Our first meeting came off very well for our new group.  The unusual rain and some other factors caused some people to cancel at the last minute, but the show must go on!

The meeting began with some general networking at 5:30 PM when people started arriving.  Everyone got to know each other and tried on the new sl8.me name badges that were being tested for the first time that night. There was also a countdown clock for 6:00 PM so that everyone in the networking phase could see when the sit down part of the meeting would begin ( http://countdown.onlineclock.net )

We began at 6:00 PM with IntroTIMEOC where everyone introduced themselves and we discussed general questions about the group and the possible paths it could take.

We then moved on to TalkTIMEOC where we answered general questions and spoke about the latest in technology. Steve Jobs was the first topic and how he changed technology and how we see it.  Two stories that were brought up were:

1. The way that the iPhone was developed (and the iPod for that matter) was with a clean look in mind, so no replaceable battery compartment was included.  It was a different approach than other products on the market and proved to be a hit.  It seemed counter-intuitive at the time, but Steve Jobs’ vision and style for the marketplace was unmatched.
2. The Apple III had problems when it was released back in the 1980s that could be fixed by literally picking up the computer 3 inches off of the desk an dropping it.  This “reseated” the memory chips and since there was not a hard drive, nothing would otherwise be damaged in the process.   Customers were actually told to do this ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_III ). Making technology is hard and every company has their successes and obstacles.

Steve Jobs had a very special impact on the industry and whether you are a PC or a Mac, he influenced how you use technology today.  He will be missed.

We then moved on to other questions about Adobe Flash and HTML5, designing for mobile and how to tweet from a smartphone.

The next section was FreeTIMEOC where we demonstrated putting pins on locations in Google Earth (as seen in this blog).

Finally, for the IdeaTIMEOC section we talked about a real estate application and the sl8.me name badge test.  Feedback was given as well as an overview of how ideas brought up at the meeting could turn into prototypes ready for funding in about 30 days.

Overall a great meeting and a good first turnout.  Feel free to come to our next meeting and watch ideas turn into applications!