SxSWi and Tucson

I'm going to try something here, in the spirit of what I learned and observed at SxSWi2011: a series of conversations here in Tucson where the library brings together area nonprofits, small business, residents, futurists, programmers, and other tech types, and we learn and discuss new ideas of benefit to all of us. Initially I had called this "Tucson Talks." but it was recently renamed "Catalyst Café." I plan to have these talks at various Pima County Public Libraries, and to start the series in January of 2012.

Last May I organized a panel of Tucsonans who had attended SxSWi with the idea that we would be reporting back to Tucson about what we learned. The audience was a small but powerful mix of software entrepreneurs, news media, librarians, social media managers, and other tech-type folk. Although the panel ended at 10:00, the room that morning was buzzing for another hour with people excited to hear about each other's projects and make connections they hadn't expected to make. Dare I say it was magical? It was.

So. Could this happen again? I hope so. Please subscribe to either this blog, our Facebook, or our Twitter account for more news about this experiment. And wish us luck please? This could be very cool.