doterati evolution • week 1 [5.4.08 - 5.10.08]

Hi Everyone,

I felt it was important to start a weekly series providing an update on the evolution of Doterati. What I hope to provide in my posts is what's going on behind the scenes, in addition to what is publicly visible. Feel free to also ask questions and let me know what you'd like to hear about as we progress into the future. Thanks for all of the early involvement - I'm so excited to have all of you be a part of this!

Doterati Quick History
I've been interested in forming a group of this nature for a few years now, but I came to the realization in December of last year that it was time to stop dreaming and to take steps towards making this a reality in 2008. I've been fortunate to be part of Central FL's interactive industry for close to 6 years now and I'm constantly amazed at the awesome things that are going on within our community.

In January I asked a few people from various avenues to participate in an advisory board to help put some initial structure around this association. I was lucky to form a group including digital brand marketers, developers, agency people, students, entrepreneurs, consultants, start-ups and everyone in between - some from Central florida, others from Miami, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, etc. - some with tons of experience, others with fresh perspective and all with great ideas, passion and energy!

During this research phase we spoke to many other organizations locally and nationally to determine resource/tool availability, garnered knowledge from success stories and challenges and began identifying ways we could potentially collaborate in the future. We've also been spending a lot of time simply talking to people locally about what they want to get out of the association, how we should organize, what we should be and what we should 'not' be.

Week 1 [4.4.08 - 4.10.08]
So, we had a busy 'official' first week....

• Bank account set up and Federal Tax ID acquired. 501c3, article of incorporation and by-laws in progress.
• Corp ID established: logo, name, tag, colors, etc.
• Initial community site setup, thanks to Ning. 60+ members signed up within the first few days!
• Chairs and committee champions begin being established. If you're interested in volunteering, please update your profile with your area of interest.
• Mission statement defined: To advance the Central Florida interactive marketing, media and technology community by serving as an association for professional development, education, community networking and overall inspiration for our digital society.