Come To Our "Networking Lunch" (5/1/2007)

Puns. So bad. So good. So irresistible.

In the technology world, version control is a very important subject. All software (and most hardware) has some version number. For example, I am using Microsoft Word version 11.8125.8122, otherwise known as Word 2003. My cell phone software version is u740.ZL05, and it is running Verizon’s Get it Now version 3.1.4. As you are gathering by now, versioning can get a little ugly sometimes, hence the Word 2003 as the "branded" version. As a funny aside, me being the geek I am, when I was a kid I thought the Ford Mustang 5.0 referred to it being the 5th-generation Mustang, and wondered for years when we’d see the 6.0 (I am not kidding, I didn’t know the reality of it until my senior year in high school—is that sad or what?).

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of activity in building new Web sites and services. The barriers of entry to build a Web site with lots of interactivity and hooks into data feeds like Craigslist or Google Maps became extremely low. Anyone can do it now, almost no special training required. When Tim O’Reilly coined the phrase "Web 2.0" during a conference brainstorming session a few years ago, the term stuck (though is debated to this day), reflecting a "second version" of the Web.

These days, Web 2.0 companies appear on the left and right. Some get huge (MySpace, YouTube), some fade away (Odeo), and there are dozens and dozens you’ll never even hear about. Not only are there companies, but there are many "2.0 events", such as SFbeta and New Tech Meetup.  There’s even something called Lunch 2.0, defined as:

a social phenomenon referring to a migration of web 2.0 company employees to other offices around the Silicon Valley area; characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share food and ideas, and "the lunch as a conversation."

NETGEAR has decided to get involved with the Lunch 2.0 organizers, and is hosting an event on May 30 where people can come, see the latest NETGEAR equipment, and network with other entrepreneurs and technologists. This event is open to all Lunch 2.0 members (go to lunch20.com to learn more about joining). The guys from Podtech will be shooting video, so you can even become infamous, just by attending (and infamous, as you know, is more than famous).

A lot of NETGEAR folks will be there for you to meet, and I’ll be there as well. Please mark off the calendar and come join us. Did I mention the food was free?

Jeremy Toeman
Consumer Technology and New Media Expert