I would like to introduce myself as an applicant for the significant time commitment involved in organizing the NY Tech meetups. I am a management consultant with a computer science, entrepreneurial and finance background who has lived in New York since 1994. I have been running an independent consulting business since 2006.

NY Tech is off to a great start and needs our support. As NY Tech has grown it now needs to move to a level where the infrastructure of the group can support the increased expectations and opportunities. This means adding additional event types in order to provide a critical mass to support NY Tech as an independent entity.

I expect the existing first Tuesday meeting to continue with broadly the same format. Where possible we may invite guest speakers or judges to work with us on the selection.

Possible growth areas to become an independent organization with adequate revenue include:

Additional events in other formats for the existing NY Tech demo member base:

• Panel discussion events
  
• Social events
  

Adding events on adjacent topics:

• NY Tech Trading: Trading Technology
  
• NY Tech Life: Life Sciences / Health / Pharma
  
• NY Tech Media: Media
  
• NY Tech Marketing: Advertising, Marketing and Sales
  

The number of people able to attend events needs to be increased.

Convenient video distribution needs to be incorporated.

I would work with existing volunteers, the new board and the NY Tech social network to ensure continuity and growth.

I would work with the existing sponsors to understand what they are wanting out of the events.

I would work with other meetup organizers to avoid conflicts of interest. There is plenty of opportunity.

Over time I would like to introduce meaningful optional membership benefits and fees:

• Reduced entrance fee
  
• Health care options
  
• Retirement planning options
  
• Educational and training discount programs
  
• Advertise new event topics
  

So the broader mission might be something like:

NY Tech exists to grow the economic influence of technology startups in The NYC Metro Area by providing in person networking events for the community and services to its members

I have included some additional thoughts in a deck here:
http://www.swarmpoint...
http://www.swarmpoint...

I'm Nate Westheimer, the Entrepreneur in Residence of Rose Tech Ventures, and -- most importantly -- a proud, proud member of the New York Tech Community.

I've outlined my platform and goals for the community in the following blog post.
http://innonate.com/2...

There are many great organizations in town. I look forward to working with all of them, getting them working together, and to keeping the Meetup some we all enjoy.

Thanks!

For reference, here are a few of my community qualifications:

• As the Entrepreneur in Residence at Rose Tech Ventures, my full-time job is working with startups as they navigate the New York Tech community.
  
• I’m an active member and community organizer in nextNY
  
• Co-organizer of BarCampNYC3 (and now trying to help on 4!)
  
• Organizer of Web2Open
  
• Advisory Board Member of the New York Web 2.0 Expo (organized by O’Reilly & TechWeb, attended by over 8,000)
  

If you have any questions, please contact me any time.

Hello fellow Techies!

My name is Lana Migliore and I am excited to be a candidate for a program, which has such potential. I have always enjoyed the NYTM and enthusiastically would take the challenge of improving and personifying it to new heights.


• I think the first challenge we have all faced is the venue being booked up too soon. I propose we find a venue which opens the doors to more guests – more people will get to be an active member of this community.

• Add an extra date each month for more personal interaction. Many people come with the intent to network – and benefit from it. I would like to formalize a “playground” (if you will) for us to exchange with, and get to know our “neighbor”.

• In addition, I believe we should gather some funding so we can expand this simple platform and expand in the future.

• A dedicated website where NYTM can post jobs, mentoring information, ideas, and new developments. I believe a dedicated website where we can get to know one another and look forward to “meeting up” will help the actual meet up dates.

I have more ideas I am excited to share with you on Tuesday.


If you want to know about me, have a go:


Moved to New York 10 years ago to work in the entertainment industry. After a five-year stretch on creating some minor technology for marketing, I branched off to freelance for large and small companies alike. I created LineUpNewYork.com and have consulted for SquareSpace.com, Universal Studios, Hardees, Memory-Of.com, and many others to increase conversion rates and dedicate new and innovative revenue streams. I have also presented at TechCrunch40 for a new aggregation technology I developed. Currently I work for a desktop application company doing product development and new marketing management.

Thanks so much for reading. Hope to meet you soon…..

Lana Migliore

Greetings all

My name is marvin and I too would like to declare my candidacy for the position of meet up organizer.

I am a technical manager at AOL Entertainment here in NYC, and a rabid tech meetup fan.

Keeping it simple, i want to grow the meet up and kick silicon valley's arse by forging a strong and vibrant silicon alley tech community.

I've lead meet ups and helped one grow from 10 members to over 2000.

I've been a graphic designer, developer, entrepreneur, investor, architect and manager so i have experiences with all side of the tech village.

I would like to see the meetup end the lecture style and better utilize the power of the web and meetup.com --we are the TECH meetup after all. I would also like to fly in some leaders in tech think and host roundtables and panels, training/workshops, and mashup/barcamps. We could use a directory of nyc tech companies, to find places to invest, look for a job, or meet new friends.

Generally, i want to make the group less about one person, or presenter and more about creating a meaningful network and community. Less watching a concert, more the geek equiv of giving it up at dance party. Accept with more macs, a bunch of "haz" jokes, and a lot of tesla and turing references... ok so nothing like a dance party, but you catch my drift.

More a group of several active participates each giving and getting, contributing to one magic whole... isn't that what a community is all about?

Hi Sanford

I think change is required, and I am behind you.

I have to say that I have seen better Meetups with even more interesting technologies.

The IAC venue is also questionable. It is as if every room that was chosen so far made sure it will be hard to see of hear the presenter.

Put the presenters in the center (not the moderator) use the community to help, use the meet-up mailing list to help the start-ups spread the word and draw sponsorships contributions and interesting underfunded startups so that NYTM will really be at the front of technology.

If a speciel offer is made to help starups, make sure it's posted. In other words help the sponsors help the meetup, and make it more atractive to visit or read.

Thanks
Alon

Yesterday, in a conference call run by Richie, I made a recommendation that the nomination process be extended by a month - and that this months Meetup become a gathering of people who wish to figure out what to do next in NYTech. Not sure what happened to the idea - and whether or not it is something Scott and/or Dawn would entertain. Since I have not seen much discussion on this, I am assuming things are moving apace.

---

I have been writing about the future of NYTech on my blog: http://sanford.blogsp... and have a clean version of the Manifesto here: http://bit.ly/nytmm... - but I think we are talking about something we as a group either should discuss further - or choose a different path.

Since the November meeting, I have been approached by others to consider this position - and would run if not for someone I expect to announce sometime today. If the candidate I am thinking of does not announce, I am placing my name in for consideration. If she does, I am happy to throw my support behind her.

I think that, as I am wrote about in my blog, we are choosing between Staying the Course and Change We Need.

Truthfully, I do not know if there is a Change We Need right now. As Charlie (and others) have pointed out - NYTM is part of a community of NY Tech Groups that already serve many of our customer needs - and I think that trying to fit NYTM into an Association mold may drop some of the goodness that exists within the NYTM. We have a number of avenues available to us to create the Change We Need - and Meetup and the NYTM is only one of them.

I recommend we have another meeting (as Richie and the group from Monday's call proposed) to discuss our goals and tactics. We had a lot of good come out of the last meeting run by Scott - and I think the learning from the emails and other discussions can lead us to some exciting ideas on how to improve NYTech. I have appreciated Scott's move - especially since it has now caused a number of people to react and respond to needs.

I look forward to seeing how we (as a community) rise to the challenge.