Dec 11th, 2008 |
This week I attended New York Tech Meetup’s monthly gathering at the beautiful IAC building. Straying from the usual five-minute company demos, the presentations were given by nine candidates competing for the spot as the new organizer to the largest meetup group in the tri-state area.
Founded four years ago by Scott Heiferman, CEO of Meetup.com and co-produced by Web 2.0 Expo advisory board member Dawn Barber, NYTM has grown to a whopping 7,500 plus members, and it’s still growing. And in the spirit of meetup, which emphasizes self-organization and community consensus, rather than hand-selecting his successor Scott and Dawn announced an open election.
Hare the folks who decided to step up:
1. Gregory Magarshak
2. Joe DiPasquale
3. James Wallace
4. Joshua Sherman
5. Chip Welsh
6. Sanford Dickert
7. Oz Sultan
8. Owen Brunette
9. Nate Westheimer
The online election process.
Today at 12:01am EST the online polling began.
Members can view videos and read candidate statements for more details.
Polling closes promptly at 11:59pm EST.
“NYTM is for you and about you. Self-organize. Vote.” ~ Dawn Barber
The future of NYTM.
In a certain sense, this community is still in its infancy. And as curious as everyone is about WHO will be the next organizer, the bigger question seems to be centered on WHAT this organizer will do to evolve and grow this prospering tech community.
Joshua Sherman proposed “more beer” – to mean more post-demo networking & social events. Oz Sultan created a vision of getting city support via subsidies while Sanford Dickert presented a passionate statement inviting members to join the conversation about the future of NYTM via www.nytechvision.com.
James Wallace suggests making NYTM more diverse and more inclusive: “let’s stop having the same people talk to each other and branch out to different groups, verticals.”
And Nate Westheimer (organizer of @w2e New York’s Web2Open) emphasized coordination and collaboration as the key to more cross-community involvement.
Alley vs. Valley
Many candidates mentioned that the ideas and talent arising from Silicon Alley are on a level that battles the goings-on of Silicon Valley. Competition breeds innovation, and as a New Yorker and a (very) recent transplant to San Francisco, I look forward to watching and participating as the battle rages on.
An end of an era.
To close out December’s meetup Dawn uncharacteristically took center stage to thank Scott for all the work he’s put into the NY tech community, a statement that was met with a standing ovation. Although Scott and Dawn will stay on the to-be-formed board to continue to provide direction and support for whoever takes the stage next, come Tuesday, January 6th New York City’s tech community will welcome a new MC and new leadership to carry NYTM through 2009 onward.
Thanks Scott and Dawn for all the work you’ve done to build this great community.
Good luck candidates and good luck NYTM!
* Membership to NYTM has been temporarily suspended until elections are over.
Thanks for attending the event and for your support!
[...] campaign logo you see above (which was created in Aviary, I must add); Girls in Tech, the Web 2.0 Expo team, and GroundReport.com for their endorsements; the list goes on but I’m late to an [...]