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I would like to stress a few points which made this event extremely valuable:
1. QUALITY OF THE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
The day-long event format makes it easy to engage into real conversations with individuals. At standard networking events, you will only speak a few minutes, at best, with the other person and exchange business cards. This is pretty useless in term of networking opportunities... Here, I had the opportunity to conduct in-depth business discussions with at least 10 persons during the day!
2. KNOWLEGE SHARING AND LEARNING
I personally learned a lot from other entrepreneurs' experience on how/where to find developers, how to market your product with limited/no funding and what are some of the mistaked to avoid.
I am not sure why the author of this article thinks that we are only ‘knowledge-hungry entrepreneurs’… I worked for the last nine years in Internet companies and got my MBA from a top-tiers school. With the knowledge and experience I acquired, I still love to meet people at events such as MeshWalk to learn about real-life situations and best/worst practices.
3. EVENT FORMAT FACILITATING EXCHANGES
The idea of walking outside facilitates new meetings and makes the whole networking experience truly enjoyable. Who would be crazy enough to go to a day long networking event where you stay in a building? Moreover, most people mentioned that they were thankful for the opportunity to leave their office and computer screen.
To comment on the author's point, it is correct that the parking lot was 10 minutes away from the meeting point and that we walked quite a lot on a sunny day. But hey, Shannon warned us before we register so it was nothing new. Moreover, we had many breaks with food and drinks (loved the ice-cream in the afternoon).
True entrepreneurs overcome hundreds of bigger hurdles on a daily basis and do not complain about small things like walking outside on a sunny day. However, I understand this could be a challenge for someone like Mr. Coker who recently climbed the Kilimanjaro...
Fabrice
The MeshWalk takes place outside, and so it is one of the few times that a group of this size is thinking, talking and walking together.
I reflected on what makes the MeshWalk great:
HARMONY WITH NATURE – Staged outdoors, the MeshWalk invites a dialogue with the beautiful natural environment. The confines of the boardroom and the boundaries of the classroom disappear. I like having nature present as you are creating new ideas. Back at my studio, it’s part of my every day creative process.
During the MeshWalk we climbed the hills and curves around Sand Hill Road-- the yellow brick road of Silicon Valley -- and felt the very texture of the Stanford Quadrangle beneath our feet. Dappled light was interspersed with our conversations. Those with knowledge of the Stanford campus were encouraged to share its rich history with others.
THE STRUCTURE OF NO STRUCTURE – What I enjoyed about the MeshWalk was the great freedom to walk and think at your own pace. Although the day had an appealing tempo, there were no abrupt time cut-offs or rushed endings. Conversations lingered, ideas blossomed. Although the day was beautifully organized, no artificial structure was imposed. The MeshTeam moved quickly and seamlessly behind-the-scenes to facilitate this flow.
OPENNESS – The MeshWalk was quintessentially Silicon Valley in its openness. To me Katherine Barr was a beautiful embodiment of this. I witnessed her freely sharing her experiences and knowledge with many budding entrepreneurs. The Mesh Amoeba or Mesh-meba was a hotbed of interactivity. With a great sense of camaraderie -- idea building and re-building was taking place at a fast clip. There could have been a sign – “Hardhats please – Thought Construction under way.”
WOMEN IN SILICON VALLEY – The presence of Katherine Barr and Donna Novitsky was a powerful statement about the important role women have played in shaping Silicon Valley. Katherine and I had a profound exchange about Zen, Silicon Valley, cascading moments, and Sumi-e. I was also inspired by my talk with Donna Novitsky about Silicon Valley. I had an amazing conversation with her about virtuosic improvisation in a start-up, in jazz, and in brush work.
DIVERSITY – I spoke with MeshWalkers from France, Japan, Turkey, China, United Kingdom, Iran and across the country. Some adventurous MeshWalkers had even driven from Santa Barbara. As I walked under Stanford Palms with Mehdi Maghsoodnia, VP of Products and Site Operations, CaféPress, we discussed Iranian poetry, programming languages and the interrelationships between poetry, music, and code.
As a sweet coda to these thoughts, I’d like to add that the closing reception on the Sun Deck with wine from Silicon Valley bank and gelato capped the afternoon.
Photos and my blog post on MeshWalk can be viewed here:
http://www.drue.net/2007/07/meshwalk-palo-alto-...
As to the number of conferences I attend, I would just point out that these are the best opportunities to meet *tons* of people in a small chunk of time. Much more efficient than doing one on one meetings. And you never know where early stage dealflow is going to come from, so you have to go where it can find you.
Being outside offered a rich canvas of stimuli from which to draw upon. I suppose thats why deals get done on golf courses, road bikes, and baseball games (to name a few). By the end of the day there was a very strong bond between large parts of the group and last minute connections being internally facilitated where ideas and business models intersected.
I collect business cards everyday but this was the first time that I acted upon them immediately. Well done Katherine and Shannon!