One of my Lending Club investment loans repaid in full early

One of the downsides of investing in any loan is that the borrower might decide to pay off the entire loan much earlier that the end of the term. Then you, the investor, are "stuck" with a pile of cash to reinvest. (Life can be tough sometimes.) One of my Lending Club investment loans was just repaid in full after just eight months. I will simply turn around and reinvest the money in a new investment loan, probably at a somewhat higher rate of interest. Unfortunately, the remaining principal (my slice, that is) was less than the minimum loan amount, so I must wait a week or so until I have enough interest flow in from other loans to make a minimum loan investment.

Coincidently, my Net Annualized Return dropped to 14.37%, which is not shabby, but moved in the opposite direction of my goal.

The repaid loan was at 12.21% interest. I'll target 16.5% interest for the new loan to try to boost my return closer to my 15% goal.

This is one of the annoying "housekeeping" chores of investing in loans, but I suppose I should be gratful that this surprise was "paid in full" rather than a delinquency.

-- Jack Krupansky

Latest Lending Club investment loan fully funded and issued

Wow, that was fast. Less than twelve hours after I placed my order for a small slice of a new investment loan with Lending Club, the loan went from 74% funded to fully funded. Shortly after 6:00 a.m. I got the status email that informed me that the loan was fully funded and issued.

I am now invested in a portfolio of 31 consumer loans.

-- Jack Krupansky

Reinvested Lending Club cashflow in another investment loan

It has only been a few weeks since my last Lending Club investment, but already I have received enough interest and principal repayment from my portfolio of Lending Club investment loans to invest in another loan. My current Net Annualized Return is still only 14.55%, below my goal of 15%, so I picked a pre-approved loan at 16.48% that is already 74% funded with more than half of the funding period remaining. I expect that this loan is likely to reach full funding within a couple of days.

Lending Club says that the historical default rate for loans such as this one is about 3.9%, so that my expected return is about 11.83%. In truth, my goal of 15% should factor in a default rate of about 3.5% or so, giving an expected return of about 11.5%. That is still quite respectable, especially in this economic and financial environment.

I thought of holding off on this investment until I had twice as much cash flow to make a larger investment, but I decided to just get it out of the way. Since I more than doubled my portfolio a couple of weeks ago, I expect that next month I will start seeing enough cashflow to support a larger reinvestment every month or so.

Come April, I am still expecting that I will double the size of my investment portfolio again.

-- Jack Krupansky

The EntConnect conference - maintaining relevance, uniqueness, and distinction

A recent commenter asks how the EntConnect conference is maintaining its "relevance" given the low barrier to entry for technology business, the disappearance of the Midnight Engineering magazine, and what the conference offers that is in any way unique or distinct.

All of the commenter's points are 100% valid, but, frankly, irrelevant to the conference since the conference has always had a life of its own separate from the magazine. The conference is not a magazine or run like a magazine or dependent on a magazine, or any other form of "old media." Magazines have their limits, as even the most successful old media firms can attest these days. But... the conference is not about magazines or the magazine business model.

Sure, the original conference (MESKI in 1992) was a direct spin-off from the magazine, but ever since then the conference has really always had a life of its own independent of the magazine. Originally, the conference was billed as "the magazine, but in real-time." In other words, the conference is not so much about long-winded presentations, but short presentations, lots of time for lively question and answer interactions, and lots of what we now call "networking". The fact that the conference really is separate from the magazine is born out by the continuation of the conference long after the magazine ceased publication. So, the magazine definitely gave the conference its start and flavor, but, frankly, the magazine is no longer "relevant" to the conference itself or the value that the conference delivers.

Personally, I would have expect the conference to have died long ago due to the tremendous wealth of information that is so readily accessible on the Web today as well as the diverse tools for social interaction on the Web and Internet. Maybe the attendance for the conference is down significantly due to that one fact alone, but somehow all of that information has not managed to kill the conference even after all of these years. The value of the conference is born out by the fact that people still attend even in the face of "The Internet Tidal Wave."

Even with all of that information out there and all of those fancy interaction and social networking tools, people still have an insatiable demand for face-to-face interaction, as witnessed by the popularity of Meetup groups just about everywhere for just about every topic, including Meetups for technical entrepreneurs. Still, people come to EntConnect.

There are many esteemed (and big-ticket) conferences that overlap with EntConnect as well. Still, people come to EntConnect.

Even with the ubiquity of all of the information and all of those conferences and meetups, still EntConnect has its appeal.

In recent years "unconferences", "bar camps", "open space technology", and a variety of other alternatives to traditional conferences have popped up as well, but, somehow, EntConnect still has its appeal.

