By Camas Frank
Attendees of the monthly TechBrew event held Aug. 10 and hosted by the non-profit group Softec at Pappi McGreggors on Monterey Street, were asked to bring some of their favorite “crowd-funded” gizmos and stories.
As many local entrepreneurs and a fair share of Cal Poly students with a good idea have found out, turning to the Internet to fund a creation is now the go-to thing. Websites like KickStarter, IndieGoGo, and GoFundMe are among the most popular, where people pitch their pet ideas and offer some kind of future bonus for backing them now.
In lieu of the traditional speaker followed by networking presentation format, explained event organizer Josh Erdman, members of the technology enthusiasts group had the option to share their “drones, robots, lasers, and Raspberry PIs,” as well as being encouraged to bring in anything that’s been added to the ever growing “Internet of Things.”
Among the products demonstrated for the show and tell were a credit card device that stores different cards with a re-programmable magnetic strip, an Radio Frequency Identification or RFID ring that can store data to be read by another device (such as an electronic door lock), and even some seemingly simple metal blocks.
The blocks, small cubes actually, turned out to be some dense alloys that are exceptionally hard to produce, and more importantly, are just fun for engineers to have on their desk, fancy objects to impress visitors.
For a more hands-on demonstration, a DJI brand drone, in essence a remote control quad-copter was unpacked and flown for around Pappy’s patio.
Rules regarding this particular kind of gadget have been amorphous for some time, with the general public worried about their neighbors spying on them or simply being a nuisance armed with high-resolution cameras.
However, the FAA has stepped up regulation and software providers for the GPS enabled devices have been increasingly equipping them with no-fly-zone databases over private property.
The evening wasn’t all fun and games, as one investor shared the story of being taken for $2,500 without ever seeing a positive result from the project they endorsed.
It was pointed out, for the first timers in the room, that policies vary between funding platforms, with some, like Kickstarter, holding money in escrow until goals and conditions are met, and others simply cutting a check — minus the site’s commission — to folks making a pitch.
Softec has been on a mission to, “serve tech businesses, geeks, makers, and entrepreneurs,” since it was founded in 1996. The group holds their TechBrew networking events on the second Monday of each month. For event information see: softec.org.
