When I talk to people about the DC tech community (usually, while at an event), I’m kind of a broken record: I always say that the DC tech scene is big enough to be pretty active, but it’s small enough that there’s a lot of overlap between the different groups.
In other words, you tend to see a lot of familiar faces at events, even across different interest areas.
Ross Karchner, who maintains DCTechEvents.com (a site that, along with others like Gary’s Guide DC, serves as one hub for DC tech stuff), did a graphic a while back that’s a pretty good take on the DC tech scene, which he charted in two axes I’ll call social/topical, and technical/non-technical:
Graphic by Ross Karchner. Used under Creative Commons
As he notes, it doesn’t quite capture the impact of the government tech sector — as you can imagine, there’s a lot of government-types in the DC area, the contractor-types who specialize in supporting them, and nonprofits and advocacy groups — but then again, it’s pretty well-ingrained into the landscape. (Call it the Z-axis.)
Now, I’m not particularly technical, but I’ve worked with a lot of people who are, so I’m pretty comfortable everywhere on that grid except the very top right of the quadrant (specialized technical interests).
Sometimes I’ll go to an event specifically to discuss the topic at hand, or to learn new skills. Other times, it will just be to schmooze, socialize, and meet other people who work in fields that touch social media and online community (which is practically everything these days).
Things I’ve discovered:
* Somewhat paradoxically, both the scruffy startup-type launch parties and the more established white-shoe technology company meetups have equally good open bars
* High-priced conferences exist primarily to give government agencies and contracting companies excuses to network with each other
* Recruiters go to everything. Oh, and if you’re at a scruffy startup-type event, and you see a guy in a suit, he’s probably a recruiter. If you see 2 guys in suits, they’re both recruiters. And if you see 3 of them, they all work together.
* Everyone wants to talk to the venture capitalists
So What’s the Point of All This?
I just wanted to do a quick snapshot of the DC Tech scene (Matt Bowen has an DC tech scene overview which is pretty good, too) to show how I interact with it. Just like young people periodically relearn that peer networking is a good idea, if you’re a small business interested in using social media, you should find out what kind of networking and hands-on learning opportunities are available in your area.
Even if you’re not technical (especially if you’re not technical), you can learn a lot seeing what other people are doing. For example, in my first local Twitter user meetup (which is one of the first times I met Shashi in person, I think), I met people who were podcasters, photographers, real estate agents (who are typically really into networking — shocking, I know), and other folks who had all met using Twitter, and who were all using it in different ways.
Similarly, I participate in a few meetups, some of which are just excuses to socialize, and others are to learn and get new perspectives on things.
Find Stuff Near You
To get started, find out what tech and social media type stuff is going on in your area by taking a look at:
* Social utility sites like Eventful, Upcoming, and Meetup.
* Events listings in your local newspaper, city guide, or classified sites like Craigslist
* Scheduled “unconferences,” like BarCamp or PodCamp, in a city near you — there’s usually little to no cost (except participation), and the unconference format is pretty tolerant of novices (as long as you’re willing to learn)
* Plain old web searching on “tech events” or “tech calendar” for your city
If you can’t find organized tech events (especially those with a small business focus) in your area… well, there’s your opportunity to reach out and start one.
If you have experiences with networking through your own local tech communities that you’d like to share, let us know in the comments. And if you run your own tech meetup, why don’t you plug yourself? (That didn’t sound quite right.)
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