As I started to write this I was going to sidestep the question of uniqueness and distinction, but the simple fact is that EntConnect is unique and distinct. Meetups are typically too brief for any in-depth, hard-core technical networking. A meetup is like a meeting or informal get-together, while EntConnect is more like a retreat. The big conferences are still too big for most of us to feel comfortable diving in for hard-core networking. Unconferences, et al are way too unstructured for most people to feel that they are getting more value than they put into them. Somehow, EntConnect balances all of that and offers just enough structure to deliver hard-core value and plenty of interaction and networking opportunities that, well, "just work" for technical entrepreneurs.

Sure, attendance has fallen off since the peak (maybe 120 or so), which didn't have the greatest "feel" anyway. In recent years the group has been in the 15 to 40 range. Frankly, that in itself is significant advantage. Anything smaller would just be too small to have a critical mass and anything much bigger would be too impersonal for intensive hard-core networking.

Current barrier to entry nearly zero for a technology business? Of course! That was the whole premise of the term "Midnight Engineering" or my preferred term of "on a shoestring budget." If the low barrier is even lower now, it only increases the relevance of the core concepts behind both the magazine and the conference. Besides, the barrier for most people is somewhat above zero, so discussions about coping with non-zero barriers are certainly quite relevant.

It is interesting that even as the magazine and old media business models are considered archaic, the subscription or monthly service model has certainly staged a resurgence in Web-based services. Even if "basic" service is "free", everybody is seeking to offer "premium" and "super-premium" services for a fee or higher fee. The conference does not depend on any of this, at present, but it is interesting that not 100% of "old media" concepts are implicitly irrelevant here in the 21st Century, and potentially useful "technology" for midnight engineers.

Another factor that works in favor of the success of the conference is that it combines both hardware and software, and technology and business. Normally, each of these distinct domains is kept distinct in a hierarchical world, but in truth, each of these groups succeeds because of synergy with the others. It has been our experience that each group is curious about the others. That makes for a very appetizing combination. It also helps people improve communications skills, being able to communicate with people who do not know all of your jargon.

Another distinctive feature of the conference is that despite its hard-core technology focus, it has plenty of room for attendance and participation by a wide range of individuals with divergent interests. Technology is not used to gate participation, but it is what draws the group together, that and the focus on the entrepreneurial spirit. The lack of a narrow "focus" may be a limiting factor that prevents the conference from becoming a "big" conference, but it is clearly a key factor that gives the conference its appeal and staying power. Flexibility and adaptability are key survival traits.

The bottom line is that despite the wide range of information and interaction opportunities available on the Web and Internet and meet-ups and conferences (traditional and beyond), EntConnect continues to deliver a combination deal that has distinctive appeal. Maybe not to everybody, but to enough people to justify its ongoing existence.

FWIW, this will be the 19th year for the conference, 1992 to 2010. That means next year will be the 20th anniversary for the conference. Not too shabby in an industry notable for exponential change and rapid extinction of "dying models."

-- Jack Krupansky

Jeff Duntemann to be at EntConnect 2010

It is now official - Jeff Duntemann, former publisher of PC Techniques and Visual Developer Magazine, book author, and all-around interesting guy (and blogger) will be at the EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference in Denver next month. Read Jeff's writeup. He'll be giving a talk on Printing On Demand, but I am sure he will be engaging us in discussions of a wide range of topics.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 20-second elevator pitch for the conference:

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. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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

How is Net Annualized Return calculated for Lending Club?

Lending Club uses a rather sophisticated formula for calculating Net Annualized Return for an investor's portfolio of loans. It has some complexity to it that is not easy to explain, but the basic answer is that you need to keep reinvesting to keep your net annualized return up. Otherwise, you quickly accumulate cash that earns no interest.

Put another way, the borrower only pays interest on the principal remaining, so as the principal remaining declines over the 3-year term, the interest paid each month declines as the amount of principal repaid on the loan rises rises each month.

Basically, the Net Annualized Return calculation is based on the principal REMAINING at the start of the period (month), which excludes any principle repaid in prior months.

Another way of thinking about it is that it is the mirror image of compound interest, but in a negative direction rather than a positive direction. But it is only negative if you fail to reinvest in a timely manner. That does not mean you need to reinvest every single month, but I would advise reinvesting at least quarterly. It is mostly a matter of how much attention you want to give your account.

Another way to look at monthly principal repayment (and interest) is simply as cash flow. Sure, you can invest or reinvest that cash flow, but you may also have other uses for it such as spending it for expenses or other purchases. For example, if you are wealthy or retired, you could invest the money you need to live over the next three years and then simply "clip coupons" and live off the monthly cash flow.

