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Central Ohio Technology Community Resources

As co-lead for a user group and a frequent presenter, it suddenly occurred to me, in a way, I posses the moniker of "community organizer". Yikes...not something I pursued. Well, as such, I'm very plugged into the central Ohio technology community and wanted to share a few resources I've discovered to assist our community groups:

Microsoft - Say what you will but Microsoft and the local evangelists step up to the plate every single time. Whether it's use of their Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) up at Polaris Parkway, co-sponsoring an event, or joint marketing, Microsoft supports the community in a huge way.

Platform Lab / Tech Columbus - Serving as a high-end testing lab and technology incubator facilities, respectively, these entities provide large, functional meeting facilities and access to a wealth of start-up and entrepreneurial assistance. They both produce event calendars which reach several thousand Ohioans you may use to promote your events. (Just contact them...what they ask in exchange is very minimal.) They also support joint-technology marketing and community events.

Columbus Tech Life - Ben Blanquera has established an amazing technology following in Central Ohio on his Tech Life blog. His resources include a comprehensive calendar, a wiki, as well as regularly scheduled MeetUp events.

Technology Consulting Firms - I purposely left out names here (because I work for one and usually keep it out of this blog) but you know who they are. I'm in awe of the amount of effort the staff from these firms put into the community.

OCLC - It's a library! It's a data center! It's corporate office space! These guys actually own and maintain the Dewey Decimal system. Cool, huh? Regardless, they open their doors frequently providing free meeting space to a number of area groups. Nice.

Thanks to all these entities for making central Ohio an excellent technology community. Please connect with these resources to further grow the community!

Comments

Mike Busch said…
Who gave you the idea that being a community organizer is a negative thing? As a follow up, why did you believe them?
Jeff Hunsaker said…
@mike
Whoa, this was simply my obviously poor attempt at humor. I have nothing but respect and regard for the strong tech community organizers.

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