Image via Scott Peyron & Associates

Have you been wringing your hands, refreshing @techboise, wondering what we have up our sleeve for this month's event? Oh, you're not? You should be! This Wednesday we'll be joined by Jay Larsen, Founder and CEO and Rich Raimondi, Chairman of the newly formed Idaho Technology Council , as they share with us the story of their formation and, most importantly, their vision for the future of technology in Idaho. Think of Idaho Technology Council as TechBoise's older sibling. You know, the one without stickers on his laptop. As always, we'll be meeting the last Wednesday, February 24, 5:30pm, at the Watercooler. (Link to map)

Jay Larsen founded the ITC after the hugely successful Utah Technology Council, and brought some of Idaho's best tech companies on board. If you're unfamiliar with the ITC Board of Directors, there are some names on there you might recognize. They've put together a solid group of technology veterans, as well as some promising young founders, to further their mission:

"The Idaho Technology Council’s mission is to become the premier member-driven technology association dedicated to fostering the growth of technology companies in the state of Idaho, primarily in the areas of information technology, agriscience, and energy. The ITC provides a valuable forum for industry, research, educators, investors, and government throughout the state. It also advocates for creating a strong technology ecosystem and a high quality, high paid workforce. "

Sounds like a worthy goal, and one that we can get behind. So, while TechBoiseans are in the trenches creating the technologies to build and sustain Idaho's technology core, these guys are doing the high-level stuff, helping to build the relationships, partnerships, and policies that make it all possible.

Special thanks to TechBoise's longtime friends Melanie Rubocki and Eric Bjorkman at Perkins Coie for providing pizza and frosty beverages!

Calling all innovative products, companies and entrepreneurs - the Idaho Innovation Awards wants you!

Nominations are sought for the following categories from any industry:

Commercialized Innovation of the Year - This category is designed to recognize innovations from companies that have been established for more than five years and that are on the market, contributing to the local economy.

So I haven't said much (anything) about ESTech and i3 (aka iCubed) yet and a lot of you have wondered why. Honestly I wanted to really digest all of this before sticking my foot in my mouth.

My first take: At least they're doing something. It's easy for us to sit on the sidelines and complain about what isn't getting done and when someone steps up and does something we complain that it isn't what we would have done. Well then shut up and go do something.

Do I have my concerns? Yes.

ESTech

I don't know what the strategy, long term vision, or corporate structure of the ESTech folks happens to be, but I was just making my way through the 258 pages of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and found this:

Got a particular interest in what's going on down at the State Capitol? Maybe it's revenue and taxation, maybe it's the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee that gets you fired up. Whatever the case our friends in the legislative IT department (@sorenj) have set up RSS feeds for just about everything - all the committees, bill updates, House actions, Senate actions. If you want info, you got it:

http://www.legislature.idaho.gov/rss/rssindex.cfm