Either way, Lending Club offers you flexibility with strong cash flow, either to use it as cash or reinvest for compounded returns.

-- Jack Krupansky

Latest Lending Club loan payments completed in four business days

Just to confirm  something I said in my previous blog post on how long it takes for borrower payments on Lending Club loans to be credited to the investor's Lending Club account, I just checked again and my most recent two payments have completely posted as "Completed" sometime this afternoon or earlier this evening, exactly four business days after the payments were due from the borrowers -- due on the 10th, completed on the 17th, with an intervening weekend and a holiday.

My Net Annualized Return inched up to 14.49%.

-- Jack Krupansky

How long does it take for a Lending Club loan payment to get credited to my account?

Someone writes wondering how long it takes for borrower payments on Lending Club loans to be credited to the investor's Lending Club account. Short answer: four business days, and then allow another business day for the account display to update reflecting the credit.

So, for example, one of my loans had a payment due date of 2/9/2010. I see that payment today (17th) and its completion was dated yesterday (16th.) Note that Monday was a holiday. So the four business days from the due date of the 9th were the 10th, 11th, 12th, skip the weekend and Monday, and the 16th. I did not see that payment earlier yesterday (the 16th), but I probably would have seen it later in the evening on the 16th. In fact, I now see that payment in my account.

I had two other payments due on 2/10/2010. Adding four business days (and skipping the weekend and Monday holiday) puts the completion date on the 17th, which is today, with the four business days being the 11th, 12th, 16th, and 17th. Right now, the Lending Club screen still says "Processing", but sometime this evening or overnight processing will complete and tomorrow morning (18th) I will see that credt in my account and the screen will say "Completed" with today's date (17th.) There may have been a couple of times where an extra day was needed, but I have gotten into the (good) habit of not watching this stuff on a daily basis, so other than checking today to answer this question, I normally would not notice or care.

Lending Club automatically debits loan payments from the borrowers bank account using what is called an ACH debit. ACH stands for Automated Clearinghouse and is an electronic funds transfer system that permits companies to debit and credit customer bank accounts. Although electronic transactions theoretically happen virtually instantly, the ACH system is a batch system where each payment in the batch has a settlement date. ACH debits occur at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and credits occur at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Direct deposit of paychecks is an example of an ACH credit. Some banks may in fact process credits and debits much earlier than the 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. deadlines.

One part I am a little fuzzy on is that there is some sort of grace period during which the debited bank (known as a receiving depository financial institution or RDFI, the borrower's bank) may decide to cancel the transaction and take the debit money back from the debiting bank (the bank issuing the debit order, known as the originating depository financial institution or ODFI, Lending Club's bank.) I vaguely recall three days as the grace period, but I could be mistaken or it could have changed. Fraudulent ACH debits are a prime reason for a holding period. In short, Lending Club gets the money quickly, but they need to wait a short period to assure that the money will not be yanked back.

Although it may be tempting to assume that ACH transfers happen instantaneously or at least overnight, the biggest benefit to Lending Club investors is the certainty that payments can be debited on a reliable basis.

Note: Loan payments are credited to your Lending Club account, not you bank account. This money is then available for re-investment in new loans, or you can separately initiated a transfer to your own bank account (an ACH credit to your bank account.)

-- Jack Krupansky

All of my recent Lending Club investment loans have been issued

Two more of my recent investment loans with Lending Club reached full funding and were issued on Monday, and then overnight the remaining one of the batch of twelve was issued. All twelve have been issued. That is the best of have done since I started using Lending Club last June. Usually, there are a couple which run into some sort of trouble, such as failure to get the paperwork in order for income verification. This time, I chose only loans that had already been "Approved."

My current Net Annualized Return with Lending Club is 14.45%, but that is before the latest batch of loan notes begins to make payments. My target is to be in the 15% to 15.5% range, which is where I perceive the "sweet spot" to be between too-conservative and maybe a little too-risky. To-date, I have had zero delinquencies, zero missed payments, zero late payments.

All Lending Club loans are for three years, with thirty six monthly payments which are made automatically via ACH transfer from the borrower's bank account. These are primarily consumer loans, but some are for people starting small businesses. Personally, I stick with the pure-consumer loans - starting new businesses is a very risky proposition, more risky than justified by a 15% return, in my opinion.

