I have been kicking the idea around with a few people (mainly in conjunction with Andrew Scott, CEO of Rummble who knows Berlin well, and had an idea for a startups party a while ago) about having a TechCrunch party in Berlin during Web 2.0 Expo. Nothing very “official”, but the idea is to have the party aimed just at startup tech companies in Europe. A big problem in Europe – and something I found out during my TechCrunch Euro Tour this Summer – is that startups here have very few opportunities to meet and network. The few events we can hang out together are usually at expensive conferences. I think that a startup eco-system in Europe is never really going to take off that way, so we need to lower the barriers a bit and let people network more informally.
So here’s a poll to find out how much interest there is in the idea. Right now we just need a date, but if there is enough interest we’ll approach sponsors. If you love the idea and would like to be a sponsor of the party then please email our events organiser in London, Petra Johansson to indicate your interest. (And if you have a suggestion of venue, or can even offer a venue, then send that to Petra as well).
Thanks for your input!