Brevard

Brevard East Coast Meetup

lsalberg — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:54:43 -0500

Start: 12/04/2008 - 19:00

End: 12/04/2008 - 21:30

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

1st (or 2nd depending) meetup of the Brevard East Coast Creatives.

Please bring a canned food donation, $20 registration fee, and a list of your favorite websites.

KIDDING! Bring nothing but yourself. Come as you are or... well, you know the drill. Come late, come early. Leave late, leave early.

It's fully casual. No agenda. Discuss any or all of the following with some good chow to boot.

* The Web Business
* Marketing to Businesses
* Good business / Bad business around town
* What's shakin', What's movin.
* Horrible clients and how to avoid them
* Why the web/marketing/creative world will end because "your guy" lost in November.

Hey, we really don't care - as you can plainly see. Got 5 tips on saving money on a used car? We're all ears. Got ideas for future meetings? Bring it! Got a list of the Top 500 movies ever made? Well.... okay, maybe that's going too far. But Wikipedia is all over that so type away!

Bring a friend - or a foe.

The only rule is that all are welcome.

Here's a few of the peeps I'd like to meet or have a chance to discuss things with if I can make it this time. I'd like to know if anyone is using a CMS (content management system) for their clients, how they like it, what they use, what they don't like. I'd like to find out what systems folks are using to manage leads and client workflow (I have my own that I'll share, but I'd like to hear other's ideas as well). I'd like to see how folks are faring with this recent economy. Are businesses holding back more? Are they jumping in too late (i.e. "save my business with your advertising or web campaign, even though I should have done this three years ago").. what's your take? I'd like to see if folks are starting to wear thin on social networks and media. Is it killing your productivity? Are you getting business from it? Is LinkedIn the new Facebook? Or vice-versa? And of course, I'd like a ton of feedback, ideas, and hopefully some "leaders" to come forth on all things Florida Creatives, esp. as it pertains to our little Space Coast chapter here.

BTW, according to their "website" (i.e. MySpace page, cough, cough), Grill 192 now has free wifi. So if you want to get there a bit early or stay late and do some work, sounds like that could work out now. Save us a table. There's some big tables in back and one 8 or 10-top right to the left when you walk in. It's about 3.2 feet from 40mph traffic whizzing by, so that could add a bit of exhilaration to our meetup.

P.S. We'll normally meet the last Thursday of each month, but the last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving and although F/C is clearly more important than Thanksgiving, we're going to capitulate to the weaker members who apparently "need" that family time and move this one to the first Thursday in December - sort of a combo Nov/Dec meetup. Our next meetup won't be until the last Thursday of January, so try and make it. Should be fun.

Brevard

October 30 Meetup at 7pm?

lsalberg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:47:20 -0400

Hey all Brevardians!

I'm sorry I've been off the charts. Some sudden changes in my weekly plans about two months ago threw me for a loop. I'm completely booked Mon-Thurs nights so there's just no way I can make a Thurs meeting between now and the new year.

I was sort of hoping that someone else would take the bull by the horn and just go with it. While I'd miss getting a chance to meet some of you awesome folks, the whole point isn't about one person anyway. If any of you have followed the Orlando threads, you might have seen Ryan Price having to defend himself against accusations of being "synonymous" with Florida Creatives. Although it's a ridiculous assertion anyway, I guess I won't have to worry about that here in Brevard since I've completely fallen off the wagon... ha ha.

So, all that's really left to do is just set a date and just hold a meetup, a get-to-know-ya little icebreaker. Before we know it the holidays will be here and we'll all be swamped with the usual shenanigans that they so often bring.

I'm thinking October 30, Thursday at 7pm at Grill 192 (mentioned previously in the thread if you're new to the group). If this works out, maybe the last Thursday of each month would be our normal meet time for the foreseeable future.

