Kickoff meeting postmortem/call for comments.

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Permalink Reply by Uday on July 21, 2009 at 8:19am

Hey Mike,

Thanks again for coordinating a great first meeting - It was worth a 2.5 hour drive from Laguna :)

I like the idea of 2 short presentations and 3+ pitches - I think the presentations are good learning material and the pitches become more interactive. I think it would be great to keep the presentations to a somewhat tighter timeframe that might be 10 minutes plus interaction.

Thursdays seem to work - Wednesdays would be better (for me) because there seem to be overlapping events on Thursdays, even amongst others I know would have attended. 7 or 7:30 start times work well and The Hive seems good because it's easy to get to, plenty of space, and enough places nearby to go afterwards.

I also hope you do this monthly :) and not wait until September - Let me know how I can help you for the next one,

Uday

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thompson on July 21, 2009 at 11:11pm

Hi Uday,

Thank you very much for your suggestions and enthusiasm. I agree with you that the interaction after the presentations and pitches was excellent (I am particularly grateful for the feedback I received). Therefore, I like the idea of spending more time on the pitches and discussions. Also, you're right that the downtown location is nice for continuing the conversation in a pub after the meeting.

I've heard other requests for Wednesday meeting dates, so I think the following dates could work for the next meeting: August 19, 20, 26 or 27.

Finally, thank you for the offer of help. Let me know if you can recommend any speakers for the next meeting, or if you would like to speak or pitch at the next meeting.

Mike

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Permalink Reply by Steve Bjorg on July 22, 2009 at 2:49am

I'm a big fan of downtown, but then again, that's no secret. :)

I must say Mike, for a first meeting, it surpassed all my expectations. Very well done!

For content, 2 presentations and 3 pitches sounds about right, followed by cocktail hour. ;) I'll reach out to some people for presenting at the next one. However, I'm on vacation starting next week. So timing wise, it may not work out.

- Steve

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Permalink Reply by Brant Cooper on July 22, 2009 at 9:12am

I would recommend a timer for the pitches. Discussion can be open ended, but the ability to pitch in 5 minutes (2 minutes, 30 seconds) is a valuable skill to learn. Adds tension, too! : )

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Permalink Reply by Ronald Hodson on July 30, 2009 at 9:48am

Hi All,

I too liked the variety of topics that were presented, but agree that we need to watch the time better. As one of the presenters who ran over, it could help to provide a suggested structure to the presentation, like 3min presentation and 2min Q&A. Maybe someone that presented at the previous meeting would be volunteered to be the official time keeper...

For other presentation formats, you could have a short segment of time where anyone could give their elevator pitch - this would be timed for 30-40sec, and then a bell would ring (like an elevator). No comments, people just stand up and give it a go.

I look forward to attending the next meeting.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thompson on August 18, 2009 at 11:11am

Hi Brant and Ron -

Great suggestions. We'll structure the pitches as 2.5 minutes pitch and 2.5 minutes Q/A. I'll look for an elevator sound effect for the alarm. :) Ron - I also like your idea of the 30-second pitch. We can try out that format with the remaining time at the end of the next meeting.

I'm looking for speakers for our next meeting (tentatively September 17th). Let me know if you have any suggestions.

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