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Seattle vs. Silicon Valley: does it matter?
The meme “the next silicon valley” has been trumpeted for years , used by journalists and entrepreneurs to draw attention to themselves. And it’s a common refrain among startup founders, with their own pet arguments for why their location is better than the SF-Bay, or at least better than the other contenders.
Major articles in Inc. (Is NYC the next Silicon Valley?), MIT (Is Chicago the next Silicon Valley?), Washington Post (Tel Aviv bids to be next Silicon Valley), Forbes (Why L.A. is emerging as the next silicon valley) and others all repeat the same theme over and over again.
Progress update & Behind the scenes
We’re half half way through our kickstarter campaign and wanted to update you on what we here at WMS headquarters have been up to. We’ll post more regular updates if you want them! Just leave a comment.
As a team we’ve been meeting weekly, with two different projects.
Kickstarter:
- We launched the campaign Tues July 28th, emailing and calling all of our friends and family (Hi friends and family) to ask them to join and spread the word.
- The fine folks at Geekwire wrote about us, and soon Time magazine followed suit.
- We’ve been in full PR mode reaching out to everyone who know who loves our city and wants to help see it shine.
- We’re currently at 65% with 12 days to go.
- If we don’t make our goal, the film won’t happen, so most of our effort these last weeks have been focused on the kickstarter campaign.
Kickstarter update: 60% ($17k) funded
Thank you to everyone who has helped to spread the word about our kickstarter campaign. And a big thank you to everyone who has pledged. We would not be at 60% of our goal if it wasn’t for you.
We are honestly surprised that we have reached 60% of our goal without a sponsor at the Gold or Platinum levels. If you work for a Seattle corporation or organization please consider pledging at these levels. 5 Reasons why your company should do so.
We still have 16 days to go, which is both good and bad. It is good because we still have that many days to reach our funding goal. It is bad because this is typically when campaigns start to drag and lose momentum and attention.
Seattle, this project is for you
Hi Seattle,
We love you. Really, we do. Each of us lives and works in different parts of the Seattle area, from Fremont, to Capital Hill, to Redmond and beyond. This project is a labor of love for us, and we want to use our talents to give something back. We believe Seattle is a great place for makers and creators of all types, whether they make music, games, companies, software, films or skyscrapers. And all of these and so much more happens here in Seattle.
We want to share our city’s story with the rest of the world. Will you help us do that?
Please support our kickstarter campaign and share it with your friends, family, and co-workers.
Thanks Seattle, you’re awesome!
– Bryan, Scott, Dan and Adam
PS Check out what GeekWire, Time magazine, and the Huffington Post have to say about our project.
Thanks Brad Feld: Silver Sponsor
We’re thrilled to announce that Brad Feld has signed up to be our fourth Silver Sponsor, contributing $2500 to the We Make Seattle Project.
Thanks Brad for helping support us and the city of Seattle – you’re awesome.
Who will be next? I hope it’s you. Maybe get your team to go in together? Or you might be a leader who can have the company sponsor? We’d be grateful.
5 reasons Your Company Should Sponsor We Make Seattle
Hi Seattle. We’re off to a great start, passing 50% of our funding goal for the project, with 18 days to go. Thanks to everyone who has backed the project and helped spread the word. We are grateful to have made it this far.
But as with most big projects, the first 50% is easy, it’s getting all the way that’s hard. We need backers, including silver, gold and platinum sponsors to ensure we make our goals.
Here are five reasons your organization should get involved:
- Rare opportunity for your organization to be a visible community leader. This is a unique chance to have your organization listed as a primary contributor to something that represents the entire Seattle area. This is likely the first and only time a film like this will be made.
- Attract local talent. We have the attention of the local creative and tech community. Lending your name to the effort will increase your visibility among Seattle’s best and brightest talent.
- Gain access to a recruiting resource. As a sponsor you’ll be able to share it with your staff, network and potential recruits with your name as a sponsor. While your use of the film won’t be exclusive, you can gain the exclusive privilege of your logo in the credits for the film itself.
- Give something back to your city AND get something in return. It’s unusual for a community projects have such clear business benefits. You can satisfy your standards of benevolence for your community, and at the same time help your own organization.
- Get in before it’s over. We only have about two weeks left in the campaign. When funding closes, it’s all done.
Convinced? Our kickstarter campaign is waiting for you to stop by.
You can read why GeekWire and Time magazine think the project is important too.
Thanks Washington State Department of Commerce: Silver Sponsor
We’re thrilled to announce the Washington State Department of Commerce has signed up to be our third Silver Sponsor, contributing $2500 to the We Make Seattle Project.
Thanks for helping support us and the city of Seattle – you’re awesome.
Who will be next? I hope it’s you. Maybe your team will go in together? Or you can share this with your boss who can get the company to sponsor? We’d be grateful.
GeekWire article about We Make Seattle
John Cook at Geekwire wrote about our project last week:
Now, some enterprising Seattle geeks are looking to raise the profile of the tech community and its unique spirit. They’re turning to Kickstarter to finance a short film that can tell the world why the home of Macklemore and Bill G. “is the greatest city in the world for entrepreneurs, creators and makers of all kinds.”
Read the full article here.