Having just gotten home from Ignite Boulder 11, I feel compelled to borrow a line from one of my daughter’s favorite books: “Wow!  That is all I can say.  Wow!’” (Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, if you must know).  Shortly after IB 10, Andrew Hyde, the driving force behind the event’s huge growth, felt that Ignite Boulder had plateaued, despite the fact that it had become the largest Ignite in the world.  After tonight, I feel confident that he has changed his mind.  I sure have.

When Andrew wrote that post, I agreed – it felt like Ignite Boulder was leveling off.  I wrote a lengthly comment, carefully outlining all of the things from prior Ignites that were now missing from the last two and suggesting ways to recreate them.  I never did publish it.  At the end of the day, I just couldn’t write anything that didn’t sound like a “I knew the band before they became popular” kind of a thing.

Tonight’s event wasn’t awesome because it was like the early Ignites (nor was it awesome because the presenters use the word “awesome” so many times), it had an awesomeness (it’s contagious) all its own.

First of all, there’s the change in venue.  Chautauqua and what it offered was amazing.  There was the pre-show barbecue next to the auditorium and the families picnicking out on the grass.  My wife and I chose to sit on the porch of the Dining Hall, which is always a treat.  Throw in a little sunshine, free beer, and the Flatirons as a backdrop, and you’ve already got yourself a winner.  The auditorium itself was beautiful, an all-wood building with giant doors opened to a nice breeze.  When it got darker, a bit of light peaked through the slats in the walls.  I really look forward to TEDxBoulder, if for no other reason than to be in that building again.

The speakers…yes, the speakers – the best bunch from top to bottom that I’ve seen.  Ef Rodriguez warmed things up with his usual charm, and Anna Sawyer immediately followed with the crowd pleasing How to Marry the Rich, a practical guide to marrying up.  My personal favorite Spark of the night was Josh Fraser’s Snakes and Staircases, which taught me that vending machine deaths are a very real risk and that Scottish accents are very persuasive.  The 14th and final slide deck of the evening, Justin Crowe‘s Modulate Your Life: High Fives & Livin’ On A Prayer, had 1,300+ of us high fiving and belting out the Bon Jovi chorus together to end things just so.

Andrew and I were wrong.  Ignite Boulder just keeps getting better, and there’s plenty of room to grow from here.

It’s been about two years since I moved to Boulder from Ohio. After being here for a few months, I wrote a review of what was going on in Boulder and interesting me then. Notice that little link at the bottom? That’s right – a 2008 vintage boulder.me link.

At the time of that article, I was just getting settled in to town and finding things to keep me busy. I found that I loved the collaborative scene at all the local coffee shops. I still love the access to an unimaginable number of outdoor activities. Getting out and meeting people was as easy as finding events based around things you liked, showing up, and saying hi. Show people that you want to learn about and help them, and in Boulder, they’ll reciprocate.

I’d say the hardest part for me in getting acclimated to Boulder was finding the right work-life balance. Here, it can be easy to get distracted and bumble around, especially when you see a LOT of people doing enjoyable things during what normally would be a workday. When I got my first job, I found it via Craigslist, which I decided is not an ideal way to look for jobs you want to care about. Alternatively, I’d recommend doing the things you love with other people who feel the same way. Eventually, you’ll figure out how to make ends meet and you’ll be doing it with a rockin’ Boulder crew.

So, what’s keeping me here these days? Here are a few recent, reoccurring, or upcoming events that are just some of the reasons I’m still here in Boulder and why you should come too:

Boulder Startup Week – The first week of May this year, we had an unbelievable set of events. People opened up their offices for co-working, Ignite 10 happened, there were hikes, there were beers, and there were some excellent discussions.

Boulder Open Coffee Club – This was one of the first events I attended in Boulder. A semimonthly meeting of all sorts of entrepreneurs, professionals, lawyers, developers, etc., BOCC has taken up residence in Atlas Purveyors and continued to grow in numbers. Come join!

Ignite Boulder – The proportions of Ignite have grown epic since their humble beginnings a few years back. Number 11 will be pretty special as it is being held at the historic Chautauqua Auditorium nestled up against the mountains. Grab a ticket!

TEDxBoulder – Coming up on August 7th, TEDx is a community organized local event in the spirit of TED. Can’t wait to hear more about this event.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. What events strike your fancy? What helps keep you in Boulder? What are some of your tips for getting involved?

I quit my job in Minneapolis back in November to pursue a freelance, self-employed, work-from-coffee-shops kind of career path.  I got off to a pretty decent start, landed enough contract and client work to get by, and get moving on my plans to leave Minnesota long enough to hop around and explore some new places.

When I decided to move to Boulder, I’d planned to consider part-time work, but wanted to initially keep freelancing so that I’d have time to explore the community and get settled.

Be prepared to modify your plans

I met Grace Boyle through the blogging community and mutual blog friend and Colorado girl, Sharalyn Hartwell.  Between Grace and Cali Harris, I was encouraged to attend Ignite Boulder 7 and learn about the community, the start-up scene, and just meet people in a fun (read: there’s wine and beer!) setting.

I could write a whole separate post on how much I loved the event (and might after tomorrow’s Ignite 8!), but will stick to the point here.  I was able to meet so many (friendly, welcoming) people in this community, and knew after that night that I was going to love living and working here.

The next morning, Grace invited me to stop into her office at Lijit Networks to meet her coworkers and continue networking my way into the tech community, even if I wasn’t sure how I’d be a part of it once I landed here.

That was back in December, and after a series of conversations with the Vice President of Market Development that ranged from informal chats about possible upcoming job openings, to all-afternoon interviews with other brainiacs on the management team, I accepted a job with Lijit as a Publisher Services Manager.

A seamless fit

The beauty of this job for me is that it’s part-time for the time being, which for someone with her hands already in a lot of other projects, worked out perfectly.  I’ve been there a week now, and am absolutely loving it so far.

My professional background is in online media buying (Campbell Mithun and Adfusion, both Minneapolis agencies), and my personal hobby list is topped by blogging, blog-reading, and blog-friend-making.  The fact that this role is based on a knowledge and utilization of all of the above is an absolutely beautiful thing.

My time in the office is spent identifying new users (blog-hopping, reading, and hunting), making introductions (meeting people, networking), and helping bloggers get set up with Lijit search and stats (something I already used and loved, prior to this opportunity ever being on the table).  I get to learn a side of the tech business I’ve never been a part of (start-up scenes, search, etc.) and am surrounded by brilliant minds who are introducing me not only to new knowledge and professional growth, but hiking, biking, Paleo (I’m learning about it, I’m not doing it), and how the Rock Chalk Jayhawk cheer started.  It’s incredible being in a role where I’m actually getting paid to do a lot of what I was already doing (reading blogs), but even cooler when I realize that I get paid to not only find awesome new blogs, but to also check up on and check out loud and proud Lijit users FAILblog, LOLcats, and Lamebook.com.

Moral of the story

While relationship-building proved to be a massively significant factor in landing what’s a serendipitously perfect job right now (and my professional background lends itself quite nicely to what I’m going to be doing), those relationships started because I just jumped right in and put myself where my soon-to-be colleagues were hanging out, reading, Tweeting, and Igniting.

So… I got involved and then got a job.  What’s next?  Work hard, play hard, right? This city seems to have that completely nailed down, and I can totally fox with that.  I’m learning to hike… maybe one of these days I should put on a pair of skis and give that a shot, huh?

*Ok, so maybe not domination.  But I do intend to be a super involved part of this community.