Last night, I "won" (results) Organizer responsibilities of the NY Tech Meetup, taking the reins from Scott Heiferman and Dawn Barber in running the monthly Meetup of 7,500 members.
The election for the role was about doing more than just meeting once a month and was about building, in Scott's words, a real "21st Century organization."
My platform was different from the other candidates in that it was a plan for the entire ecosystem of NY tech organizations and community organizers -- not just the NYTM. In fact, I was pretty open about the fact my plan could happen with our without the NYTM; nonetheless, when asked to take that plan to the NYTM election, I became confident that we, as a NYTM community, can rally to get the good work done that needs to be done on behalf of all.
So what needs to be done? Here are the next steps, in my mind. Comment below if you have any others to add:
- Transition. I'm meeting with Scott and Dawn first thing next week to get caught up to speed on the organization's books, logistics for next month's Meetup, and how to proceed forming an advisory board.
- Advisory Board formation. Working with Dawn and Scott, these positions should be settled before the January 6th Meetup.
- January 6th Meetup! I want this one to be great! Get ready to see some super cool technology and for a super cool guest MC.
- At the Meetup, I'll announce the formation of the Organizer Board. This is where I see the hard work getting done and the community truly benefiting. Are you ready for it? If you saw my pitch, you get the idea of what this means, but essentially I'm calling on self-identified community organizers to step up to the plate and be the inward and outward evangelist of their niche and the NY tech community at large. More details to come.
- Work with the Advisory Board on basic format changes for the Meetup, securing financial well being of the organization, and confirming the Organizer Board.
- Finalize Organizer Board and start working together on behalf of the broader NY tech community!
- Work with Organizer Board, with guidance from Advisory Board, to determine metrics of organizing success and technology to help us organize better!
- Organize!
- Organize!
- Organize!
Of course there's more here, but you get the idea: Your Meetup is going to remain mostly the same with a few enhancements, while, in the background, folks are given a platform to amplify their community organizing effort through coordination and collaboration with the the other great work that's going on out there.
As a result of these new responsibilities, I'm also pleased to announce that David S. Rose and Rose Tech Ventures have extended my position as Entrepreneur in Residence through Q1'09. This will allow me to dedicate a very large portion of my time to achieving these goals set for the New York Tech Meetup, and to front load my term with the resources needed to build the organizational infrastructure my plan requires.
Finally, there are a billion people to thank. While I won't manage to thank everyone that deserves it on this blog, I must recognize Charlie O'Donnell for first calling for me to do this; David S. Rose for his ongoing support of the NY tech community; my nextNY community for introducing me on the wonderful world of NY tech; my roommate Michael Galpert for the awesome Shepard Fairey-esk campaign logo you see above (which was created in Aviary, I must add); Girls in Tech, the Web 2.0 Expo team, and GroundReport.com for their endorsements; the list goes on but I'm late to an interview!
And, most importantly, thank you to Scott and Dawn for building this great organization and getting us this far. You two are the reason this amazing opportunity exists.
Now it's time to get to work.