#techsmas – Let’s have a party :)

50 folks who are passionate about technology, in a room with free flowing drinks, delicious mini food, a table foosball and pool competition, and some great company. Why? Why not.

You may have seen me wittering on about #techsmas in my recent Twitter posts. What’s the deal?

A few years ago, Helen Keegan invited me to a Christmas lunch for consultants and freelancer friends of hers, as none of them had official Christmas parties to go to. It was wikkid fun, and made me realise how much I missed Christmas parties since becoming self employed, and now running my own company.

As it turns out, I now have plenty of experience running events and getting sponsorship.. So why don’t I use that to throw a Christmas party for industry friends as a way of saying THANK YOU to those who’ve helped me this year.

Thanks to the HUGE generosity of Purple, Microsoft, RedMonk and BookingBug, the bar is now stocked and the food is in the larder. It gives me great pleasure to confirm #techsmas is ON.

#techsmas will be held on 22nd December, from 6pm at the Hospital Club, in the Games Room. There will be foosball & pool competitions to win awesome shiny shiny (a Nokia Lumia 800 currently up for grabs, with more coming). Free food (the Hospital club does *lush* mini food) free booze and soft drinks (including virgin cocktails for our alcohol free friends), Xbox gaming, music.. It’ll be a riot.

Want to come?

There are 3 ways to get in:

• get on an invite list (I’d recommend following the sponsors on Twitter to see if they’re giving any of their invites away)
• track the event on Lanyrd: you’ll be notified if a space comes up, I’ll also make sure at least 3 of you at random get in on my guest list  < DONE!
• micro-sponsorship UPDATE: gone

Once you’ve scored your invite, do sign up on Lanyrd so we can all see who’ll be there! Yay!

A word about #techsmas sponsors:

Purple are the best digital recruitment agency in London right now, both from my own personal point of view (I’ve known and worked with them for 6 years), and those devs I’ve spoken within the last year. Giles is your man for perm roles (drop him a line), and Dev is your man for freelance. If you’re keen on moving jobs, or a client looking for hires, get in touch. If you remember, please let them know it’s a #techsmas referral so that they sponsor again next year!

Microsoft need no introduction, and like me, they just want to say a big thank you to their developer network and join in the fun. Awesome! They’ll also be sending along their lovely Mike Taulty to field any questions from devs on the night (though personally I think he’s just there for the prizes..)

RedMonk  is the first and only developer focused industry analyst firm. They believe that developers are the most important constituency in technology, which is why they work on their behalf for technology companies large and small. And they like to party 😉

BookingBug are adding a tidy amount to our bar tab, because well, they’re just nice like that. They’re currently looking to hire some RoR folks, so if you’re looking drop them a line (don’t forget to mention #techsmas!). They must be super fab to work for if this is their way of finding people to work with. Love it!