I am still treating my "investment" in Lending Club loans as an experiment, and a very small experiment at that. It is a form of investing with which I have no previous experience. To-date, my experiences with Lending Club have been entirely positive, but I need to experience a longer portion of the full lending cycle, not to mention the risks inherent in this shaky economy. That said, I intend to increase the size of my experiment in the coming months. My next milestone will be the see each of the latest batch of loans make their initial payments by about a month from now. At that point I may consider doubling the size of my experiment again, depending on my own outlook for work in April.

-- Jack Krupansky

Made my travel arrangements for the EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections Conference in Colorado

With just six weeks to go, I just finished making my travel arrangements to attend the annual Entrepreneurial Connections (EntConnect) conference, from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Monday, March 29, 2010. I'll be flying out from New York City (well, Newark)Thursday morning and returning from Denver early Monday afternoon. I'll be staying at the conference hotel, the Crowne Plaza Downtown Denver, which is actually in downtown Denver. I got a $259 airfare on Continental (I think it was actually a $49 fare with $210 in taxes and fees.) I'll probably spend Friday up in Boulder, and maybe Sunday evening as well. The conference rate at the hotel is $89, plus 14.85% tax, which works out to $102 a night.

Traditionally the conference consists primarily of a reunion of former readers of Midnight Engineering magazine (as well as the former publisher of the magazine) and a few newbies who have gotten suckered into trying it out, but each year we try to figure out new ways to attract fresh blood. Check out the conference Web page for an idea of what the conference was like last year. Hopefully the page will be updated very soon for the details for this year.

Here is my traditional 30-second elevator pitch blurb for the converence:

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. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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.

Oh, and please feel free to join the Midnight Engineers Yahoo discussion forum.

-- Jack Krupansky

Two more of my recent Lending Club investment loans have been issued

In the past twenty four hours, two more of my recent investment loans with Lending Club have reached full funding and been issued. That make seven out of twelve in the batch, leaving five remaining to be fully funded. One is already at 74% funding. The rest are only at roughly 54% to 65% funding with about four to seven days left to be funded. That is actually okay and par for the course - I've gotten spoiled by the minority of loans which get funded very rapidly. After all, it has been less than a week since I placed orders for the batch. The only one I am a little worried about is at 58% with only four days left for funding, but even that one is probably okay.

All of the consumer loans in this batch have already been approved, with income verification, so that they will be issued as soon as they reach full funding (and the borrower provides a verified bank account for ACH transfers for payments.)

All Lending Club loans are for three years, with thirty six monthly payments which are made automatically via ACH transfer from the borrower's bank account.

-- Jack Krupansky

Three more of my recent Lending Club investment loans have been issued

In the past few days three more of my recent investment loans with Lending Club have reached full funding and been issued. That make five out of twelve in the batch, leaving seven remaining to be fully funded. One is already at 94% funding. Unfortunately, the rest are only at roughly 44% to 68% funding with about five to eight days left to be funded. That is actually okay and par for the course - I've gotten spoiled by the minority of loans which get funded very rapidly. After all, it has been less than a week since I placed orders for the batch.

All of the consumer loans in this batch have already been approved, with income verification, so that they will be issued as soon as they reach full funding (and the borrower provides a verified bank account for ACH transfers for payments.)

All Lending Club loans are for three years, with thirty six monthly payments which are made automatically via ACH transfer from the borrower's bank account.

-- Jack Krupansky

Invested in three more loans with Lending Club

I just selected three more investments in consumer loans with Lending Club to finish deploying the fresh cash that I transferred to Lending Club just under a week ago. I made nine investments yesterday, so this brings my latest batch up to an even dozen investments. The average interest rate for these three is 17.81%. That is a bit high and a little riskier, but my overall average rate will be around 15%, which is reasonably conservative.

Two of the loans I invested in yesterday have already reached 100% funding and have already been issued since they had previously been approved in terms of income verification. All of my remaining "In Funding" investments have already gotten income verification approval, so I just need to wait for the loans to reach 100% funding by investors.

-- Jack Krupansky

Invested in another batch of loans with Lending Club

I just completed some work for a client and will be off (at their request) for the next two months before restarting work in April. But since I do in fact have a tentative commitment for work in April, I finally feel comfortable with expanding my very modest experiment with investing in consumer loans with Lending Club. Saturday I initiated a transfer of some cash from my Fidelity account to my Lending Club account. Nominally, the transfer is supposed to complete in five business days. I just got an email confirmation from Lending Club for the completion of the transfer and that the money was ready to invest. I more than doubled my previous investment balance to about 250% of the prior balance. This is still a rather modest experiment and now only barely enough to show up at the very bottom of my overall investing radar. If all goes well, in two months I'll double it again, but it would still be a very modest investment.

