Net2NO: How A Local Tech Group Influenced A Movement

When you talk to Jessica Rohloff and Damien LaManna, founder and co-founder of the New Orleans NetSquared tech group dubbed Net2NO, you can instantly see their enthusiasm and excitement. These two former strangers connected in a way that made it possible for Net2NO to come to fruition.

People kept telling me that New Orleans has no tech community, no talent, but I knew that wasn’t the case and I wanted to prove them wrong.

In March 2008, Jessica attended a conference where she heard about the NetSquared organization. Their continuing mission is to empower people to create local non-profit tech groups to foster collaborative mind-share environment. More than just being witness to, Jessica says, “While attending the conference, I was appointed the Chair of the New Orleans NetSquared chapter. People blogged about it and I talked about the idea of starting it up, so I felt like I couldn’t go back on my promise. People kept telling me that New Orleans has no tech community, no talent, but I knew that wasn’t the case and I wanted to prove them wrong.”

Damien was a member of the NetSquared group in Washington D.C. “My first encounter with NetSquared was in D.C. where they had really strong support for their chapter and when I came to New Orleans I was looking for the same thing,” said Damien. When he moved from D.C. to New Orleans, the idea to start up a technology group similar to the one he had experienced in D.C. came to mind. “My neighbor at the time was Ben Reece, and he told me that some girl had already started the ball rolling with the same idea I had,” said Damien. Jessica and Damien met the night of the first Net2NO. “Damien called me and was like, ‘Hi, I’m Damien. Let me know what I can do to help,’” said Jessica. This informal meeting set the tone for them to work together to form the group.

Where Do We Go From Here

The very first Net2NO meeting was scheduled a year ago in August 2008, but because hurricane Gustav, it was pushed back to September 2008. The first meeting centered around trying to determine what the group would be about. “In many ways, Net2NO is what it is today because of its founding members. We split into groups and asked ourselves, what do we really want this group to be about?” said Jessica. Different members had different ideas of what Net2NO should become. Some wanted a more technical group centered around programmers and web designers, while others wanted to focus on how technology would help economic development.

“After that first meeting, Jessica and I agreed the best structure for Net2NO was no structure at all,” said Damien. This decentralized structure has proven successful because it has empowered its members to throw their talents into a pool of resources, and fished when something needs to be accomplished.

The depth of the talent pool was evident when the group began organizing its first trip to South By Southwest (SXSW), an interactive media, film, and music festival. “People just started coming together, getting buses, planning travel arrangements, and even hosting a party in Austin,” said Damien. The SXSW trip was an important milestone for Net2NO because it showed that this loosely structured group could come together and pull off something. “It definitely was an eye opener to us and to the tech community at large. People in Austin took notice that the tech community in New Orleans was alive and kicking,” said Jessica.

No Stopping Us Now

There was no stopping Net2NO after its successful SXSW trip. With a little bit of experience under their belt, the group began to morph into the place that gave techies, social media gurus, and small business entrepreneurs a place to call home. “I knew we grew when one of our meetups doubled from its normal size and the group was more diverse,” said Damien. But even with its growth, Jessica and Damien were fearful of what would become of the group. “Our main fear was that we would lose people. We thought that if we were too technical we might lose some of the non-technology type people but if we weren’t techie enough, our programmers and web designers wouldn’t come back,” said Damien. Ultimately, those fears were pushed to the side as both types of members came out to support Net2NO meetings.

Net2NO Members At BBQ

Now, with a good deal of momentum, Net2NO has influenced the technology community in New Orleans by bringing people together that share a common interest. Net2NO founders have seen an influx in the amount of people that attend every meeting. The speakers are becoming more diverse and also pulling in different audiences. Outside the meetups, Net2NO is becoming an incubator for new technology start-up companies, giving them the support of their peers. Another successful accomplishment is BarCamp NOLA 2009, hosted by Matthew Trictio, one of the founding Net2NO members. BarCamp, according to its organization website “an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants who are the main actors of the event.” Mr. Trictico brought back BarCamp NOLA for its second year, hosting a day of presentations and learning. On the second day of BarCamp NOLA, participants focused on a group project for the Recovery School District.

Net2NO v2.0

Within a year, Net2NO has gone from a chance appointment, and informal meetings to the foundation of the technology community in New Orleans. Net2NO has become the 6th largest NetSquared group in the country and the 10th largest group in the world. Members have been included in national and local publications highlighting economic development in the city, while others have been featured on highly recognized technology panels and shows. About 25% of 2009 City Business Innovators of the year were Net2NO members. Now a force to be reckoned with, Net2NO understands that it cannot sit back and bask in the spotlight. “Even though we have had great support from our local community, we have to look outside our small circle. There are other NetSquared groups within our region that we can network with and pull together our collective minds,” said Damien. Net2NO’s future plans include hosting a regional NetSquared conference ,and they will continue to focus on building a strong tech community that will be the cornerstone of Silicon Bayou.