This would also be good because it won't conflict with the RAnDOM group meeting on the 3rd Thursdays of each month. That's mostly Ruby developers, but I know a few of you are going to that (they had a good report on their last meetup last week reported here.

Feedback anyone? Let's make it happen. I'm sorry I won't be able to attend for the first few meetings, but everyone has been so great to join and get involved, I'd hate to see it drag out because of me.

Would anyone like to volunteer as a the go-to guy or gal on this? I'd be very appreciative.

Brevard

Cooperative Work Space Downtown Melbourne

feravolo — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:29:42 -0400

Does anyone know of a "Co-Working" or other type of Cooperative Office space in Downtown Melbourne ?

I was down there the other day at a cool wi-fi coffee shop and I think that the area has a lot of potential. I like this area better then anything that I have seen in downtown Orlando, which just isn't worth the hassle of doing business there.

However being poor like everyone else I don't have the money to rent a store front down there and really don't think that I would require that much space anyway.

I think that there are offices on the 2nd floors of some of the buildings, but don't know much about them.

Anyway I thought that I would throw this out there for the rest of you all and see what people think.

Mike Feravolo
1980 N. Atlantic Ave #121
Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

Brevard

New User Group for Developers in Brevard - RAnDOM

blegros — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 12:20:11 -0400

Myself and a few other guys have put together a new user group for developers in the Brevard Area named Rich ApplicatioN Developers Of Melbourne (RAnDOM). Our blog is located @ http://itsrandom.info. Our goal is to meet monthly and work to cooperatively program sample projects focusing on assorted topics in the web and RIA technology space. Our first meeting will be August 21st at 7:00 PM at Goombay's. We'll be building a mash-up web application using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. For more information on the meeting check out our latest blog post.

I noticed from the membership list that there are a lot of web developers in the Brevard area. I hope this group, like Florida Creatives, can help to grow the community. Hope you can make it out!

Brevard

Meetup Location Discussion

lsalberg — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:48:50 -0400

Some discussion has already taken place on the prior post (be sure to scour that first), so I thought I'd place a followup here and open the floor for discussion. Ideally, we should probably have a discussion in a forum since that is some kind of internet rule that Al Gore put in place when he invented the internet, but I'm just going to risk it and start one here.

Problems with Brevard: I don't think this issue is going to go away soon, especially with gas at $4/gallon. Brevard is the longest county in the state of Florida (72 miles) so we are probably always going to have a bit of a logistics issue.

That being said, I strongly feel that the way to handle this for now is to start a meeting in the Melbourne/Eau Gallie area and invite our northern brothers and sisters to it. The hope here would be that after a few meetings they might be able to start their own North Brevard group. I think we'll have to wing this and can probably best discuss this issue in more detail once we meet in person.

Suggested Meeting Places: I took a walk through Melbourne this past Thursday and I think I've found a great spot. But before I reveal it, let me chronicle a few discoveries and comment on a few spots previously mentioned in the prior post.

Meg's is closed due to fire damage (which I had forgot). Moonstruck and Lexi's were both about as empty as a funeral parlor and the candles and tablecloths (and the waiters with bowties) were a bit too upscale. Although we could all throw a tie on or wear a pretty dress, I was hoping to find a place where people could stop by on a Blackberry moment's notice in case they forgot at the last minute. Island Pasta was it's usual crowd with no decent sized tables and no extra room (as was also the case with Salsa's with only two tiny rooms and little 2 and 4-tops).

Main Street Pub (previously suggested) is still a remote possibility but it's focus was clearly on being a bar only. The upstairs stays closed until 9pm and is only available for paid parties beforehand. Considering that we don't really know whether will have 3 or 30 for many many months, I'm not sure we'd be good neighbors for them until we have a more consistent turnout.

A few places (like Bella's) closed at 8 or 9pm... no good. I was about to give up and drive up to Eau Gallie, but with the cooler breeze beckoning me from the river, I wondered east... and then discovered...

