Over the last few weeks while perusing the Twitterverse late at night I noticed a consistent hashtag buzzing around the 20 something startup crowd: #rubyriot. Night after a night a few ambiguous tweets bubbled to the top of my feed hinting at some sort of startup focused event. I tried following them, but was just left spinning on what the heck was going on — and I know that I am not the only one. So, what IS a #rubyriot?
A ruby on rails developer event?
A gathering of miners looking for rubies?
A swarm of women stealing rubies?
A concert kicked off with the song Ruby by English rock band Kaiser Chiefs?
A gathering of Rolling Stones fans singing Ruby Tuesday?
A free buffet at Ruby Tuesday’s restaurant chain?
Those were just some of my initial thoughts. Fortunately I was able to track down #rubyriot creators Matt Lauzon, Cort Johnson and John Clark to get the real scoop. Depending on your love for the Rolling Stones or precious gems, you may be a little disappointed. But if you’re into the startup scene here in Boston, you’re in for a real treat.
The real #rubyriot
Date: May 17th 2011 at 7pm
Location: Scholars, 25 School Street, Boston, MA, 02108
Music: TOM BOATES EVERYBODY
Tagline: One night only in Boston. Ruby Riot is your chance to be a part of making good things happen.
How it works: To join the #rubyriot tell the organizers one person (e.g., Cort Johnson), company (e.g., Gemvara) or type of person (e.g., rock star developer) you want to meet. It’s completely up to you how you use your intro. Find a spouse, find someone to mentor, find a place to intern with. It’s up to you… we just want to help. At the event, if you help make it happen we will give you a drink ticket. You help make Boston a better place and you get a reward. Don’t like to drink? That’s OK, helping out is a reward in itself.
As an example, I have just registered and am looking for full and part time writers to join the BostInnovation team. I love the concept of connecting people and trying to facilitate introductions. The gentlemen behind #rubyriot are not just looking to party one night, but to make a difference in the Boston startup community.
Matt Lauzon, founder and CEO of Gemvara was kind enough to expand on his inspiration for #rubyriot.
“What makes Boston a special place for innovate is the diverse and resourceful community that exists here.
The goal of RubyRiot is to bring people from all walks of life together – students, CEOs of companies, both small and big, investors and politicians. I believe if everyone in this community commits to make one introduction, a very simple thing to do, the results would be far reaching and meaningful.
What’s in it for me personally? I feel compelled to pay forward what others have done to help me and I also hope to meet future gemvarians…I might bring a couple offer letters ready to be filled out with me to the event.”
You heard it here first, now it’s your turn: Register and we’ll see you on May 17th.
