Scenes from the Computer Coach / High Tech Connect holiday party

Photo by Hubert Sacasa. Tap the photo to see it at full size. Tap here to see the source [LinkedIn].

From a short-term point of view, the overflowing parking lot, the place packed so full that it was difficult to get around, and the all-too-quickly disappearing food may seem like a bad sign.

But from a long-term point of view, this is a great sign for the Tampa Bay tech scene: It means that even in the middle of the week in the holiday season with so many competing events and activities, Tampa Bay techies are so active in the community that they’ll fill up a large patio.

The Computer Coach / High Tech Connect holiday party took place at the Brick House last night. It wasn’t just well-attended, but attended by more than just the “usual suspects” whom you’d normally expect to see. There were a lot of new faces — or at least new to me — and this was great news.

Photo by Joey deVilla. Tap the photo to see it at full size.

One of the nice things about attending a party full of techies is that when you wear a meme, people get it:

Photo by Hubert Sacasa. Tap the photo to see it at full size. Tap here to see the source [LinkedIn].

Later on in the evening, Computer Coach’s Chief Success Officer Suzanne Ricci addressed the crowd. She talked about Tampa Bay’s debut on CompTIA’s list of top 20 metros for technology, and how a lot of the credit goes to the strong community that’s been forming here over the past decade. She also mentioned the recent good news: the opening of a new Drift office in Tampa Bay, which the company selected based on “a budding tech scene and a diverse talent pool.”

Photo by Joey deVilla. Tap the photo to see it at full size.

The past few gatherings in Tampa Bay have given me a sense of deja vu. It has a lot of similarities to Toronto in the early 2000s, when its tech scene was forming, putting together the key elements that would eventually transform it into one of North America’s top technology powerhouses. I see a lot of the same things happening here, and it’s thanks to Tampa Bay techies. Let’s keep it up!