Grill 192: I wondered across U.S.1 and noticed that On Tap had changed their name to Grill 192. Well, lo and behold... what a change, and for the better. I went and spoke with them. Plenty of room (but busy), great atmosphere, and the food smelled great. It's located one building east of Strawbridge (S.R. 192) and Harbor City Blvd (U.S.1).

Those who have been to On Tap know it was primarily a sports bar and lounge. And although Grill 192 will still have football and other things from time to time, they've tried to be a bit rounded. It's not just a name change, it's new owners.

I think this meets all our needs. It has great food, it has a full bar, it has a large covered outdoor deck for our smoking friends, it has a number of larger tables throughout, and the entire place is divided into about five or six sections.. so there are quieter spots, louder spots, etc. It has nice wood decor throughout. It even has a partial view of the river. It's open late.

Location-wise, I think this is as "good as it gets". It's right on the bottom of the Melbourne (192) causeway, so anyone coming from beachside will be about as close as possible without having to fight mainland traffic. In fact, from south Cocoa Beach, it's only 20 minutes down A1A and across 192. It's also right off US1, so those coming from the north and south will have about as direct a route as possible. In short, it's about as centrally located as possible for a south/central Brevard meeting spot.

Price-wise, it's affordable, but not dirt cheap. Burger platters run about $7.95 to $9.95. Salmon burger at $12.95 (I'm curious about that one). A mediterranean grilled chicken sandwich is $8.95. Appetizers run from $5.95 for nacho gringo, to $7.95 for conch fritters or purple onion straws, to $8.95 for a shrimp cocktail.

Downsides? They say they are trying to make it more family-friendly. I'm not sure what that means (I didn't see kids anywhere) as I never really thought On Tap was anti-family friendly, but I think it might just mean they don't want it to be known only as a pickup joint or a place where cops have to come every Friday/Saturday as would often happen at On Tap after midnight.

Also, they don't have a website, but maybe some of us can help with that. They do have a MySpace page and only because there are some pics of the restaurant there, I'm temporarily suspending my personal pledge to never to link to MySpace pages so you can have a look: http://www.myspace.com/grill192.

Only other minor downside is that the menu isn't very deep. Appetizers, Salads, Burgers, Stuffed Burgers, Sliders (??), Sandwiches, a few side orders, and home-made pie. No steak, no fish dishes, no flaming anything. But, I don't think our primary purpose is pallete-pleasing (how's that for alliteration?)

So, what do you think?

Brevard

Orlando Entrepreneur Meetup - Business Networking Opportunities

feravolo — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:42:13 -0400

Recently (two weeks ago) Mike has taken over an established meet up dot com group, which wasn't holding any meetings. This group has a membership of over 500 people, and everyone here is encouraged to join:

http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/2/

Our plans for this group is to build a realistic business cooperative for people in our community. By connecting with people everywhere in the Orlando Market, which includes people in Brevard and Volusia Counties.

We presently have a cooperative agreement with the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce (EOCC), to post "Business After Hours" events as "meet ups". Mike is an chamber ambassador for the EOCC, and would be glad to introduce you to anyone that could help you.

We also will be hosting monthly happy hours (on a Thursday Night) at the Holiday Select at the Airport, there is plenty of free parking, free internet terminals in the bar area, and plenty of open space to kick back and to talk to people.

You never know who you will meet at one of these kind of events, or the insight that you may obtain from them to help your business.

Peace,

Mike Feravolo
Software Freedom Innovations
Orlando: (407) 745-1545

Florida Creatives

Meetup Votes

lsalberg — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:37:51 -0400

We'll close the poll down end of this week. So far, 10 of the current 17 members have voted and it's looking like Thursday night (5 votes) is winning swimmingly. However, we'll give it to the end of the week if anyone else wants to chime in. Saturday morning (2 votes) and Tuesday evenings (3 votes) have some interest as well.

We'll start a new poll next week to determine where we meet. Feel free to comment to this post with some suggestions to toss up on the poll.

