There were really three events being held at the same time:

• SURF Open House
• SURF iPhone Coding Night Meetup
• and a last minute merge of the “iPhone App Developers” Meetup

The merging of events ultimately created a room full of interesting and engaged people who were networking and discussing mobile app development.

I would say that most were there to network, and some were there to play with code.

The networkers were a nice mix of entrepreneurs and people looking for iPhone developers. The coders were mainly new developers (and some graphic designers) that were getting into iPhone or Android development. The coding part of the session ended up very light because the event took on more of a networking feel.

The Open House event was an active Q&A session for those interested in the incubator, upcoming plans, and how to get involved.

Jeff Yochim, Brian Gershon, Dan Dosen. Photo by Seaton Gras.

I personally made some new connections, reconnected with other iPhone developers and designers, and met people who I hadn’t run across yet at other iPhone events.  The feeling was that there was pent up demand for iPhone networking and coding.

More about SURF Incubator

The SURF space is available as a location for people to collaborate and work on code together — open every weekday during January.  The space is also available for other iPhone / Android events.  There are desks for people to pair up or meet in groups as well. The plan is to ultimately host many events and activities, and there is also permanent space for developers and those building businesses. This month is the Open House so people can start to explore and use the space.  http://surfincubator.com

The recent events have been geared toward iPhone, but the SURF Incubator will also host Android events. This would open up opportunities to create synergies between the two platforms.

Have feedback?

There is also a new IdeaScale portal for people to post feedback to at http://surfincubator.ideascale.com

Upcoming Meetup Events at SURF

• The “Seattle iPhone & Android Incubator” Meetup is an umbrella for upcoming workshops and coding sessions at SURF.
  • The plan it to have host regular coding sessions/workshops around specific themes and experience levels.
  • Please join this Meetup for a calendar of upcoming events.
  • On Monday, there will be a Beginner iPhone SDK Xcode – Q & A Discussion Meetup.
  • These events would also complement the existing NSCoder group by adding an additional location for those that can’t make it to the University Village Zoka event.
• The “iPhone App Developers” Meetup hosted by Andrew will be located at SURF Incubator. I haven’t attended this Meetup, but it looks to be a nice opportunity for networking.

More iPhone-related events

We’re fortunate to have many opportunities to meet and code in Seattle.

• XCoders — which offer a presentation, post-meeting networking at Luau, and an active email list. There are two meetings per month: One in Seattle and one on the east side. http://www.seattlexcoders.org/
• NSCoder Night — meets each Tuesdays at University Village Zoka in Seattle. http://nscodernight.com/?cat=28