Cluster Activities

How do we judge the quality of a robotics cluster’s activities?  The point isn’t actually to have a lot of meetings.  The point is to spark those interactions which can create or advance enterprises whether through ideas, collaborators, or resources.

Since we can’t measure that directly, I propose the Meetup.com test.  It is a crude metric, but should serve our purposes.  The idea is that the number meetup.com events coming up with relevant key words should serve as a rough proxy for how many people are out after work trying to create the next thing.

By this metric, Silicon Valley is crushing the rest of us.  Not only do they have more money, and better weather, but also they are out having more drinks.  Data is in the following the link.  https://robocosmist.wordpress.com/robotics-clusters/  Meetup.com test performed June 2, 2012.

Accordingly, San Francisco is the only place I’ve ever been served a martini made by a robot–by the Drinks Advanced Research Projects Agency no less.   Fortunately for getting girls back to my place, my gin martinis are still the best.  But the John Henry moment in robotic drinks is coming…