Realization: NAS-IT Expo is Tech Mashup, just bigger and better

Had a small realization on my regular morning-walk today.

I was feeling a bit sad that NAS-IT didn’t allow us to put an AI Conf standee at the expo. Especially after seeing the crowd there yesterday, it felt like a missed chance to share something community-driven. Their reasoning was that it’s a professional event and there isn’t space for community. I kind of get it, but not really. (Edit: there’s a banner somewhere in one of the display board scrolling, but honestly i didn’t see it once, so probably no one did)

Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to write about. While thinking about it, I wondered how cool it would be if the expo had space for communities alongside products and organizations. Then it hit me — this has been done before. And we did it, about twelve years ago. It was called Tech Mashup.

Back in 2013, we had organized a speed-networking event for startups, where several companies and communities set up stalls at Babar Mahal Revisited. Such a beautiful venue.

I don’t remember how many people came, but I do remember it felt lively. We never really documented things back then, which is a bit sad. So much of what we’ve done just lives in our memories.

Anyway, just a random recollection of organizing Tech Mashup. It was a fun event. 🙂

Just to clarify, I’m sad, but also very happy that NAS-IT Expo is happening. Such events are essetial to move the needle and catalyze the ecosystem. At the current stage, each event counts and we cannot have enough of them, just yet.

Photos of Tech Mashup - Flickr

Until then,
Be nice to everyone :D

PS - I’ll add photos once i find them