Why is Chapel Hill going to rock out Startup Weekend?
1. We’ve got some powerhouse colleges (Duke, NC State & UNC) all within a 20-mile radius of the Startup Weekend location.
2. We’re one of Wired’s Top Ten Tech Towns.
The jocks here may get worked up about college hoops, but the tech set is passionate about Linux distros and Mac-PC holy wars. North Carolina’s Triangle is ground zero for Red Hat, SAS Institute, and an IBM center.
3. UNC-Chapel Hill is home to the incredible SILS (School of Information & Library Science) programs where you can get your geek on all the way up to PhD status.
4. Red Hat is in (neighboring) Raleigh. Lulu is on its way to Chapel Hill. Cat’s Cradle is a fixture. I mean, what more could you possibly ask for? Good beer, great tech, all in one down home place.
5. During breaks you’ll be able to walk to: Amazing Mediterranean, Delicious Mexican, Homestyle Southern, Fresh Organic, Pub Food & more!! Unless you want to work through meals, and that’s perfectly ok, too!
We look forward to showing locals & out-of-towners alike some Southern Hospitality, served w/a side of tech. Book now if you haven’t already!
October 10th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
[...] traveling to the weekends is finding the heart of the community. Chapel Hill, just announced, has this in their blog: We look forward to showing locals & out-of-towners alike some Southern Hospitality, served [...]
October 10th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
jeez, now *I* want to go!
October 14th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
I’ve pinged everyone I know locally encouraging them to sign up. I’m also going to bug some press contacts to get them to put the word out.
There were ~70 people who attended my startup session at BarCampRDU. We should be able to get a lot of them to join in…
October 15th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Why does everyone focus in on SILS? The Computer Science department at UNC in Chapel Hill was the first CS graduate program in the US and was ranked #1 in 3D graphics for quite a while (may still be, but it’s been several years since I was there). SILS is great and all, but it’s definitely not the only game in town.
Also, a small point of contention…. Red Hat isn’t in Chapel Hill. It’s in Raleigh (which is in the triangle, I’ll grant you, but the name of the weekend *is* “Chapel Hill Startup Weekend” not “RTP Startup Weekend”) on the campus of a rival university. And, if you’re going to mention a linux company, you should also note that the Triangle Linux Users Group (http://www.trilug.org/) is probably the most active LUG on the east side of the US.
For food, I prefer Elmo’s Diner (http://www.elmosdiner.com/), available in both Chapel Hill and Durham.
Alright, so I guess since I’m so opinionated about the area, I should probably volunteer to help with setup and whatnot for the weekend.
Who do I need to talk to about that? Who’s in charge?
October 15th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
@Tanner, I take full responsibility for all the errors contained in any blog post at SW Chapel Hill. I will correct them, straight away, and thanks for pointing them out!
As for the other mentions, I am new to the scene (having left in 2003 for Japan & only returning to CH w/in the past month), so I can beg ignorance on some of what you’re talking about. I’m a quick learner, however, and am getting plugged into the local (thriving) tech community quickly.
I love your passion! By all means, let’s get together and get you volunteering! We can meet at Elmo’s (I dig the place, even if they have experienced price hikes due, presumably, to inflation), if that’s what floats your boat. Let’s talk.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
@Gwen, I wouldn’t exactly call them errors, just a bit more information.
I’d love to get together sometime, but my free time tends to be around lunch during the week and I work way over in south Cary! I don’t suppose you can make it over this way at all?
So, btw, here’s one idea I had for a company. Blogs are supposed to be all about conversations, right? Yet, when you reply to me I don’t actually know that until I make the effort to come back here and look! How about something (not quite sure what yet) that makes it easier to carry on a conversation in a blog context? Just something off the top of my head.
BTW, perhaps you should contact me by e-mail.
My gmail account is “clubjuggler”. Cheers!
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I thought Lulu was on its way to Hillsborough Street in Raleigh?