doing shots of Tequilla and YouTube jousting, we’ve failed at this experiment. I expect/hope that the Thursday mornings following an event to be just a little less productive among Reno’s tech/design class. But in trade for that, collectively we hope to have a larger pool of those workers to chose from. Now this doesn’t mean that folks over the age of 40 aren’t welcome. If you still feel and act like you’re twenty-six (that’s my personal maturity wall) then get your game on and come out!
Wi-Fi Wednesdays is the brainchild of NCET marketing manager Emily Lowe and Robert Payne/Josh Kenzer of Twelve Horses. The trio was looking for a way to expand their professional networks and was weary of the same old venues. Wi-Fi Wednesdays is intended to be a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed to serve the specific needs of and cater exclusively to the influential 21-39 demographic. Come help make it succeed!
Details:
August 22, join NCET and the Reno-Tahoe Young Professional’s Network
(YPN) as they put a modern-day spin on Greater Reno Tahoe’s networking with the launch of Wi-Fi Wednesdays: “Connecting the Connected.”
- Wi-Fi Wednesdays is a bi-monthly high-energy networking opportunity designed exclusively for the influential 21-39 demographic
- Held in wireless venues throughout Reno
- Entertaining high-tech networking tools
- “Speed networking,” a twist on the “speed dating” concept that helps facilitate numerous one-on-one introductions in a short period of time
- Brief presentations by successful young entrepreneurs and technology professionals.
The Chocolate Bar
August 22 - 5:30 – 7:30 pm
475 S. Arlington Ave, Reno
August’s Wi-Fi Wednesday features a YouTube contest where you get to vote on your favorite video. To enter, send links of your best videos (3
max) to Emily at NCET by Monday, August 20.
- Space for the August 22 Wi-Fi Wednesdays debut is limited and reservations are preferred.
- Cost for the event is $5 per person for Reno-Tahoe YPN members and $10 per person for non-members. RSVP@NCET.org.
NCET, Nevada’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, helps foster an environment within Nevada in which high-growth entrepreneurial companies can succeed and flourish. NCET has a strategic partnership with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development. For more information on NCET, visit www.NCET.org. NCET is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
I’ll challenge you to a YouTube joust any day! :~)
I have all the confidence that one day Reno and Nevada will be regarded as a premier place for technology. In fact, it is already happening. And if it helps to drink and socialize our way there then I am game!