NCET and Plans for Bar Camp Las Vegas

I recently received an email and letter from NCET (Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology) inviting me to join the board of advisors … which I happily accepted :)

I’m really looking forward to being more involved in the Nevada business community, sharing my experiences and learning from others.

Our first board meeting was a few weeks ago and quite interesting. The board consists of members from all across the state, so rather than everyone meeting in one place, everyone closer to Vegas met at UNLV and everyone in the north met in Reno. The three hour meeting took place over a slick video conferencing system in the UNLV technology building.

For the most part .. I just sat back and listened. Most of the conversation revolved around securing funding for all the amazing things planned this year to foster startups in Nevada. There are quite a few initiatives coming up including the NCETexpo, which I may be speaking at and the Governor’s Cup, a powerful event with cash prizes up to $200,000 for college students and faculty.

Towards the end of the meeting I spoke up about plans for BarCampLasVegas. For the most part, the board had no idea what a barcamp was, but was very supportive and interested. I have no idea where or when this will be, but I’m starting to spread the word and explore options. A few months ago, I started a group called vegasFoo to bring the las vegas web community together. Six months later we now have over 70 members. There is definitely a community of web designers, developers, and entrepreneurs that want to experience the power of a BarCamp. If you are interested in helping with planning, attending, or sponsoring, head over to the wiki and sign up!