Lessons Learned from the First Atlanta Tech Village Event

Last night we had our first real Atlanta Tech Village event where over 200 people came to hear five startups give their pitch as part of the Atlanta Startup Village (ASV at ATV). Being our first major event, we made a ton of mistakes and learned a good bit. Here are some of the lessons learned:

• The fiber internet and Meraki WiFi gear held up great — the only issue was when the backup Apple AirPort Extreme got overloaded and we weren’t able to use the Apple TV (next time we’ll have the Apple TV on the Meraki WiFi network)
• 90 chairs won’t cut it when 200+ people show up, but as a temporary space, it worked well (optimal size for the temporary space is ~125 people although 200+ can be in it)
• From an audio perspective, the big speakers we had up front worked great but we could use another set of speakers in the back
• Food and drink was well received (thanks sponsors!) but we could have more drink variety next time
• Community wise, there’s even more demand than expected for entrepreneurs and startups to spend time with their peers
• Pitch wise, the entrepreneurs did well and covered a good bit of ground

With our high-end conference center due at the end of the year, more prep by the entrepreneurs doing pitches, and quality food and drink, I’m confident we’ll have the demand for regular 300+ person events at ATV.

A special thanks to all the organizers of Atlanta Startup Village — we’re honored to have hosted the event at the Village.

What else? If you attended, what were some of your takeaways from the event?