The TechSet Rocked Hollywood

words and pictures by Brian Solis

“This is a list of what I should have been but I’m not.
This is a list of the things that I should have seen, but I’m not seeing.”
- Adam Duritz, The Counting Crows

The introduction is a little profound, even psychologically exploratory for an intro to a post about a party, but I think most of us can relate to these words.

We live in interesting times and this dizzy life of ours is spinning us right into relevancy.

I’ve been working in tech for a long, long time. I grew up in Southern California before I moved to Silicon Valley in 95 to be part of rapidly evolving tech culture. Do you know how many times I tried to contribute back to the LA tech economy in Web 1.0? More than I can count. But it never stuck. And, it just didn’t feel right.

But now, there’s an unbelievable and wonderful difference between now and then. This time it’s about you and me and the things that we’re doing together, online and offline. This is our moment to build a meaningful and important community that promotes and shares our ideas, experiences, expertise, and value in order to make the Social Web more significant, useful and beneficial. And it’s not just Southern California, it’s burgeoning in pockets all over the world.

What’s even more incredible is that we have this unique opportunity to work together to make great things happen. This is the Wild West baby and we’re all cowboys and cowgirls. Don’t lose sight. These are our times and they’re for us to define. Find the people around you who are doing amazing things and add your voice. The culture of the new Web community will evolve because of your, our, everyone’s contributions.

I’m not Gary Vaynerchuk. I’m not Anthony Robbins. I’m just a guy who’s worked extremely hard to learn from both failures and successes to understand where I fit in this world. And you know what, I’m not alone. This is the TechSet. We’re the people creating and building a better Web and in turn, a better community in the real world.

Let’s carve out a niche for ourselves that counts for something in life. We’re not here to “cash out.” We’re not here to talk about who we know and what we’ve done. We are fully responsible for defining our own destiny. There are plenty of champions out there who are doing incredible things and those are the people I want to connect – in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and anywhere and everywhere voices, vision, and camaraderie are converging.

In Southern California specifically, I’m proud to be part of a team that’s working together to showcase the emerging social tech economy including Nicole Jordan, Mike Macadaan of Twiistup, Sloane Berrent, Jackie Peters, TechZulu, Debbie Landa, SoCalTech, Crystal Williams, Heather Vescent, Patricia Handschiegel, Michael Lambie, and everyone behind other great groups such as DigitalLA, Lunch 2.0, and the So Cal Geek Dinners. If I missed your name here, I apologize, send it to me and I’ll make sure to include it!

So with that long introduction, we (bub.blicio.us and InternetGeekGirl) hosted the inaugural TechSet LA at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood, poolside.

Thank you for being there and thank you for sharing what you’re doing to make things more valuable in the LA tech community.

There were so many inspirational stories shared that night that I feel overwhelmed – in a good way. From the onset, I realized that I need to spend more time with you. The visionaries who are already making things happen and those who are starting to share your vision, have reminded me that this is why I’m part of this community. I’m looking forward to the next TechSet LA this summer. Stay tuned! Oh, and if you’d like to cover more of the SoCal tech scene for bub.blicio.us, let me know.

The next TechSet party will be in Silicon Valley on 4/20.

As always, I’ll let the pictures tell the story…

QueenofSpain and Mr. QueenofSpain

Mike Macadaan, Nicole Jordan, and Alison McNeill

Marc Levin

Jackie Peters

Martin Wells of Tangler and Chris Saad of Particls and DataPortability.org

Tim Street of FrenchMaidTV

Sloane Berrent of Causecast and Michael Lambie

Dr. Tiki of TikiBarTV

Efren Toscano of TechZulu

Sean Percival of Mahalo

Stephanie Agresta, Miiko Mentz and Brian Solis

Mike Macadaan and Heather Harde of TechCrunch

Alison McNeill interviews Dr. Tiki

Michelle Thatcher and Amanda Coolong Wheatcroft

Alison McNeill of TechSoup and Bub.blicio.us

Stephanie Agresta and Pete Cashmore of Mashable

Jeff MacPherson (Dr. Tiki) and Brian Solis

Mike Prasad and Alexandra Mokh of GirlGamer

Caroon Gharakhanian, Katelin Radcliff, Desdemona Bandini

Rick Calvert of BlogWorldExpo and Michelle Thatcher

Pete Cashmore and Sean Percival

The After Party

Visit my album on flickr for more pictures from the TechSet

Connect with me on Twitter, Jaiku, LinkedIn, Pownce, Plaxo, FriendFeed, or Facebook.

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