Diversity & Inclusion

4 ways to make the next #dctech town hall even better

We should be talking about how to make the D.C. startup scene stronger. Here are some ideas to kickstart the conversation.

At Tuesday's event. (Photo by Tajha Chappellet-Lanier)

A startup town hall aimed at discussing how to improve the D.C. tech ecosystem is a really, really good idea.
Brandon T. Luong and DMV Startup hosted such an event at WeWork Wonder Bread on Tuesday night, hoping to get the D.C. tech community talking to and about itself. There was some good feedback that came out of Tuesday’s event (more Startup Weekends, please!), but overall the evening could have used more structure. While the organizers deserve a big shoutout for getting the ball rolling, the conversation is far from over.
Here are some ideas on how to foster this important conversation at a future meetup:

  1. Start with introductions. Break the ice! It is likely that some attendees will know each other, but others might be new to the scene. All attendees need to feel comfortable before you can get into the real creative collaboration of the evening.
  2. Invite “influencers” to speak to a particular need or topic. Want to talk about how to improve diversity in the D.C. tech ecosystem? Invite, for example, the current leader of Women Who Code DC to talk about what that community is missing.
  3. Come prepared with specific discussion topics. Really try to get into the meat of an issue with this one, no buzzwords allowed. This is, admittedly, a bigger ask for the organizers.
  4. Create group activities/role-play situations. Divide the crowd into small groups and get them working. Give each group a specific scenario — for example: You founded startup X, and you’re in stage Y. What do you need to move on to the next stage? Do you know how you’d go about making that happen in D.C.? If not, this could be a great issue for a larger discussion.

Got other ideas? At us: @TechnicallyDC. Or: Leave a comment.
We’re excited for D.C.’s next startup town hall. We’ll see you there.

Companies: Women Who Code DC / WeWork

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

After the election, go to Thanksgiving dinner anyway

How 4 orgs give back to their local tech community

Hispanic tech workers more than double representation in key US cities

Dem tech policy advisor beats fellow tech pro in US House election to rep Virginia’s Data Center Alley

Technically Media