Nashville Technology Council

Is Nashville’s Tech scene cool enough for the next generation?

This was interesting question posed to me recently.  My gut reaction was “probably not”.  However, after I spent more time thinking about the question, I began to change my mind.  Let me share with you my thought processes.

The following are reasons why I initially questioned if we are cool enough for the next generation of technologist:

1. We have a lot of healthcare technology that drives the market.  I have long said that healthcare is about five years behind banking, which is five years behind the rest of the world.  Some parts of healthcare are just not sexy from an IT standpoint.
2. We do a lot of transactions through Nashville.  Not very sexy, but highly profitable.
3. We have a lot of non-tech industries headquartered here including publishing, tires, religion, restaurants, and baking.

So what turned my thinking around?  I came up a list of reasons why I do think we are cool enough to attract the next generation of technologist.

1. Where there is music, there is a creative vibe.  Think Austin and Seattle.  Technology and Music have always blended well together and Nashville is no exception.  We are afterall, Music City.
2. In the area of healthcare, we have some amazing startup companies trying to transform healthcare through transparency and eHealth.  In addition, our local hospital systems should be the beneficiaries of Stimulus Money in 2-3 years.  The new tools being built are using open architecture to manage a crazy amount of data.  We are the Silicon Valley of Healthcare.
3. Even in publishing, bakeries, and manufacturing, technology is rampant.  The point of sale systems in restaurants are crazy smart at inventory management, dashboarding sales, and maintaining personnel shifts.
4. Our Barcamps, Podcamps, and Startup Weekend have all been wildly successful.  They didn’t get the main stream media they deserved, but the tech community nationwide took notice.
5. We have some serious social media mavens that have significant followers all across the US.
6. We have a growing segment in web design, architecture, and LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP).
7. We have a growing list of startups including Moontoast, GPS Assassins, Credence Health, and others…

As you can see, when you look at our positive attributes, it is easy to see why we are already cool – Check out Techville.  Still don’t believe me, show up at TechNashville on Thursday, May 21, 2009 at the Franklin Marriott in Cool Springs.