I run a large meetup (SVNewTech), and agree with a lot of the points this article makes. I've tried to apply the email marketing concepts to my startups, and have seen others do so, as well (Convore & Quora come to mind).
One interesting aspect of Meetup's email strategy that the author doesn't mention (because it's only tangentially related): Meetup.com doesn't give organizers access to their community members' email addresses. The only way for the organizer to contact the community is through Meetup - this creates lock-in to the service (and much frustration). It's probably a wise business policy for Meetup, but becomes a point of contention for the organizers of larger groups.
On a related note, Meetup seems to succeed in spite of itself. They recent released sweeping changes to the design & functionality of the site without notifying organizers, resulting it this epic thread of discontent: http://www.meetup.com/boards/thread/10376961/0/
I think there's a great opportunity to create a service like Meetup that addresses some of these downfalls. If anyone is interested in building something like that, let me know: joe (AT) svnewtech [DOT] com
At surface value, sure - although if you want a table at one of these places, it's fairly useful.
The backstory is that we used this mini-project to see how we work together as a team. We're working longer-term on NivNav.com, but wanted a short, isolated project where we could feel out our collaboration style. HackerTable.com was born.
I'd recommend this approach to any early-stage startups that are looking for co-founders. Obviously don't distract yourself with side-projects if the timing isn't right, but seek out short, isolated projects where you can get a sense of how you'll work together.
I've lived in both for at least 3 years, and can attest that there are wonderful resources & communities in each available to startups. So why do we keep filling HN with these posts?
Absolutely. I'd also recommend the tutorials at Lynda.com for really in-depth overviews - they have a whole set of tutorials focused on web design with CS5: http://www.lynda.com/home/ViewCourses.aspx?lpk0=116
That said, Lynda.com is subscription-based and tends to be lengthy. A short set of tutorials on key techniques would be a great resource.
My flow is Balsamiq for rough mocks / usability testing, Fireworks for design comps, and Photoshop only for actual image processing (mainly as a hobby). Balsamiq is awesome once you learn some of the hotkeys, and many of the commands overlap with those provided by Fireworks. The founder of Balsamiq was a Sr. Software Engineer at Adobe, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
I'm not naturally a sports fan, but I always find it good for social purposes to stay at least marginally aware of them (at least the major events). So, hacking in front of the TV for a change.
That said, football brings to mind a great PG quote: "Kids are sent off to spend six years memorizing meaningless facts in a world ruled by a caste of giants who run after an oblong brown ball, as if this were the most natural thing in the world."
I finished this recently and could not agree more. I've just started the 1980's miniseries via Netflix (no streaming, unfortunately) - I'm only two hours in, but so far it is a great retelling.
One interesting aspect of Meetup's email strategy that the author doesn't mention (because it's only tangentially related): Meetup.com doesn't give organizers access to their community members' email addresses. The only way for the organizer to contact the community is through Meetup - this creates lock-in to the service (and much frustration). It's probably a wise business policy for Meetup, but becomes a point of contention for the organizers of larger groups.
On a related note, Meetup seems to succeed in spite of itself. They recent released sweeping changes to the design & functionality of the site without notifying organizers, resulting it this epic thread of discontent: http://www.meetup.com/boards/thread/10376961/0/
I think there's a great opportunity to create a service like Meetup that addresses some of these downfalls. If anyone is interested in building something like that, let me know: joe (AT) svnewtech [DOT] com