Phew, what a morning – thanks to everyone who turned up to make our second anniversary meet up a really special one. More than 80 of you took advantage of the free coffee laid on by our wonderful hosts Sankt Oberholz as we marked two years of our regular Silicon Allee breakfast. In that time, we have met some fantastic people at the cafe on Rosenthalerplatz, and it’s always a pleasure to meet friends old and new.
There were attendees from as far afield as Lausanne, London, Bologna and even New York. The times they are a-changin’ – when we started, talk was of whether what was happening in Berlin was really a new phase in the city’s digital life or whether it was merely a passing fad. Now the conversation is more likely to be about the best ways to secure visas for all the talented young people who are flocking to Berlin to work in startups.
At Silicon Allee, we pride ourselves on our openness and how we have always been an organic part of the tech scene. That is very much reflected in our meet up, with its open nature attracting many digital strangers who want to gain their first insight into that scene, as well as more tech-savvy newcomers to Berlin.
One of the people who attended today was a random stranger I bumped into in a bar on Saturday night, who turned out to be freshly arrived from the US and working in startups. Et voilà – he came down this morning and had a great time. That’s the kind of thing we love at Silicon Allee.
A big thank you to Sankt Oberholz from all of us – it’s a special place and we look forward to many more meet ups there. And of course, another big thank you to all of you who have helped make our meet up what it is over the last two years. See you all next month!
Apologies for the delays today – technical issues now (hopefully!) resolved.