Just check out some of these recent @PortlandRain tweets:

@PortlandRain has been getting a fair amount of attention lately, first with an interview with the Oregon Red Cross Blog and then one with the Portland Water Bureau.  @PortlandRain was even mentioned on a recent episode of 7 Live @ The Square.

However, @PortlandRain really hit its tipping point today as a rain storm blanketed Portland  and @PortlandRain stormed twitter.  I think I saw as many references today to @PortlandRain as I have to #bacon this whole week. @PortlandRain even seemed to trump the highly anticipated release of WordPress 2.7.

Since the launch of @PortlandRain there have been a lot of other weather related twitters (including @PortlandSun and @PortlandSnow), but none seem to have the level of whit and character as @PortlandRain. Portland has long been known for its rain, so it'll be interesting to see if @PortlandRain finds national prominence.

Back in 1995, Portland was abuzz with the Internet. Since the web was relatively new (think Web 1.0, or maybe 0.95b1), the excitement over it and opportunities created by it connected people from traditional Portland tech, software engineering universe, and non-tech entrepreneurs who saw the opportunity to use the new technology to fuel business.

It was out of this unique mix that the Portland Internet community was born. In this space a few factions existed: The SAO (The Software Association of Oregon), which existed prior to the web, consisted mainly of hardcore technologists and engineers;  Netogether, run by Lenny Charnoff, it existed as a local business networking and discussion forum designed to bridge the gap between the technology and the local businesses who could benefit from it.; Internet Professionals Northwest (aka Internet Entrepreneurs Association) which flourished under the leadership of Mike Pritchard and provided a mixing point between technologists and entrepreneurs.

The sheer excitement back then over the technology fueled conferences, lectures, talks, networking meetings, venture capital presentations and even the occasional beer & schmooze (this was before the age of blogging).

Watching the discussion after Rick Turoczy's presentation at the Portland Web Innovators meeting I had absolute flashbacks to exact same discussions that bounded around the networking groups in 1995.

Since I truly believe that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" I believe it's important to share some of the conclusions which came out of hours and hours of discussions, often heated debates and candid comments from reporters about the tech scene from Web 1.0.

One of the major conclusions reached back in Portland Web 1.0 was that the community itself, no matter how strong, dynamic and enjoyable isn't relevant outside of Portland. Back in 1995-1998 some extremely dynamic things happened in the Portland Tech space and very little of it ever got exposure outside of the group itself.

I was good friends back then, with a reporter for the Oregonian who I often inundated with press releases and local tech story ideas. One day I called her to voice my frustrations over just how few things were actually getting covered in the paper. She told me that the tech events and stories needed to connect to a larger story, be part of the big picture. So we did just that. In September of 1995 we got a group of Oregon businessmen to all fly down with the reporter to Northern California to the Internet World conference. At the conference we did a round-table with the reporter to talk about the impact of the Internet on all business in Portland and that article landed on the front page of the Oregonian.

One of the core realizations was that to truly thrive the Portland Tech Community needed to extend beyond itself, connect to the universe outside of tech and create relevancy beyond the four walls of the group.  Unfortunately those goals were never really achieved and the tech networking groups ultimately suffered from infighting, break off groups and just plain fatigue.

Watching the video of the Portland Web Innovators meeting and hearing people talk about ensuring a barrier of entry to the Portland Tech community and building a Geek Lodge I couldn't help but feel that the Portland Tech train is on the very same tracks as it was back with Portland Web 1.0.  Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the amazing universe of community that happens on Twitter in Portland, I make it a point to attend each Ignite Portland and Wordcamp Portland was one of my favorite business related functions I did in 2008. But I think it's too easy to get lost in the excitement of the Portland Tech Community.

The brutal truth is that 2009 is going to be an extremely rough year for many people in the community. Local companies have just started layoffs and a lot more are on the horizon. Great adversity can create great opportunities for a community to come together, support each other and find ways to use that community strength to grow. But for the Portland Tech Community to be relevant it takes more than just coming together. If the goal is to 'put Oregon tech on the map' then it's going to take crossing the lines and reaching out to local businesses, involving people from outside the tight knit community and working together to create relevant national stories about Portland and tech.

This is very doable. Over the next year there will be a lot of media coverage on the gloom and doom of business and the lasting impact over the economic recession/depression. A community which can show a compelling story of success in the face of this adversity could really distinguish itself and provide the opportunity to show what a special and amazing place it really is.

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Post Script 12/8/2008 - I've been pretty blown away by the response to this piece, both good and bad. What I haddn't expected was that it would stir such negative emotions on the part of some of the readers and writers of OurPDX.

It was fairly shocking to be personally attacked in comments, email and on private writers forum over this post. I've had my intentions called to task, my sincerety challenged and berated for writing at several sites in town. Perhaps I've hit some sort of nerve.

I'm happy that this piece has spawned the biggest discussion in the site's history. People talking about these issues is important. But infighting never leads anywhere good, so for my part I've said what I will about this post and topic and am moving on to the next topic. Whatever that may be.

Sitting in the sold out room for WordCamp Portland I was struck by just how dynamic and exciting the internet community in Portland has become.  There's a part of me that doesn't want to write about it, doesn't want the rest of the world to know about our little secret (but I think the secret is already out). Big things are happening here in Portland. When I say big things, I don't mean some major Internet company is going to be opening its doors, and I don't mean there will be some huge announcement of some grand Oregon based product.  The magic of what's happening here is that it's a million little exciting things that all add up to a very significant and flourishing community.

Aside from my realizations of just how great the community is. I did learn some very specific and helpful things:

• WordPress 2.7 looks fantastic. Automatic has opened their ears to the people who use their software the most and they've been very serious about implementing the changes we all want to see.
• You can build a blogging site from the ground upwithout huge capital and without deep technical knowledge of php, mysql, css or even html.
• With the right tools you can: automatically backup your word press database, upgrade WordPress with one click,  support Open ID, switch your theme while you work (and not have the new theme go public), easily support video.
• You can use your blog as the hub to unify all your social networking programs (aka tubes) including Friendfeed, Twitter and let your blog feed your networks.
• If you can't decide on a theme to start with for your blog, K2 is a good place to start.
• The Firefox Web Development Toolbar and Firebug are two tools every developer should have in their toolkit.
• If I'm at a conference where Justin Kistner is doing a session I won't make the mistake of missing it again. 10 Proven WordPress Plugins was interesting, but I kicked myself after talking to people who came out of his WordPress Ecosystem session. (Same goes for Marshall Kirkpatrick, whose RSS session was called 'mindblowing')
• The people who run CubeSpace are simply awesome. If I'm ever in need of a place to meet clients or hold meetings they've got my business.
• Adding people to Twitter via cell phone (just tweet Follow GeoffK), is easier, faster and has more impact than swapping business cards.
• I need to check out:  Tweetdeck, Ning, Ping.fm and Vidoop.
• The perfect food to serve to bloggers are: Coffee, Bagels, Pizza, Soda, Beer and Mediterranean Food.

In all, It was a full Saturday well spent, unbelievable value at $10 and an event I'll absolutely attend again when it comes around net year.