I am a member of the NY Tech MeetUp. It is a monthly gathering of technologists and those interested in technology, organized by Scott Heiferman. The great thing about it is that it lacks any pretension. It is fairly democratic, very informal, and organized around ideas. It is one of the things I miss about NYC.
I had blogged earlier about how I felt the concept of entrepreneurship in Istanbul needed to be freed from the triangle of academics, bankers and bureaucrats.
So, I have decided to organize an Istanbul Tech MeetUp. I am shooting for January to have the first meeting. I was going to use the MeetUp infrastructure, but I realized it is built primarily for the US, UK and Canada. So I will probably use a combination of Evite (or Daveti.com, its Turkish copycat) and TypePad (in a similar blog to this).
I plan for the event to be open to entrepreneurs, technologists, students, academics, VCs, professions that surround new ventures, or, as Scott says, "anyone who’s interested in seeing or showing something new". I will need RSVPs so we can keep track of who’s attending. Eventually, I think, the format will move to a series of presentations, but I think the first one will just be a cocktail (cash bar).
I’d love to hear ideas if anyone’s got any.
Cem Sertoglu 
I think it’s a great idea. I would be more than happy to participate and offer my office as the first meeting place.
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A good idea to create some more pluralism in the local tech sector. Although I would recommend that you broaden your scope for Istanbul beyond TECH to the subject of INNOVATION i.e. IST Innovation Meetup. In this way you would reach entrepreneurs with new business models, the telco crowd, new media etc. My two cents….
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Good point, Gokhan. I used “technology” for the sake of paralellism with my group in NYC. My proposed idea for the Istanbul group is “Istanbul New Economy Group”. “Innovation” could be an option, as well.
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I think the challenge of linking individuals working at the boundaries of the various disciplines to share ideas will help the development of the “technology culture” in Istanbul.
There might be some special interest groups such as Web2.0, mobile, electronics..etc to arrange special events for the group members.
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I agree with you Cem, there is definately a need like this especially in Istanbul, the business hub of the region. To get people interested, you need to have some sort of incentive like organizing a forum where entrepreneurs showcase their products/services, pitch their ideas to VCs, have high-profile debates on hot topics, roundtables, awards and recognition etc etc.
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Burak-
Good point. The evolution of the event will exactly be what you describe: an informal forum where entrepreneurs can present their companies, students discuss their projects, and investors, their interests. As far as awards go, as long as the form doesn’t take over the substance, why not? One thing I am keenly wary of is how we Turks like recognizing our friends for the sake of camaraderie…
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We should go for it, and if needed, clubs like TUSIAD/TUGIAD/TUBISAD/TUBIDER can also be considered for partnering, or VCs in Turkey like ilab.com.tr or turkven.com or ttgvgirisim.com or isgirisim.com.tr
As a side note, you can check out meetwithapproval.com for organizing the event. (Note that I am not affiliated with anyone of them). In any case, as you said Cem, there should be an informal cocktail kind of first meeting to brainstorm to get the gist of such a venture.
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