“TechLudd did stop before it started as I suggested. What’s there now is entirely different to what was there.”
TechLudd started out, continued to, and ended up being what it was set out ot be; A social event for tech startups. People came to it with hopes of meeting new and interesting people and mission accomplished.

“I was annoyed ***only*** by how crap the messaging was and the fact that it gave the impression it was community led - i.e. people like me, Fergus and Conor were involved when clearly, we were not.”
No one ever suggested people were involved in it that weren’t (dunno where that horseshit came from).

“I’m all for people getting off their ass to do this stuff”. How lovely. Is talking about people like that how you get them to follow your blogs? I must try that one.

“The site, messaging and organisation of it was very very embarrassing to say the least.”
WTF do you care? You left Ireland to find your way in London remember? Last time I checked we didn’t need to call London for the approval of Irish tech meetups. Maybe for Limerick’s event we should phone up Silicon Valley and get the OK?

And the business cards were an interesting twist that no one had ever done before. It’s called “thinking outside the box”. More people should try it. In the end, because of a name change then change back (don’t fix what isn’t broken), the cards weren’t used. Bygones. It was the most successful most attended event, barring a conference, that the Irish tech community has ever seen. Kudos TechLudd organisers!

Hopefully the momentum will continue for the next (un)event in Limerick.

It’s important for me to highlight that I’m all for people getting off their ass to do this stuff. I was annoyed ***only*** by how crap the messaging was and the fact that it gave the impression it was community led - i.e. people like me, Fergus and Conor were involved when clearly, we were not.

The site, messaging and organisation of it was very very embarrassing to say the least.

TechLudd did stop before it started as I suggested. What’s there now is entirely different to what was there. I mean, who on earth prints business cards for this stuff?

No, I was just pissed off by your comment :)

The piece you quoted has a link in it. The link leads to the beginning of a well articulated argument made by fergus burns in the comments section of your post. People can reexamine it if they wish, but the conclusion was:

“At the end of the day the question is - do you want a vibrant community @ web2 in Ireland or do you want a host of little groups doing their own thing.”

This argument prompted a wider discussion in the blogosphere about whether true vibrancy in the ecosystem comes from concentration of effort in a centralised way or from or from a host of little groups doing their own thing.

Of course, this one has echoes of the Great Debates of the ages. There would be echoes of socialism vs capitalism in that one, or intensive farming vs organic farming, interventionist approach vs laissez faire management of wild spaces…

Anyway, glad to report the debate isn’t over. There’s a lot still to be worked out. Let’s hope it continues to get people worked up and that the friction continues to generate plenty of heat and light as we venture forward.

I didn’t say that. Rather than repeat what I said, please refer back to my entire blog post.