I am following up on the Open Letter to VANOC from Social Media Makers with a few notes as well as an invitation to continue the conversation with VANOC over a tasty beverage. The letter has made its way around the world with Twitters, comments, blog posts, and personal notes of support and/or confusion coming in from many corners of the globe.

So, to keep the conversation rolling, here are my annotated notes, thoughts and recaps from the past few days of opinions rolling in:

Gnomedex approaches

The almost-legandary geekfest is a single-track extravaganza where you can screen drop on Dave Winer, party with Marc Cantor and schmooze the people making the Internet (and other revolutions) with their bare hands.

Chris and Ponzi cultivate an "everyone's a VIP vibe" with parties, conversations and great food. Krug shares photography tips on Friday and will be snapping throughout the event.

Bonus: It's Geeky Fun! (song by Derek K. Miller).
Tip: Get in front of KK's lens to get the best profile pics ever. 

At the risk of missing on a few details and publishing an incomplete list of conversations, anecdotes and contacts ... suffice to say that Launch Party 3 was a raging success full of new faces and the best and brightest Vangroovy hopes as listed in Techvibes Techies to Watch list and Raincity's Tech Women to Watch lists.

A contingent of Vancouver Tech Women to Watch 2008 gather round the pool table

Part of my job is to outreach to communities - both local and international - and I regularly stroll through Gastown to visit other tech hives and attend (too) many events, yet I still meet new people with great startups here in Vancouver which I had no idea about.