5 years ago this month Geek Breakfast began. The idea came from a lull in the energy of the tech community in Nashville that had been sparked at the first BarCamp Nashville.

I decided that it would be fun to keep folks together between BarCamp and PodCamp by meeting each month over breakfast.

The idea took off quickly. Each month the number of people grew substantially. So much so, that I had to split the breakfast into two seating times: 7:30 and 8:30. It was packed!

Wiki woes and Chris Ennis to the rescue

One attendee asked me how he could have his own local Geek Breakfast. Specifically, he wanted to know exactly how to organize one. He recommended that I start a wiki page dedicated to the topic.

I went ahead and made the wiki page, since I wanted to encourage others to create their own breakfasts too. Unfortunately, the page was being vandalized frequently, so Chris Ennis, proposed that he create a Geek Breakfast site.

CentreSource pitched in resources to design the site, while Chris tirelessly plugged away at the code. It was working really well as we watched new Geek Breakfasts launch in places as far away from Nashville as South Africa and Australia.

Then one day Facebook changed and this broke the way the site functioned. So Chris sprung into action re-coding and re-launching GeekBreakfast.org. We notified the local admins that it was now dead simple to add your breakfast info each month, and it’s always satisfying to see new ones added.

Thank YOU 

At this point, I’m hoping that more local Geek Breakfasts spring up around the world and that they are added to the site. It’s incredible to see so many smiling faces each month here in Nashville. It’s also rewarding to hear stories of relationships and businesses born over bacon, eggs and (free) coffee.

I sincerely want to thank Nicholas Holland and his team at CentreSource who helped design the site. I especially want to thank Chris Ennis for working countless hours (lots of them). All for free, because they believed in it.

Everything about Geek Breakfast is made for free. There are no sponsors and no strings attached. It’s a casual, networking opportunity, where you sit next to a stranger and start talking tech. Everyone is encouraged attend.

Thank you to everyone who has made Geek Breakfast what it is. If you haven’t returned in a while, it would be great to see you in Nashville this Thursday. If it’s your first time or if you’re visiting from out of town, please join us. The more the merrier.

If you’d like to start your own Geek Breakfast, here’s how to do it.
If you are an admin and would like to add your upcoming breakfast, please login here.

Feel free to contact me with any questions about Geek Breakfast.

I don’t know how to meet geeks!

If you have ever exclaimed this, then you’re not looking hard enough at the networking opportunities around you. Here are a few great ways you can get involved with Nashville’s awesome technology community. If you live elsewhere, why not get some inspiration from Music City, USA?

Nashcocktail is a great monthly event to mix and mingle with Nashville’s finest bloggers, podcasters and social media enthusiasts. All you need to do is  show up, have a cold drink and revel in the energy from nearly 100 fellow online content creators. RSVP for August now.

Geek Breakfast is a monthly breakfast event in it’s third year. Join local and visiting geeks to drink endless cups of coffee and eat incredible bacon, eggs, french toast and cheese blintzes. We meet each month at Noshville, you should come! RSVP for 7:30 – 8:30 or 8:30 to 9:30 for August!

BarCamp Nashville is Nashville’s original technology unconference. It’s self-organized by the community for the community. Each year the event has grown astronomically, from 300 in 2007 to 700 last year! This is a free conference that any tech-geek would be foolish to miss. BarCamp is now seeking volunteers to help make it bigger and better than ever. Are you up for the challenge? Join us this Monday night!

But Dave, these are all of your babies! What about the other technology events that go on in Nashville?

You’re right, the technology community is alive and kicking in this town. There are plenty of events organized by Digital Nashville, the Technology Council and Social Media Club Nashville. Each organization is doing a great job, you should keep your eyes out for what is coming up next.

If you’re subscribed to the independent Nashville Technology Calendar, you’ll be aware that every couple of months Firefly Logic throw a fun Geek Social and CentreSource open their house up for their crazy Mixer. You’re all invited you know!

Maybe you’re beyond help?

If you haven’t met a cool geek in this town by September 1st, then there’s no hope for you. Pack up and move to one of those up and coming technology cities like Austin, Seattle, San Francisco or Silicon Valley. Good luck, you are going to need it!

Please tag your photos with BCN09.

Many people asked me why I wasn’t going to Blog World Expo in Las Vegas this weekend. I would have loved to be there, but how could I possibly miss a rocking event right in my own town? Yesterday was the third BarCamp Nashville and it was bigger and better than ever.

I raise a toast to the organizers: Chuck Bryant, Scot Justice, Lucas Hendrickson, Kate O’Neill, Brad Blackman, Eric Chuff Shuff, Tom Cheredar, Andrew Duthie, Julia Corrigan, Doris Palomino, Darren Crawford, Winston Hearn, Scott Peave, Marissa Benchea, Heidi Short, Dan Cotton and Jessica Murray.

I understand that 600 people had registered for BCN09 and there were 75 registrations at the door. The Cadillac Ranch was jam packed with people in every nook and cranny, it was the perfect venue. Check out the pictures to truly get feel of the place.

It was fantastic reconnecting with old friends I hadn’t seen in ages and making so many new ones. Thanks to CentreSource and the Tennessean for the beers .

Roderick summarized it so well on his blog post, BarCamp Nashville ’09:

The takeaway of the day: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s all about relationships. Guess what? It’s (still) all about relationships. To create and nurture relationships you have to be yourself. These manufactured, overly-polished online personas are easy to see through. It’s like the guy whose hand you’re shaking while he’s looking at the next person he’s trying to get to. FAIL! Be present. Be engaged. Be yourself. You don’t have to be charming, just be sincere.

My only regret was not seeing enough sessions, there were so many incredible ones to choose from that I couldn’t attend them all. On top of this I often got caught between sessions in conversations outside of the session rooms, that however is never a regret.

I’m so excited about what’s next for Nashville technology community. I think Marcus Whitney hit the nail on the head that we need to keep bringing more talent to this town, so that we’ll continue growing and we’ll all be better off. Chris Ennis had a great presentation where he encouraged people interested in starting something to do so. Just do it people!

Thanks again to everyone involved, you all truly rock!