In the meantime, keep forwarding on our sites URL (http://floridacreatives.com/group/brevard) to other folks in Brevard that may be interested. Coworkers and business partners are a great place to start.

Brevard

Welcome New Members

lsalberg — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:36:45 -0400

We are up to 15 members now and well on our way to getting to 20. Welcome to all those who have recently joined. I think it's going to be very interesting meeting many of you. I'm seeing a lot of diversity so far and that is a great thing!

Please welcome Alex Rudloff!
I'd like to point out "new" member Alex Rudloff of Emurse, an awesome resume-sharing website application. I hope that's the right description of it. Anyway, I say "new", but in reality Alex helped to start Florida Creatives in Orlando with co-founder Ryan Price and successfully grew it. But, he has moved to Satellite Beach now, so he's all ours. He's a very busy fellow, but he will help us when he can so we don't stray too far off the path.

Invite your Friends & Coworkers!
Please, if you haven't already badgered (*uh, I mean politely asked) your coworkers and other friends in the creative world to join, please do so. Don't be surprised if they take their sweet time responding. I still get people responding to Facebook or LinkedIn requests several months later.

Meeting Time Questionnaire!
There is a poll going on as to what meeting time is best for you. So far, five votes have been cast, so ten of you still have a chance to vote.

Complete your Profile!
If you haven't already done so, please fill out your profile completely. Although I or the person who invited you may know who you are and what you do, many of us may not. Adding a photo doesn't hurt, either.

Free Website Promo!
Also, be sure to add your company websites to our alphabetical listing on our wiki.

The member pages are not publicly viewable by non-members (although anyone can join if they be full of goodness). However, (ahem!) the wiki is publicly viewable. Can you say "free inbound link"?

It's encouraging to see all the community-minded folks here. Did everyone like my exclamation marks after each topic heading? I thought I'd do a little revisit of 1999 - just for old time's sake.

Have a great 4th of July and don't forget to have a moment of silence for our men and women fighting overseas.

Brevard

If you had your druthers, what's your fav idea for a Brevard meetup? It ain't permanent.

lsalberg — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:05:15 -0400

Brevard

OnA1A Business Network

feravolo — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:08:27 -0400

Start: 07/01/2008 - 10:00

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Our meetings are an open forum where ideas are freely exchanged in a relaxed environment. Meet with people that use computers & the Internet for business. Get the answers to your questions about computers & the Internet in plain English.

We are now meeting with the Island Styles Leads Group at Pizza Uno on Merritt Island.
Tuesday Nights at 6:30PM

Venue: http://ebizowners.meetup.com/169

Wiki: http://OnA1A.com

Contact: Mike Feravolo (407) 745-1545

Brevard

Brevard Wiki is Live

lsalberg — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:57:38 -0400

The first draft of the Brevard wiki is up. For now, we are a one-page wiki called Brevard East Coast Creatives.

There's a list of the companies represented by our present members. New members, please go add your companies.

There's also a list of free wi-fi hotspots in Brevard. If somebody wants, they can add a list of subscription wi-fi hotspots separately.

If the page becomes too big, we'll start breaking stuff into separate pages.

Any ideas about what else to include? Comment here -- or just go post the stuff on your own.

Brevard

Brevard

feravolo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:36:42 -0400

Brevard East Coast Creatives

This is our micro-wiki to help coordinate and keep us all up to speed with Brevard tech, creative, and media stuff.

We have a group home page which has a blog, event manager, and other goodies which any member can post entries to, or comment there upon. That's a great place to put forth an idea or event notices to see what the community thinks.

Brevard Companies

An alphabetical list of Brevard companies and freelancers represented by one or more members. Add yours after you join. Please only list companies, firms, for-profit projects, and freelance services here. You can link to your personal blog and hobby projects on your member page.

