Yesterday for the first time in many years I actually felt old and irrelevant. As part of the pre-PASHA Award event we took a sneak peak at the 10 odd companies that were competing at the PASHA TECH CRUNCH GONG show on 14th October.
Two of participants were very good. The first pitched their idea in one line with clarity that is rare as well as inspiring. One line and you got all of what is being pitched: concept, business model, money, future, impact, value and meaning. The second was someone that to me represents the face of hope as well as our future. For the first time in a very long time I actually felt that somehow all of what we had been doing for the last two decades had finally come together. And it came together in the shape of an event and an icon that together say a great deal about where we will end up as a community.
I felt old because I think it is now time for the next generation to come up and pick up the reigns. They are ready to lead, and at least I am ready to retire.
The pre-event was yesterday.
Today the show was brilliant. With apologies to Richard Morgan and Takashi Kovacs, we did a lot of damage today (for those of you who haven’t read Richard Morgan’s series on a has been old soon to be retired assassin or are familiar with Quellcrist Falconer, it was damage in a good way). A lot of small things that change what pass for an acceptable standard, from organization, pitching, presentation, images, judging, collateral, participation, content and format.
This morning I managed to do about eight posts live from the judging panel (privilege of being a judge, an organizer and being large and loud). Here is the story of the stuff I missed when my internet account ran out, in pictures.
Yello.pk
Reader’s club.
Can we Vfight.
Steve Jobs in Karachi?
Mediconnect.
Partners in crime. Sponsors, Judges, Participants, CIO Pakistan and Rabia Garib who was our honory Gong bearer today. It took all of us to make what happened today possible. A few months from now we will all look back at this and say that on 14th October 2009, the future of the technology industry in Pakistan shifted in a remarkable way.
You know all that Star Trek, Parallel Universe, Spock and Kirk stuff that movies are made off.
Welcome to the future.