Comments on: Thrive in PDX Despite Economic Uncertainty

By: Deep Tech Dive | Technology Marketing, PR, Advertising, Lead Generation and Nurturing » Blog Archive » Portland Tech: Jive CMO and Scoble

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:08:33 +0000

[...] a Portland company with a vested interest in helping our city’s innovation industry thrive during these difficult [...]

By: Portland Tech Community :: User First Web

Portland Tech Community :: User First Web — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:24:15 +0000

[...] there was Thrive PDX which attempted to bring together the growing tech community that orbits around Legion of Tech [...]

By: Technology news - Techvibes Blog

Technology news - Techvibes Blog — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:26:10 +0000

[...] Dawn Foster describes the idea behind Thrive PDX far better than I could: [...]

By: Thrive PDX: Making the Portland tech scene stronger » Silicon Florist

Thrive PDX: Making the Portland tech scene stronger » Silicon Florist — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:27:41 +0000

[...] Dawn Foster describes the idea behind Thrive PDX far better than I could: For some reason, it seems to me like there is this wall between these two groups of people, and it doesn’t feel healthy to me. I’ve been working with the SAO for months (way before we even suspected that we were heading into times of economic uncertainty) to find ways to break down this wall and get these two groups of people together. With the economy taking a hit, we decided that now was the time to do something about it. We felt a real need to get these two groups of people together to find ways to help each other through tough times. Our ultimate goal is to have Portland emerge out of the downturn with a technology industry that is stronger than ever. [...]

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:47:05 +0000

David,

It does feel a little cliquey, so we’re trying to get some more cross pollination. We have so many amazing freelancers / independents / consultants here in town along with companies who need help. I’m hoping that by bringing them together, we can keep more business in Portland.

Janet,

I struggled with the wording on that sentence and finally settled on “experienced” I’m not even sure which camp I fit in, and I see myself as somewhere halfway in between. At 37 years old, I spent more than a dozen years in corporate jobs climbing the ladder before deciding to venture out on my own. I think it’s a question of mindset more than age, and I think you straddle the two groups in a similar fashion with your experience in traditional marketing / corporate work and your social media savvy / consulting life now. Maybe that’s why I’m so interested in bringing these two groups together.

Thank you so much for sending it around to the OEN crowd, and we hope to see you at the next event!

By: Janet Johnson

Janet Johnson — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:14:32 +0000

Great idea, Dawn. Way to tackle a wonderful issue. I’ll throw in my support. Integrating efforts to improve Portland’s technology ecosystem will be key to our ability to thrive, whether we’re one group or five.

As one who skews older (more experienced? not sure) I have found the circles of geeks are extremely disjointed, and we have much to learn from each other. I’m not able to attend the first meeting on Tuesday, but will spread the word to the OEN community, as well as the older geeks I know. (You’re too kind not to write it, but we claim it… the gray and reading glasses makes it too obvious not to…)

By: David Frey

David Frey — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:24:57 +0000

I for one think this is an excellent idea. I love our tech scene, and comradery with people we relate to, who also use Mac, who also love rails, who also watch the same tv shows. If I were to be a glass is half-full kind of guy I might say we’re in danger of looking like a clique.

Yeah I know, I’m exaggerating. A little.

I’m looking forward to the event and what may come of it. Thanks for taking a strong lead in developing a more diverse community.