Uk Techcrunch Networking Afternoon
What a lovely sunny afternoon we had yesterday at the UK TechCrunch Networking event.
Hat’s off to Mike Butcher who pulled a masterstroke in arranging it in an open plan, public balcony – meaning no booking charge and almost infinite scaleability.
I took a stroll over the bridge to get there from Covent Garden where I had morning Tea with my friends Susan from Tonic.fm and Barbara from TVBomb.
I had no idea what I was looking for so wondered around the tables trying to work out who was part of the event.
Then – I saw (the highly recommended and absolutely essential book) ‘Here Comes Everybody’ on a table:
Obviously I was in the right place 
So – I introduced myself and joined in a random conversation about whether young people are bombarded with advertising.
I rolled up my sleeves, put my shades on and ordered a cold beer…
Gradually the laptops/phones came out and people really got into it.
There were probably 40 – 60 people throughout the whole afternoon and as some left, some came.
I met some really, really interesting folk with some things goin’ on.
The first big chat I had was with Alex Craxton (Founder of Mobile Monday London) who is a superstar.
Keld from Diary.com was only there for an hour but I coulda spent all afternoon talking with him. He is a top, top guy.
Paul Christian from Live Aps was a true gent.
Adam Baker from bview has an interesting ‘company rating’ service. It was his book on the table at the start!
I enjoyed several beers with Richard Botley from ITPR which is a b2b PR company worth checking out.
Dean Swift (Ajax expert/uber-nerd) was the person I had the most geeky conversation with. You need to watch this guy as he is true disruption personified. At present, Xirium is the nearest you will get to seeing what he is up to (and you need to be a geek to read between the lines) but I assure you, if he doesn’t get snapped up by a massive tech co., this guy will change the world. He passed me a scrap of paper with the words ‘London 2600 meeting, first and third Friday of every month. Meet between 7pm – 730pm in the basement of the Trocadero Centre or from 8pm onwards at The Nell of Old Drury pub, Covent Garden WC2B5JS’.
With no explanation at all. Love it.
Shakil Khan (Micro-VC and bloody great bloke) and I had an excellent chat about the best way to fund innovation. I will always know this guy.
The WebJam peeps turned up near the end lookin’ swish. I asked them about what’s next. I think we will talk more in the future..
And of course, the day wouldn’t be complete without the genius-boy Geoff Wright (who I hired into Blyk) holding court (as he does) on all issues marketing/technology/whatever!
He turned up with stacks of Blyk swag and I helped him ensure that everyone went home with a T-Shirt (you had a choice of colors: green, green or green) and a few Blyk bags.
Here he is in action:
Mike Butcher (UK & Europe TechCrunch Editor) in the flesh:
And holding his free Blyk T-Shirt and Red Dragon (don’t ask):
Some random shots of the gathering:
What a great way to spend an afternoon – on the banks of the Thames talking about the future with the people who are shaping it.
This is a nice pre-cursor to my imminent trip to the USA where I embark on my next project… 
Mike – you rock. Brilliant event, brilliant attendees – excellent work. Thank you for inviting me.
