So, I finally made it out to one of these meetups. Organized primarily by Brett Petersel, the event was way cool. Just as I expected really. There was probably around 350 people, free drinks, awesome tech talk, and enough IQ to put the MENSA to shame.

Surprisingly, most of the people with whom I spoke were also first-timers. I thought I was going to be the only one.

I intentionally did not bring biz cards as I’m trying to promote some “green-ness.” I tried taking photographs with my phone in the hopes I’d just be able to tag and archive, but need a macro lense. In fact, I’ll probably write about it later.

NextWeb is not like the other meetups. It was more like a concert – I know Webster Hall, duh.

Mostly, the stage was run by folks who we already know, but I want to give some props to a few lesser-knowns: Eyebees and Angelwish.org.

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Angelwish.org

This is a non-profit who has a heart for children infected with HIV. They events

The presentation was really short. So, not much to say about what they talked about, but that it was heart-touching. I’m glad to see there’s more to the tech scene than trying create the next great thing.

(angelwish.org to learn more)

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Eyebees

Essentially, Eyebees project let’s you see every live being on your site at any given time. Which given the real-time stats market, this is nothing new, but they give it a new spin. In the spirit of Web 2.0, these stats are transparent to others using the site as well – with a splash of serendipity.

So, as a participant, you’re able to connect with others who are “buzzing” about a site that you’re on and talk with them about the content they’re looking at.

For instance, say you’re reading an article about a politician, and you see other visitors buzzing about the article and you see them move to another article. You could follow them if it’s to a topic in which you’re interested.

Frankly, I thought it was a little too-cutesy for my clients’ purposes, but I can see some usefulness. I’m going to give a whirl in a day or so and see what it’s all about.

(Eyebees.com for their beta)