IgniteNYC was just one of 12 tech events listed that evening on Garysguide.org, a new Web site that offers a social
calendar for 'Tech and New Media Folks' in New York.
An Indian immigrant, Gary Sharma, the founder of Gary's Guide, said he began attending events seven months ago
because he wanted to explore the potential for a software start-up company.
To keep track of the nightly happenings, he assembled a list for himself. Friends saw it and began asking him to
e-mail it to them.
In February, he put the list online, calling himself the Silicon Alley Reporter. By May, he realized he might want to
expand to other cities and changed the name to something less geographically rooted. Gary, like Craig, is a name that
might work anywhere. He has begun sister sites in Boston, Washington, Chicago and, two weeks ago, Los Angeles.
Now he is a nightly fixture at New York parties, always wearing a bright red tie and one of his four suits left over
from his days working as a marketer for a consulting company on Wall Street.
"Steve Jobs has his black turtleneck and jeans," he said before watching the soldering event at IgniteNYC. "I have my
red tie."
Gary's Guide, founded by Gary Sharma, sends out lists of events for entrepreneurs in a dozen U.S. cities--for
free. Sharma launched the service in New York in early 2008; now he assembles at least 100 meetings every week,
ranging from the Northern New Jersey Hackfest (a gathering of computer programmers) to the North American Chinese
Entrepreneur Association.
Bored? Wondering where the cool tech events are in your area? Try Gary's Guide, the #1 Tech and Media Events
Calendar. Think Craigslist, but for geeks. Gary's Guide reaches a highly targeted audience of local connectors and
influencers including entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, tech executives, bloggers, and developers to name a few.
Gary is raffling one FREE SXSW Interactive registration to their members in the Deals section of the website. If you
are lucky enough to have Gary at an event in your city, he'll be easy to spot - look for the guy in the red tie.
Many conferences and event planners have come up with unique and powerful ways to promote and plan gatherings via
online social tools. This guide will help you understand how social media can power and drive an event, step-by-step.
Here are some more advanced promotional tools to consider: Add yourself to major event websites. For technology,
Gary's Guide is a smart place to be listed.
We've reviewed a number of technology event guide services over the past couple of years. Most come and go because
they aren't able to get a good supply of events into the system. Since their launch, NY-based Garysguide has been
able to keep a good supply of NYC tech events in the system. If you've been to any tech events in the city, you've
certainly seen Gary... he's the man in the red tie.
Garysguide offers a comprehensive event guide (I'd say they have about 90% of all events) along with the ability to
note that you plan to attend the event (a mini social network). There's also a newsfeed to see what events other
members are going to. Lastly Garysguide offers a list of deals - which are conference discounts and sweepstakes to
win free passes.
Garysguide launched in NYC but continues to add new cities and now covers: Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, San Diego, Denver, Toronto, Portland and Las Vegas. The key for Garysguide
to continue to grow is to make sure they have the best supply of events in the system for the cities they serve.
Gary Sharma, founder of Garysguide.org, a newsletter that compiles lists of networking events for Webpreneurs around
the U.S., says the number of shindigs has more than doubled over the past six months, to about 90 per week.
"People once were siloed," he says. "Now they participate and things start rolling. Going to events, it stirs the
waters." And that's certainly what the economy needs right about now.
The New York Times reports on the new breed of geeky nightlife events like Ignite (from which we've featured
videos), and recommends consulting GarysGuide.org.a tech and new media events listing.to find one near you in
New York, LA, DC, Boston, and Chicago.
Garysguide is a really great technology and new media events calendar started in New York by Gary (aka The Guy with
the Red Tie). Gary recently launched Garysguide in San Francisco, rounding out his list of 11 top tech cities.
What do all these events have in common? Internet luminaries such as Gary Sharma (Garysguide), Jeff Pulver, Gary Vaynerchuk,
Shelly Palmer, Fred Wilson of AVC.com attend, all at the ready to despence advice and offer other support to help you
get your startup going. So, between Social Media Breakfasts (Jeff Pulver and Social Media Club), the numerous
meetups, and other social, entrepreneurial and educational events, New York has a rich fabric from with to launch any business, and that's what
we were celebrating and fostering at Entrepreneur Week NYC.
Although most of us techies do our work from a computer, networking doesn't always work that way. GarysGuide lists
out tech events and gatherings in metropolitan areas. Start a system of attending at least two of these a week and
shake hands with as many people as possible. You're not going to find your next opportunity sleeping in late.
Over at Garysguide.org you.ll be able to find the latest news from the world of technology and internet for the major
US cities. Once you get on the site, just select from New York, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, or Los Angeles and
get the latest news from the tech scene of each city. The key feature of the site has to be the event listings. This
will allow people in the industry to know what things are taking place in each of these major cities, opening the
door to networking opportunities.
If you are part of the industry, and need a job, then you should check out the Jobs
section. The listings are always updated with the latest job opportunities available in each city. If you are looking
for employees, you can add a job listing to the site for free. This makes finding qualified individuals simple and
effective. On the whole, the site should become an online home for anyone who wants to know the latest in the tech
scenes from the biggest cities in the US.
GarysGuide is the #1 Business Events Calendar in the world covering Tech,
Media, Finance, Healthcare, Legal, Biotech & other events ... Read More