I also decided to double the size of my individual loan investments from $25 to $50. I almost went right for $100, but decided to continue being conservative. I could have stayed with $25 "tranches", but with the larger amount of money that would have meant a lot more loans, which means a lot more due diligence, or a lot more risk of making a bad or risky investment.

I actually only invested three-quarters of the fresh cash. That worked out to nine new loans. Honestly, I was tired after all of that intense focusing on which loans seemed attractive and which loans seemed unattractive or too risky. My target was for a 15% rate of return. I screened the available returns for that rate and after a pass through the notes I had nine hits. I could have gone with a lower rate of return and found another three loans, but I decided that there was no harm with simply waiting a couple of days and taking a crack at some fresh loans. Investment rule #1: Whenever you are reaching for higher return, try to be conservative whenever the opportunity presents itself.

One of the reasons I came up short on my target of number of loans was that I personally only consider loans that have already been fully approved with full income verification. A lot of loans are still "under review", which is not bad per se, but it runs the risk that the loan may ultimately be denied if the borrower fails to come up with the required income verification by the two-week deadline. If that happens, your investment order gets kicked out and you have to start over. By selecting only approved loans, I eliminate that uncertainty and extra work. And, it just feels better that the borrower has been so diligent with getting all of the paperwork taken care of in a prompt manner.

My new batch of loans has an average interest rate of 15.42%, which is a little higher than the current rate for my full portfolio of 14.26%. I am trying to nudge my rate up to about 15%, which seems to be about the sweet spot, balancing higher return and higher risk of default.

Some of the new loans still have another 12 days (about of 14 days) left in their funding period, so I might have to wait almost two weeks before my investment orders are fully accepted or get rejected. A bunch of them had only 7 days or less left. In any case, since they all have approval already, they will be "issued" as soon as they reach 100% funding.

I have been experimenting with Lending Club since June 2009 and have had absolutely no bad experiences. Zero defaults, zero delinquencies, zero late payments. So I am very pleased with Lending Club so far.

My next step is that sometime over the next week I need to browse through the loans again to invest the remaining 25% of my fresh cash.

-- Jack Krupansky

Less than two months until the EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections Conference in Colorado

It is less than eight weeks until the annual Entrepreneurial Connections (EntConnect) conference, from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. Traditionally the conference consists primarily of a reunion of former readers of Midnight Engineering magazine and a few newbies who have gotten suckered into trying it out, but each year we try to figure out new ways to attract fresh blood.

Check out the conference Web page for an idea of what the conference was like last year. Hopefully the page will be updated very soon for the details for this year. I do know that the hotel rate has jumped from $79 to $89, despite the fact that we are still only in the early stages of a prolonged economic recover from a dep recession. It will be held at a different hotel, the Crowne Plaza Downtown Denver, which is actually in downtown Denver. We hope to have a notable keynote speaker, but as usual the primary focus will be sessions led by your fellow entrepeneurs.

Here is my traditional 30-second elevator pitch blurb for the converence:

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. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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.

I actually have not even started planning my trip. I need to decide whether to come in on Thursday or Friday and leave on Sunday evening or Monday. In the back of my head I have even contemplated taking the time to take the train, but that's not a high probability, yet.

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

Oh, and please feel free to join the Midnight Engineers Yahoo discussion forum.

-- Jack Krupansky

Less than two months until the EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections Conference in Colorado

It is less than eight weeks until the annual Entrepreneurial Connections (EntConnect) conference, from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. Traditionally the conference consists primarily of a reunion of former readers of Midnight Engineering magazine and a few newbies who have gotten suckered into trying it out, but each year we try to figure out new ways to attract fresh blood.

Check out the conference Web page for an idea of what the conference was like last year. Hopefully the page will be updated very soon for the details for this year. I do know that the hotel rate has jumped from $79 to $89, despite the fact that we are still only in the early stages of a prolonged economic recover from a dep recession. It will be held at a different hotel, the Crowne Plaza Downtown Denver, which is actually in downtown Denver. We hope to have a notable keynote speaker, but as usual the primary focus will be sessions led by your fellow entrepeneurs.

Here is my traditional 30-second elevator pitch blurb for the converence:

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. The conference runs from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010.

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.

I actually have not even started planning my trip. I need to decide whether to come in on Thursday or Friday and leave on Sunday evening or Monday. In the back of my head I have even contemplated taking the time to take the train, but that's not a high probability, yet.

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

Oh, and please feel free to join the Midnight Engineers Yahoo discussion forum.

-- Jack Krupansky