Affiliate Confession (Palm Bay): One man's journey into network marketing or mlm, affiliate marketing, and dealing with all the issues of working at home for yourself.
All Brevard Websites (Melbourne): Simple design, intense content.
Brevard Directory (Melbourne): A listing of all websites in Brevard County.
Brevard Web Hosting (Melbourne): Affordable small business web design.
Canonical (Cocoa): The commercial sponsor of Ubuntu
DigiDonkey Web Design: Services include web design, search engine optimization (seo), web site promotion, online marketing and e-commerce as well as online video production and distribution.
Emurse / AOL (Satellite Beach): Career/Resume Management, web 2.7 style.
Giant3 (Melbourne): Providing all the services, creative talent, and dedicated resources you need to promote your business.
Longbow (Melbourne): A strategic communications firm.
Software Freedom Innovations (Cocoa Beach) Helping People Build a Community on the Internet.
Statiksoft (Cocoa): Custom software development, expert advice.
Surfpiggie - Oink (Cape Canaveral): Web Design, SEO, Joomla amd Computer Repair SpaceCoastNetwork.com A Digital Guru. Ride the Digital Wave!
TashaDesign Creative Studio (Titusville): Provides graphic and web design, copyrighting, advertising, e-commerce, audio-video production, printing and web hosting services.
Tight Line Productions (Melbourne): A full-service production and advertising company creating compelling television commercials, in-depth promotional videos, and planning entire marketing strategies.

Brevard County Free WiFi Hotspots

Alphabetized listing of free wi-fi spots in Brevard. Please link to their website if they have one. Edit and make minor reviews here. Please follow format if possible. Please only post places which you have personally experienced. Many of the "free wi-fi" lists on the internet are wrong. If anyone wants to, they can start a separate list below of subscription wi-fi spots.

