Lunch 2.0

Bacon and OpenID were the themes at yesterday afternoon’s Lunch 2.0, graciously hosted by OpenID provider Vidoop.

Vidoop’s new office space in Old Town held about 100 or so people who milled in and out, tasting culinary delights, including bacon, from Fords on 5th, which is conveniently located on the ground floor of the same building.

Mitch Savage and Scott Kveton kicked off the event with some swag giveaways, Vidoop hardhats, and then the eating and networking began. Joel Norvell, CEO of Vidoop, and I chatted about the epic roadtrip their Tulsa office is making out to Portland, which apparently will be broadcast, a first of its kind.

Thanks to everyone at Vidoop for the hospitality, especially to Kevin Fox, who organized the event, and then got stuck manning the door for half an hour.

Aaron Hockley has a recap and great set of photos (including all the ones on this post) on Flickr from the event. His notes that the crowd attending has shifted from purely geeks to include more Twitterati and other non-geeks. Jason Harris also noticed the shift. Kelly Guimont has also beaten me to the punch with a recap.

I love the diversity of Portland in general, and it’s great to see it reflected in our Lunch 2.0s. All the hardcore geeks are still coming, and now, we’re cross-pollinating with people who are new to the tech scene. If you don’t know, Portland is happening place, e.g. last night there were three events at night, LiSA08, Strands private beta meetup and GoLife Mobile’s open house, and today, RailsConf 2008 starts.

Lunch 2.0 gives people who can’t attend evening or weekend events a chance to be part of the scene.

Looking ahead, Wieden+Kennedy has set a date for the next Portland Lunch 2.0, June 30. The brainchild of Gaia Borgias Brown, this one will be a little different and a little more fun than your average Lunch 2.0. This is just a teaser; watch this space for full details in early June.

I’ve also got a few leads for July and August, so it looks like the Portland chapter will live on for a few more months.

Upcoming Events

• Thursday, May 30 - Wishingline, Toronto
• Wednesday, June 4 - Topix, Silicon Valley
• Friday, June 13 - gWave, San Diego
• Friday, June 20 - TBA, Santa Clara, Silicon Valley
• Friday, June 27 - TBA, Fremont, East Bay
• Monday, June 30 - Wieden+Kennedy, Portland