Olson’s Observations

WOW and thank you! That’s all I need to say really but I will nonetheless give you a full post. TECH cocktail 1 went off without a hitch (ok, maybe there was a hitch with giveaways but, hey, everyone still got the free stuff!). The best of the best of Chicago/Midwest tech all took part and it was a great evening. When Frank and I first set off to do this event we were thinking it would be great to have 100 people show up. That would be HUGE we thought. Well, 225+ people later here we are.

The best thing about all of this was how the community really put this event on. Yes, Frank and I organized it, but without the support of the community via blogging, talking the event up and sponsoring us to help pay the bills there would have been no TECH cocktail. So, a big thank you is in order for everyone who came out and showed the world what the Chicago tech scene is all about.

I also want to take a minute and thank our main sponsor, midphase. Yes, it takes a good amount of money to do this type of an event and thanks to these guys we didn’t have to wipe our bank accounts out. Not only did they help with cash flow, they also gave out over 20 free yearly hosting packages! Thanks again guys.

Last but not least I certainly want to thank all of the people who sponsored with free schwag as that is very important. Admit it, you love schwag and it’s great to take something home from an event.

Stormhoek - for the wine and the Hugh MacLeod signed and numbered prints
State - for the space and the staff
RipItDigital - for the gift certificates for the raffle
Apple - for the 2 iPod nanos for the raffle
SkinnyCorp - for the great extra tasty schwag
Apartments.com - for the koozies
FeedBurner - for the schwag and support
Chicagoist - for the schwag

Also, thank you to Frank, my co-organizer, Frank’s family and significant other (they really did a heck of a lot of work) and all my friends and family for their support and for putting up with me in general. This was a community event in every sense of the word and that is what it was meant to be. Mission Accomplished!

Side note: Make sure to tag all pics, posts, etc. with techcocktail1 and check out the pictures here! Also, for more info please see the official post event post on TECHcocktail.com and Frank’s post on SomewhatFrank.com. Lastly, please send success stories either Frank or I as we’d love to hear them.