Santa Cruz's Digerati all abuzz

In the past three months, I have been networking with a variety of people in Santa Cruz. What has surprised me is the overflowing interest of the local tech community of entreprenuers, designers, academia, and city officials in establishing a much more solid brand and the thriving business ventures around design, innovation and technology for Santa Cruz. The following groups have recently surfaced to support both discussion and action that holds hope for a city known for sending the bulk of its residents over a long and winding road to Silicon Valley for employment, entreprenuership and a great deal of highway stress.

Santa Cruz Design and Innovation Center
(great meeting in January, attended by 350 people and supported from the city redevelopment agency and the university)

Santa Cruz New Technlogy Alliance (presentations last week by genietown, lending club, jaxtr, photocrank)

Santa Cruz Technology Alliance (chamber of commerce sponsored)

Santa Cruz Geeks Dinner (grass roots support from several local firms including quiddities, 12 seconds and Sean Tario)

Technology Incubator (city and university partnership that might yet come to fruition)

CReME (collaborative research mentoring enterprise)


This is by no means an exhaustive list - just what I have run across in these past few weeks. If these groups keep their eye on the ball, they may all realize that each are a post in support of a bigger vision - an independent, thriving community, that maintains its wonderful lifestyle of surf and technology.