Spring has made it to Washington, DC! For the first time in a long time the weather forecast is something to get excited about, with sunshine and warm weather predicted for the entire week. If you’re strong enough to resist the temptation of spring fever, there are some interesting tech events happening in the city this week. Below are a few that caught our eye, and you can find a full listing of the week’s events here.
Thursday, May 21
3:00 – 5:00 pm
Campaigns for Sensible Defense Priorities: This event will bring together online organizers to discuss what in the past would have been an unlikely topic – how social media and other online campaign technologies should be integrated into our national defense plan. Come hear what they recommend the Obama administration consider as it re-prioritizes defense spending.
6:30 – 8:30 pm
Crisis Communications and Social Media: Be Proactive in your Reaction With swine flu and twitter-mania still making headlines, crisis communications is at the forefront of a lot of minds. Come hear what tools and strategies several social media experts recommend companies, organizations, and even countries leverage to proactively engage with their audiences in a crisis.
6:30 pm
CiviCRM Meetup: Looking for an open source CRM? Come out for the CiviCRM meetup to learn more about the platform, discuss about how it integrates with Drupal, and find out about what learning resources are available on CiviCRM.
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Tech Cocktail DC: This is always one of the city’s largest tech events, as it brings together techies from all worlds – from start up to government, and open source to proprietary. Come out and have a drink with people working on similar issues as you but from all different angles.
Friday, May 22
7:00 – 10:00 pm
Helsinki to DC: A Social Media Connection: The city of Helsinki organized a project to send 12 Washingtonians to Finland to have them talk about the city using social media. Those 12 folks are back and will be sharing their experiences at a cocktail party at the Finnish embassy this Friday. If you’re curious about the experiment and want to enjoy some Finnish cocktails and appetizers, this is the event for you.
Have a great week!