I just spent two days at a conference called “I Love APIs” here in San Francisco. I heard a great many speeches on how large organizations are getting their digital groove on.
This is one of the very few conferences in my chosen field I have ever attended. I have an aversion to them that stems largely from my overly sensitive radar for bullshit. Although most of the speeches and break-out sessions were thinly disguised sales pitches for the event sponsors, there was some very good messaging on what it takes to turn any company into a digital company.
But what was fascinating about the trip was some discussions I got into around and after the conference, as well as conversations I overheard while grabbing a bite or while working in a co-op space.
It appears HBO’s “Silicon Valley” has nailed what life is like in the home of so many tech giants. Tech has become the new Hollywood.
Everyone has an app. Everyone is chasing VC money. Everyone is pivoting. Everyone is analyzing big data. Everyone is on the cloud. Everyone is agile. Everyone knows every buzzword and never fails to mention them or drop the name of their buddy at Twitter, Google, or Facebook.
Still, I had to admire the energy. Despite the blatant vapidity, there is an underlying sense of urgency and enthusiasm that is fun.
As for San Francisco, I’ll take Denver or Minneapolis anytime. San Fran is just way too crowded, has way too much traffic, and it’s a very smelly city – and it rarely smells good.
Although I enjoyed the conversations and meeting some new people, I kept coming back to the thought that those who can really do something big are just too busy doing it to spend all day talking about it.
But then again, sometimes it just takes the right conversation with the right people to rock your world radically.
Posted from my iPhone, so ease excuse the auto-correct typos until I can check it from my laptop!