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

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

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.

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

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.