4 posts tagged “meetup”

According to Google, more than 250 people showed up. People I have met liked it, and it certainly looked good in pictures.

Incidentally, I also was shown an interesting Vietnamese knockoff of Facebook's website, "faceViet".

faceViet screenshot 2007-11-27.gif

Compare the name to the following extract from the real thing.

global_1696600.jpeg

I try to keep my Facebook Application Development Meetups happening on a regular basis, even when I am out of Silicon Valley.  About a week ago, I was discussing with some members about where we could hold a meeting this month. We had our last and largest one at AOL. Now that attendance was expected to be 80 or even more than a hundred, free venues were getting harder to find. Places like Spock, who had hosted past meetups were now too small.  We could ask AOL again. Microsoft was an option, but I was told one had to have a good reference from someone there, and even then it took several weeks to make things happen. With Google's announcement of a competing OpenSocial social network platform, one member pointed out that Google was one of the places we now could no longer consider for holding a Facebook meeting.

Or was it!? It struck me later that Google was the perfect place to hold a meeting about Facebook application development because OpenSocial was perceived as a competing platform.  Every Facebook developer was keenly interested in learning about the implications of OpenSocial, and how readily they could develop for this new platform.  Many wonder if they should adjust their social network application development strategy: perhaps they should switch platforms, or develop for both.  At the same time Google should see the audience of existing and prospective Facebook developers as an ideal target for educating about OpenSocial.

Put this way, Google seemed the best target location for our next meeting. And folks at Google agreed and were very helpful and enthusiastic.  They have provided us with space for 125 people, food, and an expert on OpenSocial to present on the subject.  Sudha Jamthe a member and blogger who MC'd the AOL meetup worked with Dave McClure, a particularly prominent social network blogger (500hats) who will be Master of Ceremonies at the Google meetup.

So there you have it: a very cool meetup at Google on Monday November 19th at 6:30pm. You should go if you are in town.  To learn more about the location, agenda, and members, see the meetup page or the Facebook event page or the parent Facebook Application Development group.