So last night I was running around town hitting a few tech events, which are becoming more plentiful than concerts — and that’s saying a lot, considering that thousands of kids flocked to Los Angeles over the decades, lured by the promise of a life crafted by the likes of The Beach Boys, The Doors, Crosby Stills & Nash, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Guns n Roses, Jane’s Addiction, NWA, Snoop & Dre, Tupac, Bad Religion, the Chili Peppers, and yes, even Sublime.
On any given night you could go out, hit a club, and feel like you’re part of a scene. These days there are still a ton of shows to hit, but it doesn’t feel so much like the cohesive community it once was. Maybe it’s a plethora of choices and genres, maybe it’s the sheer size of the city, maybe it’s just a tribal / age thing.
But what is happening these days in co-working spaces, college campuses, nightclubs, and community centers, is that Angelenos are talking tech, and that’s pretty damn exciting.
If I were in high school or college, I would be going to every single one of these events, sitting in the front row, digital resume in hand, looking to work or intern for one of any number of speakers that grace these makeshift stages.
Just last night alone, Derek Smith of Talk LA hosted an event at a renovated movie theater in Inglewood — Inglewood! — that had executives and founders from CAA, Upfront Ventures, Mirror Media, and Omnicom, amongst many others, just sitting on stage telling their stories, inspiring others, and totally open to chatting afterwards.
Sheila Marmon of @mirrordigital & Chris Denson @densonology of @OMD_USA talk future of advertising pic.twitter.com/JIhWuAUsBI
— LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) January 15, 2015
Hop across town back to Santa Monica, and General Assembly was hosting a gathering with top video creators, while the founder of StyleHaul was hosting a fireside chat for a select group of maybe 50 women in tech!
.@DigitalLA Brand Bldg @michael_kass @VictorRSolis @mitcheldumlao @mudywaters Justin Massion @ga_la pic.twitter.com/3ylFgqpRFZ
— LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) January 15, 2015
It’s a packed house filled w/#Women #Entrepreneurs at @41OceanClub Now for @TheStilettoGal’s Event w/@StyleHaulSteph! pic.twitter.com/VBVDKlxe9Y
— Jason Okuma (@JasonOkuma) January 15, 2015
Go through the events calendar (link) and there are more salons, meetups, talks, parties (although Minecraft founder Notch’s party was a wee bit over the top (link)) than ever before, and for good reason — LA is red-hot.
I mean, seriously — this town is going through a massive boom phase, as co-working centers are popping up on the west side, the east side, from the Valley to Orange County to all points in between. Area colleges are pumping out prime candidates to start their own businesses or work at any number of startups. Big players from out of town have set up LA offices or are building massive offices, whether it be Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Oracle, and more. Local startups like SnapChat, Tinder, DogVacay, Fullscreen, Scopely, are blowing up, and looking to beef up their staffs. And traditional cornerstones like Symantec, SpaceX, biotech, defense, and entertainment businesses that are constantly hiring.
And if you are looking for a job, may I suggest two job fairs next week:
Join 25+ top #techLA #startups at @GetUncubed 1/30, save 25% w/ code TECHDIGEST http://t.co/UU8KYDVcLj pic.twitter.com/h7fEaNozjm
— LATech Digest (@LATechDigest) January 15, 2015
Want a great job in #SantaMonica #Venice aka #siliconbeach? Check out jobs panel on Jan. 31st: http://t.co/IYEj87L9na pic.twitter.com/MW7uXxCcNT
— TechJobsLA (@techjobslafair) January 13, 2015
When I was growing up in little old Birmingham Alabama, I interned at a Top 40 radio station and put up posters for the local concert programming committee. Little did I know then that the people I would work with would go on to do much bigger things — morning deejays Mark & Brian ran off to LA to host the KLOS morning show for over 20 years; one MD went on to be a VP at VH1, broke Chris Isaac, discovered Chumbawamba and Ryan Seacrest (my apologies), and is now a talent coach on The Voice; another programs San Diego’s top station; the concert programming committee head went on to manage Train (again, my apologies), and a high school bud still manages the Neville Brothers. Even crazier is that the guy who owned the local CD store went on to manage Lenny Kravitz and Soundgarden.
All this out of little ol’ Birmingham Alabama…
Now imagine if you are just starting your career in Los Angeles, a town flush with companies that are securing millions of dollars in Venture Capital on a daily basis. Run by people that are being recognized by national publications, such as Forbes’s 30 under 30 (link), in a town with a Mayor who is making tech job growth his #1 priority (link).
The possibilities are limitless, the growth potential is massive, and it’s all here for the taking, you just have to know where to look.
And for those of you that still need their rock, we have the world’s #1 music festival (Coachella) + no less than a dozen local & touring acts playing around town during any given night.
