Simplicity Rules

Portlanders continue to do some amazing things. Unfortunately, a lot of it is still under the covers. My friend Rick is helping change that, but we have a long way to go. One of ways to help is get out and meet people. Far too many of us spend our lives in front of laptop flicker.

Consider this my annual call to join the Portland Web/Tech community by sharing my Portland groups.
Just about any event these days gets listed on Upcoming. You can see my list of Web/Tech events.

This year there is a new non-profit, Legion of Tech (I am on the board) that will help put on some popular Portland tech events:

• Ignite Portland, Feb. 5. I spoke at the first Ignite. And you can speak at this one (Jan. 15 deadline for submissions).
• Startupalooza, Mar. 29, will focus more on the biz side of things with the promise of a “no-BS environment.”
• The ad-hoc un-conference BarCamp Portland returns in May. The schedule and topics are decided the first day by the attendees.

There are also many regular gatherings. If you have a specific technology you love, there’s probably a user group for you. If you’re a generalist, there’s still a group for you:

• Portland Web Innovators is a group I helped start that tries to cover fun, new topics at the convergence of web and business.
• BarCamp Meetups are informal get-togethers where you can grab a beer, eat some pretzels, and just chat. As BarCamp nears, they may also become more about planning the event.