Wednesday, October 22, 2003


In addition to the Governor's speech, the Georgia Technology Celebration had a pair of panel discussions titled "Lessons Learned" and "Where do we go from here?".

The first panel had many prominent names from the first generation of Georgia technology entrepreneurs: Dennis Hayes (of modem fame), Glen Robinson (Scientific Atlanta founder), et al. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of response to the first question from the moderator, which was something like "If you could go back and do it again, what would you do differently?". This is a question that anyone who has been around and has any ability to introspect should be able to expound upon at length. I'm not sure what held people back, but it seemed very odd to me.

The highlight of this discussion was arguably Charles Brewer (founder of MindSpring) doing his rendition of "Bye, Bye High Technology Pie" (to the tune of Don McLean's "American Pie" [iTMS]). I thought Charles did a credible job both singing and playing guitar--though, as another panelist noted, getting out when the NASDAQ was at 5000 might have given him more time for practice than most. Not surprisingly given his current project, Charles really hammered on improving the quality of life in Atlanta as a way to improve the technology business here. I think he is dead on, and I was disappointed that his points didn't seem to get much play.
comment []  trackback []  5:39:10 PM    


Yesterday I attended the Georgia Technology Celebration. The high point of the event was Governor Perdue's announcement of a nanotechnology research center at Georgia Tech. The center is being launched as the result of a $36M grant from an anonymous donor. Governor Perdue said that he would be asking the legislature for matching funds.
comment []  trackback []  4:33:08 PM