Networking Round 2 – Boulder Green Drinks & StartUp Women

Yesterday, I went to two, yes, that’s right, two networking events. One was StartUp Women at The Cup. The other was Boulder Green Drinks held at iSupportU. Both super events, well-organized and well-attended. I felt a little flat, like an English defender against an effective German offense.  I may be feeling a bit ragged due to amount of sneezing and sniffling I’ve done since the Cottonwood trees bloomed huge tufts of cottonwood; it sort of looks like a bunch of down pillows exploded.

At any rate, Cindy Carrillo spoke at StartUp Women about the evolution of her business, which was very interesting! She willing admitted of setbacks, partnerships that didn’t work, and allowing her business to adapt to a changing market.  So often I think, well if this idea doesn’t work clearly I am not meant to do “whatever”. “Whatever” being the endeavor, when really it’s simply part of the process of doing. I wouldn’t want to take this to an absurd conclusion, where I hock everything on a dream but I think it’s important to consider failure as part and parcel.

Green Drinks Boulder is always a great time, lots of different people and naturally a little loose as these are all peeps moving into an industry that is still in its infancy. So, there is a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of flailing around, huge heaps of creativity and good beer, which may be the underpinnings behind the enthusiasm but who cares.  I spoke with a guy named Eric, who manages Boulder Community Computers and what a great idea that is. Here’s the premise, they take throw-away computers off people’s hands, repair them  and then give anyone without a computer the opportunity to earn one. Isn’t that cool!  People, who want to earn a computer, are taught how to build one using spare parts and install an open-source operating system. Once they have clocked 20 hours, it’s theirs. Super, super idea!!

I saw a couple of familiar faces, which is always nice when you go into these types of things. And they had an 80′s cover band, so really I had everything I needed to flourish but instead sniffled and sneezed around the place.  Oh well, only a few more weeks and I’ll be back to my more usual understated self.