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Yesterday, Zach Davis of FQuick/Bill Jacobs (an XNet customer) dropped by our office with a handful of Auto Show passes. We can’t use them all, and I’d like to give away our last two. So, if you want to go to the Chicago Auto Show (last day is Sunday), you might be in luck.
How do you get these two passes? Write a comment to this post by the end of the day Thursday, and in 100 words or less, tell me why you should be the recipient of two free Chicago Auto Show passes. Sometime this evening, I will pick one of the comments to be the recipient. I am the sole judge, and my decision is final. Your entry can be serious or funny, I’ll pick the one I like the most and give that person the tickets.
If I select your entry, you must make arrangements with me to pick them up. I will be at XNet in Lisle during business hours on Friday, and in the Naperville/Wheaton area on Friday evening.
I’m going down to the show with a buddy on Saturday morning. If you’re there and want to meet up, shoot me a call or a text!
Last Thursday’s Silicon Prairie Social 2 went very well, both as an event and as a personal experience. Here’s my personal wrap-up of the event:
Background: My boss (Arthur Zards) and I host a networking event for the west suburban Chicago tech industry called Silicon Prairie Social. Art put XNet’s muscle behind it when we saw there wasn’t something like this in the ‘burbs and people like us had difficulty getting downtown for city events. The first one was held last September, and we just held the second on January 24 at Mullen’s Bar & Grill, nestled where Naperville, Lisle, and Wheaton intersect. It’s been a full house both times, each drawing 200+ people.
The morning went by quickly, as a few things needed to be finished up before the event. By just after noon, we accomplished the list and I headed home to grab something I had forgotten and to Jamba Juice for some quick energy — the calm before the storm. Almost like a precursor to the evening’s festivities, one of the kids behind the counter saw my phone and got his out, we started swapping tips like creating webclips, and he told me of a YouTube video about copying/pasting on the iPhone. The video turned out to be fake– a proof of concept.
I arrived at Mullen’s just after 3:00 for setup. Robin arrived with our stuff not too long afterwards, and we began at once. Time flew, and around 5:00, Arthur and I traded a few laughs with sponsors Julian Pretto and Mike Mecklenburg of ChicagoMicro, who had just arrived. I also briefly geeked out over the iPhone once again with sponsor Mazyar Hedayat as he arrived with his wife (shameless plug: see the XNet iPhone webclip that I made here). At 5:30, I forced myself (actually Art forced me) to wolf down a salad that ended up being my only fuel and my last real breather for the rest of the evening. It was also the last time I checked email until towards the end of the event.
We ended up picking one of the coldest days of the year to host our second event. Thankfully, it didn’t snow like the previous 3-4 days, so guests had only to contend with traffic and not poor road conditions. Once we opened registration, my primary objective was to get people out of the bitter cold because of the line going out the door. Once we were able to open up a second check-in line, accomplishing that goal went much more quickly. When at last I looked out the front door and saw the number of guests arriving simultaneously had slowed to a trickle, I breathed easier and headed in to the event to mingle.
Have your own photos of the event? Upload to Flickr and
tag them ’siliconprairiesocial2′.Despite the upsides of Mullen’s, location, ambiance, outdoor patio (for warmer months), one downside to the floorplan is it’s difficult to assemble everyone and do a full round of intros, thanks, and giveaways while making sure everyone can hear you. So, the megaphone made do this time again, and we successfully gave away an XBOX 360 from
Microsoft, an iPod Touch from
Optimus Solutions, an OKI printer from
ChicagoMicro, and
Piocon drew for their iPod Nano at their table.My personal takeaway was a great time seeing many people again whom I have met over the last year at other events, and meeting a good handful of new people who I hope to keep in touch with for some time to come (I’d give a bunch of shout-outs, but don’t want to disappoint by leaving somebody out). It’s always a mix of business and pleasure, and for me I’m glad Silicon Prairie Social provides a healthy dose of both. SPS provides the environment for living out the
Jeffrey Gitomer premise that people like to do business with friends and with people they like and trust.
All in all, the event was a great success, thanks to the growing group of people who come out for an evening out with fellow suburban tech professionals. I’m glad to hear from attendees who are seeing Silicon Prairie Social become the premier opportunity for them to build quality contacts and relationships in the western suburbs. I, as well as Art and XNet, are glad we have the opportunity to host such a gathering and are looking forward to seeing the value of the event and the relationships that result grow.
