Welcome to BaltTech. Don't know about you, but I am happy to be here, on this patch of earth pixels and code. Having worked at The Baltimore Sun now for 10 years, I've been lucky to cover a broad range of topics, from business to crime. (Here's a sampling of my latest work.)
The past few years, I was deep in the thicket of Baltimore crime reporting and breaking news, seeing all the negative things that were possible in this city, day in, day out. It was during this period -- when I also started carrying a video camera and an iPhone to do my job -- that I began gaining an appreciation for the importance of technology and innovation, in Baltimore and beyond our great little city.
I took a couple Web courses at the University of Baltimore. I built a Website, played with blogs, shot tons of shaky video at home and work, shelled out big bucks for Adobe Creative Suite 3. In short: I ramped up my geekitude from 0-60 in a very short period of time. But i won't embellish: I'm still a newbie. In fact, you'll probably correct me on many occasions. That's okay: I look forward to learning something new every day.
For more than a year now, I've nurtured this idea of a tech blog that gets up each day and tries to cover the interesting tech trends coming out of Baltimore.
Not just the big companies and the federal government contractors, but the little guys and gals, too. Not just the established players, but the startup dreamers who are hustling to bring their visions to life.
Somewhere out there, maybe here in Maryland, the next Google could be being born right now. Maybe it'll be a white-hot startup. Or maybe it'll branch out of groundbreaking work done by students and professors at one of Maryland's colleges and universities. Either way, I want to be there to Tweet it, blog it, report it, photograph it, and videotape it. (Did i just say videotape?)
So what will this blog cover, you wonder? Well... for a hint, take a look at the categories I've created. These are my interests. They will likely change and evolve over time as I roll up my sleeves and get into this blog and the tech beat.
But generally, I want to write about the big ideas driving Maryland's tech sector forward, the stuff the entrepreneurs and technologists are building, the people they're hiring, and how well private industry, our public and private universities, and our government work together to create opportunities (or not). I want to break news here -- and I'll need your help.
I also want to pick my head up from Baltimore and look at what other innovators up and down the East Coast are doing.
We should strive to have some fun in this space. I'll do some videos and share and feature yours. Heck, I may dabble in podcasting and live-stream video. Anybody hear of 12seconds.tv? Here's my channel. And, of course, I'm on Twitter, @gussent. (And, @balttech, plus using the #balttech hash tag.)
I'll introduce myself at the networking events, beer in one hand, iPhone and/or video camera in the other. And, most importantly, I just want listen to you. It may sound corny, but reporters need people talking to them, telling them what's important in their lives. We're not omniscient.
What would you like to see covered in BaltTech? Leave a comment below. For detailed pitches and story ideas, shoot me an email at gus.sentementes(at)baltsun(dot)com.
(photo credit: Doug Kapustin, Sun photographer)