No, RedMonk’s not marrying anyone. As far as I know, anyway. But we are turning five, and cordially invite order you – all of you that are in or can make it to San Francisco, anyway – to join us in celebrating that fact.
Who knew that we’d still be here all these years later? It was five years ago in December that I informed my family and friends that I was starting a business in an industry they’d never heard of with someone I’d met in person _maybe_ twice, all during a serious downturn in the wider technology business. And yet the calendar says 2008, and we’re still here, doing our thing. Pretty cool.
Because you undoubtedly have questions, I have answers. With questions. Of course.
Q: What’s the date again?
A: Early evening on Wednesday, February 6th. Here’s the event listing on Upcoming (just added one on Facebook). Book it.
Q: Why is it on a Wednesday?
A: Because it’s difficult to get all three Monks in one place at one time, and this was one of those once in a lifetime, planetary alignment sort of deals where we’re all there and all can spare a night. Had to capitalize.
Q: Ok, why San Francisco?
A: We’re fortunate enough to know people from all over the world. Literally. That’s great, but makes picking a spot something of a challenge, because we can’t make everyone happy. After talking it over internally, San Francisco seemed like the best compromise, as a good number of our colleagues, clients, and just friends are based there, and those that aren’t often have reason to pass through. So in spite of my personal preference for Denver (convenience) or Boston (proximity of Fenway), we’re going with San Francisco.
Q: Gotcha. What about venue, where is this thing being held?
A: TBD. I’ll personally feel a bit weird if it is not at the House of Shields – it’d be like cheating on our official bar – but I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with my colleagues yet, so we’ll see. More on the venue shortly.
Q: What if I don’t have plans to be in San Francisco that day?
A: Make some. We already have folks looking into flights and rearranging client work to accomodate, and an email I got earlier today from two of RedMonk’s best friends indicates that both hall passes and hotel rooms are being explored. If they can make it happen, why can’t you?
Exactly.
Q: What do you have in mind for the evening?
A: Nothing less than good times. We’re very proud of the extended RedMonk community’s diversity, breadth, and fondness for beers, so the evening is guaranteed to be fun or your money back. I want to keep expectations manageable, but it’ll undoubtedly be the best. party. ever. At worst, it should be a good networking opportunity, given that we expect representatives from individual developers, software vendors, open source projects, hardware manufacturers, Web 2.0 firms, Cloud people, and a cast of characters vaguely associated with the technology business. We’ll have marketers and developers sitting at the same tables, dogs and cats living together, and you probably get the picture.
Q: Can I bring a friend/spouse/father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate?
A: Knock yourself out. Our gatherings tend to be 10% shop talk / 90% rambling anyway, so the more the merrier. Plus, it’ll be less than two weeks until baseball by that point, so the whole town knows I’ll be talking about that. Which is why I’m likely to be sitting by myself. Why won’t anyone talk to me?
Q: Will there be schwag?
A: Two words: hell. yes. Not enough for everyone, presumably, but we’ll figure out the most entertaining means of distributing what we bring. I wonder if the House of Shields would let us hook up a karaoke machine…
Q: Should I plan on being at work bright and early the next morning?
A: We’re not, but hey, maybe you’re better than us.
Q: What if I have other questions?
Q: We’ll totally answer them. Just show up.
