I just got the email saying I was invited to the startup school, I got to admit Im really excited about it all. Im from phoenix, Arizona so I guess I can drive up to it. So, Im guessing this trip better get me some connections of some sort I cant waste time, gotta hand out my thoughts, ideas and maybe a so called business card. I cant wait!

I got an email as well, and I'm looking forward to it. I'm in the Bay Area, so the drive is short. Did you fill out the RSVP link yet?

Was any promotion done for the event outside of word-of-mouth? That seems like a lot of would-be entrepreneurs in the area.

I wonder why so many people want to go. Most of the material is already on the web (+ the podcast), and one is unlikely to network significantly with a 50-1 participant-expert ratio.

Networking with the participants was the best part when I went to the event in Boston. I'm still good friends with a couple of the people I met there. In fact, many of us have now all moved to Silicon Valley for various reasons.

I respectfully disagree. I went to the Boston event and had to put in a lot of work to network with people, since there were no official events or time within the program set aside to meet and talk. Admittedly, my schedule didn't allow me to do a post-school dinner. I'm not shy about chatting people up, so I did made use of the time I had and met some cool people. But I wouldn't recommend it as a networking opportunity. For one thing, nobody knew each other!

But it was great being there in person for the in-person experience, which was gratifying and good positive reinforcement. That said, I didn't apply this time because I'm really really busy on a feature launch for my startup and it didn't seem like I'd get that much out of it as far as the networking aspect.

I disagree.

I thought it was one of the best events for networking with other hackers that I have ever been to. Everyone there was knowledgeable as well as driven and energetic. I was up until the wee hours of the morning on both nights talking shop with other entrepreneurs and programmers. I actually met my company's co-founder during the first startup school.

I think Startup School is a great opportunity to meet other hackers and, hopefully, form meaningful relationships with like-minded peers.

I'm from Los Angeles where the startup community is generally lacking -- the idea of "entrepreneurship" is somewhere along the lines of things like starting an event planning company or making indie films.

As a result, I'm really looking forward to Startup School as a chance to meet potential co-founders.

Hey JMiao, I'm in LA too. Email me at lalife.com if you want to talk shop some time!

I actually just moved up to Palo Alto in January, but thanks for the post.

Where in LA are you guys? I'm in Pasadena.

That's great! I wish I got in on some of that, but for whatever reason I didn't. I agree the caliber of people was great, which is why it was frustrating not to be able to meet more of them.

I think the appeal is like that of a live show vs listening to a recording.

Not everyone is from the area. Last year I flew in from Florida, and there was one guy there who came from Spain.

How big was the increase in applicants from the previous year?

About 40%. I don't know what we're going to do next year if this keeps up. We'll have to recruit people to help us read the applications.