I was told by the organizers that NY Tech Day was initially expecting about 3000 visitors. But this “science fair” for (mostly) New York City-based startups ended up attracting over 4000 registrants. When I arrived at the Lexington Avenue Armory this morning for the pre-show press tour, my press colleagues were already swarming the aisles.
By the time I left two hours later, some of the tables were starting to look like a crowded NYC bar scene. Unexpected success is not a bad thing–although next time they should get the WiFi straightened out.
In any case, it was a good day for New York City tech.
Walking by one too many social media startup, I knew that in the future everyone will have something to do on the weekends and no one will ever have to party, play, or go to an event alone with the likes of Tivity, YourPartyHub, Blood, Sweat & Cheers, and Pearescope keeping us informed.
It was also gratifying in an I-knew-them-when kind of way to see Makom, the travel content aggregator, and MyCityWay, the BMW iVenture hatchling, and ButtArt, the TechCrunch Disrupt battler, demoing real apps at their tables.
There were one or two surprises for me. Another 3D printer company in NYC? That would be Solidoodle with their under $500 plastic-rendering gadget. At that price point, I am almost tempted.
And another mobile app generator? Yes, but Yapp is a very focused app creator specifically for event networking, both corporate and private. I tossed my card into the beta tester jar.
And final shoutouts to Lacuna Books, FoundIt, and writepublic.com, of which I will have more about in future posts.