Ensight – Jeremy Wright

Friday was TechCrunch. My first, really (I’d popped in on a previous one).

There are lots of folk talking about it already:

David Hornik (yowza VC, and host): It was great to have everyone, no this doesn’t mean it’s a bubble.
Mike Arrington: It was a success.
Jeremiah Owyang: Great food, great drinks, great people.
Scott Beale: Lots of great photos.
Paul Kedrovsky (smartest person met this year): It’s a bubble, but not a liquidity bubble. Strangest bubble ever.
Chris Law: Great chance to catch up with people.

And, y’know what? I agree with everyone. Most folk who asked me what I thought of the event got:

*little sigh* … *big sigh* … “God, I hate the valley” … *little sigh*

The truth is that TechCrunch was just at the end of my tour, and I was tired of all the hand pumping (alternately called “fisting”). TechCrunch wasn’t a little geek event. It wasn’t a company event where entrepreneurs hang out. The truth is that there were probably only 100 entrepreneurs out of 100 people there. Lots of groups from companies. Lots of PR people. Lots of media. Lots of VC’s.

And that’s okay. I just think the community wasn’t ready for what TechCrunch (the party) had become. I’m pretty sure Mike Arrington wasn’t either. It wasn’t bad. But it was a conference. And Scoble nailed it: it’s a place to see and be seen.

Again, not bad. But not the kind of thing I look forward to. I know it’s my job, and I “enjoy” it, because I get to meet new people. But my idea of a perfect mixer really is like 20 ish entrepreneurs in a room hanging out. Learn. Interact. Make deals. This was just a night of pitching.

Thankfully, I was able to take some time and hang out with friends. Marc Orchant, who I hadn’t seen in ages. Shel Israel, who I’d had dinner with the day before, but it’s always great to see Shel “in action”. Scoble, who got some inside info because I was so tired (4am my time). Jeremy Pepper, who was so high energy I couldn’t deal with it. Will Pate, who I love, but I kind of blew him off (sorry Will!) because I was tired and in the middle of a conversation.

Also met lots of new “friends”. Oliver Starr who has more gadgets than should be healthy, considering radiation concerns. Marshall Kirkpatrick who’s just so damned chill and nice. Some of the StashSpace crew, who were rocking.

I saw lots of great products (SalesGenius.com looks amazing). Didn’t hear Mike Arrington’s speech (except “my commenters suck”, which was ironic since most of the people at the event WERE his commenters). Had amazing food.

I guess my pluses? As a “big networking event” it was good. Having “rooms” available for folk to chat and debrief would have been great. Figuring out some way to let people who “should” connect, do so more easily would have been awesome. Meeting old friends. Meeting new friends. Handing out lots of cards. Dave Winer threatened to “fight” with a friend of mine. Classic.

The minuses? The sound for Mike’s talk. It wasn’t a real mixer, it was a marketing event. Too many VC’s doing too much grab-assing. Ask about my business, make suggestions, prove you’re smart money. Don’t just tell me how big you are and how much money you’ll give me. And too many people in pitch mode. I’d rather have a conversation. Get me engaged and I’ll bend over backward to work with you. If I can’t work with you, I’ll make introductions, help you find people and help any way I can.

Relationship trumps pitch every time.

Still, I’m glad I went. Really, really glad I did the rest of the trip. All the meetings were awesome. Everyone I met rocked. And just hanging out with Scoble for like 8 hours was not only fun, it was the exact “disconnecting” session I needed. So thanks mate!