Getting ready to get ready to head out to the EntConnect entrepreneurs conference on Thursday

Yikes!!! The EntConnect 2009 entrepreneurs conference almost here. It starts on Thursday, less than two days from now.

I personally won't be participating in the skiing portion of the pre-conference activities on Thursday, but I will be flying out from New York City on Thursday afternoon, arriving at the conference hotel roughly in time for drinks and dinner. My flight from Newark arrives at 4:18 p.m. If I catch the 4:43 p.m. RTD skyRide AF bus to the Cold Spring Park-n-Ride, which is a block from the conference hotel, arriving about 6:12 p.m. But if I miss that bus due to hassles at the terminal, I'll catch the 5:45 p.m. bus that arrives at Cold Spring at 7:17 p.m. With the latter I could miss any informal dinner gathering, but I'll catch up with the gang after dinner in the hotel lounge.

I'll also be skipping any Friday daytime activities to head up to Boulder for the day. I will be back to the hotel in time for drinks and the traditional Friday evening conference "feast." In the morning I'll catch the RTD GS bus at 8:05 a.m. (or 9:04 a.m.) to arrive in Boulder at 9:01 a.m. (or 10:00 a.m.). In the afternoon I'll catch the GS bus at 3:36 p.m. (or 4:36 p.m.) to arrive back at Cold Spring at 4:39 p.m. (or 5:39 p.m.).

I'll also be spending Sunday evening up in Boulder (and maybe eating dinner at Laudisio!) before heading to my Flight back to the New York area on Monday afternoon.

Whether you are an entrepreneur or thinking about starting your own business or simply need a good excuse to go skiing in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Entrepreneurial Connections conference (EntConnect) may be just the conference you have been waiting for. Targeted primarily at engineers (hardware, software, and other) and others with a strong technical interest, it is more of a loosely-structured "unconference", with plenty of opportunities for a relatively small group of participants (15 to 40) to network or even give their own presentations on a very wide range of topics from technology, business strategy, intellectual property and legal issues, accounting issues, finance, marketing, sales, and even selling your business. With plenty of time to ski or otherwise enjoy the mountains and Denver area (great time to visit Boulder or Colorado Springs as well), the conference is a great opportunity to "learn and share" and otherwise have an "out of box" experience. Participants and speakers range over the full spectrum from wannabes and newcomers to successful young entrepreneurs and seasoned veterans. The conference is an excellent opportunity to meet up with former readers (and possibly even the publisher) of Midnight Engineering magazine as well.

Visit the official conference Web site, EntConnect.org.

I have been attending the conference since it first started in 1992 as ME SKI '92 and then evolved into ENTCON and then Entrepreneurial Connections or EntConnect.

For a little nostalgia, check out the original ME SKI '92 conference announcement.

-- Jack Krupansky