Almost a year ago, I was tipped off to the existence of the Capital Cabal's Second Tuesday's events. As a developer, managing developers, and generally focused on the tech side of things, it never seemed like a match. Despite being a business-oriented geek, it didn't seem to make much sense, so I politely declined and kept attending the tech side of things.
Once I took a C-level role with WhyGoSolo and got involved in the funding and pitching hunt, I realized that I had to play at that level. So I went to my first Capital Cabal in December '07… Right off the bat, I was struck by the fundamental difference of Second Tuesdays from the other events I attend…
My usual events are for geeks, by geeks, and flooded with geeks. It means the discussions revolve around development, ideas, and the underlying concepts, etc. In terms of the org chart, it means that you'll get the occasional CTO, but more likely developers, team leaders, etc. While this is great when you want to sharpen and expand those skills, at some point, it can be limiting.
Capital Cabal's Second Tuesday is a bit different. You won't find many (any!?) developers. Instead, you find quite a few sales and marketing types mixed with a sprinkling of investors, business development types, and an occasional reporter. All with a heavy focus on tech, entrepreneurial efforts, and startups. The discussion still revolves around what people are doing, working on, ideas they have, etc… but it comes from the opposite side of the Org Chart. If you're looking for a different type of conversation from the local tech community, this is it. I've been twice and plan to keep going to keep the conversation going.
If you're interested, check out their site and mailing list to find out the latest and greatest… but amazingly enough, the Second Tuesday events are on the second Tuesday of each month. 😉 They're held at Gua Rapo at Courthouse Metro in Arlington, VA.