Successful EntConnect 2010 is now history, get ready for EntConnect 2011

The EntConnect 2010 Entrepreneurial Connections conference is now history, as technical entrepreneurs now look forward to EntConnect 2011. EntConnect 2010 ran from Thursday, March 25, 2010 through Sunday, March 28, 2010. I didn't blog or twitter or wiki about it since my notebook PC screen died as the conference was about to get underway (I bought an external monitor at BestBuy last night when I got back to NYC), but new attendee and presenter Jeff Duntemann, former publisher of PC TECHNIQUES magazine, has posted an outstanding write-up at Report: EntConnect 2010. Old-time attendees and Midnight Engineering writers Matt Trask and Bruce Boyes came back to the conference and recounted their adventures over recent years. Newcomer, keynote speaker, and retireed entrepreneur (that's an oxymoron, by the way) Dave Grenewetzki, former President of game publisher Sierra On-Line, definitely added a lot of adventurous tales to the proceedings.

I don't have an exact attendee count, especially since not everyone was there at all times, but I counted about 26 people on several different occasions. Small, but very focused and very interactive.

Some of us enjoyed getting rides in a Tesla all-electric sports car after the formal conference on Sunday. Others had more fun driving their own go-karts on Friday.

Hotel details for EntConnect 2011 -- the 20th Anniversity of the conference -- are still up in the air, but the anticipated dates are Thursday, March 24, 2011 through Sunday, March 27, 2011.

Oh, I almost forgot, there is a special reduced price for those who register for EntConnect 2011 by the end of this week.

Check out the official conference web site, but here is my 37-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 24, 2011 through Sunday, March 27, 2011.

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