I’ve been participating in Vegas Tech for the last three months and I didn’t even know it.
Here, I’ll start at the beginning.
You see @jimmyjacobson, @lizkuz and I ( @porterhaney ) sat down on 4th of July weekend to see if we could build something people liked and used. If they liked it, we’d build more, if they didn’t all we’d lost was a weekend of hacking and hustling.
So, what came out of it? wedgi.es - simple surveys to share with friends. They’re social surveys which are fun to make and exciting to answer. I’m not here to plug wedgi.es though, I’m here to talk about #vegastech.
After our impromptu weekend of hacking, @jimmyjacobson brought wedgi.es back to the Vegas Tech community and handed it over. Jimmy said, “Here’s what I’ve got, tell me what you think.”
That simple question essentially launched wedgi.es for us. Immediately dozens of smart people poured out of the wood work and started hammering on wedgi.es - beta testers, power users, UI experts, front end coders, back end coders, funding offers, and just people who wanted to talk wedgi.es.
The Vegas Tech community came out in droves to support us, and I didn’t even know any of these people in person. They’re genuine people who just want to support each other’s dreams. And that’s exactly what’s happening.
Vegas Tech is just getting started, only a few months old there is already a mass of support from things like the @vegasjelly, a bimonthly meetup to discuss all things #vegastech, or @launchupLV, an evening that happens every month where startups pitch for their very first time and raise awareness in the community, and @SWVegas, a startup weekend where new companies go from concept to business in 54 hours.
All of these community events have helped get great ideas off the ground. Some of these include things like @rumgr, a iPhone app to sell goods without doing anything but uploading a picture, or @aylooinc, who is reinventing how we engage in conversations online, or @tracky, a new social network to track things among groups and lists.
I landed in Vegas a few days ago and have been immersed in the tech scene since I got here. I was welcomed in as one of #vegastech’s own even though I just got here. It’s remarkable what’s happened in a few short months. I feel incredibly lucky that wedgi.es is involved and can’t wait to see where #vegastech goes next.
I know one thing for sure, and that’s without #vegastech services like wedgi.es would have never had the opportunity to get off the ground.
