BOCO, Dine out, Geek out, Rock out

Although I missed out on the dining out and unfortunately rocking out at BOCO, I can attest the event geeked out as hard as any of Andrew Hyde's other events. Speakers included Boulder locals, such as Brad Feld and Ari Newman as well as various guests from around the country. Unlike previous events based at one venue, BOCO guests were welcomed to breakouts around town. A tab was kept open at Trident, and will surely migrate as the event heads into the evening. Afternoon speakers and breakout sessions will be followed by a performance by local Boulder artists, Paper Bird who will perform at the Boulder Theater.

Sessions on cyborg anthropology were followed up by presentations on lifehacks for balancing work and play in typical Boulder fashion. Twitter was alight with #boco hashtags throughout the event as foodies and geeks mingled in realtime. Following the tradition of Ignite Boulder events, presentations were limited to 10 minutes resulting in an informal and fast paced download of the latest happenings in tech, music and food. Morning sessions focused on the inspirations of food and music, while things got more techy in the second session. After lunch the focus will shift back to more food business and blogging. At three this afternoon the group will be released, breaking out to local coffee shops, followed by happy hour and dinner.

Andrew Hyde's events are not to be missed and a great addition to this town's tech culture. It is nice to see these events encouraging the traditional Boulder mentality, extending into the coffee shops, bars and masses of stragglers on Pearl Street also not "working" on another perfect fall day in Boulder. Beyond the cutting edge of social media and tech culture, entrepreneurs in this town are anxious and able to communicate the implications of their new technologies.

Extra kudos for offering students free admission to the event!

- Ian (the new intern)