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Sorry for the delay on this organizer email, Startup Weekend has just hired a staff to take care of organizing, and recently has had some personnel changes. This is disappointing to the planning process, but not breaking the spirit of the event (This being Startup Weekend and all). This is an incredibly talented group, and I can’t wait to see what the group can accomplish in just 54 hours.

I’m your organizer, Jeremy Tanner. There will be a few Startup Weekend veterans, including Erica O’Grady (Boulder I & II, Houston and San Antonio) and Scott Andreas (London). There will also be a few folks from the WebVisions Conference, being held on the Thursday and Friday before the event. SWPDX is to be held @ 117 NW 5th Street, at the Vidoop offices. Expect to be 6-10 Friday, 9-9 Saturday and 9-6 on Sunday. What happens at the event is based on the passion and desire of you, the founders.

The first 14 Startup Weekends operated on a model where everyone worked on just one project. While this was a fun social experiment, the model has evolved to a total ‘community decides’ model. You can work on a new startup, recruit folks to help with your current projects, or do something unknown like redesigning a large scale application they way you would see it. It is up to you, including how you want to split equity. I wouldn’t bring anything to the table that you wouldn’t mind giving away (no NDA’s are signed).

Last weekend, the San Antonio Startup weekend had a great showing, creating 3 projects/companies. idre.am is one of my favorites (hopefully that will give you an idea of other types of companies that are created). Skribit.com is another.

Bring a laptop, a coffee cup with a lid (you wouldn’t believe how horrible the sound of a cup of coffee on a laptop is) a few ideas for projects/startups you want to see happen and a good attitude. Interested in wrangling food or blogging / media generation for the weekend? Drop me an email. We’re still looking for additional sponsorship, any amount or contribution of resources helps.

The real goal of Startup Weekend is community, and I can’t wait for SWPDX to show what it has. Plan on meeting some brilliant folks, working with those you have only known through twitter, and showing what you can do. Don’t expect to create the next Google, unless you are on my team, which, then it would be totally cool.

See you all Friday!

portland.startupweekend.com and startupweekend.com

Jeremy Tanner
jeremy@jeremytanner.com
248-990-3862
Twitter.com/penguin

PS Tell your friends quick, the event is almost sold out.