Android’s East Coast BBQ…

ALL ROADS LEAD TO RALEIGH…

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If you have not heard the news, we are trying to create an event similar to the Austin, TX Android BBQ for those on the East Coast. This event will likely be called: Android’s East Coast BBQ

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Before I begin, this is in no way shape or form supposed to be anything other than a tribute to Austin and their success. They’ve done a great thing the past 2 years and will continue getting bigger and better. Their “awesomeness” is what inspired us to host an event (that we could afford) on the East Coast. I have reached out to them to seek their help and knowledge.

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Alright, so what should you expect from Android’s East Coast BBQ?

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Great question. I do not know either. I have a great itinerary in place but we are in the early stages. This is the fun time – everything is fresh and all ideas are on the table. After you read what I can release now, I’d love to hear feedback from you guys. Your thoughts… who do you want to attend… what companies do you want here? Can you help organize this?

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Note that this is preliminary and I am not releasing all details. There will be surprises.

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Saturday we will meet at a local restaurant and brewery in downtown Raleigh. They have a separate upstairs area with several rooms. We will have many companies, app developers, Android developers and themers all talking about what they are doing for Android and where they think we are heading. We will spend a lot of time drinking beer, socializing and learning (perhaps in that order). We will have some special events/contests at this time and hopefully some sponsors can throw out some freebies.

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Saturday evening we will either have a bar crawl on Glenwood South in downtown Raleigh. This area is littered with great bars and attractive people. We will flood it with Android geeks getting their drink on and take over every bar we enter. If the bar crawl does not happen, there has been talks of a themed party. There are tons of great locations for this type of event in Raleigh.

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Sunday we will be meeting for lunch in one of Downtown Raleigh’s greatest parks. It is beautiful here. We will serve NC BBQ (the best BBQ you’ve ever had – this is a very strong topic in these parts). We hope to have some form of music, likely NC bluegrass (acoustic) to stick with the NC theme. This time will be for socializing and talking about the previous day. All developer sessions will be on Saturday. There may be other plans in the works to add on here.

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I have reached out to local friends to help design the site for this event – their company will likely be a sponsor. I have reached out to a local organization for help with bluegrass music. I have reached out to a local BBQ restaurant to help us out. I’ve been reaching out to several local companies to assist us as well (Raleigh has MANY providers, manufacturers, app companies, etc here… incuding HTC, Swype, Verizon, etc). This is still a big work in progress as we are not even certain what our needs are… we just know an event for Android fans will be better when the major players are there to interact with us. We need to figure out how we are going to tackle this. I will say, in one day I was able to make huge strides with some big companies…. they want to meet you guys.

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The event will likely be around May so those who are in college will hopefully be done with classes. This time does not seem to interfere with other Android events. It is also an INCREDIBLE time to enjoy NC weather.

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I love my city. There are tons of incredible tech companies here. We are the Silicon Valley of the East Coast and we are loaded up with genuine and caring people (South baby!). I know you guys will leave here impressed by Raleigh. It is vibrant and beautiful with a great night life. All that is missing are all of my Android friends. Come join me.

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Now, I have been VERY active planning this on the preliminary level. In the near future I will be handing over the planning to Android Syndicate (their site). You may want to start following them on Twitter too (@acsyndicate). These guys were the ones who had the initial idea to have an East Coast gathering – I just lobbied that Raleigh would be ideal and wanted to get the ball rolling to make it as easy as possible for them.

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We will be releasing a LOT more information when we can. For now… I need your suggestions. Feedback on pricing, ideas for events, contests, who should be here (companies and developers/themers)… ANYTHING IS OPEN TO CONSIDERATION.

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THIS IS YOUR EVENT…. MAKE IT BETTER!!!

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Let us know what YOU want.

Posted by s15274n here: http://callip.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/android%E2%80%99s-east-coast-bbq/

I'm spreading the word as I will be there! I definitely hope you all will be there as well!

Tentative date right now is May 12th.