MatchupCamp and NextNY growth
Last night I attended nextNY’s November event… MatchupCamp. I haven’t been to an all out event with them for a little while, so I was uncertain what to expect. I spoke to Neil, and he was attending as part of a new capacity in some new venture (again), so at least I’d know someone there.
We arrived to a small crowd of about 45 people in a large photo studio loft with a few posters on the walls describing ventures and ideas seeking labor. As the night progressed, that number allegedly reached over 130. Neil made the observation that when nextNY started, it was about 15 people around a table in a bar, and now it’s grown to this.
In so many ways, it’s a great thing, and pretty much the purpose of nextNY. What I’m starting to notice, though, is that the quantity vs. quality debate is coming up now. What we had in the beginning were a select few… the hard core, tuned in, excited tech industrialists looking to make a difference in their industry and in the city. Now, it’s hard to say what the description of the group is.
I met a lot of different people last night. Some were splendidly hard working people who have been plugging away at their ideas and their work for years. Some have all the background and a great idea, and are really looking to push it to the next step. Some… seem to just be tagging along. I spoke to a couple people that have “ideas” that can not only be summed up in a few words, but that are so inane, they’re all buzz words.
I do hate to be negative about these kinds of things, but I calls em as I sees em. There is still a healthy, vibrant, exciting tech scene in New York. But like the temples of the Inca… it’s going to take a machete to cut through all the weeds to find it.