One main objective that Marcus Whitney and I had when we co-founded the first BarCamp and PodCamp Nashville was putting Nashville on the Digital Map.

The Digital Map is a figurative term for a map depicting the country’s leading technology hubs.

The point was to show the world how amazing the technology community is here (and it is!). We knew that the more content people created around these events, the better Nashville would be in the eyes of entrepreneurs, investors and would-be employees looking for a place to begin or continue their careers. Never mind the valley, here’s Nashville!

Nashville needs a brand ambassador

By now you are probably aware of the position of a brand ambassador, brand advocate or brand evangelist – they are virtually the same thing. This is the person responsible for getting the word out and representing the great stuff their brand has to offer.

Our city needs someone on the ground at the many important technology events. We need a hyper-local-Scobleizer. Someone who is fully equipped with a camera and tons of Nashville-centric swag. We need a foot soldier who’s not afraid of talking to everyone at BlogWorld Expo, TiE50, SXSW Interactive, CES, etc. They need to inform the masses about the tech movement here.

Why a Nashville ambassador?

As folks recognize Nashville’s thriving technology community and they take notice of our low crime rate, awesome music scene and inexpensive cost of living, they will choose to relocate here. They are already taking notice, even the brainiacs are starting to catch on.

Nashville is already home to three of the fastest growing companies in the US. The Nashville Technology Council (NTC) recently wrote about 1,065 IT jobs to fill here. That’s unfilled jobs!

Between the NTC and Nashville Chamber of Commerce, a Nashville ambassador would be the perfect weapon in spreading the news that technology is alive, well and growing in Music City.

It’s like this…

More investors and entrepreneurs equals more businesses. More businesses means more jobs. More jobs means a better local economy. A better local economy results in more talented people moving to Nashville. All in all it’s a big, fat, WIN!

Do other cities have a technology ambassador? What do you think about this idea?

Photo from Flickr by: Jude Adam

#Trust30

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!

I had the thrill of being nominated as Nashville’s Social Media / Blogger of the year. I shared the honor of the nomination with Kate O’Neill of [meta] marketer and Rex Hammock of Hammock Inc., both people I really like and admire.

When Rex’s name was called I was so happy for him. Many people don’t realize that Rex has been blogging about news and social media, community and technology since before we called it blogging. Congrats Rex!

Tod Fetherling, CEO of the tech council, did an incredible job putting together the first of many future Feel The Beat awards. The location, food, audio and video were all top notch. I should add that it was fun being seated at table 15 (the little guitar table) with some old friends and fellow nominees like: Marcus Whitney and Clint Smith, Alex Ezell and Sara McManigal.

I truly appreciate the recognition from being nominated. Thanks.

Photo by: MiiA Communications

One thing I brought up is a need for a single, universal, open calendar of technology events for our community and for visiting geeks to access.

Tod Fetherling has been doing a good job with his calendar on the Nashville Technology Council‘s website, as has Elin Mulron’s calendar on Digital Nashville.

But I think we need something simple that everyone can access and subscribe to in GCal and iCal. When a change is made to said calendar, that change will appear for everyone subscribed.

Here’s my stab at this. Subscribe by choosing XML iCal or HTML. Or visit the Nashville Technology Calendar directly.

You can embed the calendar in your blog using the following code:

<iframe src=”http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=mtns9n0srv0knma02fhe987fsg%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Chicago” style=”border: 0″ width=”800″ height=”600″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”></iframe>

To prevent spam I am only giving access to edit this calendar to a select number of people who have items to add regularly. Please let me know if you have something you wish to add. If you plan on adding items frequently please contact me for editorial access.

I encourage you to leave me comments here. Your feedback is needed to be sure this works. Thanks.

Photo by: Keso on Flickr

The Nashville Technology Council recently announced the finalists for the 2009 “Feel the Beat” Technology Awards.  The awards recognize those individuals and companies whose success has helped grow Nashville and the surrounding areas into a hub for technology.

I’m really excited for the awards because I’ve been nominated for Social Media / Blogger of the Year. How cool is that?

What’s even cooler is that I’m sharing the nomination with two people I really admire and respect in our community, Kate O’Neill and Rex Hammock.

Those who frequent Geek Breakfast will know Kate as the always smiling online marketing ninja from her company, [meta]marketer.

Rex Hammock is a social media samurai, he’s been blogging since before it was cool (actually, before it was “blogging” too). Rex is CEO at his firm Hammock Inc.

I wish my fellow nominees the best of luck!

Photo by: Travis Hightower on Flickr
Note: The original image I used was a great one. However, it was late when I pubished the post. This morning I remembered what the acronym stood for.

I had the good fortune today to share the stage at the Leadership Music Digital Summit in Nashville. I was invited to sit on a panel with some amazing minds to discuss Nashville’s technology community.

The program described the session…

CONNECTING IN MUSIC CITY
As a worldwide hub for music, Nashville incubates incredible talent and exceptional ideas; this segment leads to organizations and events where technology and the entertainment community intersect. Learn where to network, collaborate, brainstorm, innovate, and startup.

I had a great time answering my friend, Kelly Stewart‘s questions and listening to the answers provided by my co-panelists; Elin Eifler Mulron, Mark Montgomery, J. Tod Fetherling and Nicholas Holland.

Elin and I met for a coffee when she first got to Nashville some time ago, we had a great chat about the community here and about her idea of building Digital Nashville. It’s been a great success and is something I plan to attend more often in the future.

Mark’s company, Echo, sponsored the first BarCamp Nashville. He’s always been available for a chat at Fido, I’ve appreciated that. He’s a guy I’d love to get to know better.

J. Tod spoke at BarCamp Nashville 2 about taking the Nashville Technology Council in a different direction. NTC has always been thought of as a suit ‘n tie kind of crowd, but I believe J. Tod is the guy who will build the membership and take it to another level. He truly cares about the tech scene here.

Nicholas has shown his support by using his company, Centresource, to sponsor BarCamp Nashville 2 and Start Up Weekend. He’s a solid guy and a fun person to be around.

I recorded our discussion with my trusty iTalk Recorder app (shameless plug for Griffin .

Have a listen here or download the file to listen on your own time, it’s about an hour long. Please let me know what you think.