This got me to thinking about why this is such a big deal. Being a Townie, I am ecstatic anytime we get to show off what we have done, what we do, and what we are capable of doing, for obvious reasons, but mainly because I truly believe in our overall vision and goals. But, if I wasn’t a Townie, I am pretty sure I would have still been geeked by the symbolism of the event. Symbolism that embodies what DT is about, but is much, much bigger than us.
The story of our tribe, our way of thinking, almost feels like an underdog story…
…there we are, lowly tech geeks that don’t quite fit in with mainstream thinking
…crazy dreamers, being laughed at, because of our childish aspirations for something different
…questioners of the status quo, being ridiculed because we don’t adhere the popular model of what a productive citizen is supposed to be.
…backwards YeeHaw MidWesterner’s that should be leaving the heavy lifting to the coasts
Events like this, show that we are geeks, and damn proud of it. We do dream, and dream big, because dreams are what inspire innovation and forward movement in every field…we have proven this time and time again. We couldn’t live without our unfading pursuit of something better than what we have been sold. And, though we respect, and are thankful what the Coasts have done for tech, entrepreneurship, and small business in general; our Mid West swagger is now a world-class force to be reckoned with.
So, again, even though we were honored to host it, I don’t think this event was specific to any one company. It was symbolizing a revolutionary rise in an entire culture, a new way of thinking, a tribe the has been, and will continue doing amazing things. We all should be proud of what we accomplished, and allow recognition like this to give validation to those crazy late nights, to that extra TDD effort that produced some bad ass code, to that one in a billion design that you had the balls to put out there even though it may have been laughed at, to the sweat blood and tears that we have all put into moving this engine we call the #IndyStartupScene forward.
Without the entire tribe’s collective efforts there would be no DT, no SpeakEasy, no IPO’s coming out of our proud city. So to all of my fellow starters out there, kudos to you, stand up, take a bow, and let’s keep this thing going!
