• Local Tech Groups

last modified April 4, 2009 by jenfloyd

­Ruth Lindley is maintaining a list of local tech groups, gatherings, and event organizers.  Eventually, I think Ruth plans to put the public list up on the temporary information microsite for Tech Alliance at http://www.edcoinfo.com/business-resources/central-oregon-technology-alliance/

This is just a internal workspace for us to help Ruth with this task.  Don't post public links­ to this page as it's likely to move in the near future.

   ­­

­

Tech Groups


COISUG (Central Oregon Information Systems Users Group)

The group was established in 2007 and meets monthly.  They bring in an outstanding lineup of speakers from major hardware and software companies, including Microsoft, Oracle, HP, LeftHand Networks, VMWare and Enterasys.   There are over 100 members.

  • Website: http://www.coisug.info/
  • Contact: Lewis Howell, lewis.howell(at)cinetixsolutions.com
  • Next meeting: April 16, 1:30pm, McMenamins Movie Theatre


­

COWPU (Central Oregon Web Professionals’ Usergroup)

A serious group with a humorous name.  The group addresses the region’s numerous web design community, content developers, and IT support professionals. It includes both work-from-home and corporate individuals. There are about 80 members; the groups’ periodic (last Wednesday of each month) meetings and training sessions attract about 50 people.

  • Website: http://www.cowpu.org/
  • Contact: Timmy Crawford, timmydcrawford(at)gmail.com
  • Next meeting: Wednesday, April 29 (time and location TBD)


BendTech (aka Bend OpenCoffee Tech Meetup)

A social networking group following the Meetup format.  It was started in 2007 by Matt Abrams, who works for Oracle, and is now counts more than 100 members.  BendTech is primarily telecommuters, freelancers and contractors.


WoTech (Women in Tech)

Newly started in 2007, and now has approximately 50 members. They meet periodically and host speakers from the region and outside Central Oregon.

  • Website: http://wotech-bend.blogspot.com/ (note: the other address, http://www.wotech.bendtech.com, does not work)
  • Contact: Julie Anderson, julieanderson(at)hotmail.com
  • Next meeting: Monday, April 6, noon at Jackson's Corner


Hackers Group

A software development group, more ad hoc than those listed above, but has been in the region for quite awhile. The group is mostly individuals who work on long-term contractual basis.

  • Website: ?
  • Contact: Mike Van Waas, mvw(at)udapps.com
  • Next meeting: ?


Opportunity Knocks Technology Group

Led by Bill Moseley, President of GL Suite and Bill Briggs, President of NetWorth Strategies.  It provides a forum for C-level executives to share issues and solutions. This OK group meets monthly.


Project Managers Roundtable

Run by Ed Sea, a former senior manager at GL Suite, and serves as a resource for individuals involved in project management, typically but not always within the tech industry.

  • Website: ?
  • Contact: Ed Sea, Edward.Sea(at)bendbroadband.com
  • Next meeting: ?


COMUG (Central Oregon Macintosh Users Group)

The local Mac user group.

  • Website: http://comug.org/
  • Contact: COMUG Board of Directors at comug(at)empnet.com
  • Next meeting: April 15: COMUG Meeting - 7:00 pm at Sky View Middle School - 63555 NE 18th

 

Bend SharePoint User Group

Bend SharePoint User Group was started in December 2008 and meets the first Friday of every month, with recent meetings average about 30 attendees from the local business community. Technology area topics include NET Framework, Web Services, Office and Sharepoint Solutions.  This group focuses more on users and less on vendors and, as a community user group, includes peer-to-peer talks.

 

COGIS (Central Oregon GIS Users Group)

COGIS, the largest GIS users network on the East side of the Cascades, is part of a larger organization called the Oregon & SW Washington URISA (Urban & Regional Information Systems Association) which itself is part of an international GIS organiz­ation.  COGIS has been in existence for about 14 years, maintaining an email distribution list of about 150 members and meeting on a quarterly basis to share knowledge, ideas, and demonstrations in GIS.  Members range from professionals to hobbyists.­

  • Website: http://www.orurisa.org/COGIS
  • Contact: Bob Haas, bob_hass(at)deschutes.or.us, and Blair Deaver, bdeaver(at)geoengineers.com
  • Next meeting: ?


Tech Social Gatherings and Event Organizers

 

Bend Oregon Tweetups

What's a Tweet-up, you might be asking? It's a real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service.

 

Central Oregon Bloggers

A Facebook group for local area bloggers. Group occassionally organizes local meetups. Some overlap with Bend Oregon Tweetups.


Social Media Brunch

Global Strategies International hosts a monthly networking event for social media enthusiasts. Come for the coffee and pastries, stay for great conversation.

 

BendWeb

A Meetup group for "web designers and developers in the Bend area" founded in August 2008. "Casual, open style meetup strictly for web; networking, sharing thoughts and ideas, and tapping into available resources."

 

Ignite Bend

If you had five minutes on stage what would you say? What if you only got 20 slides and they rotated automatically after 15 seconds? Around the world geeks have been putting together Ignite nights to show their answers. The first Ignite Bend was held on February 12, 2009.  The next Ignite Bend is scheduled for June 4, 2009.