If I had a high tech startup, Bend is the last place I'd go.
Let me tell you a story that I think illustrates why.
There is a long established high tech business here in town who hires their young workers from elsewhere, usually places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and so on.
These new workers usually check out my store.
When they first get to town, they tell me about 'pop culture' things I don't know anything about. Then, usually around six months later, I start hearing about them through normal channels.
After the same guys have been in town for a year, they come in and tell me about pop culture things, and I'll usually say, "Yeah. I just heard about that."
After two years, the guys come in and start to tell me about a 'new ' pop culture thing, and I'll say, "Ummmm. Heard about that months ago."
My point is, I have to believe that technical proficiency is similar.
These guys come from a milieu of pop culture hipness, they swim in a sea of it. I don't think they are even aware of it. And much of what they hear and see and sense they get first hand.
They get to Bend, and they are isolated and on their own.
Turns out -- just getting your info from online DOES NOT keep you up to date. (I suspect by the time it's online, it's been around for a while -- which means by the time it hits the magazines, it's ancient.) I'm talking about the idea stage -- or the accumulation of information and disparate ideas -- which might begin taking form online as you go -- but don't really have the same impact of ideas that are being formulated as YOU SPEAK>
I think being surrounded by a culture of high techness is probably invaluable. Info and innovation and ideas float through the air, and you see your friends at the local Starbucks, or at a nightspot, or at some meeting or another, and bounce ideas and just totally immerse yourself in it all.
In Bend, you check online and go skiing and twitter and go biking -- but other than flying out of town and dropping yourself back into that high tech culture on a regular basis, I think it's inevitable you will fall behind.
And trying to keep up long-distance NO MATTER HOW CONNECTED is not the same thing.
I know they THINK it is, but by the time they find out differently, it might be a little too late.
I was having a discussion with a high tech guy, and he was disputing much of this.
At the end of the conversation, he mentioned that he had gotten work in San Francisco to tide him over.
"Ummmm.....I rest my case," I said.
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14 comments:
Spot on again.
There is a kind of intellectual cross-fertilization process that happens not only in the tech field but in other fields as well. That's why techies congregate in Silicon Valley and folks in the movie and TV industry congregate in SoCal and literary types congregate in NYC, etc.
Bend is out of the loop. It is out of almost all loops.
It got me thinking about the Woody Allen movie, Midnight in Paris.
The question is always asked -- why was there a flowering of American literature in Paris during the 20's, or the other example, art in Paris and New York, or the Italian rennassance for that matter.
It isn't a question (why?)
It is an answer (BECAUSE!)
Sure, the art and literature was available elsewhere -- months or weeks, perhaps, instead of days or minutes -- but still -- it was the congregation of talents, the syncronicity, that created the flowering -- and it happens in close proximity BECAUSE of the proximity.
Synchronicity -- yes, that's exactly the right word for it.
There are historical, climatic and other reasons why these flowerings occur when and where they do; for example, the patronage of the Medici family encouraged the flowering of the arts in Renaissance Florence, the warm sunny climate encouraged the flowering of the movie industry in SoCal, the fact that Hewlett and Packard lived in Palo Alto encouraged the flowering of the tech industry in Silicon Valley. But there has to be a critical mass of talent (and often money) first to start the process. I don't see either in Bend.
Been in Bend for 7 years. Developed one of the very top grossing apps in the Apple iTunes app store. No shortage of opportunities for those who want to step up and create solutions.
Did you develop that app before getting here? Just after getting here? A year or two after? Or just lately?
I guess I'm asking: Did you develop your skill set here? Do you feel like you could've developed your skill set here? Or hire others here who would have your skill set? Will you be able to keep you skill set up to date here?
I think Anonymous misses the point. It's not about the individual or his/her opportunities, it's about the intellectual ambiance of the place and the synergy that comes from having large numbers of creative people rubbing shoulders and bouncing ideas off each other. There probably were a couple of people producing really nice art in Norway in the 15th Century, but Florence was where it was happenin'.
Developed the app here, but been in Software dev since early 80's. Worked for corporate tech until 2002. Yes I am confident I can continue to develop useful software. Others like me all around the world developing apps for different devices. The internet and to a greater extent app stores leveled the playing field. The days of fighting for shelf space in the computer store are long over.
I have to agree with anonymous. I get materials from all over the world, and ship to all over the world. We have some world class electronics design and manufacturing here in town. It would certainly more interesting if there were more high-tech people in town, but the group is small and growing. We're here because we like Bend and we're highly motivated to make it work here. There are certain things in the electronics and computer biz its easier to do if you're in San Jose, Phoenix or Austin. There's no university engineering program in town to draw talent from for example, but on the other hand -- I get to live and work here.
While "high tech" might produce income for a limited number of specialized skill / educated individuals via software development that requires very little materials the vast majority of "family wage" jobs require the importation of large quantities of raw materials and finished parts and the transportation cost to Central Oregon that gets added to get these items here puts this region at a massive disadvantage.
Back when this region's economy was based on timber products the raw materials were nearby and thus a modest competitive advantage mitigated with greater out-shipping costs than, for example, the Eugene area timber products industry (which is also now pretty dead).
Currently, our raw material competitive advantage seems to be an abundance of snow in the winter and sun in the summer that lends itself nicely to "mountain town" tourism. How about we accept / embrace this advantage and try to leverage the heck out of it like Visit Bend seems to be doing?
Agree, Bend is a desert town fueled by tourism dollars. Hope it stays that way. It works out well for the small software developer who literally only needs an internet connection to function. Trying to change or promote Bend as anything else is pointless. Seeing the development and growth slow down over the last several years has been fine for me. I moved away from Silicon valley to leave that rat race behind. Sure I risked making a lower income (fortunately it actually turned out opposite), but I could get by with far less. Have zero debt.
hbm
as i mentioned before i was a hightech entrepreneur
estab base camp in bend in 60's
never thought of high-tech in bend only play
bend has always had nothing required to make big money
essentially you needed
1) fresh asian phd's, so you had to be near good real schools oregon has none
2) need to be near fwy & real air
now of course all over & never coming back
software has gone to india & hardware to china
i cant stress enough in the 70's & later i never hired whites for brain work they would never deliver.
Given that bend is a washed out resource town with no resource and is occupied by dumb parasitic white folk when i hear people talk of hightech in bend i want to vomit. Homer called them grifters. You can't make gold from a bowl of shit, such is bend.
If you have time & money then play in bend. But real money has always been made elsewhere
'visit bend' is exactly what is wrong with bend..
A tax payer fraud.
Visitbend coba coar ... All parasites
why should taxpayer funds be used to whore bend for select good old boyz?
Just because a child exists does it have to be turned into a prostitute?
Bend was beautiful say 40 years ago
promoted for what? Brooks res? Aka hollern/jd-gray ....
sunriver, blackbutte,awbrey, nwxc
taxpayer money used to plant phony paradise storys? In worldwide media. For whom?
The fact that 'visit bend' still exists is proof that their is no god in bend.
"as i mentioned before i was a hightech entrepreneur
estab base camp in bend in 60's"
You never mentioned being a "high-tech entrepreneur" before. And there wasn't any high-tech industry to speak of in the '60s. First computers for the general public (IBM 5100, TRS-80, etc.) didn't come along until the mid-'70s.
IOW I think you're blowin' smoke. Again.
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