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Boston’s Web Innovators Group continues to mature although I keep running into smart connected people that don’t know what Webinno is, so here’s a recap from the blog.
The Web Innovators Group (WebInno) is comprised of people engaged in internet and mobile innovation in the Boston area. We aim to support entrepreneurs, visionaries, and creative thinkers in the field by holding events which foster community interaction.
Our regular meetings provide a forum for entrepreneurs from self-funded/early-stage startups to present new services to their peers, as well as an opportunity for everyone in the community to share and exchange ideas.
WebInno was founded and is currently led by David Beisel of Venrock.
Last week someone said they thought they saw a familiar Tech Crunch trajectory brewing. I’ve never been to one, but early Tech Crunch parties saw friends of mine crashed on Arrington’s couch after a long night of networking. Something tells me that won’t be happening at the Royal Sonesta.
The Webinno website/blog has undergone various changes over the summer. The Webinno signup wiki has been replaced by Event Brite and looks like the entire site is now powered by a blog. Tip to the Webinno webmasters: why is the blog under the category sub-directory?
Despite a lack of community and conversation outside of the bi-monthly events and the fact that most demo’s could be done sitting at home in front of my computer, Webinno continues to grow month after month. We are starved for contact with our people, but is Webinno enough? In a word, no. Sites like Mark’s Guide tell us about the events, but the topics of most tech events are either too mainstream or technical for my liking. Beisel created Webinno to flow deals into his VC firm, the side-effect being a bi-monthly room full of people who tangentially have something in common.
Does anyone remember the MIMIC parties on the top floor of Trattoria il Panino back in the day? That was more of an excuse to get drunk and dance than network, although I remember some decent sized deals originating on the dancefloor.
Webinno has hosted a few dinners focusing on specific topics like mobile and widgets, but I cannot comment, as I was not at either of them. One of the best Boston dinners I’ve been to was the Identity conference at Harvard last summer. Sitting across from Doc Searls at a table full of brilliant people talking about the everything from digital cameras to persistent, portable identity metasystems and soaking in the conversation and great wine.
Questions for Webinno staff. Where is the message board? Where is the monthly newsletter? Why is the wiki gone? The blog has few comments but that’s because the content on the blog doesn’t really draw one out to leave a message.
Part of what makes blogs like Tech Crunch and Scoble interesting is that they are frequent posters, often wrong and write incendiary posts that get commenters up in arms several times a day. Makes for good reading but it’s sad that grown men are reduced to tears based on a non-stellar Tech Crunch review of their me-too social net or video sharing service. Boo-hoo.
I was expecting some more collaboration and conversation to pop up, but then again I work from my home office and my clients are around the world, requiring late night conference calls, so I don’t get out and about the Boston tech scene much. I guess I should start a networking event that caters to what I need. Isn’t that how most great ideas start out?
A quick shout out to the Co-Working Betahouse, who throw good parties every once in a while. I want a Betahouse for the rest of us. The marketing, financial, design, biz dev and in-betweeners. Who’s heading that up?
Ok, I’m done thinking about Webinno. One last Webinno feature worth mentioning- the Webinno job board, powered by Edgio, has several openings, mostly technical. Go forth and interview, and don’t forget to sign up for the September 10 Webinno. See you there.
