5 Easy Ways to Make TECH cocktail Chicago Better

Posted by Pek in Saturday, February 21st 2009 under: Technology Tags: chicago, networking, startup, techcocktail

Just went to the last TECH cocktail in Chicago. I’ve been to a couple before and although I have a good time and meet great people, my time there is not optimized. It’s insanely crowded nowadays. It’s become the “it” party for IT – no pun intended. I feel like I’m getting less and less out of it each time I go. I’m guessing it won’t be for long before I stop showing up all together and pick other events that are more conducive to meeting people and networking with the kind of people I want to meet.

Here’s 5 easy ways:

Kill the music. This isn’t a club. Well it is, but it’s not a club setting. If I wanted to scream over someone while trying to have an intelligent conversation w/ them I’d go to a club on a Saturday night. I don’t need it here.
End the free booze. I understand sponsors pay money and they want it spent, but what’s wrong with using it for other purposes – like making money. Here’s why I don’t like the free booze. It invites the unwanted element. I don’t mind paying for my drink. More than once I’ve met people there with no real interest in TECH cocktail – they don’t belong there – they are just there for the free booze. This also solves another issue.
Set a reasonable max capacity and stick to it. It’s so overcrowded now I feel like I’m in Mardi Gras. Use the eventbrite registration for what it’s for. If you “sell out” those who haven’t registered should not be let in. Squeezing and pushing my way through a sea of people is not a great experience. I’m too old for it. If you kill the free booze, I suspect attendance might drop anyways so this issue might be moot.
Spot light the demos. A big part of the reason why I go to TECH cocktail is to see the local startups and their demos. I would like to give these startups centerstage and have them do a show and tell at set times over a large projector w/ a microphone. This way we don’t have to be screaming at each other while they try to explain to me their exciting idea.
Give me a way to quickly identify the types of people. I believe people go to these events with a specific goal whether it’s to meet local entrepreneurs, recruit, or find jobs. I never really know who I am talking to and/or if I am wasting my time. What I’d really like is a color coded badge so I can identify myself as entrepreneur, recruiter, job hunter, vc, etc.

This is just my opinion of how to improve TECH cocktail. Every person is entitled to their opinion of how it should be run, but it seems to be that I am not alone in some of these sentiments and so I have documented them and proposed solutions.

7 Comments Already

kpong Said,

February 21st, 2009 @8:31 am

I agree, when you throw in free booze you get a lot of people that show simply for that. It’s like the people that swarm Costco on free sample day. No offense grandpa I love you, but I know you aren’t there to buy a thing. You’re there to eat as much as you can for free. It’s no different with this event. Word travels fast in the city and there are so many people (especially in tighter times) looking for some….heck any “freebie” that booze is just not the right choice if they hope to draw the best and brightest minds in the Tech industry. Not that they don’t drink, but I’m more inclined to agree most of these folks are quite capable of buying their own drink if they wanted one, so why give it away? They need to refocus on what they’re trying to accomplish or inevitably people who are the best contributors will stop coming and find another avenue.

Eric Olson Said,

February 21st, 2009 @1:38 pm

Thank you so much for the great feedback. We’ll certainly take it under advisement and do what we can to make TECH cocktail better.

That said, I just wanted to touch on a couple of the comment you make.

1. Demos: We don’t want to do presentations. We actually tried it before and it didn’t work well. TECH cocktail is an event designed to allow people to meet each other and communicate. It is not designed to be an event where people come to stay quiet and watch demos. However, I do think an event that did have demo presentations would be a great addition to what is going on in the city. Perhaps you can start it!

2. Eventbrite registration: our issue is that if we actually stick to the list (like we used to do) it takes over half the event to get everyone in the door. It just isn’t feasible unless we had an army of folks sitting there registering people. Of course if we had a bunch of volunteers to do that registration perhaps we could use the list more effectively. Until that time we simply use the list to get a sense of our head count.

3. Music: We try to keep the music down but I certainly don’t want the event to music free. It is supposed to be fun and have a party-like atmosphere. There are a number of other events in town that are more serious (i.e. no music, etc.) so if that is what you are looking for you should check them out.

4. Free drinks: Not a bad idea. This time around we actually only did a limited amount of free drinks and it worked well. Perhaps that is a happy medium.

5. IDing people: I like the idea. We’ll see what we can do to try and implement something lightweight.

Hope that helps. At the end of the day we can’t and don’t want to try to be everything to everyone. TECH cocktail is a technology celebration, which means there will be music, drinks, a lively audience and no formal presentations. Frank and I actually love events like the New Tech Meetup and others that have presentations and we would love someone to do something like that in Chicago but we also know that TECH cocktail is just not that kind of event and we never wanted it to be.

Pek Said,

February 21st, 2009 @5:12 pm

Hi Eric

Thanks for getting in touch. Running an event is no easy task and I admire you guys for doing it. I probably won’t be attempting anything like TECH cocktail. I do hope you agree that it’s getting to the point where it’s insanely crowded.

Again these are serving suggestions. I appreciate the fact that you even followed and took the time to reply to the post.

I’ll see you at the next one.

Pek

Frank Gruber Said,

February 21st, 2009 @7:08 pm

Great feedback! We appreciate it as we look to make TECH cocktail the best it can be. Eric jumped in and addressed a number of the items you mentioned. While we really would like to better show off the demoers, we tried presentations in the past but it did not work with our format. We do not want to change the comfort level of our events so we feel the expo style works the best. We could however, try opening the event earlier for people interested in seeing an in-depth demo preview of sorts.

Thanks again for caring, it is awesome to get such great feedback and we will take this all to heart as we strive for the best possible platform for the community to connect and amplify local technology … oh and don’t forget, have fun doing it, celebrating the local technology scene.

Mike Maddaloni - The Hot Iron Said,

February 25th, 2009 @5:36 am

First off Pek, congrats on making The May Report. I can see both sides of this – everyone will have a better way to do something, and the organizers of it have their goals, but are always open to suggestion.

The interesting thing is the pressure put on Tech Cocktail, which in reality is one event in a city of 2.8 million people, not counting the suburbs! There are other events going on, but there is still a need for more. TC has kept true to its format from the very first one, with a mix matching both of the words of its name.

If for any other reason, I laud Frank and Eric on the longevity of it, and their reach outside of the Windy City. Planning any type of event takes work, which many people don’t realize going into it, and that may explain many of the 1-off events that I have attended over the years. Even my own monthly likemind coffee gathering takes a level of coordination to draw people, and it is starting to get some traction.

And why not put on something yourself Pek?! It doesn’t have to equal a Tech Cocktail or any other event, and there is surely plenty of room for more quality events here in Chicagoland…

mp/m

Richard Cross Said,

May 10th, 2009 @5:45 am

If TECH cocktail didn’t have drinks would it be TECH cocktail? The music is good, too. But there’s a fine line between the music being too loud to allow for talking and being just right. Keep TECH cocktail a party and go to something like CJUG if you want

Zishan Said,

December 19th, 2009 @10:13 pm

Hi Pek,

Just came across this. Exactly.

So that’s what I’m doing with Bryan Howard and Ryan Graves. We have Jason Fried confirmed for Jan. 20 2010, and we’re working on compiling a list of startups that will demo.

Hope to see you there!

http://chicago.techmeetup.org

Regards,
Zishan