MASON CITY – The North Iowa Corridor and NIACC’s Pappajohn Center have teamed up to promote business development and the consumption of alcohol.
According to a news release from the Pappajohn Center, a “TechBrew” event will be held in May at a downtown Mason City beer hall.
“These informal gatherings bring entrepreneurs, technologists, business people and funders together to talk over a beer (aka “Lubricated Serendipity”),” a Pappajohn Center news release said.
“TechBrew events are serendipitous networking occasions designed to bring together entrepreneurs, technologists, creatives, business experts and investors. These informal meet-ups began in Des Moines and are gaining traction across the state,” the news release claimed.
The non-profit, publicly-funded North Iowa Corridor has tried before to create informal social gatherings for entrepreneurs.
In early 2009, the Corridor “board of directors decided in a strategic planning session that the organization’s number one priority should be helping local companies recruit and retain young professional and technical workers,” the Corridor stated on a spin-off website it created called NorthIowaConnect.com.
The Corridor’s North Iowa Connect group was launched in October of 201o. It has been said that the North Iowa Connect idea was hatched by Corridor Director Brent Willett and Mason City Mayor Eric Bookmeyer, who were seen several times together in 2010 sharing drinks at the Other Place bar in Mason City. Bookmeyer soon made it clear that he favors “younger people” with “fresh ideas” versus older folks when making appointments to boards and commissions. His statement actually lead to accusations of age discrimination against him by prominent Mason City residents.
Once North Iowa Connect was launched, informal gatherings were held at local eateries with about a dozen “young professionals” in attendance each time, mostly sharing drinks and appetizers. Soon, attendance dipped so low that the events were cancelled altogether.
With failure at hand and a lack of interest from the public, North Iowa Connect claims that in 2012, “Connect shifted its focus to promoting local events, sharing opportunities to get involved in the community, and providing relocation assistance, all targeting people in their 20s and 30s.” The median age of people living in Iowa is 38.1 years.
NorthIowaConnect.com now amounts to a Google calendar and links to other websites for help in relocating or finding a job.
Hello North Iowa.
I’m late to the comment stream here, but I want to express that I’ve been to multiple TechBrew events in multiple cities. They’re always fun, professional and well-attended. New business connections, opportunities and friendships have happened for me because of them. I support the Technology Association of Iowa’s mission to connect tech professionals, entrepreneurs and investors in our state, and TechBrew events help facilitate that mission.
This post seems to insinuate that the organizations involved are promoting the consumption of alcohol. Lighten up. Last I checked, alcohol is legal for adults to consume. In fact, I’m off to enjoy a happy hour drink with a former client right now.
Cheers! (If I could insert an emoji of beer right here, I would.)
– Nathan T. Wright
@nathantwright
Yuk, what a terrible drug, I feel sorry for you. After your drinks you can take a nap, continue on till you pass out or feel like crap an hour later and then overeat. No thanks. Cannabis smells like Juiceyfruit gum and blueberry muffins these days with no hangover. But I suspect you don’t like that.
As a small business owner in Mason for a couple years I wish I could just get some help dealing with the low life shoplifters downtown..and ideas always seem more awesome when intoxicated..lol
This site is far better than the Onion. All the satire, with the bonus of a “local” touch. This is FUNNY stuff!
Any potential business owner should be cautious about attending this event. If you start a business or if you already have a business and hire someone, the Corridor’s Brent Willett will take credit for your success, just because you attended this event he sponsored. That’s how the Corridor justifies its existence; just by being in the room with business owners when a deal is talked about the Corridor can then somehow claim that it was instrumental in the deal getting done. Scientists call these creatures parasites.
If a happy hour beer drinking BS fest is the best the Corridor can do in regards to inspiring new business growth and development in North Iowa, I say pull the public funding immediately.
Took a look at the list putting on this booze fest. All ‘yes men’ who are slaves to someone else, some of them with real serious financial problems. Couple of them only have jobs because of their family business. One guy is totally bald and reads off a teleprompter. No strong business owners with any talent or track record. You won’t learn a thing there.
Drinkers aren’t the sharpest tools in the shed because getting high on booze literally means killing brain cells. They will tell you pot kills brain cells because they are dumb liars who like to hurt their own brains.
TechBrew = happy hour for fat people. They are hypocrites who don’t believe in our Blue Zone. What an example for children.
Allen, I don’t quite understand your comment. Have you personally measured the pant sizes of all TechBrew attendees lately? I’d be interested in seeing the Excel spreadsheet where you stored all that data. Or are you just making an insane blanket statement?
Also, since you cited the community’s Blue Zone status, I have to remind you that #5 on the Blue Zone Power 9 list involves alcohol at 5:00pm: http://www.bluezones.com/live-longer/power-9/
Cheers!
Geez! All you do is criticize, backstabbing and feed the fire of futile accusations. Enough, share something good.
Truth hurts, dudnt it, idiot?
Tech Brew is a good event and I am glad they are bringing it to Mason City. Most of their events are in Des Moines, but they have at least one meeting in Ames and Waterloo. It is a networking event and is good for everyone involved.
These types of events have been very successful in other communities to help network tech companies and tech workers. In Des Moines, a similar event at Mars Cafe provided critical seed money for Dwolla. These kinds of events will be critical to attract and retain young people in the community. The fact that the median age is 38 is a problem. This event is not a drunk-feat, it’s a networking event and is important.
Go Blue Zone!! Oh wait…
And at the same time we giant billboards attempting to demonize medical marijuana. I’ve seen them.
Foreign visitors must think we are absolutely insane.
They think we are insane because of the guns and violence. The have fewer guns and a lot less violence.
AND no American style war on drugs…
Hopefully we will be kept informed as to which beer hall this will take place in, as it sounds fun, I’d like to attend.
I will let you know Allen, I am a member of the Technology association and yes, I live in Mason City.
here you go….., it is downtown.
Check the entire website if you like, it is a very prominant group.
https://www.technologyiowa.org/index.cfm/19494/45821/north_iowa_techbrew
I’ll drive the bus down from the Kozy and get the current generation in touch with the older generation.