Brevard County Public Libraries (17 locations - every city): In 2006, the BCLS installed free wi-fi in every library. Speed is slightly slower than other places, but more than acceptable. If you don't have a library card, you won't be able to use IM, POP3, and SMTP ports. Naturally, no food and drinks allowed (just a water fountain on premises). Can be a good place to work uninterrupted, particularly if you use one of the study rooms.
Common Grounds Cafe (West Melbourne): Located inside Calvary Chapel, their is puh-lenty of seating, but only one outlet downstairs. Look upstairs for the secret row of couch/table gatherings each with their own double-outlet. Great food at the cafe (and very affordable), but as it is a church, you will hear Christian music played (soft-to-medium level) on the overhead sound system, so bring earphones if that bothers you. Even if it doesn't bother you, it tends to repeat about every hour, so you still may want to bring your own tunes. Also, certain websites are blocked (the school and church run off the same system).
East Coast Coffee (Indian Harbour Beach): Some good drinks, but they will shoo you out if you even open that laptop without buying something in your first 60 seconds. In the Publix plaza at Eau Gallie Blvd & South Patrick. Their wifi was down for months in 2007. Seems like they are still trying to find their niche, but worth a try.
House of Joe (Melbourne): A dark place with good drink options and a few sandwiches. Good place to meet clients. Friendly staff and a few outdoor tables. A few couches on one side and even a computer in-house. However, there is a piano and a guitar available at all times for anyone who gets the urge (although this can be a nice break). Open mic nights are to be avoided if you plan on getting work done. Open late.
Indian River Coffee (Suntree, Melbourne): Three different locations all with different hours. Good music, relaxing, nice furnishings, but smaller buildings. Very good coffee and teas, but mostly bread and bread-like snacks for food. Wifi also forces ads at the top of your browser window unless you buy some software. But you get used to it after an hour or so. Just less screen real estate.
Java Surf Cafe (Indialantic): A new shop right at A1A & 5th avenue, it is very small with only one outlet. Because it's right on the beach (facing A1A), there is significant foot traffic of bikini-clad ladies and sandy surfers, so it's not ideal for meetings. Still, if it's close to you, give it a try and report back. No website yet, either.
Juice & Java (Cocoa Beach): A real nice spot with tables, couches, and friendly staff. Great food if you're hungry and lots of nifty drink options. Open late on some nights. A few outdoor tables.
Panera Bread (Melbourne, Viera, Indian Harbour Beach): The only corporate chain to offer free wi-fi in Brevard. The Viera location is right in the middle of the Viera Avenues, Melbourne's is in the Books-A-Million/Publix shopping center at Wickham & Post Rd, and IHB's is on the south side of Riverside & E.G. Cswy (across from East Coast Coffee above). All three locations are busy most of the time and mostly play classical/soft jazz. Good food (of course). Good place for small meetings of 3-4 maybe, but can be a bit noisy and hectic at times.
Sunrise Bread Company (Titusville): Located on the north end of Titusville, there is plenty of room upstairs for larger meetings. Friendly staff, but there is only drinks and bread (although really good bread) so be sure you have some real food in you if you plan on hanging out for a while.
SunShoppe Cafe (Melbourne): Good music, food (even some beer), super-friendly staff, and open to midnight most nights. Avoid open mic nights if you plan on getting work done. About six small outdoor tables available (no outlets outside). 3-hour parking limit in downtown Melbourne before 5pm or else $25 ticket.
Wahoo Coffee (Cocoa Beach): In a Publix shopping center, Wahoo has very little room and small 2-person tables. The owner also requires a purchase before you he gives you the wi-fi password which he changes daily. Only a few tables. It's okay, if it's close by and you don't need to meet anyone.
Wendy's (Palm Bay): Believe it or not, the Palm Bay Road Wendy's (next to Babcock) has free wifi. With tiny tables, employees yelling, and the french fry machine beeping, it's hardly conducive to work, but if you're dying for an "old fashioned burger" or some day-old Chili, and don't mind driving through the construction, it's an option. Reception for wi-fi is kind of weak, as the router is in the kitchen. So, uh, sit near the kitchen. No outlets.
World Beat Cafe (Melbourne): Across from BCC at Wickham & Post Rd., the World Beat Cafe isn't really a cafe. It's a full-blown restaurant with liquor bar. It's also quite expensive and offers upscale dining. You will be seated by a host and served by a waitress. So, while it is hardly conducive for day-to-day work, it might be a good place to take a client if you need to impress them while surfing the web. Medium to dark atmosphere but they do have an outside portico on the side with about 10-12 tables with umbrellas.

Brevard

Welcome to the First Three

lsalberg — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:41:53 -0400

Just want to say a quick thank you and "Welcome!" to the first three that joined. Pioneers all!

I see Eric from Longbow just joined. I had the pleasure of meeting Eric just a few weeks ago. We had exchanged emails late last year (over a completely unrelated subject) and he seemed like, well... a swell guy. Yes, that's maybe an outdated term, so sue me.

Anyway, we met at SunShoppe and Eric told me a bit about what he does with his web design company LongBow, as well as partnership called Giant3 that he is involved in with the IT guys from Artemis IT... all right here in little ol' Melbourne.

In my opinion, it's a novel concept and I think, perhaps, a strong future for many of us in this line of work. I've been meaning to stop by their office on Aurora Road and say a quick hi to everyone. Yes, interrupting the hard work of the gainfully employed is a special skill us freelancers have.

Also, a warm welcome to Warren Dodd of All Brevard Websites. Warren was designing websites while some of us were still in pampers. He's somewhat of a personal hero of mine and focuses on primarily on small to medium-sized businesses. I could be wrong, but I think Warren has more Brevard County clients than any other single firm. The list is so long I fall asleep reading it. If you get to know Warren, I highly recommend friending him on Facebook as his status updates are hilarious. Today's was: "Warren Dodd doesn't care how comfortable Crocs are, you look like a dumbass". And Warren, thanks for the awesome LinkedIn recommendation. Very nice! I owe you.

Lastly, I was pleased to see Elliot Murphy join. I only sent out about ten invites to start and Elliot was not one of them, so he must have found out about it through someone else. Aahh... the awesome power of the internet! It's like magic! (ha ha). Anyway, Elliot is one of three brothers who runs Statiksoft in Cocoa. I can't say how totally cool I think it is that he and his bros run a business together - particularly in today's fractured society. And they seem to have a very unique product - writing custom software using all sorts of stuff: Python, Ruby, PHP, and a bunch of other things which I don't understand. In other words, him and his bros be smarty-pants! They even have one of those hip web addresses without the "www" in front. Yeah, I know! Just smashing the domain right up against the "http://" without a care in the world. That is the hip rage these days, right? Man, I'm so old school it hurts.

Anyway, welcome all! And keep spreading the word. There's more of us out there.

Lastly, in thinking about a first meeting, my thought has been to get about 20 folks joined here (even as lurkers if need be) before we try to get our first shindig setup so we have a decent chance of at least two of us actually showing up. So keep recruiting. I'm thinking if Elliot can get his two brothers to join and I can get my wife to join, we'd double our membership overnight!

Brevard

Ideas for Meetups

lsalberg — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:10:11 -0400

Some might wonder what types of things would we "meet" about so I thought I'd share my thoughts here on that.

First, please join the group and subscribe to the RSS feed (or the email link). We encourage lurking and realize that you may not be able to make the first 10 meetups due to the busy life we all lead, but by keeping in touch via those resources, you will be giving yourself a chance ("Just one chance!" as Braveheart would say) to one day hookup with the rest of us.

I'm loathe to go out of my way for a meeting, which IMHO, is just a throwback to the corporate practices of days gone by. So, while I'm calling this a "meeting" or "meetup", I fully expect it to be a social event with a small element of business chatter on the side. If you want. If not, it will just be a social event.

Bring your spouse - this doesn't just have to be those of us in the business.

Ideas for "Meetups":

Client challenges: Getting new ones, keeping them, horror stories, success stories.
New market trends we are seeing. Old trends we see dying off.
Carpool to O-town and crash one of their meetups
The Central Florida tech scene: (See this post at Doterati). Do we need an official organization to represent tech/marketing workers/firms in Central Florida. Will it help you? Will it just be a benefit for the big tech companies and a boondoggle for the rest of us?
The state of wi-fi and wi-fi cafes. Do you work remotely? Ever? Thoughts about Starbucks.
Marketing/Branding firms getting into web design and Web Design firms morphing into Marketing/Branding firms: good, bad, or ugly?
Business news in Brevard. What are you seeing? Are small businesses worth pursuing? How small? What's your take on getting into the big companies (Harris, Health First, etc)?

Got more ideas? Add them to the comments. Even if you can't make the meetups, it will give us fodder for discussion and growth.

A big thanks to Ryan Price for starting and managing this wiki-site to help Floridians all over more easily meet and connect.

Brevard

Welcome. Come encourage me - and yourself!

lsalberg — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:57:39 -0400

I'm jumping out on a limb based on a few conversations with folks around Brevard and starting this group in the hopes that there are others, many more others, of creative types equally interested in community.

Over the past year, I've been privately surveying various web companies and firms to see if they would be interested in having a get together one evening.

I've had all manner of responses. Some positive. Some very suspicious. Some literally threw me out of their office.

But I've begun to feel the time is turning.

While I certainly don't think I'm the type to lead something like this, maybe I can help by getting it started to get it off the ground with hopes that more qualified and resourced individuals will eventually take the reigns and run with it.

For the moment, I'm suggesting a meetup once a month at SunShoppe in downtown Melbourne (free wi-fi and great food and tunes), but I'm very open to other ideas and places.

For the time being, we'll probably alternate days and times to allow as many people to come and give it a try depending on their schedule. As the group grows we may be able to harden a consistent date and time. For now, majority rules.

Brevard